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Paris Tips

post #1 of 11
4/27/04 at 11:04pm
Thread Starter 
This fall, I'm going to be staying with a Parisian family that I've never met before. Does anyone living in Paris (I know we've got at least one) have any tips or customs that I should know about? I've visited Paris once before, but it was for 3 days, and I was hanging out with people my age, not a Parisian family. Don't wanna step on any toes.
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post #2 of 11
4/28/04 at 2:49am
The Parisians have a bad name for being rude and unhelpful even amongst the other French, but I always found that if you at least try to talk to them in French instead of assuming they speak English (which they do) they will be a lot more helpful than if you speak English cold.

Possibly, in my case, they just wanted to get me the hell out of their shop/off their bus/out of their life, so they wouldn't have to listen to me mangling their beloved mother tongue.
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post #3 of 11
4/28/04 at 11:45am
Thread Starter 
Well, when I was there for 3 days in January, there was not a single rude person. Every person was unbelievably helpful, and trust me, with only one week of french under my belt at the time, they had every reason to be annoyed with me. I was either asking in english, or butchering french to unbelievable levels. But they had such an extremely generous tilt about them even while they tried to explain things in 20 different ways to me to try to get me to my destination. I've got a pretty good idea of how to conduct myself on the street now, but I'm just worried that the family rules might be a lot different from America's. Do you take off shoes upon entering a home like you would in a japanese home? It's stuff like that I want to be sure of before I leave.
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post #4 of 11
5/4/04 at 12:09pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Alice in Wonderland
assuming they speak English (which they do)
They don't. Believe me, they don't.

When going to public places, pretend you're something else than American / English / Belgian / Swiss, they'll be a lot nicer.
I'm only half joking.
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post #5 of 11
5/4/04 at 12:13pm
Oh and no, you usually don't have to take off your shoes. I believe it's only customary in Nordic countries (for Europe, that is.)

Not so many differences I think. Don't shake a woman's hand unless she does it first. Don't be amazed if even people you just met for the first time greet you with up to 4 kisses on the cheek.

Big cliche: don't ask for ketchup. Sounds silly, but you could get into trouble
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post #6 of 11
5/5/04 at 8:32pm
Thread Starter 
Really? Ketchup?

Also, I'm a bit fuzzy on the whole cheek kissing thing. Say I'm meeting my host family for the first time, am I supposed to kiss them on the cheek? And is it strictly a guy to girl/girl to guy thing?
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post #7 of 11
5/6/04 at 6:31am
It can be guy/guy, guy/girl, girl/girl... when I visit, I follow their cues - not everybody does it.
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post #8 of 11
5/7/04 at 7:02pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, but I'm still not familiar with this ketchup thing, anyone care to enlighten me?
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post #9 of 11
5/7/04 at 9:00pm
Nothing specific really. French cuisine is world famous, and they sometimes take it as an offense when you spoil the art with some barbaric Yankee thing that covers the taste.
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post #10 of 11
5/11/04 at 11:53pm
Thread Starter 
Gotcha. Ketchup's out.
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post #11 of 11
5/24/04 at 12:53pm
don't forget to bring some silk. they don't sell tp over there.

As well, enjoy it all. Go places, do stuff, devote 2-3 days to each individual museum. A given, but I wish I had time (back then) to just get lost in the various places we went to.

(and bring a good camera that has been tested ensuring whatever memories are properly preserved)
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