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Posted
34 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

In Paris, there is a lot of English.  I always say, "Bonjour! Je parle francais, mais je parle tres mal. Parlez-vous anglais?" and that usually smooths the way. The Uber/taxi drivers usually do not speak much English, but restaurants, bars, shops, etc. all good. Once you are out of Paris, a lot less English spoken.

That's the impression I got.  I'd try to muddle through something in French and they'd start speaking English.  After a day or so, I'd just speak English and everyone seemed fine with that.

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Posted
4 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

Have you gone yet?  

We did, went in August.  We had a great time.  After 2 days, our 5 year old told my wife, "I thought they were talking weird, but now I know that's just the way they talk here."  To see his world open in that moment was very cool and about 99% of the reason to bring the kids.  If you're going with family, let me know and I can throw a couple of things your way.

As far as the language, pretty much everyone you interact with speaks good English.  Whenever we went anywhere, out of respect, we would always great them in French and try to ask what we needed in French as well ("quatre pains au chocolat, s'il vous plaît", etc), but as soon as there was a mispronunciation or wrong inflection, they would switch to English.  It's just a generational thing for younger French people.  They don't care.

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