French letters from home
Since covid and the re opening of our borders it seems to me that 1 in 3 tourists/ backpackers are FrenchIn many ways they are the most arrogant and self centered race i have ever met
They snort
Insist on speaking French and smoke non stop
After a few drinks I asked a group of them why they had even bothered to visit NZ
If they did not even bother to try to converse in the English language why not just stay home , save money and watch documentaries on you tube.
My comments went down as well as the "rainbow warrior"
Comments (5)
Years later, I travelled to Belgium, I couldn't find the street I was looking for, so I asked a policeman at the corner, by then, I had learnt some french, but asked in english. His reply in french was "I don't know, and I don't care", I understood, told him "thank you, for being so unfriendly" in french. He looked surprised when I said that. Turns out the street I was looking for, was just behind him.
In the 80's, I traveled to Paris, on the train, I ordered a cheese sandwich in english, and was given 1 with ham and cheese. I protested in english, but the seller continued rambling on in french about tourists not speaking french. I continued in english, he in french, in the end, I had enough and told him in french that I didn't want to buy anything, as he was quite unfriendly.
I lived in a country where french is 1 of the languages, so I made it a rule to learn some french, especially the phrase for how to tell people they're unfriendly.
My RV broke down near Toulouse and a nearby farmer fetched his tractor and towed me to a local garage, they gave me food and drink while I waited for the van to be repaired.
Parisians give the world a bad view of France, most are nice and I say that as a Brit!
Cheers & peace for anyone on this planet but those who try to divide humanity into different classes or gain supremacy over others.