Let me remind you, ggreen, that it is Robespierre who is defensive. He cannot accept that I, and others, disagree with him. He is the one who attacked me on this thread if you actually read it thoroughly.

Actually, ggreen, I have had many extremely heated discussions here, and they have all remained civil until someone <u>else</u> has stooped to character assassination to bolster a failing position. If you scan the other thread, you will find that francophile03 fired the first shot here:

<b>Author: francophile03
Date: 05/15/2006, 04:22 pm

Yes, I agree with NYCTraveler, SuzieC, and Guy18 on there thoughts about this thread. To the o.p. upon reading your post I found it to be offensive. At least these people are trying their best to speak French and I am sure they are not just putting on airs as what you seem to think.</b>

Then francophile03 began telling me what I <i>really</i> meant - as if I were incapable of formulating a simple declarative sentence - and now lies about who launched the rancorous exchange.

Robespierre, Are you still here? I thought you had a nervous breakdown online earlier today. I notice that the administrators froze that thread after your outburst.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34623031

I saw it as Robespierre making a snide remark, no more and no less - the OP even got &quot;a good chuckle&quot; out of it. francophile, I think you *are* &quot;very happy to assist [him] in [his] constant quest to get attention virtually&quot; - otherwise why take the bait? It's just as easy to ignore the barb as it is to perpetuate the provocation...

ggreen, just click on my name and pull up the last 50 threads I've contributed to. Then tell me how many of them suit your definition of &quot;getting attention virtually.&quot;

As I said before: I don't provoke confrontations - but I don't back down from them, either. <i>Mea maxima culpa.</i>

(How I might derive satisfaction from virtual attention is something that would need to be explained to me, since no one here knows who I am.)

Robespierre, sorry I wasn't more clear in my post (it was very late at night!). I was quoting francophile's comment, who'd directed that line at you previously. I agree that your posts cover a range of topics, and as I said earlier I often find your advice very helpful. I also think one would be hard-pressed to make a case that you have &quot;a quest to get attention virtually&quot; -- since when does voicing an opinion equate with a need for attention, especially in a forum where opinions are asked for on a daily basis??

Thanks for the clarification - and the support. It's usually the critics who are the most vociferous.

Yeah I know - that's why I felt I had to put in my 2cents!

(BTW, I especially liked all the help you gave on the Paris metro escalators/elevators thread - lots of good details. And everyone replying was so civil - amazing that I should find that such a pleasant surprise! )

I don't want to get in the middle of anything here, but can I still post a question? I encountered a computer glitch when buying TGV tickets from voyages-sncf. In short, the program failed and I never got far enough to get a booking number for my tickets, nor could I print them, BUT I was still billed for them on my credit card. I am going back and forth via email with their customer service, but think I should probably try to call. The support section of ther website is confusing. It is hard to figure out the right phone number to try. Anyone know a good number to call there, where I will be able to speak to someone in English?

here you are:

33 8 92 35 35 39 (English)

Hope they work it out for you! Its odd that you got all they way to billing without a booking number. Their system should have sent you an email with all the booking details even if it wasnt displayed in your browser.

Thank you very much MorganB. That website was easy in some ways and confusing in others. Our credit card company told us to go ahead and rebook it, but it is good to have a number to call should we find they have charged us twice.

Your welcome. If you are having problems booking you might want to look for a guide I posted that gives you step by step instructions. I will move it up to the top for you so its easy to locate.