[Publius772000]

As we all suspected, the French are among the worst tourists in the world. But they have an excuse for that. Just ask them.

[Nachum]

OK. Where is that picture of the bear in the woods?

[ClearCase_guy]

[counterpunch]

Hasn’t it been official for a few centuries now?

[exist]

It's only anecdotal but I've met about 5 French people in my life and they were all A-Holes and none of them looked like this:

[FourPeas]

*whew!* I’m glad that’s been settled.

[ClearCase_guy]

The French reaction to this news has been received.

[Stepan12]

Wait.... This has not been my experience.

Listening to candidate Obama's admonition to speak more French, when French visitors visited and I ran into them. I asked them in French why bother visiting where they were (it certainly wasn't any big tourist attraction)? The young lady responded in english to my french with the unstated air of who are you to try to speak our language with your thick American accent -- schmuck?

It certainly did not feel like a pleasant experience, but the young lady did speak english to me and did explain why the tourist group would stop where they did -- a library (bibliotheque).

[pogo101]

They can be very polite. Much of western France politely left for parts east (and south) when Germany, um, visited in 1914 and 1940.

[DuncanWaring]

...the French were seen as cheap, arrogant, and unwilling to speak the languages of the places they visited.

Much like our uninvited "visitors" from South-of-the-Border.

[Terpin]

I’m betting Germans were a close second.

[blue state conservative]

A few years ago we took a family vacation through Europe by car. Every country we visited the border guards would try to converse with us in English when they realized we didn’t speak the native language. All except France. We I gestured to him I didn’t speak French he launched into a two minute diatribe in French. The only word I thought I understood was one that sounded like “declare”. I assumed he was asking if I had anything to declare so I shook my head no and he let me pass.

[blue state conservative]

A few years ago we took a family vacation through Europe by car. Every country we visited the border guards would try to converse with us in English when they realized we didn’t speak the native language. All except France. We I gestured to him I didn’t speak French he launched into a two minute diatribe in French. The only word I thought I understood was one that sounded like “declare”. I assumed he was asking if I had anything to declare so I shook my head no and he let me pass.

[FreeManWhoCan]

I worked with French people for 5 years. 90% of the ones I knew were back-stabbing rude aholes.

[Impy]

Ping, if you haven’t seen this.