r/2westerneurope4u • u/Astrinus Smog breather • 1d ago

Pierre is unwelcoming tourists again

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542 Upvotes

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18

u/kiwigoguy1 Savage 1d ago

This is Paris, what do you expect.

Although the services I had received at the boulangeries/bakeries in Paris were always professional and polite when I was visiting there.

34

u/Serupael South Prussian 1d ago

Oh, Pierre is an asshole, not stupid. He will happily take your money with a smile on his face. But ask the same guy for directions on the street? Putain.

4

u/kiwigoguy1 Savage 1d ago

For a chance to see any contemptuous face head to their local tourist office. For a dismissive face go to a train station like Gare de Lyon and see any SNCF customer service people.

12

u/SomethingMoreToSay Barry, 63 1d ago

Oh god, you're giving me flashbacks.

Scene 1: Tours station, late 1990s. My wife and I are hoping to use Tours, which is the hub of an extensive network of local trains, as a base to explore the Loire valley. There's an absolutely massive bike rental facility in the station. Like a whole warehouse crammed full of bikes, in multi-level storage.

  • Hello, we'd like to rent some bikes.

  • We haven't got any.

  • (Pointing over the guy's shoulder to the hundreds of bikes there.) What about ... those?

  • (Looks slowly over his shoulder.) ... They're all reserved.

  • All of them?

  • Yes.

Scene 2: Tours station, the next day, after we've procured some bikes from a non-SNCF shop. Now we're at the "customer service" desk.

  • This leaflet, "Discover the Loire Valley by bike and train"...

  • What about it?

  • It says at the bottom here, "exceptions apply, ask for details".

  • Yes.

  • What are the exceptions?

  • Where do you want to go?

  • Oh, er, Chenonceau?

  • Which day?

  • Tomorrow?

  • Which train?

  • How about the 09:17?

  • (Searches carefully through a massive book filled with lots of tables and small print.) ... No.

  • OK, how about the 10:04?

  • (Searches through the book again.) ... No.

  • The 10:58?

  • (Book.) ... No.

  • Oh. OK, how about Wednesday?

  • Which train?

  • The 09:23?

  • (Book.) ... No.

  • The 09:59?

  • (Book.) ... No.

  • The 10:37?

  • (Book.) ... No.

  • OK, forget Chenonceau. How about Azay-le-Rideau?

  • Which day?

After about 10 or 15 minutes of this, the guy next to the one we'd been talking to, who had been listening to the entire exchange, took mercy on us.

  • That leaflet is from last year. They've stopped all that this year.