Hello. Welcome to France.com. We visit France with some regularity and have found the French people to be helpful and friendly. We've gotten some interesting comments over the years about our government policies but no one has ever blamed us for them.
We remember a concierge in Paris (near Place des Vosges) who thought the whole impeachment proceedings against Clinton were hysterical. He simply didn't understand; Presidents are supposed to have a mistress. Why would Congress care?! Why would the media care?
We returned to France with some trepidation immediately after the recent Iraq invasion but the French were still the French. Most that we talked to seemed to feel sorry for us having Bush as our President. Fortunately, we agreed. I'm not sure how we would have felt if we were solid Republicans. I suppose we wouldn't have gone.
We were on a trip through France and Italy during the second Bush election and will never forget our Italian landlady when we appeared for breakfast the morning after. She spoke no English but managed to say, "Bush, Blair, Berlusconi . . . BAH!" That would have been echoed in France had we been there instead.
In short, the French are people just as we are. Most of the misunderstandings we've heard about are cultural differences between the US and France. For instance in a restaurant a French waiter will never interrupt your meal to ask if everything is okay. They would consider it very impolite to interrupt you while you are eating. The assume you will call them if you have a problem with your meal.
They will also absolutely not bring you a check unless you ask for it. This has resulted in many Americans sitting and complaining about bad service because they don't have a check and they want to leave. Again, the French consider it impolite to interrupt your meal . . . and your conversation afterward.
We've heard about lousy service and haven't seen it. If there is a problem, simply call the waiter and explain. He will take care of it. I even had a waiter (in the Alps) go running down the street to get me a cup of coffee at another restaurant because theirs didn't have any. That's servicre!
They can be a little defensive so when you have a problem, you can't request help in an accusatory way. You simply state you have a problem and wonder if they can help with a solution. They love to solve problems and they will solve yours if possible. On the other hand, if you say they forgot something or didn't do something, they will immediately swear it's not true. Strange . . .
You can bank at their Post Office and get medical advice at their pharmacies. The pharmacist will also identify any mushrooms you find. French medical services are better than ours and cheaper. There is a castle on every hill and a museum in every town. Public transportation is excellent and hotels can be very reasonable. It's a great place to vacation.
The natives are friendly.
Hello. Welcome to France.com. We visit France with some regularity and have found the French people to be helpful and friendly. We've gotten some interesting comments over the years about our government policies but no one has ever blamed us for them.
We remember a concierge in Paris (near Place des Vosges) who thought the whole impeachment proceedings against Clinton were hysterical. He simply didn't understand; Presidents are supposed to have a mistress. Why would Congress care?! Why would the media care?
We returned to France with some trepidation immediately after the recent Iraq invasion but the French were still the French. Most that we talked to seemed to feel sorry for us having Bush as our President. Fortunately, we agreed. I'm not sure how we would have felt if we were solid Republicans. I suppose we wouldn't have gone.
We were on a trip through France and Italy during the second Bush election and will never forget our Italian landlady when we appeared for breakfast the morning after. She spoke no English but managed to say, "Bush, Blair, Berlusconi . . . BAH!" That would have been echoed in France had we been there instead.
In short, the French are people just as we are. Most of the misunderstandings we've heard about are cultural differences between the US and France. For instance in a restaurant a French waiter will never interrupt your meal to ask if everything is okay. They would consider it very impolite to interrupt you while you are eating. The assume you will call them if you have a problem with your meal.
They will also absolutely not bring you a check unless you ask for it. This has resulted in many Americans sitting and complaining about bad service because they don't have a check and they want to leave. Again, the French consider it impolite to interrupt your meal . . . and your conversation afterward.
We've heard about lousy service and haven't seen it. If there is a problem, simply call the waiter and explain. He will take care of it. I even had a waiter (in the Alps) go running down the street to get me a cup of coffee at another restaurant because theirs didn't have any. That's servicre!
They can be a little defensive so when you have a problem, you can't request help in an accusatory way. You simply state you have a problem and wonder if they can help with a solution. They love to solve problems and they will solve yours if possible. On the other hand, if you say they forgot something or didn't do something, they will immediately swear it's not true. Strange . . .
You can bank at their Post Office and get medical advice at their pharmacies. The pharmacist will also identify any mushrooms you find. French medical services are better than ours and cheaper. There is a castle on every hill and a museum in every town. Public transportation is excellent and hotels can be very reasonable. It's a great place to vacation.
Incidentally, the food is good on Air France! 8^)