Parisian Stereotypes

Debunking French and Parisian stereotypes has been done many times on various blogs, but I've wanted to write a similar post from my own experience.  Here are 7 stereotypes about Parisians and the French in general evaluated from my life here so far.

1) The French are extraordinarily rude.

The French are like people everywhere else.  They're rude to you if you're rude to them.  If a tourist saunters in to a boulangerie (bread shop), screams at the top of his or her lungs, ignores the cashier, then demands to be spoken to in English, said cashier has every right to be a little curt.

2) The French hate to speak English.

This is not true at all.  When I'm out in Paris I speak French as much as I possibly can to everyone I meet.  If I don't understand their reply because they spoke too quickly or with lots of slang (which I'm still working on), I'll politely ask them to repeat themselves and they'll more than happily switch to English.  Only in Cergy do I encounter people who don't speak English.  If you're going to Paris and don't speak any French, simply learn the phrase "est-ce que vous parlez anglais (ess-ke voo parlay onglay)?" and Parisians will switch to English without any arguments.

3) The French are all super stylish.

Ok this one is true so far.  The French know how to dress.

4) They're smelly and hairy.

This is not true.  The French I've encountered are no smellier or hairier than in any other big city.  Yes some people on the metro haven't appeared to have discovered deodorant, but I've encountered that problem in New York, DC, and even Columbia.

5) They're lazy and don't want to work.

This stereotype is debunked by my school alone.  ESSEC requires years of hard work and studying to even apply to.  If the French were lazy, Champagne, these business schools, half the luxury goods in the world, and some of the most amazing wine would never have been created.

6) They hate Americans.

Typically, those who experienced any sort of anti-American sentiment in France were the loudmouthed, annoying, ethnocentric people at the boulangerie I spoke of earlier.  As soon as someone learns I'm American they're instantly fascinated and ask me questions about where I'm from, how I learned French, and more.

7) Paris is the city of love.

Paris is the city of lights, pee smelling metro stations, amazing food, and strikes.  Not as much love here as you would think.  However, I still wouldn't trade it for anything.