The French – friendly or not?
Discussion
So, 12 years ago I went to Paris and found the French people to be utterly charming, with the exception of one waiter in a restaurant on the Champs-Élysées who came across as nice but served me a suspiciously cold glass of red wine which I couldn't complain about because my French wasn't good enough. One of my colleagues goes to the Monaco Grand Prix every year and stays in France and says that the French are very helpful and friendly, particularly if you try to speak a bit of French.
However, my OH tells me the opposite. She said no one would communicate with her when she was in Paris a few years back and I've spoken to others who paint a very anti-social picture of the French.
So, what's the truth? I'd love to explore France a whole lot more, particularly the Riviera. I know a little French and will continue to learn. How much of a challenge is it really likely to be?
However, my OH tells me the opposite. She said no one would communicate with her when she was in Paris a few years back and I've spoken to others who paint a very anti-social picture of the French.
So, what's the truth? I'd love to explore France a whole lot more, particularly the Riviera. I know a little French and will continue to learn. How much of a challenge is it really likely to be?
MitchT said:
a suspiciously cold glass of red wine
Some reds* are best served lightly chilled, about 12º, which can feel pretty cold on a hot day. * (usually the lighter, fruity ones: Chinon, Saumur, Morgon, that sort of thing. OTOH, if you were served a Bordeaux with an ice cube, that's wrong, and frankly rather distressing)
MitchT said:
the French are very helpful and friendly, particularly if you try to speak a bit of French.
This ^rdjohn said:
Paris is not France.
and that ^I have been visiting France for last 40 years and have found that you get treated very well if you are polite and pleasant from the outset and try to speak a little French-they respond like all people to being treated this way and I have always been treated very well and places where I return am always greeted well-this applies anywhere in the world
tvron said:
I have been visiting France for last 40 years and have found that you get treated very well if you are polite and pleasant from the outset and try to speak a little French-they respond like all people to being treated this way and I have always been treated very well and places where I return am always greeted well-this applies anywhere in the world
Spot-on. It is all about manners and politeness with some effort. Sadly, I suspect it is the more arrogant folk who get the "cold-shoulder" treatment.I lived there for a year. Almost everyone was pleasant, many very friendly. If you were walking down a quiet street and someone came the other way, they'd typically say hello.
I did the same in southern France near Perpignan and got blanked.
Just goes to show, wherever you go: southerners are t
ts.
I did the same in southern France near Perpignan and got blanked.
Just goes to show, wherever you go: southerners are t
ts. 
0000 said:
I've never been convinced they appreciate the hash I make of their language but for some reason I persist.
Keep trying.As a crowded city Paris is a place where people may have strongly-contrasted levels of appreciation, but I expect that most locals who can feel the effort you make may in return make the effort to reply your questions, even if their english is limited. Just seems to go this way pretty much in every big foreign city I have visited so far.
Never been to France, apart from as a kid with school however I sold a car to a French guy who moved over here with work from Paris, before I knew he had moved here with work I asked him why he moved over to the UK; his response, " because Paris is full of arrogant French people and I can't stand them, the job opportunity came up and I couldn't get out of there quick enough!"
One thing to consider is if you turn up to a village that doesn't see much tourism, and you speak muddled French, you're either a fun curiosity or annoying, so it can go either way.
Do the same in Paris, and not to say you can't be annoying, but you're only unusual in that you're a step above the usual monotony of SPEAK-ING ENG-LISH tourist idiots, so I reckon the odds are in your favour.
Do the same in Paris, and not to say you can't be annoying, but you're only unusual in that you're a step above the usual monotony of SPEAK-ING ENG-LISH tourist idiots, so I reckon the odds are in your favour.
I've lived not far from Paris for the last 12 years.
At first I thought they were rude then I convinced myself they were just being direct and doing away with niceties.
Now I just think they're rude and crass.
For a "socialist" country, the spirit of each man for himself (especially on the roads) is breathtaking.
At first I thought they were rude then I convinced myself they were just being direct and doing away with niceties.
Now I just think they're rude and crass.
For a "socialist" country, the spirit of each man for himself (especially on the roads) is breathtaking.
There's a difference between politeness and courteousness. In my experience (and I've lived here 5 years) the French are polite (i.e. they will always say bonjour) however they don't 'get' courtesy. They will not give way on the road and won't open a door for you. I think it maybe harks back to their 'classless' society (except that it isn't) and all that 'egalité' stuff... It drove me mad for a long time, I guess I'm just getting used to it now.
Le Pop said:
There's a difference between politeness and courteousness. In my experience (and I've lived here 5 years) the French are polite (i.e. they will always say bonjour) however they don't 'get' courtesy. They will not give way on the road and won't open a door for you. I think it maybe harks back to their 'classless' society (except that it isn't) and all that 'egalité' stuff... It drove me mad for a long time, I guess I'm just getting used to it now.
What he says...Le Pop said:
There's a difference between politeness and courteousness. In my experience (and I've lived here 5 years) the French are polite (i.e. they will always say bonjour) however they don't 'get' courtesy. They will not give way on the road and won't open a door for you. I think it maybe harks back to their 'classless' society (except that it isn't) and all that 'egalité' stuff... It drove me mad for a long time, I guess I'm just getting used to it now.
Good observation.To the average French I would guess that it will always come a bit as a contradiction as how the British seem to be, on the whole, so "curteous" as individuals, which is probably helped by a higher average sense of "community", yet seem to be pleased with national UK policies, laws, etc that may be taken as particulary "antisocial" to even the most aloof average parisian.
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