Nigella

Whenever I hear these anti-French stories I can't help thinking about our own country. Of course tourists never have problems in the US, they are never shot, raped, robbed, etc. It just would never happen here. And we have never ever heard of car jackings in the US. About 2 years ago a 14 year old female cruiser was shot and killed just outside Coki Beach in St Thomas but you do not hear many folks saying they would not go to St Thomas because people get shot!

 

So, I will quickly present another opinion of France. We have spent many months driving throughout France (from the Spanish and Swiss boarders to the southern coast and Italy) and never been car jacked, never been robbed, usually get the right change, have met many wonderful French people, and a few who were less then wonderful. We have had great food, not so great food, amazing wine, and some lousy wine (yeah, it can happen even in France). From the point of view of an American who loves to travel all over the world...we think that if a cruise passenger has an "attitude" problem with the French they should either stay on the ship or home! We have too often seen the UGLY American and he/she is alive and well (and often on cruise ships).

 

In the interests of full disclosure, we once had some gypsy kids try to pick our pocket (actually a fanny pack) in Arles (we easily foiled the attempt). If this had happened in a place like Detroit we probably would have been shot and then robbed :(

 

Hank

Thanks for this balanced opinion.

I'm very well travelled and the only place something bad happened to me during my travels was in the US in the mid 1990's...I don't go around saying bad things about the USA as a result of that. It can happen anywhere.

France is a wonderful country - rich and diverse in every respect, from cuisine tothe different landscapes, to history to the people. Definitely agree about the "attitude" problem which is something the French (I'm not French) seem to have a very good radar for and will pick up on it immediately. If you go with a bad attitude they can tell straightaway. If you're on a cruise that calls to a French port and you have some pre-determined bad attitude about France and/or the French, stay on your ship.

Keep an open mind. We did have a great experience in France. I'll never forget the view from the church. I love my soap!!! Its just that Barcelona, Florence, Pisa, Naples, Sicily, Dubrovnik, Venice, etc.. are all so magnificant that it made France a little ho-hum in comparison.

 

Marseille was pretty incredible as well. Its just, if I have to rank the ports, its not AS amazing as the others.

Please don't judge the whole of France on one port. There is nothing at all ho-hum about this amazing country, just unfortunate that many cruise lines insist on including Marseille as a port.

I'd advise anyone who is docking in Marseille to plan to get out of the city in order to see the stunning places that are so close by.

Thank you! Food sounds great.