Probably the one common thing that people "warned" us about before we came to France was that the people were unfriendly. I found this quite annoying, and particularly unusual advice from people who have never been to France personally or maybe had only traveled for a short time, most likely visiting big cities such as Paris or Lyon.
Well, I would have to tell them that they are most definitely wrong. We have had nothing but great positive experiences during our three months time here, despite the normal bumps in the road.
Here are some stories to evidence the kind people that we have come to know that characterize the French:
~On more than one occasion I have been told by other parents that if I need any help that they would be willing to help us out.~Anna has been invited to lunch several times, and when Maria invited a guest he brought presents for the girls! Hopefully that's not a general expectation, I think his mom is just especially sweet.
~We, the girls and I, have been invited to several play-dates or gouter(a late afternoon snack).
~A woman who heard us speaking English at the Mediabus, gave us her contact information and asked us to call her if we had any problems or needed help. Several weeks later upon seeing her again, she had the girls and I come to her house for a visit.
~One of Larry's classmates went out of his way to contact an office by telephone on several occasions to help resolve a problem.
~A worker at a gift shop not only gave us good directions, she also wrote them out for us.
~While standing looking at a map to make sure we were headed down into the right Metro, a man stopped and asked us we were lost and where we were headed. After explaining to him, he started to tell us how to get where we needed and then decided to just take us and show us. So, down we went following this kind French gentleman, who, by the way, had left his wife waiting at the top of the metro.
~Our landlords went out of their way to help us purchase our car and most importantly insurance. Our landlady actually took us to the office of their insurance agent, since getting it otherwise was proving difficult.
~Our landlady also took the girls and Larry and I to the first day of school, making sure that everyone understood everything.
~We missed that we needed to weigh our fruit ourselves at the grocery and when we were checking out the cashier was trying to explain what we needed to do. We didn't quite understand, so another women in line who overheard came and showed me what she meant.
I could go on and on and on...so, think before you judge and pass along stereotypes that you don't know are true. The French have been lovely and honestly more friendly than people in towns we have moved into in the States.
