I visited Paris twice. I met two rude people–exactly two: one was the English owner of Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore. The other was a French waiter. I spent about two weeks in the city over the course of three years. With the exception of these two, EVERYone was extremely kind and helpful. Maybe it was because I followed the advice in my guidebook: Always greet people with “Bon jour” or “Bon soir” and then ask, “Parlez vous Anglais?” There may be some evidence to support this. Mike Trotman and I watched three American college boys–with baseball caps, t-shirts and shorts–walk up to a policeman and without even saying hello in English, start asking him directions–in English. He turned his back on them without a word and his cute little cape caught one of them across the face.
Because of the rude and snobby inhabitants, I sometimes forget what a beautiful city Paris is. That is a stunning photo. I’ll be passing that around.
I visited Paris twice. I met two rude people–exactly two: one was the English owner of Shakespeare and Co. Bookstore. The other was a French waiter. I spent about two weeks in the city over the course of three years. With the exception of these two, EVERYone was extremely kind and helpful. Maybe it was because I followed the advice in my guidebook: Always greet people with “Bon jour” or “Bon soir” and then ask, “Parlez vous Anglais?” There may be some evidence to support this. Mike Trotman and I watched three American college boys–with baseball caps, t-shirts and shorts–walk up to a policeman and without even saying hello in English, start asking him directions–in English. He turned his back on them without a word and his cute little cape caught one of them across the face.