I have been
thinking of writing this post for a long time now. Why ? would you
wonder
Because
every year I see my favorite city crowded with tourists who don't
have a clue.
First maybe
not to conquer, but to inform, I should divide my audience.
If you don't
want to go over clichés, if you just want to stay with the mass of
tourists without getting to know any parisians, without willing to
experiment and see another point of view that your own, stop reading and you'll spend your stay queueing...
If you want
to really discover Paris and not to be judged as a « don't have
a clue tourist » you can go on reading me.
Three rules
are to be followed if you don't want to be scorned.
FIRST: BE
POLITE WITH THE NATIVES
I have read
on tourists comments that French people aren't nice, that around the
Eiffel tower there are no cafeterias for tourists... PARIS IS NOT
DISNEYLAND, Paris wasn't designed for tourists, people really live
and work in this city, and the city is designed for those who work
and live there.
So you must know
that French people are proud and even though their job is to be the
tourists bitches, they want to be treated like human being, and to be
polite when being in a foreign country is to talk the essential words
of politeness in the natives' language.
Always start
your conversations by « Bonjour » and before starting to
talk in English as if it was the only language in the world ask if
the person you're talking to is speaking English : « parlez-vous
anglais ? » if your mother tongue is not English ask the
person if they speak your language, maybe you'd be interested to know
that a large majority of French people also speaks spanish which, as
it is a latin language, is easier for us to learn.
Of course
you'll say « merci » even if the person speaks English
when you'll be provided with your information, or after buying your
baguette...
and when you
leave « Au revoir »
Don't
pretend it's too difficult, I went to Check republic and learnt those
words in Check which is much more difficult to pronounce than French,
some people even started conversations in check with me, because even
in a foreign country I tend to blend. Blending doesn't mean that you
are loosing your identity, it means that you can learn, enriched
yourself, adapt, and be a clever dude !
So the magic
words are BONJOUR
( hello), AU
REVOIR (good bye), PARDON
( excuse me), MERCI
(thank you), DÉSOLÉ
(sorry), and PARLEZ-VOUS
ANGLAIS ? (do you speak english?)
Just with
that, you'll see that a world will open to you !
(the links
lead you to the right pronunciation)
SECOND :
RULES OF BEHAVIOUR IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONS
Walk fast,
and keep your right in the corridors, stairs and escalators of
public transportation. Try not to be loud, especially when the rest
of the metro is quiet, always remember that people work, and that not
everyone is in holidays.
THIRD :
DRESS CODE
Please,
please, please, don't dress like tourists ! Don't wear fanny bags,
back pack on the front, crocs, running shoes with jeans ; tee
shirts, hat, umbrellas with Paris written on them, don't dress as if
you were at the mountain or at the sea, dress as if you were going
to buy clothes in your own city. Avoid sport shirts, bermudas, you
are in the world capital of fashion for christ's sake. Dear tourists
you're hurting my eyes ! And keep your shirt on ! You don't have to be
fancy, it can be equally ridicule.
Now seriously : PARIS IS NOT A DANGEROUS CITY IF YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE A TOURIST.
I have lived
here for 17 years and only twice people tried to rob me, they just
tried.
So the rule
is not to be afraid to leave the crowd of tourists behind, and
explore the city by yourself. Maybe spend two days doing the
touristy thingies, then get lost in le marais, in the eighteenth, let
chance lead you, if you have a navigo
pass, you can't really get lost, there are metro stations
everywhere. If you don't know anymore where you are, you just have to
get into one of those look at the map and then you'll find your way.
LEARN TO MASTER THE METRO MAP AND PARIS WILL BE YOURS, then if you
want to get to know the people and the culture, you need to learn the
language.
To master
the metro map, you need to be aware of one thing : the direction.
Let's say
that you are in Chatelet station and want to go to Montmartre ( let's
say metro Anvers), you will take line 4 to the north, the direction
is Porte de Clignancourt, change at Barbes Rochechouart take line 2
in the west direction which is Porte Dauphine and then you just have
one stop. Walking in Paris is delightful, and that's the best way to
discover the city. To cross it from west to east it might only take
you 2 to 3 hours. The river Seine is in the middle, and the
numeration of all the streets start from her ( river is feminine in
French) Now you see you can't get lost.
Try new
things, go in the supermarket, and ask people what would be cool to
try, what wine to choose, then wander around the canal saint Martin,
spend the afternoon in the parks... ask questions be curious and
we'll love you. Because if we hate tourists it's only because they
don't give a shit about the real Paris, they just want to see the
cliché images that their grandfathers brought back from the
liberation in 1944 ! It was 70 years ago, Amelie 's Paris doesn't
exists. Paris is a multiethnic city, with plenty of life and plenty
of adventures.
New
neighborhoods are in creation in Paris, like around Bibliothèque
François Mitterrand, maybe you could wander around there... there
are cool bars on boats quai Mauriac.
I teach French for foreigners, if ever you want to try a shot let me know
I teach French for foreigners, if ever you want to try a shot let me know
HAVE A NICE
STAY.