Death in Paradise

[Presto2]

45 minutes ago, wowzz said:

We hired a narrow boat on the Canal du Midi, and had a great time with the locals. 

We also spent a Christmas in Paris St Germaine dog sitting (!), and also had an enjoyable time.

I speak reasonable French, as my job at the time involved taking QA people from Tesco, JS etc to audit French production units, and again never had an issue, apart from trying to persuade our French hosts that we did not require a two hour French lunch.

Yes, you can be unlucky in who you meet, but my experience over the years has been totally different to yours.

Without being judgemental,  how is your French, because, rightly or wrongly, the French don't take well to those who don't speak a smattering of French.

 

My French is ok and I was asking them questions and using manners when appropriate in French.The people  we spoke to in French were not interested.. have an O Level which is not massive but I have basic communication skills if those listening are prepared to help out.  Anyway it is about who you meet as you say .. perhaps just unlucky but it has left a bad taste. Have been to many countries and never had that before or since. Am sure there are lovely French speakers out there too. We were just unlucky.

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

My French is ok and I was asking them questions and using manners when appropriate in French.The people  we spoke to in French were not interested.. have an O Level which is not massive but I have basic communication skills if those listening are prepared to help out.  Anyway it is about who you meet as you say .. perhaps just unlucky but it has left a bad taste. Have been to many countries and never had that before or since. Am sure there are lovely French speakers out there too. We were just unlucky.

As you say, it does depend on the individuals that you meet. 

Fortunately my job involved meeting many different French people,  both at work and socially. All I would say is that they can, at first be a little distant, but once you tell a joke or two, things soon relax, and I have the hangovers  as a result! 

[terrierjohn]

10 hours ago, Presto2 said:

My French is ok and I was asking them questions and using manners when appropriate in French.The people  we spoke to in French were not interested.. have an O Level which is not massive but I have basic communication skills if those listening are prepared to help out.  Anyway it is about who you meet as you say .. perhaps just unlucky but it has left a bad taste. Have been to many countries and never had that before or since. Am sure there are lovely French speakers out there too. We were just unlucky.

Even in Quebec the French are not much better, although most are bi-lingual you would never think so when you need to ask a question, and all you get is a torrent of fast French and a Gallic shrug.

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

Even in Quebec the French are not much better, although most are bi-lingual you would never think so when you need to ask a question, and all you get is a torrent of fast French and a Gallic shrug.

It must very much depend on who you speak to then as we found those in Quebec and Montreal (the second largest French speaking city in the world) really very pleasant and friendly, I have some basic school (higher) French and if I tried they tried back or moved to English to help us out.

 

The only place they were just a bit sniffy was Chateau Frontenac but then they were like that to the French speakers as well!

 

My French comes with a strong Scottish accent so they probably guessed that we were not native speakers. 
 

Canada is on my list for when we can travel again. Lovely people and lovely places to see.

[P&O SUE]

We have had some lovely holidays in France and found the French people mostly lovely. The only one I was annoyed with was an older French  lady at a campsite takeaway. I asked for ‘quatre fromage’ pizza (four cheese pizza) and when we got back and opened the box we had four pizzas!!! I just kept saying she knew what we meant! We just laughed, we had our teenage son with us at the time and he ate loads! We saved some for lunch the next day 😊

[tartanexile81]

I love France and the French way of life but you certainly couldn't use the word gregarious to describe them as a nation. Individually though I've met many lovely friendly people and I've spent holidays from Boulogne to Frejus and everywhere East and West.

 

Thank you for the reminder about Guadeloupe Solent Richard. We used Mirva as our guide when we went maybe 3 years ago and she was very good although 4 of us in her little car got a bit tight. the set-up at the church (AKA police station) is new compared to our visit. 

 

I'm also hoping to go back to Guadeloupe in January 2022 on Ventura. It's one of my favourite islands because it's so non-touristy unlike money-grabbing, Americanised  islands like St Maarten. Sorry to those who love it but each to their own!! 

The first time I went I  explored the great markets in Pointe-a-Pitre  then four of us grabbed a taxi to beautiful St Anne. On the way our driver took us to lots of interesting picturesque places. Granted he only spoke French and I'm lucky that my French is quite decent.

 

The next time  four of us did a tour with an English speaking guide Merva and it  included the rain forest, the coastline, sulphur flats, Deshaies village where DiP  is filmed, some of the beaches they use including the one where the shack is (which is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been on) and the hotel used in the film. The Western half of the 'butterfly' is definitely more beautiful that the Eastern side which has its own charm.  It's definitely one of  those islands where a private tour beats P&O excursions hands down. I can't wait to see it all again. I'just hoping if cruising restarts we'll all have to do P&O tours

Edited January 16, 2021 by tartanexile81