[Healeys] travelling assistance in France

[Simon Lachlan]

-----Original Message-----
From: healeys-bounces at autox.team.net [mailto:healeys-bounces at autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of Oudesluys
Sent: 01 December 2009 16:53
To: Rich C
Cc: Healeys
Subject: Re: [Healeys] travelling assistance in France

Better not to show you are a foreigner at all and always start with 
"Bonjour monsieur/madame/mademoiselle" or at least with "Excusez moi 
monsieur etc.". Europeans, esp. French, Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, 
Germans do appreciate when at least you make an effort in their own 
language. It is not often that people are gauged by there nationality as 
long as you keep your voice down.
Kees Oudesluijs
NL


Agreed. Not necessary to wear a badge. The Europeans don't...I live in the
UK and travel in Europe frequently and I don't see badges except, perhaps,
on sports gear....on ski gear for example.

Yes, keep your voice down. But, that's normal enough anywhere I'd have
thought.

A topic that's been skated around...better not to be thought to be from the
States/anti-American sentiment lingering in France etcetc? Well, were he
from the States in the first place he'd still be unlucky to encounter that.
It's easy enough to find French who are not George Bush admirers but the
great majority of them are polite, normal people on a one to one basis. I'd
not expect him to have any problems whatsoever - travel itinerary or
socially.

(It was different years ago. Churchill said to someone (Ike?) that neither
would the French forgive the British for not losing the war nor the
Americans for winning it! But that's pretty well all history now.) 
Simon