Pushy French are world's worst tourists: study

[K9karen]

Well, I consider myself pretty well travelled, having been a travel agent. On the way to Monaco for an award ceremony, 3 friends and I took an extra week off and went to Paris. We were looking at a map on a busy street, when the most sophisticated woman stopped and asked us in English if we needed help! Then when we got on the bus in the wrong direction, the poor driver was so upset he couldn't get through to us. A passenger in the rear of the bus, walked toward us and apologized for his poor English but he would try to help is! Sorry, our week stay in Paris was lovely (except for April rain). We were shocked at how well we were treated. Maybe we were just so cute.

I never did remember about the tipping customs in certain countries. I always left a tip.

I enjoyed everywhere I went (except one country which will remain nameless).

My main complaint, are line breakers and shovers. I was at a very old hotel in Vienna, that had an old elevator with a pull open/close gated door. My friend (very tall) and I were waiting to get on, when a large group of foreigners raced down the hall, shoved us away and closed the door since there was no room for us. The next day, same thing, and my friend stood in front of the door and being a lot taller than the other group blocked the door with her arms and pulled me in and closed the door. It was hysterical. Those short people were dumbfounded and probably terrified. But lesson taught.

[Scorpio]

The Germans take the prize for me. Pushing in front of you in queues and acting generally crass. In the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, there are signs asking you to not plant your heathen ass on the benches reserved for moslems. One German lady was sitting right next to the sign. Meanwhile, on the floor of the mosque, a German was pretending to pray moslem-style, while he got his son to video him.

[Sonia59]

K9karen:
In France the tip is optional. People leave a tip only when they are very happy and they think the waiter deserves it. If food was not good or if you were served quickly and had no attention, you don't leave a tip. This is usually what people do, now some always leave a tip, and some never do.

Glad you had nice experience



Bonny, good news for you with the euro not as high as it used to be, you will have less of the stingy poopy visitors


Standing in a queue is definitely not a French, and more generally, European thing Except in great Britain

[Sirrahsim]

This afternoon I took the boys to the park and there was a lady there with her son who was speaking a language I couldn't identify. After a little gesturing and broken German we figured out that we each spoke a (VERY!) little bit of German and French. Between the two languages we were able to exchange names and ages of all the kiddos and she told me that she was visiting her daughter and something about a baby.... Oh and I asked her what time it was
It was great fun! Though not really the topic of the thread it seems relevant

[smokey the elder]

I don't think it's fair to tar a group with a broad brush. I found, many years ago, when I tried out my college German in Germany the folks liked the attempt. I bet my accent was terrible! I think for the most part if you can say, Hello, goodbye, please and thank you in a language that can get one pretty far.

I hope all these line jumpers don't go to Disney World or Universal Orlando...line jumpers are VERY frowned upon!

[Kirsten]

I live way over by Trier! In my experience so far, I will speak German the best I can and they will answer me in English. Maybe because I live near a US military base?? I've only met a couple of people who I could not understand at all, even with asking them to speak slowly, but we managed to communicate well enough with hand gestures I love Germany

I never visited Trier (it's about 375 km away from where I live) but it must be a beautiful city. One of the oldest towns in Germany, with a strong Roman background and influence...
Yes, could be very well that the people there are used to the US people on the military base and that's why they speak English with you.

Glad that you like Germany! However, the weather is really awful this spring, usually it's not that bad!

Sirrahsim, I agree that German is difficult. In my case it's because of the grammer. I do understand a lot, though.

Randi, I used to be on holiday in Denmark many times when I was younger, and I always found that most Danes spoke an excellent German - with a cute accent, of course!

In the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, there are signs asking you to not plant your heathen ass on the benches reserved for moslems. One German lady was sitting right next to the sign. Meanwhile, on the floor of the mosque, a German was pretending to pray moslem-style, while he got his son to video him.

I agree that was disrespectful. If I was there, I would have been ashamed of my fellow countrymen... However, not all Germans are like that, there are many who respect foreign cultures.

This afternoon I took the boys to the park and there was a lady there with her son who was speaking a language I couldn't identify. After a little gesturing and broken German we figured out that we each spoke a (VERY!) little bit of German and French.

Maybe they were from Luxembourg oder Belgium? These countries are very close to where you live now...

Kirsten

[Sirrahsim]

Yes they very well could have been from Luxembourg or Belgium! That didn't even occur to silly me