Tourists in a land of bad tourists

Soon we will be traveling through France, where, I have joked, we will be greeted by lots of snooty, petulant, upturned noses.

The idea of the “ugly American” tourist still persists: a loud, culturally autistic and careless individual with no respect for the places he, or she, is visiting.

From what I've heard, the French, in particular, have issues with American tourists.

According to a recent study, though, the French are floating near the top, like foam on a cappuccino, of the rankings of bad tourists.

The French are ranked as the worst European tourists; globally they rank behind only the Chinese and Indians. The French even “finished second to last among nations ranking the popularity of their own tourists who vacation at home.”

Out of 21 nations surveyed, Americans finished in 11^th place as most-likable tourists. Right in the middle. I'm okay with being mediocre.

The Canadians finished fourth, so maybe our plan to pass ourselves off as Canadians will have some clout.

We leave to disrespect the French culture in 7 days. À la prochaine, au revoir.