On Wed, 03 Jul 2013 15:13:46 -0700, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
wrote:




Frank Clarke wrote:
On Tue, 02 Jul 2013 14:09:15 -0700, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
wrote:

On the rebuttal side, I have (perhaps) 400 to 800 words in my French vocabulary.
This has always been more than adequate for me to purchase a METRO ticket,
interpret a menu, order a meal, and locate the men's room.

The legendary French rudeness I cannot attest to, never having received any. On
the contrary, Parisians (and all other French) have been nothing but cordial to
me.

Or perhaps I am simply too forgiving.

That was always my experience, too. Of course, I never walked into a
store demanding (in English) "Do you have ....?" without so much as a
polite "Bon jour", first. Usually, once my American accent was
apparent, the person in the shop would reply in English. (Although
sometimes, the French sense of humour being what it is, they'd let me
struggle along until I had to admit defeat and ask if someone spoke
English.)



In 2008 Norene and I wound up leading an ad hoc tour -- ourselves and four
friends -- long story -- into France starting with a week in Paris then off into
Normandy and the Loire. http://tbm-mo.home.mindspring.com/2008FR/index.html

We rented an apartment for 6 in Montmartre and split it 6 ways, $400/wk/person.
Joe M, the only other guy, is retired USMC and so is up at 6am wherever in the
world he is. Joe's education is strictly high school and I can't say his
command of French extends as far as "bonjour", but he reads voraciously. At
6:00 he rises, grabs his Kindle and goes to the living room to read for 30-45
minutes, then gets the key, lets himself out, and he prowls the streets of Paris
looking for breakfast. The first morning he stumbles into a bistro and sits at
the counter. The waiter hands him a menu; "Bonjour, monsieur." Joe says "Oh,
sorry, I don't read French". The waiter whisks it away and hands him another:
"No problem. Here's one in English."

All the locals apparently think to themselves "Oh, good; here's someone who
can't massacre our language, and we get to practice our English on him!" In
moments he's surrounded by Parisians: "What is that?"

"It's a Kindle."

"Qu'est-ce que c'est 'kindle'?"

"It's an ebook reader. You download books from the web and you can read them
here."

"Do they have 'Les Miserables'?"

Joe downloads a copy of LM in French. Ooooh. Aaaaah.

We stayed in Paris 7 days. Joe ate breakfast there 5 days. By the time we left
for Normandy he was 'a regular'.

Tell Joe all about how snooty and rude Parisians are. He can always use a good
laugh.



FrankC
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