Advice Please!

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Jimmy Bastard
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Advice Please!

Post by Jimmy Bastard » Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:36 pm

Has anyone hitched in France before?
I'm arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and need to get to Lyon.
As of yet I haven't researched into this, I'm about to, but in the meantime if anyone has any first hand experience or friend's tales or sturdy advice.
Gimme the info.
Thank you.
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dan
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Re: Advice Please!

Post by dan » Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:37 pm

aye it's a challenge in la belle pays, but Paris to Lyon is a pretty straight run. Could put you onto a friend in Lyon with experience of it if you like?
D x
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Jimmy Bastard
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Re: Advice Please!

Post by Jimmy Bastard » Tue Mar 03, 2009 6:15 pm

if you could
that would be good
xd
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amelia
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Re: Advice Please!

Post by amelia » Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:57 pm

Do you know any french? If you know some French it will be easy - basic, with bad pronounciation they will like it even more and your efforts, tho they may not say it.

You gotta know a greeting, thank you, how are you, please, yes, and no. No point me giving them to you here as you need to write them as you would say them, to learn first off. If you haven't access to a French wordbook, look them up in a bookshop and write the basics down. With languages I find, that if you show desire to be respectful, it isalways returned. Noone knows how many words/how fluent you are, as it is invisible inside your confidence.

Have a sign in written french for hitching- with a slight mistake perhaps, and dress like a tourist. They will want to stop.

I found the CdeG Airport huge and if I didn't know enough French they were all snooty - especially the ones paid to assist. Maybe because they were women too not sure. I found the French need to know you can be just as rude as they are but are choosing not to be - THEN they like you. Use their language - no matter if with mistakes as it makes them smile - and they respect and want to help you. Some if takes a while to cut through but it happens.

Beware the speed some of the drivers go on the roads - if they have you in the car they may want to go faster to impress you. I was doing a race car speed right up behind another car though I asked to slow down please. Joie de vivre and all that...bon chance!

Newington Bandit
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Re: Advice Please!

Post by Newington Bandit » Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:48 pm

French women are so FUCKING RUDE.

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Jimmy Bastard
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Re: Advice Please!

Post by Jimmy Bastard » Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:37 pm

I am a sucker for fucking rude women.
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amelia
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Re: Advice Please!

Post by amelia » Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:28 pm

The society seems to run at a level of rudeness - what we would think is rude. Men & women alike were sometimes dumbfounded with mouths agape when I smiled and apologised in French or when I made a complimentary comment about something, anything.

In a Paris supermarket, male staff criticized me sternly for having a zipper of my backpack not completely zipped all the way closed. A guy in tight black leather pants, swore at every vehicle in his way as he drove at full speed with me in the car. A waiter in a cafe reprimanded me sternly and with a face all the way screwed up so I could not see his eyes, for seating myself where I chose to sit, as it was the 'wrong section' for what I planned to order.

I was nice to him and he was very uncomfortable. He only became relaxed when I needed to move as he sat me near the smokers - I did an expressive "Non! Fumer " he apologised but was obviously glad to be in familiar territory once more as his face was relaxed all the way back to it's chiselled frown.

Once I got used to the rudeness that is everywhere, men & women, I enjoyed the standards that they aim to attain, maintain and expect. I have never walked in a crowd of such beautifully presented people or visited such a spectacularly clean and artistic airport with model looking service people who take such pride in what they do.

They are lovely underneath the rudeness that is just their 'norm'.

I am finding that the way of the human being is to aim to do your best and this was only interfered with by the promotion of the economy. France has the edge here then.

In Australia it is expecting too much for someone to do there best. It only seems to happen naturally if people are not 100% English and have come here as a 'migrant' from adversity of a kind. I am really looking forward to going back to France. Underneath the rudeness they are very gentle and just frustrated with the English speaking world and all that it is responsible for. This is wise in my opinion.

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Gandhi
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Re: Advice Please!

Post by Gandhi » Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:33 am

i don't think they are rude, i just think the rest of us are overly polite
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mattgreen
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Re: Advice Please!

Post by mattgreen » Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:50 pm

get on a toll road (peage) and dont leave it! Once you are on you can catch lifts really easily at the paying station thingies, and enjoy the sweet motorway services along the way. You might get stopped by the police if you are actually on the toll road, but they are normally happy if you wait just outside the toll booth. Ask truckers at the services- generally turkish, eastern Europeans and marrocons are most likely to give you a lift. Smile, take a map and have fun!! Also, if possible hitch with a girl, this seems to speed things up a bit...

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