Are Parisians really rude people?

Dangerous Man

I've been to Paris a few times and yeah, I do find that Paris has more than its fair share of rude people.

Father Damo

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

The French are nice I think. The Japs are weirdos, no one speaks to each other on the subways, they all seem to look at the ground, they almost completely ignore foreigners. So this does not surprise me!

Indeed. Isnt it commonplace to be reading animated rape porn comics on the trains? Even groping on them is meant to be endemic.

Oddly enough, Germany and Japan have two things in common- they commited the most brutal crimes of WWII, and both countries have a vastly disproportionate percentage of downright weirdos amongst their population (not a majority or anything, but a far bigger percentage of Germans are oddballs than Irish). I wonder why it correlates!

Have met barely any Parisians in my time, but I can say that mos French fro outside of Paris dislike them.

Wee Willy Harris

rude, lewd, crude ... go over to RTE2 right now and you'll see a delightful couple who are just so disgustingly humble in letting it all hang out it is pure arrogance. I bet her armpits smell like moy park chickenburgers

MOC88

Father Damo wrote: »

Indeed. Isnt it commonplace to be reading animated rape porn comics on the trains? Even groping on them is meant to be endemic.

Oddly enough, Germany and Japan have two things in common- they commited the most brutal crimes of WWII, and both countries have a vastly disproportionate percentage of downright weirdos amongst their population (not a majority or anything, but a far bigger percentage of Germans are oddballs than Irish). I wonder why it correlates!

Have met barely any Parisians in my time, but I can say that mos French fro outside of Paris dislike them.

The Allies have enough blood on their hands. As for the worst the Russians beat them easily but it would not be limited to WW2

Latchy

sbsquarepants wrote: »

A parisian metro ticket clerk woman once screamed her head off at me when i asked her to change the ticket she had just given literally 30 seconds beforehand becuase it wouldn't open the barriers, i had to spend the week jumping over them!
So fúck them all:D

Exactly my experience to when I was over in Paris last October .Out of a group of 12 people with pre booked weekly tickets ,mine was the only one that wouldn't open the barriers on the metro . I got so fed up so I would either climb over /under or just push through with somebody else and and my ticket was a waste of money .

68Murph68

byronbay2 wrote: »

From long experience dealing with Frenchies (as they like to be called), I can explain why some seem unspeakably rude and others are "lovely". All French people are basically the same, it's just that they have a very highly-developed Jekyll and Hyde complex.
When French people are at work, they are the most annoying, superior, rude, anal and officious people in the world. Not just to tourists but to each other as well. [French public servants (of which there are MILLIONS) are utterly unbearable - even more smug than our indigenous variety.] Thus, your waiter, ticket attendant, gendarme etc. will make no effort whatsoever to help or understand you in any way, for the simple reason that they are "at work" - even if their work involves serving you.
However, that same French person, when they are "off-duty", is happy, unassuming, easy-going and will bend over backwards to understand your pidgin French (it must be said that they do like you to make some effort to speak the lingo) and help you in any way they can.
If you keep this in mind while visiting Paris, it will make things much easier for you. Unfortunately, of course, most of the people tourists encounter in Paris are "at work" so it's not surprising that visitors get a negative impression of the city.

I think this is very accurate. Being in France and Paris many times over the years and knew there was something but this explains it. There is definitely a mental divide between French people at work and French people out of work. Also got on well with French people for the most part (obviously there are asshats everywhere) but found that dealing with them in work a different experience. I think there is a French approach/attitude to being at work means being officious/stand-offish/reserved/distant/cold which is interpreted as rude.

One of the most memorable incidents of my childhood was being on a camping holiday with the family in the 80s and pulling into a town in the middle of nowhere. Walked into an old-style bar/restaurant looking for a bite to eat with my dad. My dad who had only a few words of French (but would talk to the wall) was asking about getting lunch/grub mentioned "Je suis Irlandais" and the effect was crazy. The owner straight away became much friendlier and started speaking English and explained they thought we were British initially, started introducing us to the locals including the town's mayor who was over in the corner and couldn't be friendlier. It was unbelievable how their attitude changed when they found out we weren't British but Irish. I do remember reading that Britain and France have had something like a 100 different wars historically and also that both sides education system focuses on where their own side won.

JupiterKid

IrishExpat wrote: »

They can be utter plicks when it comes to their attitude towards non native French speakers having a shot at their language. In other countrys you would be forgiven, and even more warmly accepted if you make an attempt; no matter how thick tongued you are. A shared experience with others travelling, not just a personal anecdote.

Agreed. I speak reasonable conversational French and when I'm in Provence or Burgundy or the Dordogne, the locals forgive my mistakes and really appreciate my efforts.

In Paris, I find that people sneer at my French and remain just as rude and arrogant as ever.

Parisians really do deserve their reputation for being rude and unfriendly. They feel that their city is the best on the planet so why need to be pleasant and mannerly to inferior outsiders?

dttq

If they feel that strongly about Parisians, it's a good thing they don't holiday in or come into contact with the locals of craggy island.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_SAVHHGQzI

alexjk

Paris is the most visited city in the world. Imagine your city was invaded by Spanish teenagers except not just for summer but all year round. This is the harsh reality Parisians face and this is why they're unfriendly.

Big Nasty

It's not just Parisiennes Vs the rest of France. It's every capital / major city v the rest of that country. It's the pace of life where everyone will pass you by v everyone will stop for a chat. We don't have to look that far to see the difference, i.e. Dublin v the rest of Ireland.

68Murph68

68Murph68 wrote: »

I think this is very accurate. Being in France and Paris many times over the years and knew there was something but this explains it. There is definitely a mental divide between French people at work and French people out of work. Also got on well with French people for the most part (obviously there are asshats everywhere) but found that dealing with them in work a different experience. I think there is a French approach/attitude to being at work means being officious/stand-offish/reserved/distant/cold which is interpreted as rude.

One of the most memorable incidents of my childhood was being on a camping holiday with the family in the 80s and pulling into a town in the middle of nowhere. Walked into an old-style bar/restaurant looking for a bite to eat with my dad. My dad who had only a few words of French (but would talk to the wall) was asking about getting lunch/grub mentioned "Je suis Irlandais" and the effect was crazy. The owner straight away became much friendlier and started speaking English and explained they thought we were British initially, started introducing us to the locals including the town's mayor who was over in the corner and couldn't be friendlier. It was unbelievable how their attitude changed when they found out we weren't British but Irish. I do remember reading that Britain and France have had something like a 100 different wars historically and also that both sides education system focuses on where their own side won.

That's nothing but pathetic xenophobia. There's something very sad about not liking individuals because you think they're from one country, then loving the SAME PEOPLE because you find out they're from somewhere else. People tend to do it to me a lot (I'm half British and half Irish, but grew up mostly in Ireland so say I'm from there) and I tell them to f**k all the way off. You didn't like me 5 minutes ago and now you like me because I'm Irish? And pandering to me because I'm Irish? And saying how much you don't like the British, trying to curry favour when all you're doing is insulting half my family and most of my close friends? I have no interest in even speaking to anyone that pathetic.

About the education system, I don't think the French realise how much the British don't give a **** about the past or the French. There was nothing remotely anti-French in my school curriculum. You'd be hard pressed to find an English person who could even tell you anything about who won which war. A lot of French people seem to think all English people hate them and are bitter, when all you generally find is apathy and indifference. I get the odd French student in my class trying to push my buttons, reminding me about wars they won long before I was born and telling me why France is better and I just laugh at them. I'm too busy worrying about my serious health problem, my sick aunt and about 2000 other things to ever think about the French at all. I just.don't.care and I find it very, very sad that they do.

Archeron

ejmaztec wrote: »

My daughter and her pals went there on a school trip and were told by one miserable fecker (completely out of the blue) to "fuck off home you English bastards". The fact that they weren't English didn't seem to matter.

That happened to my class when we returned from an overnight trip to holyhead. Big bunch of confused Irish 10 year old being told to piss off back to England having returned from Wales, a pisshead moron and some confused teachers, all at about 7am in Dublin port on a beautiful sunny spring day. Man, havent thought about that in yonks.

Allyall

I never found them rude at all.. As a matter of fact, One time i was over there I was looking for directions and within minutes, had 4 people and a Police Officer helping.. I was a bit overwhelmed by the attention, but It was because of my crap French.
After i had got the correct directions, the Police Officer stayed and was joined by a colleague who had better English, they started asking me about Weed in Ireland, and we had a good bit of a laugh.. (Apparently there was a big shipment caught in Cork, on it's way to France).
I never experienced any Rudeness over there from French people. There was some Basketball event on, where loads of American Basketballers (Mostly Amateur) were over and playing in different parts of Paris. Ran into a few of them one night. They were nasty..

previous user

Einhard wrote: »

I love the French. Sure, they don't suffer fools kindly, but why should they? They're proud of their culture and language, and in a world where everything is becoming increasingly Americanised and homogenous, I say fair play to a society which at least tries to hold out against such blandness.

Vive la France!!

Also, it does have the best national anthem in the world.

they certainly suffered the Germans, when they were invaded they surrendered pretty quickly.

bbam

I wouldn't say they are rude.. More a case that they could care less about anyone else but themselves...

No time for tourists or visitors..