Drownout France

The Role of Tourism

The Role of Tourism
Tourist season starts in earnest next month, July. So far it's just been college students from American/German unviersities on the semester system. Now that school's out, I believe the worst is to begin.

Pre-season. 23 Juin.

Nobody, anywhere likes American/Italian/German tourists. Even the guys making their living off them consider them dolts whom they bilk. Why don't they like them? Here's what I take to be the French attitude:
- The Americans are loud. They talk to themselves loudly and make their annoying character very obvious. So I heard a quintessential New York-type pass by wondering outloud, "Let's get a Timeout! Let's see what's going on in this place!" There's no Timeout in Paris (there's a two-page TO insert in the Paris events weekly, Pariscope). The woman struck me as dumb just for thinking this foolish thought. Unfair? Maybe.
- The Americans are sharing-psychology victims. They like to say every damn thing on their mind. A woman on the bus with her kids was simply narrating every bloody thing that entered her mind, "Now I'm going to look for your diaper. Where is the thing? Okay, I'll look here....blah blah". Combine that problem with volume.
- The Americans start in English, usually. If you go anywhere that tourists are, you'll see them walk right up and say "What's this cost?". The French don't speak English, being French and all. Then the Americans get annoyed and repeat themselves more loudly, as if the Frenchman had come to America and was asking for directions or something.
- The Americans are visually repulsive to the French. The Americans are exceedingly fat. You cannot comprehend this fact if you don't leave the US. You can tell simply from someone's neck whether they are American or not. Even the Italians and the Germans are nothing like the Americans in this regard. The Americans also dress like tourism is a sport, wearing specialized athletic apparel to do their sightseeing--and they look silly in their cargo pants, hot weather shirts, sun hats, bookbags, etc. Perhaps this is practical but it is obvious and I think it attracts gypsies.
- The Americans have no taste. I don't think the Italians or Germans do either, but nevertheless all these tourists are completely missing all that is lovely about Paris. They are lined up in the heat at the Eiffel tower and at the mega-department stores when all the cool shops and beautiful little streets are elsewhere.
- The Americans are culture-consumers. They come to France to "buy" access to culture and history and taste and style from a place with nothing of its own to offer. At least the Italians and Germans come from very old countries with deep shared values in common.
- America is a semi-evil country. At this stage, the French would consider themselves at least as friendly to the Chinese and Russians and Middle East generally. The Cold-War-friendships have re-aligned. Tony the Rascal may still be the First Lapdog, but the French are no longer currying favor with the American colossus.

Posted by amol at June 23, 2002 02:00 PM