what is a tourist to do?

mercredi 2 avril 2008

I met a very interesting woman for language exchange today, Elisabeth Schubert.  She is an artist focusing mostly on sculpture.  We spent nearly three hours in a café chatting about her work and les français in general.  However, she wasn't quite confident with her English, so we conducted our conversation mostly in French.  Surprisingly, I understood most of what she said.  Even more so, she understood what I said.

One of the many topics we discussed was the French people's seeming unfriendliness, or at least that of the Parisians.  For example, when there is a tourist standing at the corner of a busy intersection on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, he could be there for hours with an open map in his hands and a desperate look on his face, and no one would offer to help him.  The key word here is offer.  Accordingly to Elisabeth, the French do not like disturbing other people, and to offer to help would be to suggest that the tourist doesn't know what he's doing (even though it is apparent).  But if the tourist were to ask for help (even better if he were to address someone with a simple bonjour), most Parisians would be glad to assist.  However, the tourist may not understand directions in French or in English with a very heavy French accent (incomprehensible to some, but super cute to me).

Au contraire, Elisabeth tells me she was once in New York, and when she was lost, a heap of strangers immediately came up to help her.  That surprised her a bit.  Too bad she didn't understand that they said.

Regarding cafés, a very welcoming change is the disappearance of the fog, I mean smoke.  In the past, whenever I approached a café or restaurant, the first thing that struck me was not the aroma of pastries or coffee, but the odor of cigarettes and the cloud of smoke just waiting to engulf me and seep into every fiber of my body as soon as I opened the door.  Luckily, as the French would say, ça n'existe plus (it doesn't exist any more).  Since 1er janvier 2008, the smokers can only gather outside these establishments.  Therefore, the classic images of a chic Frenchwoman sitting outside a café with a cigarette in her hand and a ring of smoke in front of her can still be found.