Bum Rap for Paris?

Through the years, my wife and I had heard that people in Paris are unfriendly, particularly to American tourists, and refuse to speak English. So it was with some trepidation that we took our first trip to Paris in November. We boned up on our rusty college French and were prepared for the worst. When we arrived at the hotel, however, the desk clerk spoke beautiful English. At lunch at a nearby working-class restaurant the waiter’s amiability and helpfulness overcame any language difficulties, especially when he supplied us with a menu in English.

We thought possibly that these initial contacts with Parisians were unusual, but found all our interactions to be remarkably pleasant. Each evening we had dinner at restaurants on the Boulevard de Montparnasse, and on every occasion the waiters were polite and spoke enough English to help us select wonderful dinners and appropriate wines. Several times in Metro stations we received unsought help as we puzzled over maps, and each time our benefactor spoke excellent English. In our brief stay, we met Parisians who were charming, helpful and fluent in English. It would seem, based on this experience, that Parisians have been getting a bum rap.

WILLIAM E. WEBSTER

Bakersfield