Paris Mayor's National Tourist Day

Monday, July 9th was National Tourist Day as declared by the much maligned (and for cause) Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe. Delanoe is kicking off a campaign to change the image of Paris as arguably the most beautiful city in the world but sadly offset by a reputation of having the grumpiest and rudest denizens.

As Parisians don't feel they are rude, and the director of the Paris Tourist Office claims that they are simply too shy to speak English because of their funny accent, I an doubtful, yet curious to see if this 'awareness' campaign will result in any noticeable difference.

I am pretty sure they should be starting a lot earlier-namely in the early school years when one first learns how to treat others, so I remain fairly skeptical.

That said, for every grincheux Parisian encounter, there is generally a follow-up with a helpful Frenchman with a sense of humour to boot, so it probably balances out in the end...