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Posted By: jay behrens

When I travel, I never expect to be treated special. I know enough German not to come across as ignorant American and love better then to explore local area rather than go to the tourist traps. When I was in France, my friend that was with me spoke what I thought was fluent French, yet we treat with rudeness and arrogance when they figured out we were American. Please explain to me how speaking local language and wanting to learn about the local warrants rudeness? This was not isolated cases. This was repeated in town after town. We even had one street vendor refuse to sell food to use becuase we were Americans even though we spoke French to him and did not act "American" in any way. Apparently, my friend spoke "book" French, or some such, and not "true" French, which the locals seemed to readily notice. And yes, I know that in general people are good by nature, but when confronted by repeated rudeness and arrogance, you have no choice but to write off the group. I have other places I'd raher spend my meager travel dollars than with the French.

Jay