While I was in Switzerland, in a hurry to get on a train connection, I heard two men behind me on an escalator speaking in Russian. They were discussing my butt and how unfortunate it was that my backpack covered part of it. Unfortunately for those men, I speak Russian and knew exactly what they were saying. I just laughed it off, but when I got home, many of my friends told me that they would have found the situation to be offensive. It gave me the idea to write a list of travel etiquette tips in order to avoid awkward situations.
While in Paris, a simple "Bonjour" goes a long way.
Similar to my previous story, when I was in London at a complimentary hotel buffet, I heard two ladies discussing loudly in Russian about how they thought I was strange because I picked out some of the berries from a fruit salad. They were being very rude about the situation, and it was obvious that they thought I wouldn’t understand.
You hear it all the time: Parisians are rude. I never met a rude person from Paris because I was told that they appreciate it if you say a simple “Bonjour.” The way people put it is that you wouldn’t go into someone’s house without saying hello so say hello when you are visiting a place people consider home. This goes for many other places as well.
