Thank You France!

wrote:


True story. We found a parking garage just south of Montmart, parked,
walked out of the building and began reading our map in an attempt to get
our bearings so we could proceed to Sacre Coeur. A French gentleman walking
by stopped and pleasantly asked if he could help us find something. In very
good and kind English he explained how we could reach our destination AND
included a couple of suggestions for other things we might want to see in
the area.

That is similar to my first visit to Paris. We had arrived by train and my wife,
15 year old son and I were standing in a Metro station staring at the map and
trying to make sense of it. A very nice lady walked up and offered to help us.
That was my first of many pleasant interaction with the people of Paris.

wrote in :

To the people of France, thank you from a very happy American couple.

area.

I will certainly return to France someday. The people were great,
Paris is so charming and vibrant, and the country is so beautiful.
(oh! that drive along the Seine from Paris to Rouen and all the
villages built along the ridges and the river) Who knows, maybe
someday I will be fortunate enough to retire in France.

Again, merci beaucoup!




If I had a dollar for every idiot who has never been out of the US who has
told me how much the French "hate us" I would be a rich man. What is worse,
you will now find that no one, other than those already in the know,will
believe you when you relate your good fortune. It drives me to drink,
thankfully I have a bottle of Graves ready!

On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 10:18:36 -0500, wrote:


To the people of France, thank you from a very happy American couple.

My wife and I spent several weeks planning a Valentine's trip to France. We
posted questions to this newsgroup and other travel forums. We read what
travel guides we could find, etc. It seemed that the more we read online in
forums and travel reviews, the more we were led to believe that the French,
in general, were rude and/or inconsiderate to their American guests.

I've never actually -seen- an American walk into a store and start off with
"Does anyone here speak English?". If any of those exist, they probably have
had a different experience. Similarly, asking a Parisian shopkeeper "How much
is this in real money?" is a bad way to start a business relationship ;-)

But "Bonjour, madam. Parlez-vous Anglais?" usually gets you a "Sure, I speak a
little...". Attitude is everything. The French have never been other than
gracious and outgoing to me even though my working vocabulary surely does not
exceed 400 words. They want to do business with us and will gladly meet us
half-way; they just don't want to have to make the entire trip by themselves.


(change Arabic number to Roman numeral to email)

jcoulter wrote:
wrote in :

To the people of France, thank you from a very happy American couple.

area.

I will certainly return to France someday. The people were great,
Paris is so charming and vibrant, and the country is so beautiful.
(oh! that drive along the Seine from Paris to Rouen and all the
villages built along the ridges and the river) Who knows, maybe
someday I will be fortunate enough to retire in France.

Again, merci beaucoup!

If I had a dollar for every idiot who has never been out of the US who has
told me how much the French "hate us" I would be a rich man. What is worse,
you will now find that no one, other than those already in the know,will
believe you when you relate your good fortune. It drives me to drink,
thankfully I have a bottle of Graves ready!

I'll see you your Graves, and raise you my fx: checks... St-Emilion 2003.

hic

Hmm. A Tuilerie d'Aiguepierce. Probably not a grand cru. Tasty, though.
Cheers !

--
D. in Paris

Frank Clarke wrote in
:




I've never actually -seen- an American walk into a store and start off
with "Does anyone here speak English?".

I actually did something damn close. My first day in France in the Gare de
Lyon, totally lost, confused and with 10 minutes for my train to leave I
dropped my bags and exclaimed "Oh ****, does anyone here speak English!" I
got help. for which I was and am eternally grateful.
If any of those exist, they
probably have had a different experience. Similarly, asking a
Parisian shopkeeper "How much is this in real money?" is a bad way to
start a business relationship ;-)
LOL I actually heard that one in Mexico (when the guy couldn't get an
answer from the barmaid, he asked me, I told him how many pesos, don't
think he understood)

Frank Clarke wrote in
:




I've never actually -seen- an American walk into a store and start off
with "Does anyone here speak English?".

I actually did something damn close. My first day in France in the Gare de
Lyon, totally lost, confused and with 10 minutes for my train to leave I
dropped my bags and exclaimed "Oh ****, does anyone here speak English!" I
got help. for which I was and am eternally grateful.
If any of those exist, they
probably have had a different experience. Similarly, asking a
Parisian shopkeeper "How much is this in real money?" is a bad way to
start a business relationship ;-)
LOL I actually heard that one in Mexico (when the guy couldn't get an
answer from the barmaid, he asked me, I told him how many pesos, don't
think he understood)

"chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn"
wrote in message
news:1gs3lxq.k30ha41qsvvtiN%this_address_is_for_sp ...


The poster was disagreeing with your assertion that "People are pretty
much the same wherever you go."


Yes, sir, Mr. Horne, that was my point.

Given your recent postings on the Swiss, do you really agree with your
own statement?


What did he say about the Swiss those precise, fiscally responsible
*******s? I missed the post and would be interested.

Thanks,

On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 17:57:18 -0600, jcoulter
wrote:

Frank Clarke wrote in
:




I've never actually -seen- an American walk into a store and start off
with "Does anyone here speak English?".

I actually did something damn close. My first day in France in the Gare de
Lyon, totally lost, confused and with 10 minutes for my train to leave I
dropped my bags and exclaimed "Oh ****, does anyone here speak English!" I
got help. for which I was and am eternally grateful.
If any of those exist, they
probably have had a different experience. Similarly, asking a
Parisian shopkeeper "How much is this in real money?" is a bad way to
start a business relationship ;-)
LOL I actually heard that one in Mexico (when the guy couldn't get an
answer from the barmaid, he asked me, I told him how many pesos, don't
think he understood)


Worse than that, I once asked a taxi driver in Verona
'Parla Italiano?' Both he and my wife burst out laughing.

Mxsmanic wrote:

writes:

We found a parking garage just south of Montmart ...

You drove in Paris??


LOL. That's one city that I will not drive in. The two times I have arrived
at Paris by car I dropped the rental car at the airport and used public
transportation. The city streets are like a spider web, changing direction
and names every few blocks. I have seen lots of cars parked along the sides
of the streets with just a few inches between them, but I can't recall every
seeing an empty parking spot. I just found it so much easier to use the
Metro to get me anywhere I wanted to go in the city.

Mxsmanic wrote:

writes:

We found a parking garage just south of Montmart ...

You drove in Paris??


LOL. That's one city that I will not drive in. The two times I have arrived
at Paris by car I dropped the rental car at the airport and used public
transportation. The city streets are like a spider web, changing direction
and names every few blocks. I have seen lots of cars parked along the sides
of the streets with just a few inches between them, but I can't recall every
seeing an empty parking spot. I just found it so much easier to use the
Metro to get me anywhere I wanted to go in the city.