I have heard from several sources that at some time in the recent past (say the last 20 years or so) one of the presidents of France (or perhaps some other high ranking government official) advised the French in general, and Parisians in particular, to be friendlier to tourists. None of the sources however was able to provide any details so I think this might be an %26quot;urban legend%26quot; perhaps being spread by France-bashers. Did this really happen?
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No, I do believe this was discussed earlier on the forum and occurred sometime between 9/11 and 2005.
Along the same timeline, some sort of %26#39;tourist ambassador%26#39; program was implemented with walkers going around the airport, to help passengers...
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YES...it actually happened a couple of years ago...Jacques Chirac, I think...in response to a down-turn in tourism to France after 9/11 supposedly offered it as advice to ministers at a Cabinet meenting.
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Wouldn%26#39;t it also have been nice if President Bush had suggested that some American tourists be more polite in Paris? I have seen so many whose behavior just makes me shudder! But of course Mr. Bush can probably not even locate Paris on a map, so that would be wishful thinking on my part. ;)
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President Bush doesn%26#39;t have to say anything. Have you ever been to New York City?
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Hello,
Boy it gets my back up when someone says the French have to be told (or reminded) how to treat strangers in their city. I have been going to Paris for many years and no matter what anyone says, the general French population have always been very nice, friendly and helpful. We are not high rollers and usually stay in modest priced places.
Back about maybe l984 my friend had her wallet lifted with everything in it........passport, all her monies, travellers checks, id, everything. All the French we dealt with were just wonderful........wonderful. The only rude, nasty, uncaring, people were those in the U.S.Embassy who had no sympathy or concern for her situation. When she said she had no money even for a room for the night, they suggested she go to the railroad station and get a cot there (of course I had money). We had to do a lot of running around to get a new passport/photo, back to the embassy to get sign papers, wait and finally a new passport.
The manager of our small hotel knew we had a reservation on the early evening train to Rome and he actually packed all our belongings and had them in the lobby so we would be ready to leave as soon as we returned from the embassy (we were sure we would miss that train). When we could not seem to get a cab, he told us to stay there and went out and got us one. Everyone was terrific...just terrific (with the one exception).
Years ago (maybe 1980) we were looking at the metro map deciding whether we would go back to the hotel or someplace else when an older man asked where we wanted to go. We hadnt decided but said the hotel to please him. He led us down into the metro, showed us where to buy tickets, which coins to use, which metro to take and where to get off. He was not going on the metro himself and could not have been kinder....and no common language between us.
Been going more seriously for the past 7 or 8 years and get the greatest treatment. We speak only a few words of French yet everyone is extremely nice to us. Sometimes they try to help us when we dont want help. Tis almost annoying, since we generally know how to get around, enjoy being a bit lost and would often rather find our own way. Help comes from many people.......on a bus, a street corner, in a line .........everywhere.
We have also been behind tourists who are so rude or demanding to service people that when they deal with us, we dont expect them to be nice. We also do not expect things to be the way they are home and keep a low key. And we do expect people to be annoyed at us for not doing things the right way. It is their country and we do stupid things at times.
I could tell you many more stories of help which was %26quot;beyond the call%26quot; and extraordinary in Paris and other places in France. If some official said to be kind to Americans or tourists, it was not much of a challange to the French. It seems to be their nature to want to help people.
If someone has a problem with rudeness, I would suggest it is mucg more of an exception than the rule. And perhaps they caused it by their own (maybe inocent) actions. Cest la vive!
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Very well said bea. I feel exactly the same way.
%26lt;%26lt;And we do expect people to be annoyed at us for not doing things the right way. It is their country and we do stupid things at times.%26gt;%26gt;
Yes, you need to humble yourself a bit when you%26#39;re a guest in another country.
I do remember that edict a few years back but I don%26#39;t remember who issued it. It wasn%26#39;t directed at the %26quot;French people%26quot;, it was addressing customer service by government functionaires, shop keepers and other service employees.
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I remember a %26quot;be nice to the tourists%26quot; push in the early 90s. The office of tourism was leading it. There were even posters....
Les
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Boy it gets my back up when someone says the French have to be told (or reminded) how to treat strangers in their city. I have been going to Paris for many years and no matter what anyone says, the general French population have always been very nice, friendly and helpful. We are not high rollers and usually stay in modest priced places%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
Jacques Chirac, a past Mayor of Paris and now President was the one who made the suggestion---in part as a public relations effort to counter some of the international anti-French perceptions that were running rampant at the time...that still persist. Hardly a wekk goes by on this forum and others with questions about Parisian rudeness. Your own indignant, %26quot;..no matter what anyone says..%26quot; response and defense is a %26#39;counter-proof%26#39; to the STILL widely held misperception. Whether it is true or not doesn%26#39;t seem to matter much to the dogged persistence of the misperception.
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For one thing, people in the rest of France often consider Parisians rude, just as many Americans consider New Yorkers rude, whether deserved or not. These kind of sentiments die hard.
Partly it is cultural. Standard service in a Parisian restaurant can seem a bit gruff an under par to Americans, while standard service in an Asian city like Bangkok would appear stellar to us, perhaps even uncomfortably ingratiating, complete with bows and lowered eyelids while presenting the check.
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