Surprisingly, I didn’t experience the famous French rudeness, but then I could speak French pretty well at that time. The French are pleased if someone makes the effort to even speak broken French. After you say a few words, you can switch to English and they’ll speak it too.
I’ve never experienced French rudeness either but I only started travelling there in the last 20 years. Others tell me that in its more formal days (prior to the 70s), they were more difficult. And they truly respect you if you make an effort to speak the language (no matter how badly) and have some praise for their country. I actually was kissed by a cab driver for swooning over the beauty of Paris during a long cab ride. My husband was embraced in a Parisian cd shop for buying up the music of Charles Trenet! He’s banned from playing that thing in the house, though.