Are the French Really That Nice?

I couldn%26#39;t resist.

I%26#39;ve only been following this board for a little over a month and the %26quot;are the French rude?%26quot; discussions have already been beaten to death.

For those of you that follow/post on this board over a long period of time you must be more willing to have splinters shoved under your fingernails than read this crap. But somehow another inane post with the same topic gather 62 posts????

(I must admit that I have only read a few of the posts on the thread and maybe the topic actually is serving some redeeming value but I%26#39;m doubting that is possible.)

Not expecting any replies to this subject, I just needed to vent!

Mike

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Everything i have ever read and heard about, is the French are not nice at all.

therefore, my recommendation, is to not ever go to France..

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I just called my airline and cancelled my non-refundable tickets. That will show them.

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Yes, they really are that nice. I got a €1 discount in Subway and other cool stuff.

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Yes! The French are nice! So there! We should make sure that this particular topic gets more replies than that previous ridiculous one.

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If the first French person you ever met was my ex-mother-in-law, you wouldn%26#39;t go to Paris if someone put you up at the Ritz for free and fed you escargot all day.

My ex-mother-in-law really was a rude and nasty person.

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Our neighborhood cinema gives us the %26#39;senior discount%26#39;, based on my husband%26#39;s silver hair and walking stick :)

Our hotel manager came out and hugged us goodbye last fall

The Asian deli guy ran down rue Daguerre looking for my husband b/c he had left his walking stick behind

People on the bus always try to give their seat to hubby (that walking stick again)

A different hotel manager, many years ago, found us another hotel and PAID the taxi to take us there b/c our room had been cancelled by mistake when I closed out the credit card on file, and AAA did not tell me the hotel called

A doctor played golf w/ my husband at Disney, then insisted on us riding back with him in his car to Paris (very little English was used but we had a little bit of conversation)

We always say %26quot;those French, so rude%26quot; :-) when these things happen...

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People are people, generally nice,my experience is what you give out is what comes back to you. Cheers Dan

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Pix - You%26#39;ve got to let it go!!!It%26#39;s not healthy.

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I think I%26#39;m going to bring a walking stick next time. It seems as if it is a real benefit!

Everyone was wonderful to us when we were in Paris.

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Pix is usually very funny (or informative) yet his comments about his ex-Mother-in-Law are actually VERY funny! And again, who DOESEN%26#39;T have a funny anecdote about their mother-in-law (especially if they%26#39;re an EX)?

Not ALL French are rude (actually very few) but the few ones we ALL inevitably encounter are horrible. Many of us know the %26quot;holier-than-thou%26quot; stare that we recieve on occassion, from certain people in the service industry (aka Waiters in a cafe)........ A Metro employee once ignored me (on my first trip) when asking for %26quot;un carnet%26quot;, professed to not speak ANY English (even when asked for %26quot;un carnet%26quot;). But it was probably my error because I probably did NOT address him with %26quot;Bonjour Monsiuer, je voudrais un carnet%26quot;......... my bad....... I%26#39;ve learned a LOT since then.......

But on the whole, they are very nice and pleasant people. A little effort to speak %26quot;pidgen%26quot; French goes a LONG way in ANY encounter with a local.

For a better experience, one should leave Paris and explore the country. Yes, many speak English, but they DO appreciate ANY effort you make to approach them on their own terms/turf.

I myself remember stopping at a gas station in the Loire on a Sunday. I looked for the credit-card reader on the pumps (because that%26#39;s what we have in America), there was none. So I went into the station to give them my credit card while I pumped our petrol, I apologised %26quot;je suis desole, je ne parle pas Francais, parlez-vous en peu Anglaise? and the girl nodded and said %26quot;pay when you are finished pumping%26quot;.

We do NOT get this at home - I found it refreshing......

I won%26#39;t mention another experience at a patisserie the same Sunday (in a small town - shut down for the day)........

Most of the people I encounter in France are wonderful! They KNOW we are tourists, yet they are still polite, and are helpful when it is required.

When you address them as a person (Bonjour Monsiuer/Madame) and offer a pithy apology about not being able to speak French, most of the French I have encountered are friendly, helpful and almost overly helpful when asked for assistance.

Yes, I am tired of the %26quot;Are the French rude%26quot; threads. It%26#39;s an outdated idea from the %26#39;60%26#39;s %26amp; %26#39;70%26#39;s post-Gaullist France. The French have gotten over it, so why hasn%26#39;t the rest of the world caught up? The French are a wonderful people, and if it were not so, then I would not have fallen in love with France after my first visit!

But, this is a forum for information, so when someone who hasn%26#39;t been to France asks about the stereotype of the %26quot;French being Rude%26quot;, it is up to us to correct the false assumption and explain why the French are so........ French and why it is actually better that they are so....... French............. AND why so many of us here love them for it.....

Vive la difference! Vive la France!