Are the French shunning rudeness?
It was Paris for me last week — no better place for a relaxed city break, lovely walks, cafes, wines, French food and of course the aroma of fresh bread which fills the air when you pass a bakery. The only problem with Paris though is the well-known French rudeness. They don't like speaking in English and they make it known if you speak in English, by their cold response. But this time I noticed a marked difference, be it in stores, restaurants or bars. People made an effort to make you comfortable and help you with a splatter of English, even by those who barely knew a few words of the language. May be the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius' instructions are beginning to have influence in the world's most visited country.
Recently, the French were urged to be "more welcoming" as the country prepares to launch a multimillion-euro tourist fund to boost tourist numbers to 100 million by 2020 (they had 84 million tourists last year). Tourism accounts for two million jobs in France and seven per cent of its wealth.
Apparently, the minister unveiled the fund after he received a special report on the state of tourism warning that the world flocks to France but often leaves less than impressed with the reception. It warned that the country was hamstrung by the French people's "difficult relationship with service and by extension our relation to others". The report said: "The country is considered a must-see destination where expectations are high...but satisfaction ratings are 30 per cent below the European average in terms of price-quality ratio."
Not surprisingly, Britons deemed the French the least welcoming hosts in Europe and the TripAdvisor website found foreigners voted Paris the rudest city in Europe, while other researchers have reported that visitors thought it had the least friendly locals, the most unpleasant taxi drivers and the most aggressive waiters. I have to admit it's a welcome change. Even the metro has announcements now at platforms like 'mind the gap'.
But another change on the streets of Paris made me quite sad, though probably safer. There is a very notable rise of armed soldiers, police on the streets of the city. It is just a reminder of the sad Charlie Hebdo tragedy and the increased security threat from terrorists to the country. It's evident France is taking the matter seriously. It's the sad reality of the times we live in.
Fencing France
I was lucky to have had a comfortable journey to Paris on the Eurostar. The day after I reached the services were suspended after a ferry workers strike took a nasty turn and illegal immigrants used the opportunity to create havoc in the Channel Tunnel. Migrants trying to board Channel Tunnel trains has become, not just a headache, but a serious concern for the UK. Now Britain will be sending a two-mile long fence to France. It hopes it will help prevent the dramatic escalation of migrants who have been seen trying to hide in vehicles waiting to board Channel Tunnel services at Coquelles at the entrance of the tunnel and at the ferry port of Calais.
A sign of the scale of the challenge the authorities face, is that last year the Border Force stopped 39,000 people from trying to enter Britain illegally, twice the figure seen in 2013. Let's see what a fencing does to determined illegal migrants.