[QUOTE=Loach]
Everyone left out one factor. Those Americans who do go to France probably spend most of their time in Paris. From personal experience everyone hates Parisians, including the rest of France. I remember talking with some French in the Hofbrauhaus tent at Ocktoberfest. They begged me not to judge the whole country by how they are in Paris.
[/QUOTE]
I’d like to second Loach’s point. Paris thrives on its (well-deserved) reputation of being one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But unless one is visiting during the dead of winter, one must be prepared for a welcome that is less than enthusiastic on the part of the vendors, restaurateurs, government officials, police, and everyday citizens. I know that the same weariness towards visitors may be found in most any tourist Mecca, yet the Parisians seem to have elevated their disdain to a high art. The single day I spent in Paris back in April of 93 proved a gourmet feast of sneering condescension. The gentleman who cashed my travellers cheque; the vendor who sold me a croissant; the none-too-helpful guide at the Louvre; the clerks at most of the stores I ventured into; and finally, the guard at the Musee D’Orsay, who had decided to close up the Renoir Exhibit half an hour early. I may be a clueless tourist at times, but I’m never deliberately rude, even in situations where a rude response would be entirely understandable. Once I boarded a train and left the City of Lights, most of its grander sights unseen, the situation changed. I spent the next day in Nice and Cannes, where I met a far more cordial reception.
From what I’ve been told, my experience would probably have been even worse were it not for the fact that I had taken a couple of years of French and at least made the attempt to speak and understand in that language before switching (when possible) to English. My parents, for example, were once kicked off of a bus in Paris by a driver who seemed outraged that a pair of non-Francophones would dare sully his spotless vehicle. My high school French teacher (who visited Paris every summer) warned us that that Parisian police have been known to ignore pleas for help from mugged tourists who failed to lodge their requests in the proper tongue.
Do I hate the French? Naw. I may laugh at the “cheese-eating surreder monkeys” jokes, but I don’t munch on Freedom Fries or boycott brands of mustard bedecked with a certain tri-color banner. But, on the other hand, I have no plans to donate any more of my hard-earned money to the citizens of Paris.
