Mac

Just in reply to Sheila - Living in London I recently had some french friends staying - we passed some drunks at Waterloo Station - "Are they Scottish?" was the question - and of course they were!!. Seems the Scottish reputation is quite widespread.

Beth

Absolutely not. Not only not rude, but very helpful and welcoming. We had help in the pharmacy trying to buy medicine; we were approached by a woman in a small town and asked if we wanted our picture taken; we were asked by an elderly man with a big smile if we were American - all different people, each telling us how much they liked Americans, and except for the pharmacy, no one was making money from us. It was so pleasant to be greeted when one entered a shop rather than have to get the clerk off the phone with his/her friends. Even the waiter, if not overly friendly, was very patient with our first jet-lagged attempt at understanding the menu. After a few days, we were feeling like locals!

bobbie

God, how I hate those nude French! Seems like every time I am there I run into a nude Frenchman. This just has to stop and really, why do the French have to be so nude? What? Excuse me? I misread the title of this post? It said RUDE not NUDE? Oh, how embarrasing! Sorry, forget my comments.

Bob Brown

I have not encountered but a few isolated "rude" French people. But I have found rude people elsewhere, too. And, I also find nice folks every where I go. <BR> <BR>I do have one question about staff behavior in restaurants. Several times, as I was leaving the restaurant, I tried to tell the host who seated us that the food was really great. <BR> <BR>The first time I was a little surprised that the host did not say anything at all in response. (He spoke English.) The second time I tried it, at another restaurant, I got a little grunt. The third time, the fellow at least acknowledged that I had spoken to him, but barely. <BR>The fourth time I got an icy stare. <BR>So there has been no fifth time. <BR> <BR>Is it a cultural trait among Parisian restaurant personnel that customer compliments are greeted with indifference or an icy stare?? <BR>

Tom

I must be one of those few travelers that have visited Paris numerous times and have never had even one person be rude. Perhaps, just good clean living, or lucky. <BR> <BR>I hear the stories of the French and their rudenss, but to date it has never happened to us. <BR> <BR>We are going to Provence, Beaune and Lyon on Friday, hope I can say the same when I return. <BR> <BR>Tom