Paris Rude? Je trouve que non

7.10.07

I've heard it said for as long as I can remember: Parisians are rude. When I returned from Paris for the first time back in 99, that was one of the things many people asked me. "Did you find them to be rude?"

I saw this article on Yahoo today, and it states that in a survey of 60 touristy cities, Paris is the #1 most visited--and the 8th most rude. It made me want to speak up.

I have not found Parisians to be rude--in even the slightest. There are the occasional waiters or salespeople who need attitude checks, but you'll find those wherever you go in the world. I have found that whenever I have needed help, Parisians have been gentle, merciful towards my baby language efforts, and most gracious in giving aid. So where does the stereotype come from?

I wonder if it comes from rude (nearly always American) tourists, who are so accustomed to getting their "rights"--read, way--that when things are different here, they throw a fit and call the bewildered Parisian they're dealing with, rude. For example.

"I asked for lots of ice! Why must they only give me two cubes?" (Because in Europe, they don't use ice. If you ask for ice, you'll get one cube. If you ask for lots of ice, you'll get two.) The waiter was not picking on the American who must drink their Coke nearly frozen, and in his mind--he did what she asked.

"Excuse me, but where is a Metro/the Louvre/the Eiffel Tower?" An American wearing ghastly white shoes and white socks and a baseball cap loudly asks a French mother pushing her child down the street in a stroller. No effort to not scare the mother by greeting her with a 'hello' first, no bother trying to at least say "excuse me" in French, and no tact in demanding this woman help the lost tourist. She probably doesn't speak much English, or doesn't want to butcher the tourists' English, and...she may not feel like playing Mapquest for the person who should be able to navigate themselves in a fairly easy city to navigate. It's no wonder she looks shocked and perhaps a bit frustrated.

The Yahoo article states that 16 million tourists stay in Parisian hotels every year. I saw in the Metro recently that nearly 42 million tourists descend on the city every year. That's alot of people, folks. I'm not even from here, and the tourists make me grumpy. I can see why Parisians would be rude back when these 42 million people overcrowd their city, fill up their restaurants (demanding ice), and walk around lost asking silly questions.

But I repeat--I haven't seen them be rude. Maybe because I try to speak French. Maybe because I don't wear ghastly white tennis shoes with white socks. Maybe because I've learned some of the (easy-to-learn) local customs and try to follow them. Like reading the Metro maps. Like standing to the right side on the escalators. Like not talking so loud as Americans tend to do. Like learning to cherish the baguette, the crepe, the yogurt.

One thing the article didn't stress but should have: the Mayor, in his efforts to rid Paris of it's rude stereotype, not only asked Parisians to be nice, but he also asked tourists to try a little. I couldn't agree more.

Vive la France!