US loses #1 position...

[REWahoo]

as the most obnoxious tourists - to the French:

"According to a recent international survey, the French are now considered the most obnoxious tourists from European nations, and behind only Indians and the last-place Chinese as the worst among all countries worldwide. And it's not only the rest of the world that have a gripe with the Gallic attitude: the French also finished second to last among nations ranking the popularity of their own tourists who vacation at home."

[ziggy29]

Interesting that China draws up the rear now. I wonder if that's because the Chinese are already assuming they will "own" the 21st Century as the U.S. "owned" the 20th, so now they are inheriting the "ugly American" stereotypes?

[Ultimate Cheapskate]

I've always thought that how "ugly" travelers from a certain country seem has to with the strength of a country's economy and it's ability to send people with less education, travel experience, etc. abroad.

When you think about it, until modern times pretty much the only folks who could afford to travel abroad were relatively rich, well educated, "cultured" people, who many times spoke multiple languages. Every country was sending only it's "best and brightest" abroad, if you will.

Starting pretty much with the U.S. in the 20th century, our wealth grew to the point where "the common man" (less education, no second language, fewer worldly expereinces, etc.) could travel abroad. Fairly or not, in comparison to aristocratic travelers from other countries, many American travelers seemed offish or offensive. This theory seems to be supported by the current reaction to tourists from China and India, which are now at a point of being able to afford to export more middle class citizens as tourists. Just a thought.

Stay Cheap!
-Jeff Yeager

[jclarksnakes]

We notice lots more foreign tourists here in Savannah lately. I try to talk to as many of them as possible and they all seem like nice people to me.
Savannah loves company!
Jeff

[FIREdreamer]

Hum, interesting... The title: "Most Obnoxious Tourists? The French"... When the facts are: "According to a recent international survey, the French are now considered the most obnoxious tourists from European nations, and behind only Indians and the last-place Chinese as the worst among all countries worldwide". So we are "only" #3... (yes, we... since my mom is French I guess that makes me one of those obnoxious gallic barbarians). I guess the editor at Times magazine is still holding a grudge for the war in Iraq for singling us out like that... He must have worked at Fox before and he is so used to fudge the facts he can't get it straight anymore!

[REWahoo]

Originally Posted by FIREdreamer

Hum, interesting... The title: "Most Obnoxious Tourists? The French"... When the facts are: "According to a recent international survey, the French are now considered the most obnoxious tourists from European nations, and behind only Indians and the last-place Chinese as the worst among all countries worldwide". So we are "only" #3... (yes, we... since my mom is French I guess that makes me one of those obnoxious gallic barbarians). I guess the editor at Times magazine is still holding a grudge for the war in Iraq for singling us out like that... He must have worked at Fox before and he is so used to fudge the facts he can't get it straight anymore!

Wow. I find your post the third most obnoxious of the day...

Just kidding...

Hint: Maybe if you stopped eating so much gallic folks would like you better.

[Gumby]

I'm surprised. The French people I have met, both in Paris and in various other spots around the world, were all very nice to me.

[Trek]

I've rarely run into French tourists outside of France, but in France I've never had any memorable bad experiences dealing with the French.

Here in Tallinn the nationality with the worst reputation is the British. The reason for that is that most of the British tourists are men (or groups of men) who fly over to either get extremely drunk during their stag parties or to get extremely drunk at sporting events when their teams are playing against us. So unfortunately, the vast majority of Estonians correlate a Brit with an extremely obnoxious drunk.

I have a friend that just moved here from Sweden and we were talking the other day about our travels and the general friendliness of other nationalities. She was of the opinion that on the whole, the Americans were some of the friendliest folks she'd ever run into.

[FIREdreamer]

Originally Posted by Trek

the Americans were some of the friendliest folks she'd ever run into.

When she first visited the US, my (French) mother also found the Americans to be a very friendly and agreeable people.

[CitricAcid]

The only anecdotal story I have related to this is about my parents when they visited Paris. Visiting one of the parks, they walked across the grass to get to places, as I assume most people in America find is normal. Apparently, some of the locals thought it was very rude and commented how they are humans, not cows, and that they should not walk on the grass. I found it pretty funny, but it certainly wasn't funny to the dignified French. In any case, a lot of the obnoxious nuances people notice in foreigners are just cultural differences. For one, when my aunt visited Shanghai, China, she said that nobody waits in line or anything, people just barge around and since people are so packed in, there is no such thing as a personal bubble. And, prices aren't as "sticky" in China (John Maynard Keynes is rolling in his grave somewhere), so if you are a small business owner trying to deal with Chinese tourist customers, expect a major haggling war from them.

[CuppaJoe]

Darn, I hate losing first place, perhaps we could stop claiming we are Canucks.

I enjoy a lot of German tourists here, maybe because they get soooo much time off from w*rk; I am also amused by Los Angelenos; they do qualify as "foreign," don't they?

[NW-Bound]

Originally Posted by CitricAcid

The only anecdotal story I have related to this is about my parents when they visited Paris. Visiting one of the parks, they walked across the grass to get to places, as I assume most people in America find is normal. Apparently, some of the locals thought it was very rude and commented how they are humans, not cows, and that they should not walk on the grass. I found it pretty funny, but it certainly wasn't funny to the dignified French. In any case, a lot of the obnoxious nuances people notice in foreigners are just cultural differences.

I found it surprising that your parents were scorned for walking on the lawn. This is quite opposite from what I observed.

I observed this incidence in Paris in 2003. At the feet of the Eiffel Tower was a park called Champs de Mars. It was a long rectangular park, not unlike the National Mall in Washington DC, which had a central lawn, surrounded by tree-lined pedestrian walkways. At the peripheral of the lawn were some small trees about 6-8 ft tall, probably flowering trees which were bare due to that time of year.

We just had a long walk, so found a bench outside the lawn area to sit down and rest our feet. I looked around, and did a bit of people watching. This was a pleasant late afternoon in early March, and we were fortunate that it was not too cold.

Well, as I scanned the scenery and the lawn area, I caught sight of a guy watering one of the aforementioned trees. Initially, I thought he was a gardener. I was at his 4 o-clock, so took a second or two to realize that I did not see a water hose trailing behind him. Yes, he was urinating. Not on one of the larger trees lining the mall where he might be able to conceal himself better, but on a small tree planted in the open lawn area.

I was shocked! I looked around to see if anyone else besides us saw what this guy was doing. There were some pedestrians passing by, and whether they saw it or not everyone else was acting casual. I was too surprised to get my camera out to catch this guy in the act. He was quickly done, pulled up his zipper and casually walked away. From his skin complexion and clothes, I surmised that he was an immigrant, not a French native. Still, could you imagine someone doing that in the National Mall in DC?

Don't get me wrong! I am a Francophile, and still want to visit more of France. But for a Frenchman to scorn someone for walking on a lawn is not in my experience.

By the way, I found the French people I interacted with in hotels, restaurants, and shops to be friendly and helpful.

[CuppaJoe]

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

....
Don't get me wrong! I am a Francophile, and still want to visit more of France. But for a Frenchman to scorn someone for walking on a lawn is not in my experience.
....

Mine, neither. Your story brings back a fond memory, only I was the one doing something uncouth. My friend and I were in that same park after walking all day. I took off my sandals and was rubbing my feet. Despite taking eight years of French my French is really pretty bad so I was very pleased that I understood everything said by a guy who came along walking his dog. He was pulling his hand away from the dog's mouth, saying literally, "Don't eat me!" but meaning "stop nipping at me." He then turned to me and very pleasantly said, "oh, do your feet hurt. see ya."

[FIREdreamer]

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

I observed this incidence in Paris in 2003. At the feet of the Eiffel Tower was a park called Champs de Mars. It was a long rectangular park, not unlike the National Mall in Washington DC, which had a central lawn, surrounded by tree-lined pedestrian walkways. At the peripheral of the lawn were some small trees about 6-8 ft tall, probably flowering trees which were bare due to that time of year.

We just had a long walk, so found a bench outside the lawn area to sit down and rest our feet. I looked around, and did a bit of people watching. This was a pleasant late afternoon in early March, and we were fortunate that it was not too cold.

Well, as I scanned the scenery and the lawn area, I caught sight of a guy watering one of the aforementioned trees. Initially, I thought he was a gardener. I was at his 4 o-clock, so took a second or two to realize that I did not see a water hose trailing behind him. Yes, he was urinating. Not on one of the larger trees lining the mall where he might be able to conceal himself better, but on a small tree planted in the open lawn area.

I was shocked! I looked around to see if anyone else besides us saw what this guy was doing. There were some pedestrians passing by, and whether they saw it or not everyone else was acting casual. I was too surprised to get my camera out to catch this guy in the act. He was quickly done, pulled up his zipper and casually walked away. From his skin complexion and clothes, I surmised that he was an immigrant, not a French native. Still, could you imagine someone doing that in the National Mall in DC?

Obviously it was someone not very familiar with French laws. He could have been arrested for indecent exposure for urinating in public.

As for walking on lawns, it really depends where you are. In most large urban parks, everyone can walk on the lawns. But some parks forbid it. In this case, small signs will be posted along the perimeter of the grassy area to let you know you should keep off the grass.

[jIMOh]

The US is so big and has so many rural places that many times, a person from a big city can pass thru a rural town and be considered a tourist. Yeah it's fun to pick on the french, but you can also pick on the big city folk if you live in the country, or pick on the rednecks if you live in the city.

True story- I had to do some consulting work in a small Indiana town (Jasper). There was one or two hotels in town and one was next to a restaurant where I ate breakfast and dinner a few times during my 3 day stay.

One morning I was eating breakfast and I was talking to the waitress and she mentioned "I heard there was someone new in town" and after a few comments back and forth she realized her friends were talking about me.

[Sarah in SC]

Originally Posted by jclarksnakes

Savannah loves company!
Jeff

Hey, speaking of...have you heard about the Craftbrewer's beer tasting event going on at the end of the month? Over on Hutchison Island?

We're coming down, I think...and staying at the Thunderbird...heh heh heh

[HFWR]

Originally Posted by jIMOh

True story- I had to do some consulting work in a small Indiana town (Jasper). There was one or two hotels in town and one was next to a restaurant where I ate breakfast and dinner a few times during my 3 day stay.

You were pretty close to Santa Claus, and also French Lick (home of Larry Bird). Not too far from my old stomping grounds. Nice place to be from...

[FIREdreamer]

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

Well, as I scanned the scenery and the lawn area, I caught sight of a guy watering one of the aforementioned trees. Initially, I thought he was a gardener. I was at his 4 o-clock, so took a second or two to realize that I did not see a water hose trailing behind him. Yes, he was urinating. Not on one of the larger trees lining the mall where he might be able to conceal himself better, but on a small tree planted in the open lawn area.

I was shocked! I looked around to see if anyone else besides us saw what this guy was doing. There were some pedestrians passing by, and whether they saw it or not everyone else was acting casual. I was too surprised to get my camera out to catch this guy in the act. He was quickly done, pulled up his zipper and casually walked away. From his skin complexion and clothes, I surmised that he was an immigrant, not a French native. Still, could you imagine someone doing that in the National Mall in DC?

Not quite the National Mall but, this afternoon, I saw somebody urinate on a building in the middle of downtown Nashville (he looked homeless). Actually I was noticing that Deaderick St. had a strong smell of urine, so it may not be that rare!