Paris is really a fine city to visit - I've been there several times. Many fine movies are set there, such as "Gigi" and "American in Paris". And famous personalities lived there and made their mark, such as Coco Chanel and Josephine Baker. The sights are "mar-ve-lous" as Gene Kelly sang!
But imagine you were a Parisian and you were continually pestered by tourists for directions, particularly pushy, arrogant ones who deemed that you simply MUST speak English? You'd get very annoyed and try to avoid them.
I always got along fine. Mrs. B. speaks a little French - very little and they say she sounds like a person from Quebec. So she would tell me what to say, and I would say it. I didn't care what they thought of me, if I sounded like a fool or worse, butchering it surely in absolutely horrible French. It usually worked. I think that was so painful for Parisians that they'd help us a bit. ;-)
Anyway, here's the story I thought of this morning working out:
A stocky, scientist friend of ours was in Paris for a meeting. It was a very hot August day, so he sat on the edge of some memorial fountain to cool off. He was wiping his brow and had taken off his shoes, when a policeman came up and began jabbering away in rapid French. The guy looked up with a dull face and said in a tired manner, "I don't know what the hell you're saying" The policeman stopped and said in English, "Oh, you're just a stupid American. I thought you were a German being disrespectful" and he walked away. Lol.
PS: Yes, I had a cheeseburger at the McDonald's on the Champs Elysees hehehe :-)))
About Me
- Bunkerman
- I have a pioneer mentality. My wife & I live in the woods - neighbors aren't visible except slightly in winter. Our "bunker" - hehe, really a fine home & barn - has plenty of security. We have four dogs: Krypto (age 9, Kelpie), Ava (age 13, Rat Terrier), Sky (Kelpie, age 5) and Lucky Star (age 1, kelpie). I don't take crap from anyone anymore, having enough resources & gear stocked up to survive in any circumstance. I have three degrees from Harvard including a Ph. D. in a physical science, and an MS in Management from MIT. I worked as an investment banker for about 25 years, mainly in secured finance, at three major Wall Street firms and for the last 17 years with my partners at our own firm. I'm semi-retired now, managing some private corporations and business interests and doing my own trading & investing. This is not to boast, but to give you an idea I know a little about some subjects from experience. The photo is my 1943 M16 half-track which I am restoring. These armored vehicles were ubiquitous in the US Army in World War II and Korea. It's driveable.
2 comments:
I like Paris alot. Mcdonalds? No chance of me ever eating there in Paris. When I travel I try to eat as much of the 'local' food as possible.
Well, I just wanted to try it so I could say I did.
But we also had really fine Vietnamese food in Paris.
Also, we had really fine Icelandic food in Prague last summer.
So we try whatever sounds good. Generally I stay away from American style food when traveling.
I usually eat local food, too. Uh ... some local favorites are a bit difficult to eat. I tried the "whitebait patties" in New Zealand. Ugh! Our local friend roared with laughter when he heard that.
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