Going to Paris soon, any advice?

[Brundlefly]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Wow !
Glad to read you enjoyed it !

Please don't hesitate to share your experience, I'm always curious to hear about the other side of the mirror

I went to a fromagerie to find something that tastes looks and tastes like cheddar (sorry, I dont like soft, sweet cheese and as far as I know that is the only kind the French make). So I tried to ask this to the shopkeeper and she got angry and muttered something about English cheese and then she refuse to speak to me. I wound up getting Gouda instead. It was rare to see that kind of impatience in Paris, though. Almost everyone was very friendly and helpful and polite.

Had a great lunch later that day. We took that cheese, bought a sausage covered with white (?) and some baguettes and a bottle of bordeaux. We went to Montmarte to see Sacre Couer. Afterwards, we had this lunch in a small park, Berlioz park, near Moulin Rouge. It was a good lunch, except at one point a drunk came by and sat near us and was trying to talk to everyone in a loud voice. He kept excusing himself. Then he got up and pissed in the bushes in front of everyone and left... At that point we got up and left to take the Metro to Parc Monceau...

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Feephi
I went to a fromagerie to find something that tastes looks and tastes like cheddar (sorry, I dont like soft, sweet cheese and as far as I know that is the only kind the French make). So I tried to ask this to the shopkeeper and she got angry and muttered something about English cheese and then she refuse to speak to me

Fatal mistake Don't EVER discuss the superiority of French foods (especially cheeses), and don't EVER assume publicly the Brits do something better than us, especially when it comes about food, especially cheese. You had luck to survive on this one If anything, it proves the shopkeeper was increasingly patient

(really, this is probably the most impressive blunder I ever heard about )

[DanS]

What would you say if somebody went to the USA and only spoke french and refused to do any try in english? You would probably be pissed.

Why would anybody in the US be pissed?

They might be surprised in places where it's atypical to hear a foreign language being spoken, which is much of the country. In my area, I get asked questions sometimes in Spanish and it's no big deal, even though the only words I know of Spanish are the numbers 1-20.

A spanish person could get by pretty easily in the US probably. In DC, anybody could get by just fine. Just bring a map and point to where you want to go to any person on the street. They will show you the direction.

[Panag]

hi ,

where are the pics , ........

have a nice day

[Brundlefly]

Originally posted by panag
hi ,

where are the pics , ........

have a nice day

Pics will come soon. We were in such a rush to get to our early morning departure flight from CDG on Sunday that we left all of our film in the apartment. It's cool though, we called and they found the film and will ship to us - (48 Euros to ship 12 rolls of film to US!)

I'll post some when they arrive. I'm paricularly intersted to see:

1) Shot of me and the old war veteran saluting next to tomb of unknown soldier in Arc De Triomphe;

2) Humorous shot of me with 4 gendarmes near Luxemborg Gardens. They were on lunch break, so I asked them if they would take a photo with me and pretend they were arresting me. They were good sports.