Jacques Tati as Monsieur Hulot – the eternal French screw-up.

A bit of France-bashing – by Europeans!

The San Francisco Chronicle quotes a survey of 1,500 European hotel managers, and reports that the Americans are “really liked” abroad. Americans were ranked second, behind the Japanese, as the world’s best tourists.

Others aren’t doing that well. The French get some serious bashing. Some quotes:

Russians were seen as the least polite travelers, followed by the Israelis and French. The stingiest tippers: the Germans, followed by the French and Israelis.

Who’s the most unwilling to try speaking in a foreign language? The French, the British and the Italians, in that order.

And, finally, the overall award for “worst tourists in the world” goes to the French, with the Indians and Chinese taking home the silver and bronze, respectively.

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