I've suspected it all along, but finally I've been proven right - I am not the only one who thinks the French are indeed arrogant to the point of being rude. French tourists to be exact.
My French Encounter
I've had the feeling ever since I met that French traveler at a bar in a Guatemalan hostel - in his broken English he tried to convince me vigorously that the language of Shakespeare was far inferior to that of Balzac. And he seemed to take pleasure in the fact that the Brits sitting next to us could obviously overhear our conversation. The feeling later changed into an absolute conviction after I had the misfortune of flying Air France where unpleasant flight assistants were absolutely unapologetic for: a) failing to inform me that my flight was canceled, b) overbooking my connecting flight, and finally c) losing my baggage.
The Bad Southerners
I've always been shy about coming out with my prejudice but now it's officially confirmed: expedia.com has published the results of a worldwide survey clearly showing that I am not paranoid.
According to 4,500 hotels worldwide French tourists are the worst when it comes to rudeness, language skills and - a bit surprisingly to me - stinginess.
God, it feels good to be right:). The French were closely followed by Spaniards and Greeks, so it does seem there's a problem at least with the perception of the European southern culture, if not with the culture itself.
The Good
The opposite end of the ranking was occupied by the Japanese, praised worldwide for cleanliness and politeness. Other good guys are:
Japanese
British
Canadians
Germans
Swiss
Dutch
Australians
Swedes
Americans
Danes
Share Your Experiences
Have you met any French tourists in your travels? Or perhaps you're French and can explain what has become of the proverbial French chivalry? Post your comments or
write to me.
THE RESPONSE
Some time after publishing the post, I got a very interesting e-mail which, with the author's permission, I've decided to put here since it seems very informative. Do you agree with Romaine's explanations?
The E-mail
Hello Alex,
I am a French national, however I have been living in Scotland for the past 6 years and I am currently travelling around Latin America. I also have been working in hotels and restaurants / cafes both in Scotland and in France, so I can safely say I have seen my fair share of tourists, French or not.
To some extent, I have to agree with what has been said here. Most French people can't speak English to save their lives and I really dread meeting other French people when abroad (with the exception of the backpacker scene, where 90% of the people I meet are interesting, or at least not in my hate list after a 3 minutes conversation).
I don't know where the language issue comes from to be honest, maybe it's because French people don't travel as much ? Maybe it's due to the fact that many nations around the world speak French ? Or the poor level of our english education at school ?
It's anyone's guess really, if someone feels he can enlighten me I'm all ears.
Misrepresentation
Now, to the comments above, most of you seem to draw your conclusions from experiences you had with Parisians (which is a bit outside the focus of this post since it was about tourists, but I'll pass on that). I cannot stress this enough; Parisians are NOT representative of French people. Go to the south of France and you are way more likely to receive a warm welcome (they still won't speak English though, sorry we're hopeless that way).
Would Brits agree to be represented by Londoners ? Would Americans say New Yorkers - I know it's not your capital people, but I know nothing about Washington DC - are a good sample of US friendliness ?
Language
I wouldn't say that if you don't speak French in France you won't even get a look. Here's a tip (that works in every single country by the way): learn a few phrases like "Sorry, I don't speak French very well" (Désolé, je ne parle pas tres bien Francais) or even simpler. If you show people that at least you bloody tried, it will go a long way and may help break the ice.
I have seen oh so many english-speaking tourists come to my desk and straight away start the conversation in english without making sure I did speak the language. It always put me in a bad mood from the start.
If you are in France, you cannot demand of people to speak English, I am sorry but this is not our national language. I agree that this is a service that should be provided, specially in the most touristy places. Now be honest, how many of you speak fluently French ? If I visit your country, can I expect someone to speak my language ?
Rudeness
To the author, that French guy was clearly a d**k, and there are quite a few out there. But each nationality has some.
Let me tell you about that American I met somewhere in Honduras if I recall correctly, we were having drinks in a bar and when came the time to pay he took his dollars out, and exclaimed:
"Isn't it weird that they accept dollars ?"
Nobody paid much attention to the remark, I think we all knew were he was going with that. He still went on with
"It's the case in every country in Latin America though...".
He concluded with
"Funny how the dollar is the dominating money in the world isn't it ?"
which didn't go so well with the broad panel of nationalities, a lot of which Europeans, that were at the table.
And American Airlines never apologized for losing my luggage either. Yet I am not assuming all Americans are rude.
Stinginess
The "stinginess" is easily explained considering the source of the data - hotels; tipping is not part of French culture (whether it should be or not is subject to discussion, our waiters and hotel staff are pretty well paid already, they don't live off their tips like in the US), so when French people are travelling, tipping the hotel receptionist, concierge, or waiter simply does not come naturally. And since hell has no wrath like a waiter scorned, people are unlikely to receive a good mark on the "rudeness" criteria if they scored low on the "stinginess" already.
I think a big chunk of the whole issue comes from a cultural difference, rudeness is a relative term interpreted differently in every country. Of course, another big chunk comes from the fact that many French tourists are actually and undeniably rude.
Sorry about that, we're working on it (I know I am).
Regards, a friendly French traveller
PS: If you feel like "punishing" us for our rudeness by not buying French as the first comment suggests, suit yourself but you're missing out on some pretty decent wine.
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