Have you been to France?

[mrscushion]

I DO hope you speak French.
I went once and I would not return unless I learned to speak French.

I think the French are exceeded only buy the Americans in expecting visitors to speak their local language.
IMHO, going to France without being at least functionally proficient in the French language is a mistake.

When did you go, kenny? I think that experience rings completely true up to the late nineties. I've recently been back a few times and was surprised that shop assistants would actually greet me in English and smile while doing so! -- Unheard of when I visited Paris in my teens.

 

[kenny]

I DO hope you speak French.
I went once and I would not return unless I learned to speak French.

I think the French are exceeded only buy the Americans in expecting visitors to speak their local language.
IMHO, going to France without being at least functionally proficient in the French language is a mistake.

When did you go, kenny? I think that experience rings completely true up to the late nineties. I've recently been back a few times and was surprised that shop assistants would actually greet me in English and smile while doing so! -- Unheard of when I visited Paris in my teens.

It was before 1982.
Thanks.
I'd love to go back some day.

 

[Fly Girl]

I DO hope you speak French.
I went once and I would not return unless I learned to speak French.

I think the French are exceeded only buy the Americans in expecting visitors to speak their local language.
IMHO, going to France without being at least functionally proficient in the French language is a mistake.

When did you go, kenny? I think that experience rings completely true up to the late nineties. I've recently been back a few times and was surprised that shop assistants would actually greet me in English and smile while doing so! -- Unheard of when I visited Paris in my teens.

It was before 1982.
Thanks.
I'd love to go back some day.

I agree with you Kenny from my visit back in 1974. But, we returned to France last year, and, as others have said, just say good morning, good afternoon, good day or good evening in French (simply say back what they greet you with), then switch to English. Never had a problem on my latest trip. I think the French appreciate our $$ more in recent years.

 

[OUpearlgirl]

Ahh, I love Provence! If you can, try to visit St. Paul de Vence, it's a walled city with many small shops, cafes, etc. I have been to Nice, Cannes, and Paris and I'm still over the moon for the country. The market in Cannes was wonderful. We came back with great clothes, jewelry, and shoes!

Just like when traveling in any foreign country, if you respect their culture and their language, they will be kind to you. I speak limited French and only encountered one rude salesgirl. I've come across plenty of rude people here in America, so I don't think she was an example of the French, she was just a miserable person.

Have fun!!

 

[mandisclark]

Last year i was in France to spend my holidays there. I think France is a country with culture, history and beautiful landscapes. Your visit to France can not be complete without a side trip to Paris. There are also so many other places to see like Le Midi, Burgundy. There are also also so many Romanesque churches.

villas costa blanca | rent villas spain

 

[movie zombie]

my travel "thing" is "old sites".....especially, roman. walking where cesaer wrote his letters from the first campaign, 6 foot urn sent from bulgaria as a funerary offering about 5 thousand years ago, roman villa mosaic floor, etc. these are the things that set my heart to beating in france.... there is so much for everyone no matter one's interests. oh, and the food and wine aren't bad, too!

if you're going for 3 weeks or more renault has a great program: you buy a car and they buy it back. its cheaper than a "rental" and all paperwork is in place and signed prior to your returning the car. however, if you go one day over the original contract, you're in a stolen vehicle so you have to follow all the contract rules and make sure you get permission to keep the car that extra day/week/month.

 

[justginger]

We'll be in France in June as well, so excellent timing for the thread! I haven't been since 2004 but had a brilliant time then - everyone was very friendly and helpful, even with my high school level French skills! I also felt as if the French people were hesitant to say they spoke English unless they were highly fluent...but our combined efforts were always successful in getting the point across in both directions.

We're definitely in Paris for 4 days, but after that we have 3 weeks to make our way to Istanbul, going wherever we want along the way. Looking over all these WONDERFUL suggestions, I suspect much of that will be in France!

 

[Black Jade]

You have got a lot of good advice.
I also loved la Touraine and the chateaux.
I spent most of my time in Paris though (I lived there, JYA long ago) and I strongly second the suggestion to just walk around Paris. It is a great walking city with many unexpected beauties from little bookstores to pretty little square. it is also an extremely multicultural city and has always been. You might enjoy exploring ethnic neighborhoods. One fun place is the historic Jewish neighborhood le Marais. It was an aristocratic neighborhood before that and besides all the Jewish history (some of it sad) it has houses that people such as Madame de Sevigne used to live in (her former house is the Museum of the city of Paris, I believe). You get some of the best Vietnamese food in Paris and the North AFrican food there is so superb that meals of couscous and other delicious Arab specialties are often Parisians' meals of choice when they go out. African Americans such as Josephine Baker flocked to Paris in the 20's and there are interesting landmarks there and Paris has some of the best collections of Egyptian art (at the Louvre), Asian Art and so on. There are also things from many exotic places to buy. This is a just a suggestion that might interest some who are planning to go there to do something that many don't think of (I wouldn't have, except there was a lot of time left to go around after I finished doing the Eiffel Tower and taking the trip to Versailles during my junior year).

 

[Black Jade]

Oh--forgot to add--you might hit the Louvre to look at the remains of the French crown jewels. There's not much, since anything left intact after the 1789 revolution was broken up and sold in 1870 when they decided to make sure that there would never be a monarchy again. However, you CAN see the Regent Diamond, which an almost flawless Golconda and famous for being one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, of very large white diamonds in the world, as well as the Hortensia, which has a visible chip but which is a gorgeous orangey pink diamond, 20 carats.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I seem to be the only one going in May---that would have been a hoot to have a French PS GTG! Oui!

chers--Sharon