Fred Fowler

Hi All:

We are getting married May 10th.

My Fiance had never been to Europe so I thought Paris would be nice
honeymoon trip and a fun way to introduce her to the different
cultures and feeling of Europe. I have contacted 6 hotels via email,
and have not had a single response back from any. While I know that
American sentiment is not well loved now, should I just abandon the
idea and spend my $10K in another country?

Any suggestions?

Pan

On Tue, 18 Feb 2003 00:27:12 -0500, Fred Fowler
wrote:

    >Hi All:
    >We are getting married May 10th.
    >My Fiance had never been to Europe so I thought Paris would be nice
    >honeymoon trip and a fun way to introduce her to the different
    >cultures and feeling of Europe. I have contacted 6 hotels via email,
    >and have not had a single response back from any. While I know that
    >American sentiment is not well loved now, should I just abandon the
    >idea and spend my $10K in another country?
    >Any suggestions?

Yes. Pick up your phone and call! France isn't anywhere near fully
hooked into the Internet, and just because an email address is listed
for a hotel doesn't mean they check their email regularly. If you
don't know enough French to make a reservation for a double room and
understand the quoted price on the phone, I suggest that you brush up.

Paris is a wonderful place, and the people are generally helpful and
quite polite (be warned that they expect adherence to a code of
etiquette you should learn about), though they have things to do and
places to go and may not always stop to answer you if you approach
people on the street with questions. If you want to visit areas not
that far from Paris where people are more effusively friendly in
general, consider Burgundy and the Loire Valley, two areas where I and
my family had a wonderful time last summer. But make sure to learn
some French; you'll need it.

Michael

Sjoerd

"Fred Fowler" schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
    > Hi All:
    > We are getting married May 10th.
    > My Fiance had never been to Europe so I thought Paris would be nice
    > honeymoon trip and a fun way to introduce her to the different
    > cultures and feeling of Europe. I have contacted 6 hotels via email,
    > and have not had a single response back from any. While I know that
    > American sentiment is not well loved now, should I just abandon the
    > idea and spend my $10K in another country?
    > Any suggestions?

There are about a zillion websites where you can browse Parisian hotels, and
book on-line. Reliable, quick and cheap. Do a Yahoo search for "Book Paris
hotels".

Sjoerd

Goose

If you want to enjoy Paris and France, learn the bare essentials of the French language eg. greetings, counting, titles etc.

My wife and I visited Paris in 1993 and I hated Paris and Parisians thinking that they were rude and arrogant. I was the one being rude and arrogant. The French are very proud of their language and their culture and do not enjoy being addressed in English.

We spent a month in France in 2002 and a week in Paris and fell in love with Paris. We bought a phrase book and learnt the very basics. We bumbled our way through introductions and the starts of conversation. That is sufficient for the proud French. Generally, they will smile at your feeble and clumsy attempts and will interrupt in English and the conversation will continue in English, the French being satisfied that you have at least tried to converse with them in their native language. Ultimately the French also have places to be and things to do, so they will revert to English in order to help you and move on.

Mike Jacoubowsky

    > My Fiance had never been to Europe so I thought Paris would be nice
    > honeymoon trip and a fun way to introduce her to the different
    > cultures and feeling of Europe. I have contacted 6 hotels via email,
    > and have not had a single response back from any. While I know that
    > American sentiment is not well loved now, should I just abandon the
    > idea and spend my $10K in another country?

There are *so* many sites that specialize in finding hotel rooms, with
on-line reservation systems, it shouldn't be necessary to email the hotels.
Not everybody spends as much time at a keyboard as the typical newsgroup
reader... could be they have a life outside the internet... precisely the
reason you would want to go to a place like that.

For starters, you might check out

http://www.hotelsearch-in-paris.com/...php?language=1

But I should ask what you're looking for on your honeymoon. If you're
bothered by things being different from the US, then by all means stay home.
Better chance of people understanding English in the US (although not always
a certainty!). And you may be used to having to pay for your smokes in the
US; in France, the privilege is free in most restaurants.

But-

* if you'd like to experience things different than here in the US,

* if you'd like to have adventures every day and enjoy the places
unintentional detours take you,

* if you'd like to get a railpass, look at a map and say hey, that looks
like an interesting place, let's go!

* if you don't mind getting out a phrasebook now and then to figure things
out and enjoy the smile from the other person as they appreciate your
attempts to communicate in their language rather than seem exasperated
because they don't speak English...

* and if you're willing to recognize that stereotypes are just that, and
that intelligent people get past them instead of thinking that French people
are all rude (totally untrue!) or that Americans all believe they know
what's best for the world...

Then you'll have an absolutely wonderful time!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Alain

As French, I faced the same problem when I e.mailed to hotels in Naples
Florida........

Alain


"Fred Fowler" a écrit dans le message de news:
[email protected]...
    > Hi All:
    > We are getting married May 10th.
    > My Fiance had never been to Europe so I thought Paris would be nice
    > honeymoon trip and a fun way to introduce her to the different
    > cultures and feeling of Europe. I have contacted 6 hotels via email,
    > and have not had a single response back from any. While I know that

Alain

"Fred Fowler" a écrit dans le message de news:
[email protected]...
    > Hi All:
    > We are getting married May 10th.
    > My Fiance had never been to Europe so I thought Paris would be nice
    > honeymoon trip and a fun way to introduce her to the different
    > cultures and feeling of Europe. I have contacted 6 hotels via email,
    > and have not had a single response back from any. While I know that
    > American sentiment is not well loved now, should I just abandon the
    > idea and spend my $10K in another country?
    > Any suggestions?


try this one http://www.hotel-du-champ-de-mars.com/ from "Alain"

Alain

Hobart Xaxinojo

i disagree that this person needs to brush up on his french so that he might
make telephone reservations. all well and good to say but once you
haltingly get it out that you want a reservation the answer will be almost
impossible to understand. i agree with the other poster that most hotels
will have someone who speaks english. anyway this is the beauty of the
internet and email - you can write it in english and use a translator to
make the translation to french and send it off. may not be perfect french
but they will understand. i have always gotten responses back from email.
sometimes it takes a while sometimes not. i also disagree with the comment
that you have to know some french to get along in france. not true. i will
agree that in any country it is always nice to know how to say hello and
goodbye and thank you in the local language and usually this will break the
ice. many many people speak some english. just bring a pocket language
guide - anyway good for restaurants (especially when the english
translations are wrong although these can be quite funny). france is a
wonderful country, beautiful and varied. the people are nice too just like
anywhere else in the world. parisians can be a bit closed and may insist on
a greeting before allowing a question but there ya go local custom is local
custom. anyway unless you really want to i wouldnt spend a lot of time
learning alot of french and anyway the hard part that most people dont think
about is that once you get the question or statement out in the local
language you have to be able to understand the answer - this is the
difficult, nearly impossible part.

"Pan" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On Tue, 18 Feb 2003 00:27:12 -0500, Fred Fowler
    > wrote:
    > >Hi All:
    > >
    > >We are getting married May 10th.
    > >
    > >My Fiance had never been to Europe so I thought Paris would be nice
    > >honeymoon trip and a fun way to introduce her to the different
    > >cultures and feeling of Europe. I have contacted 6 hotels via email,
    > >and have not had a single response back from any. While I know that
    > >American sentiment is not well loved now, should I just abandon the
    > >idea and spend my $10K in another country?
    > >
    > >Any suggestions?
    > Yes. Pick up your phone and call! France isn't anywhere near fully
    > hooked into the Internet, and just because an email address is listed
    > for a hotel doesn't mean they check their email regularly. If you
    > don't know enough French to make a reservation for a double room and
    > understand the quoted price on the phone, I suggest that you brush up.
    > Paris is a wonderful place, and the people are generally helpful and
    > quite polite (be warned that they expect adherence to a code of
    > etiquette you should learn about), though they have things to do and
    > places to go and may not always stop to answer you if you approach
    > people on the street with questions. If you want to visit areas not
    > that far from Paris where people are more effusively friendly in
    > general, consider Burgundy and the Loire Valley, two areas where I and
    > my family had a wonderful time last summer. But make sure to learn
    > some French; you'll need it.
    > Michael

Geraint

sgwennodd "Fred Fowler" yn neges
news:[email protected]...
    > Hi All:
    > We are getting married May 10th.
    > My Fiance had never been to Europe so I thought Paris would be nice
    > honeymoon trip and a fun way to introduce her to the different
    > cultures and feeling of Europe. I have contacted 6 hotels via email,
    > and have not had a single response back from any. While I know that
    > American sentiment is not well loved now, should I just abandon the
    > idea and spend my $10K in another country?
It's nothing to do with your being American! Paris hotels don't have to try
too hard to get business, so it's up to you to make a bit more of an effort.
Try phoning some up - though rather than take a booking there and then, many
just confirm the dates are free and ask you to fax them a confirmation.
Strange, but there you go.

    > Any suggestions?
If you think France sucks just because a few hotels didn't answer your
email, then maybe you shoud go to another country....?

hwyl!
geraint.

Pan

On Tue, 18 Feb 2003 09:48:16 +0100, "hobart xaxinojo"
wrote:

    >i disagree that this person needs to brush up on his french so that he might
    >make telephone reservations. all well and good to say but once you
    >haltingly get it out that you want a reservation the answer will be almost
    >impossible to understand.

I disagree. I was able to book a hotel in Rome by phone and understand
the response in Italian after having never formally studied Italian
and simply listened to tapes for a few weeks and studied a couple of
phrase books and little book of basic Italian grammar and expressions.
It was a challenge, but my success was kind of exhilirating! I then
proceeded upon arrival in Rome to have a 20-minute conversation with a
man in the Railway Information Office about the train schedules to
Latina and Siena. He _DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH_ but spoke extremely clear
Italian and was really, really helpful.

    > i agree with the other poster that most hotels
    >will have someone who speaks english.

Not all of them.

    > anyway this is the beauty of the
    >internet and email - you can write it in english and use a translator to
    >make the translation to french and send it off.

But many hotels won't make reservations by email! That's been his
problem so far!

    > may not be perfect french
    >but they will understand. i have always gotten responses back from email.

He hasn't!

[snip]
    >anyway unless you really want to i wouldnt spend a lot of time
    >learning alot of french and anyway the hard part that most people dont think
    >about is that once you get the question or statement out in the local
    >language you have to be able to understand the answer - this is the
    >difficult, nearly impossible part.

Either you give up easily or perhaps you just have little talent for
learning languages. French is much closer to English than Mandarin and
Hungarian are, yet I was able to make myself understood with
survival-level Mandarin and Hungarian based on only a little study of
teach-yourself Mandarin and Hungarian tapes, a phrasebook, and a
dictionary. There is _nothing_ impossible about being able to
understand the responses, and there's nothing wrong and everything
right with learning how to say "Repetez plus lentement, s'il vous
plait"!

Sheesh! Why would you try to _discourage_ travelers to France from
learning a little of the language? The effort to speak the local
language is usually appreciated, and that's certainly true in France.

Michael

Hobart Xaxinojo

i would venture that most people are like me and are not so adept as you in
learning languages. i never tried to discourage anyone from learning a BIT
of the language just thought it more realistic than your heroic efforts.
his problem was not that they dont make reservations over the internet just
that they had not answered yet.

"Pan" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On Tue, 18 Feb 2003 09:48:16 +0100, "hobart xaxinojo"
    > wrote:
    > >
    > >i disagree that this person needs to brush up on his french so that he
might
    > >make telephone reservations. all well and good to say but once you
    > >haltingly get it out that you want a reservation the answer will be
almost
    > >impossible to understand.
    > I disagree. I was able to book a hotel in Rome by phone and understand
    > the response in Italian after having never formally studied Italian
    > and simply listened to tapes for a few weeks and studied a couple of
    > phrase books and little book of basic Italian grammar and expressions.
    > It was a challenge, but my success was kind of exhilirating! I then
    > proceeded upon arrival in Rome to have a 20-minute conversation with a
    > man in the Railway Information Office about the train schedules to
    > Latina and Siena. He _DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH_ but spoke extremely clear
    > Italian and was really, really helpful.
    > > i agree with the other poster that most hotels
    > >will have someone who speaks english.
    > Not all of them.
    > > anyway this is the beauty of the
    > >internet and email - you can write it in english and use a translator to
    > >make the translation to french and send it off.
    > But many hotels won't make reservations by email! That's been his
    > problem so far!
    > > may not be perfect french
    > >but they will understand. i have always gotten responses back from
email.
    > He hasn't!
    > [snip]
    > >anyway unless you really want to i wouldnt spend a lot of time
    > >learning alot of french and anyway the hard part that most people dont
think
    > >about is that once you get the question or statement out in the local
    > >language you have to be able to understand the answer - this is the
    > >difficult, nearly impossible part.
    > Either you give up easily or perhaps you just have little talent for
    > learning languages. French is much closer to English than Mandarin and
    > Hungarian are, yet I was able to make myself understood with
    > survival-level Mandarin and Hungarian based on only a little study of
    > teach-yourself Mandarin and Hungarian tapes, a phrasebook, and a
    > dictionary. There is _nothing_ impossible about being able to
    > understand the responses, and there's nothing wrong and everything
    > right with learning how to say "Repetez plus lentement, s'il vous
    > plait"!
    > Sheesh! Why would you try to _discourage_ travelers to France from
    > learning a little of the language? The effort to speak the local
    > language is usually appreciated, and that's certainly true in France.
    > Michael

Pan

On Tue, 18 Feb 2003 10:35:08 +0100, "hobart xaxinojo"
wrote:

    >i would venture that most people are like me and are not so adept as you in
    >learning languages. i never tried to discourage anyone from learning a BIT
    >of the language

In which case you agree with me, perhaps, that that means, for
example, enough to order a meal, enough to buy tickets, enough to make
reservations for and check in to a hotel, enough to say "Bonjour,
Messieurs-Dames" and "Au revoir, Messieurs-Dames" and buy things in
stores. If I could do that in Mandarin, I do believe that any
English-speaker of average intelligence can do it in French. Yes,
including you. (I said wryly)

    > just thought it more realistic than your heroic efforts.

There's nothing "heroic" about my efforts.

    >his problem was not that they dont make reservations over the internet just
    >that they had not answered yet.

We don't know that they will ever answer his emails, but in any case,
if he wants faster results, he should call.

Michael

Emilia

"geraint" wrote in
news:xxm4a.3797$Lq.382804@stones:

    > sgwennodd "Fred Fowler" yn neges
    > news:[email protected]...
    >> Hi All:
    >> We are getting married May 10th.
    >> My Fiance had never been to Europe so I thought Paris would be nice
    >> honeymoon trip and a fun way to introduce her to the different
    >> cultures and feeling of Europe. I have contacted 6 hotels via email,
    >> and have not had a single response back from any. While I know that
    >> American sentiment is not well loved now, should I just abandon the
    >> idea and spend my $10K in another country?
    > It's nothing to do with your being American! Paris hotels don't have
    > to try too hard to get business, so it's up to you to make a bit more
    > of an effort. Try phoning some up - though rather than take a booking
    > there and then, many just confirm the dates are free and ask you to
    > fax them a confirmation. Strange, but there you go.
    >
    >> Any suggestions?
    > If you think France sucks just because a few hotels didn't answer your
    > email, then maybe you shoud go to another country....?
    >
    > hwyl!
    > geraint.


or stay home.

Jcoulter

Fred Fowler wrote in
news:[email protected]:

    > Hi All:
    >
    > We are getting married May 10th.
    >
    > My Fiance had never been to Europe so I thought Paris would be nice
    > honeymoon trip and a fun way to introduce her to the different
    > cultures and feeling of Europe. I have contacted 6 hotels via email,
    > and have not had a single response back from any. While I know that
    > American sentiment is not well loved now, should I just abandon the
    > idea and spend my $10K in another country?
    >
    > Any suggestions?
    >
    >

I have always used phone and fax. Emails will get an occassional quote but
most French hoteliers want a fax for a booking. A honeymoon in Paris is
more than a nice trip, it is the start of a lifetime relationship with a
city as well as a person!

Nicholas Marzolino

Fred Fowler wrote in
news:[email protected]:

    > Hi All:
    >
    > We are getting married May 10th.
    >
    > My Fiance had never been to Europe so I thought Paris would be nice
    > honeymoon trip and a fun way to introduce her to the different
    > cultures and feeling of Europe. I have contacted 6 hotels via email,
    > and have not had a single response back from any. While I know that
    > American sentiment is not well loved now, should I just abandon the
    > idea and spend my $10K in another country?
    >
    > Any suggestions?
    >
    >

Take your money and go to Italy...You will have the time of your
life...What could be more romantic than Rome and Venice?