It's also somewhat customary to greet all the patrons in a given shop or small restaurant when one enters with the same Bon Jour.
Also a nice smile and a Merci when leaving a shop....even if you didn't buy anything.
I find that for some reason my cheerful "Bon Jour" is so convincing that many times I am then spoken to in (what seems to me to be rapid fire) French. That of course blows my cover and the truth of 3 years of high school French is immediately apparent, ha ha. I think what gives me away is my "deer in the headlights" look.In fact, I seem to be more socially acceptable in greetings while in St. Barth than almost any place I can name
WIWT,
Despite 10 years of practice, your Bon Jour must be better than my Bon Jour. My Bon Jour immediately leads the recipient to speak English to me. It's very disheartening....
I use the imaginary pen in the air thing and say
"S'il vous pla
I find that for some reason my cheerful "Bon Jour" is so convincing that many times I am then spoken to in (what seems to me to be rapid fire) French. That of course blows my cover and the truth of 3 years of high school French is immediately apparent, ha ha. I think what gives me away is my "deer in the headlights" look.In fact, I seem to be more socially acceptable in greetings while in St. Barth than almost any place I can name
oh dennis...i feel your pain!!!!!
its just polite to at least learn the basic language of a country you are visiting...if nothing else it shows respect for their culture