Oceania Favourite city/country

Luckily for me, my wife speaks fluent French so I didn't have much of a communication/arrogance problem - perhaps in this respect my view of the French is a little more rosy than is the norm.

 

People just hate French people because they watched "National lampoons European vacation" and write them on their "people to hate list"

Mostly just morons who learn everything from T.V

 

I honestly haven't met a single French person in France who was rude or arrogant. I took the time to learn the basics (and I am really terrible at languages) and everyone was understanding. We were staying in a small village on the north coast once and had asked our hotel manager to call us a taxi to take us to the airport (about a half hour drive away). He rang everyone he could, but there were no taxis available, so he drove us there himself. When we got there, he refused to accept any money until we practically begged him to take a few euro!

And the reason I love Paris so much? The coffee and the boulangeries! And the err, culture too.

 

Shopping up the Champs Elysees! And I liked the Paris Opera House. As a former muso student, things like that interest me. And I like Phantom of the Opera. Hmm, reminds me that I must see that again when I go to West End next year. Must also visit Vienna and Salzburg (muso stuff and the Sound of Music )

We learnt this song on our Contiki tour while in Austria:
Doh a beer, I want a beer
Ray - the man who pours the beer
Me - the man/woman who drinks the beer
Far - a long way to the pub
So, I'll have another beer
Lah - Lah, lah, lah, lah, lah, lah
Tea - I'd rather have a beer

 

That's simply not true but generalisations are fun.

The French do have a degree of elitism to them. It's not their only trait but it's certainly borderline defining. There are actually suprisingly more Frenchmen here in Taipei than Australians I believe. My French is OK but I actually speak French with a mild Parisian accent. They get really annoyed if I can't keep up in coversations with them, and you will find what we'd consider a degree of pretension amongst some French, especially in Paris.

Some of you forget the row Australia and France had over the latter's atomic tests in the pacific, which is in part indicative of the French attitude. Everyone blows nukes up underground, France ***** up the pacific. At that point, the French hated us and not the Americans so we bore the brunt of their crap (NZ more, Rainbow Warrior etc).

So, I don't think you're entirely correct Johhhhhangage but you're not entirely wrong either.

E_S

 

The problem with France is it's full of French people.

I had a run-in with a French waiter (no joke) when I was there because I couldn't understand he was after a tip. My French is woeful, but so what. You help tourists out if they can't understand the lingedy. Not in France, apparently.

 

Wellington, NZ at the moment cause I'm living here at the moment.

can't wait to get to sydney next year....

-Mel

 

You of course know what "wafer thin" means in French, right?

E_S

 

a mint?

 

**** off, I'm full.

 

Kialua/Hawaii

 

I like Britain - Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves! British people shall never be slaves.

But I also like Hong Kong, Japan and especially Australia because that's obviously what country I live in.

 

It seems the word "favourite" has many meanings...

E_S

 

I honestly haven't met a single French person in France who was rude or arrogant.

You see, with me it's quiet the opposite...sadly
Every single French person I met was a snobby bastard and more or less exactly what the typical cliche' shows.
Ahwell, I'm not one to judge an entire country because of the people I've met, but I still don't know if I want to go there