My French penpals are very nice and helpful people. I have a good French friend livng in Bogota and he's a great guy. However, my Colombian friends who have been to France have told me that the French are quite rude to foreigners. One of my best friends describes her trip to Paris as her worst vacation ever. She was harrased by a group of guys on a train in Paris, and she was quite scared. I have not been to France, so I caj only say to you that my French penpals are very kind people.

I can add to our discuss that it very big different between Paris and province. In Paris citizen little bit tired from tourists (my opinion). In Dijon or in Strasbourg people more kind and open to strangers. Btw if you pretty nice girl it give you more opportunity in your way, usually.

Hi Maurane, 

I think it makes a huge difference if you speak French.  I've found French people (even in Paris) to be quite polite and helpful, espeically people working in stores or in tourism. Compared to other countries I've lived (er, I"m looking at you, Spain), French customer service is really quite excellent.

Re: Camilo's comments above, when I was younger (and blonder - ha!) I had a lot of issues with men harassing me on the street or in the Metro as well, but I learned to handle this as French women do (ignorning first, a few sharp words second or finally an elbow to the ribs).  I don't think this is directed toward foreigners, just to young pretty girls.  One of the benefits of being older is that this doesn't happe to me any more!

On the not so bright side, sometimes I feel French people really enjoy complaining about everything too much and for me this gets depressing.  I think it is something that is deep in the culture and that French people actually enjoy, but for me the negativity gets old.  Also there is a lot of emphasis on how you look and how you dress (maybe because I lived in Paris and Cannes), and as I pretty much only own clothes I can walk my dog in, I did feel out of place where people can spend as much on a scarf as they do on rent. 

But overall, France is a lovely place which does not deserve the bad rap for people being ''rude''!