The French are rude everywhere

The French have a reputation, deserved or not, for being less than friendly to foreigners who visit their lovely country. According to a recent poll, the French also have a reputation as being some of the worst tourists in the world. Conversely, my compatriots are big spenders and tippers (no surprise there). However I do wonder about Americans being listed as worst dressed when the Britons are amongst the best dressed tourists. Clearly I’ve been running into the wrong Brits abroad… Read about the best and worst tourists here.

almost parisian

I’m back online after a long Easter weekend during which the tourist invasion started. The boyfriend was here and everywhere we went there seemed to be as many (or more) English speakers as French people. While tourists are sometimes irritating (e.g. when loud and obnoxious) they can also be a source of amusement.
During dinner at one of our favorite and always busy restaurants, the boyfriend and I were seated next to an English speaking couple and we ended up play a game of “Guess the accent”. Normally we can pick them out right away, but this time due to background noise and the couple speaking very softly we were thrown for a loop. At first I thought they were Australian and then I realized the lady sounded Irish. The boyfriend said the man sounded like an Aussie who had lived in England for a long time.

Shortly before they left, the woman whined to her husband that the waitress kept speaking to them in English (even though the wife attempted to communicate in French). The boyfriend and I spoke with each other in English and with the waitress in French. She replied only in French despite hearing us converse in English. I must admit that when I heard the wife’s complaint I thought happily and with a smirk – “that’s because you’re a tourist whereas we are NOT”. It was one of those moments when I figured that I’d escaped being noticed as an American abroad and was just another (faux) Parisian enjoying dinner.