Nobody spoke English and there was nothing to do

[AdoraLovesCake]

Sorry, this might sound like I am complaining when obviously in another country they won't speak much English.

I decided to go to France this summer as a single pregnant mum with a 1 year old and a 5 year old. Fortunately my friend and her 3 year old son decided to join us.

I booked in a place, by the beach in Northern France, I had been to when I was a young adult, I remember it being quite touristy but very kid friendly. Photos of the place looked like a touristy city where people would speak English.

I speak quite a lot of French and was teaching bits to my oldest daughter so she could ask for a crepe or say please and sorry and simple things like that, under the expectation that most people would speak English. My 1 year old can only speak a few words, so I am not going to teach her French. My friend speaks French well too, and her son also learnt please, thanks, sorry.

We arrived to find a really untouristy place. We unpacked and looked around the town for fun kids stuff. There was nothing. By this time I was exhausted, with an overexcited child and a screaming baby. So we hunted for a cafe or restaurant. Nothing. We went into a small bakery, asked in French for some stuff then asked in English, "Are there any children's playgrounds here?" The baker looked blank at us and soon there was about five French men shaking their heads and repeatedly telling us, "Me French"

So we left and went to the beach. No kids on the beach, just a couple and their dog. Thankfully they let the children stroke the dog. No places to buy ice cream, buckets, spades, balls, paddle boards or anything.

The next day we took the bus, still nobody spoke English and still, towns bare of tourists and kids, beaches bare of anyone and anything.

Thankfully the kids took it quite well, it could have been a whole lot worse. It's just that the research I did made it look good. Maybe I didn't do enough? Maybe I shouldn't have used my memory from 20 years ago? Maybe I should have taught my kids more French?

xxx Cora

Why do people trot this out whenever someone posts in a style different from the usual MN format? It's troll hunting by a different name IMHO

And collecting shells, glass, jellyfish .... all great!

which beach was it?

@goldfootball , and from experience we’ve had to learn that however touristy the place in France, don’t ever expect to find anywhere for a vaguely lunchtime meal unless it’s strictly between 12 and 2pm - the sacred hours for lunch in France.

And even if you do find somewhere….

Having once stopped en route to see a crumbling old chateau, four of us arrived just on 2 pm at a place (in a very beautiful old town on the tourist trail) where they said yes, they could give us a croque monsieur anyway.

But the waitress was so sulky and flouncy that my sister in law - who is French!! - refused point blank to eat anywhere with such rude staff - and so we left. I was starving and dying for that croque monsieur! 😩

I don't understand this post. You said that you and your friend both speak decent French. So what exactly is the problem if few people spoke English?

I hate when that happens. I've had people respond to me in English when my competence in the local language is clearly much better than their Engish, but they insist, which is extremely annoying.

Why do people say it's unreasonable to expect to speak English in France? Germans, Dutch, Belgians, Chinese, Finns, Czechs (etc) all go on holiday to France and speak English. Granted you might struggle occasionally in the sticks, but people in service industry jobs generally speak at least rudimentary English.

YABU to complain that French people didn't want to speak English in France, yes.

Also YABU to complain about a beach being empty and not having things to do. You basically didn't do enough research about the place you were going to. You booked a holiday in a quiet, not very commercial town in northern France and are now complaining that it was a quiet, not very commercial town in northern France. If you wanted a holiday in a busy, bustling beach resort with lots of people, ice cream and beach shops, you should have gone somewhere different. There are plenty of places like that in France.

THIS ^

IcedPurple you get that in Italy too nowadays. Fucksake, when I lived in Venice 25 years ago nobody spoke English, but when we visited this spring I had everyone replying to me in English. Unlike my French, my Italian is fluent, with quite a bit of Venetian dialect to boot, so I was terminally miffed 🙄.

Perhaps your Italian isn't as fluent or Venetian-sounding as you'd like to think? The locals probably picked up that it wasn't your first language and was trying to be helpful in English.

Funnily enough Italy is the country I had in mind!

I too speak pretty good Italian, having lived there for a few years. It's certain ly not perfect and a bit rusty now, but it's still usually way better than the English spoken by the person who refuses to speak Italian with me. I've even had occasions when people have insisted on speaking English with me when others involved in the conversation don't speak English at all and so wouldn't understand what we were saying! Wouldn't it make way more sense for us all to just speak Italian? Us being in Italy and all that.

I havelived in Paris, Rome and Madrid in August. Half the things are shut.

Smaller towns, small businesses have their holidays... and the heat!

Even if their English was much worse than her Italian?

And I don't get your point about Italian not being her first language. English isn't their first language either.

😂😂 oh god I can imagine! Even when I’ve tried to prepare for everything being closed on a Sunday there are times when you can’t help being caught out. Last year I had to do a 40 minute, out of the way detour with all my luggage to go to a carrefour for a sad pastry because there it was the only place open.

Two adults who speak French in France and you were going into shops and asking things in English long enough for your daughter to be sobbing? Sorry you didn't get the holiday you wanted, but sounds like a lot of this is on you and your mate for poor planning and expecting everyone to cater to your Englishness.

Thats true...I'm more referring to his reluctance (and the French generally) to speak English.

They see it as cultural imperialism. French used to be the lingua franca when it came to science, until English took over (British Empire covered a quarter of the planet by 1920). The French value their culture very highly and don't want to see it eroded unlike other cultures in much of the rest of the world.

Next time, if you have no luck at all, look for a McDonald's!
And if you speak French you must know où est l'office de tourisme? If not I recommend the Paul Noble audiobook :)

Exactly!

Genuine question, why would teaching the kids more French make it better? As for the question, well yes obviously more research would have helped, but there’s a reason tui, jet 2 and the like exist, and that reason is to take families with young children to places that are suitable for families with young children. Save the off the beaten track, independent travel for when they are a bit older and will benefit from the experience.

Where did you go @AdoraLovesCake ?

He has lived in Spain for many years so obviously he would need to speak Spanish. However, he has no particular need to speak English.

@Paq I'm not suggesting paddle boarding to a pregnant woman. I was suggesting a way to resolve the problem of not being able to buy such an item as the OP stated:

'No places to buy ice cream, buckets, spades, balls, paddle boards or anything'

Take up the health and safety aspect with the OP if you're concerned about it.

Probably best not to plan trips based on how you remember things from 20 years ago.

why would teaching the kids more French make it better
To be fair, there is less to do when you can't understand the language: they might be reluctant to play with other kids on the beach and you can't take them to the cinema or anything.
Not that teaching them school French would make that much of a difference!