le Fri, 28 Feb 2003 09:19:46 -0500, dans l'article , Dave Smith a dit ...

    >> > Why go to France when you can go to Spain?. I'll never understand that. You get
    >> > friendly people, great food, excellent service and nice weather. I dare anybody
    >> > to find that complete package in France.

    >> spain isn't paris. plain and simple. parisians are rude to everyone,
    >> including each other. if you are an ass, than you can expect to be
    >> hassled and treated poorly. just like everywhere in the world. be kind
    >> and you will be treated with kindness.

    > I have been to Paris on three occasions. I did not find people to be rude, certainly
    > not the French. I found people to be extremely friendly.

I'm glad you said it and not I. Maybe the previous poster lives in the
provinces. I know that when I travel outside Paris, people tell me that
when they see my bike's registration number (which ends in '75', thus
identifying it as being registered in Paris), they expect rudeness and
atroicious road manners.

--
Desmond Coughlan
desmond @ zeouane.org
http: // www . zeouane . org

Marie Lewis wrote in news:TwK6$LFZ6xX+Ewp3
@nodanw.demon.co.uk:

    > In article , David
    > writes
    >>Unfortunately service staff in UK are badly paid
    > But! the minimum wage applies to them, too.

Out of curiousity, what is the minimum wage in the UK?

Marie Lewis wrote:

    >In article , David
    > writes
    >>Unfortunately service staff in UK are badly paid
    > But! the minimum wage applies to them, too.
So? You can be badly paid on UK minimum wages.

PB

Rudy wrote:

    > > Je suis presque aussi fute comme un pomme de terre.
    > I am ... like a potato. Good one.
    > Seriously, to return to the original question, which was serious, can
    > an American who has been to France in the past month report about
    > their attitudes?

I returned two weeks ago, and most people's attitudes hadn't changed from
earlier visits; if you are friendly and polite almost everyone you meet
will be. As I was working with the same group of people for a month we
occasionally did discuss world politics, and the attitudes I found were
as broad as they are in the US. No one considered US policy to be my
personal fault; as in the US, there is a differentiation between
government and individuals. Many French are unhappy with the position of
Chirac and his government, and many support it. Just as many US citizens
agree with the President and many don't.

Larry

--
Larry Finch

N 40° 53' 47"
W 74° 03' 56"

d wrote:
    >
    > In article ,
    > [email protected] says...
    > >
    > >
    > > Why go to France when you can go to Spain?. I'll never understand that. You get
    > > friendly people, great food, excellent service and nice weather. I dare anybody
    > > to find that complete package in France.
    > >
    >
    > spain isn't paris. plain and simple. parisians are rude to everyone,
    > including each other. if you are an ass, than you can expect to be
    > hassled and treated poorly. just like everywhere in the world. be kind
    > and you will be treated with kindness.

I still say I've yet to encounter anything I'd call "rudeness" in
Paris! (Unless you consider not speaking English as "rude", but that
subject has been chewed over interminably here, already.) But then,
I've always followed the course you advise - I remember I'm a guest in
other countries, and try to behave like one.

On Fri, 28 Feb 2003 12:53:35 +0100, d
wrote:


    >spain isn't paris. plain and simple. parisians are rude to everyone,
    >including each other. if you are an ass, than you can expect to be
    >hassled and treated poorly. just like everywhere in the world. be kind
    >and you will be treated with kindness.

The only rudeness I experienced in Paris was at the Hertz counter at
the airport, and that may have been related to their having 60+ people
in fornt of them all wanting their cars RIGHT NOW! Everyone else I
met got gold stars for demeanor.

Charles Hawtrey wrote:


    >
    > From my visits to France it also seems customary to greet the
    > shopkeeper with a "bonjour" when one enters. Is this true? If so,
    > what's the protocol: Does the customer greet first, or the
    > shopkeeper? How far does this custom extend - is it only in small,
    > single-proprietor shops or does one also greet the hired staff in
    > larger shops? What about restaurants or other establishments?


It's similar in Germany. There one usually greets the staff, but in
larger establishments they are often busy doing something and don't
catch your eye.



--
WE CAN STOP THIS WAR
www.stopwar.org.uk

I dig a Pygmy by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids... Phase One in which
Doris gets her oats

"Charles Hawtrey" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On Thu, 27 Feb 2003 03:13:47 +0000, Desmond Coughlan
    > wrote:
    > >le Thu, 27 Feb 2003 02:46:35 GMT, dans l'article
, Larry & Wanda Finch
a dit ...
    > >> It is important to be polite yourself; Parisians (and French people in
    > >> general) are more formal that we in the US are used to. In the offices
I
    > >> visited everyone says hello (well, actually "bonjour") when they come
    > >> into an office, and also shake hands all around.
    > >
    > >True. Also, the American habit of using people's first name five minutes
    > >after you first meet, will get you short shrift here.
    > From my visits to France it also seems customary to greet the
    > shopkeeper with a "bonjour" when one enters. Is this true? If so,
    > what's the protocol: Does the customer greet first, or the
    > shopkeeper? How far does this custom extend - is it only in small,
    > single-proprietor shops or does one also greet the hired staff in
    > larger shops? What about restaurants or other establishments?
    > Not that I think anyone would refuse service for failure to greet
    > them, just "when in Rome..." (or in Nice, or wherever). Please excuse
    > all the questions but I find these different social customs one of the
    > more interesting aspects of travel!
    > ___________________________________________
    > Unit #02582: Endangered Old-Growth Redwood
    > Toothpick Artisans, LLC [TINEOGRTALLC]
    > --
    > Frivolity is a stern taskmaster.

i go to Paris anyway, I don't care about rudeness. Important is to make fun
myself. btw,
who is not rude? some people in each country are rude, the same about
americans.