Opération Séduction: Paris is on a crusade trying to win back tourists, especially Americans - even often irascible taxi drivers are learning English. Lara Marlowe reports.
Who says Parisians don't like Americans? During the first weekend of June, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Normandy landings, the capital's 30 most luxurious hotels gave free rooms to 300 US veterans of the second World War, many of whom received the Legion of Honour from President Jacques Chirac.
A similar "opération séduction" (in the words of the Office du Tourisme) is underway for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Paris on August 25th.
To mark the US national holiday on July 4th, seven tourism offices in Paris and at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport were festooned with US flags. The tourism board persuaded 257 hotels, restaurants, department stores and other businesses to offer gifts to American clients.
Presents ranged from a bottle of champagne in the expensive hotels to postcards or guidebooks given by shops. On July 4th, a US passport got you a free boat ride on the Seine, free cake or chocolates in certain cafés, or a better seat in Paris theatres and concert halls.
But this outpouring of affection has more to do with what one official called the "gigantic" US tourism market than the Yankees' blue eyes. Until 2002, some two million Americans came to Paris every year, making them the single largest group by nationality.
The number of US visitors dropped by 24 per cent in 2003. For the first time, Americans were surpassed by Britons.
"We had never, ever until then added up so much bad news in one year," says Paul Roll, the director of the Office du Tourisme. "There was bird flu and SARS, the weak dollar, and obvious political difficulties in February and March."
By "obvious political difficulties", Roll means French opposition to the US invasion of Iraq.
"Americans were always welcome here," insists Fabrice Moulin, the chief aide to Jean-Bernard Bros, the deputy mayor in charge of tourism at Paris town hall. "But many of them were afraid to fly after September 11th, and they had groundless fears that they'd be ill-received here."
It's important to keep the economic stakes in mind. With 26 million visitors each year, Paris is the world's first tourist destination. The industry employs 130,000 people - 11 per cent of the city's work force - and generates €8 billion annually. The tiny hotel room tax, which ranges from 20 cent to €1 per room per night, earns €22 million for city coffers.
It is, of course, the unruly child who gets the most attention. No one has mounted an "opération séduction" for any other nationality. "It's essentially for the Americans," Roll admits. "Because the drop in activity for Britain or Ireland and other English-speaking countries has not been as drastic. Obviously, we don't have the same problems of misunderstanding with other Europeans."
Roll says he was shocked by the vehemence of the letters and e-mails the tourism board received at the height of the Franco-American crisis. "The main theme was 'We freed you from Germany and look what you're doing to us'. Usually it was embellished with all sorts of insults in various languages."
The hard feelings are on the mend now. Statistics for the first five months of 2004 show a 23.5 per cent increase in US visitors over the same period in 2003.
Other nationalities are benefiting from the measures conceived at town hall. Under the energetic socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, the city and public transport system have hired 170 "welcome ambassadors" who distribute guidebooks and information to tourists in 14 languages.
The "ambassadors" are positioned in 30 sites which include metro stations, Notre Dame Cathedral, Pigalle, Montmartre and the Place de la Bastille. They work from mid-June until the end of August, and most are students. The basic hiring criterion is fluent English.
In a similar undertaking, Paris's often irascible taxi-drivers are trying to improve their image by joining a city-funded association which will give them English lessons and a sticker to identify themselves to tourists.
France has strict laws against working on Sunday, but the city is testing a special "tourist zone" in Montmartre. If they subscribe to a "quality charter" pledging friendly service in English, shops will be allowed to open on Sundays.
The demise of the curt shopkeeper or waiter seems to owe more to globalisation than the Ministry of Tourism's "Opération Bonjour", which started in the 1990s. France's new generation has travelled, studied foreign languages and been exposed to the "Have a Nice Day" culture of fast food outlets in the US.
Mayor Delanoë has taken measures to lessen tension between residents and visitors in the world's most beautiful city.
The tour buses which blighted central Paris have been banned from the Place de la Concorde, the Île de la Cité and the Île Saint-Louis. Instead, buses disgorge their passengers at a jetty down the Seine, where tour groups catch a "Navi-cité" boat that ferries them to Notre Dame and on to other sites.
If someone could teach French manners to foreign tourists, co-existence would be almost idyllic. The most frequent offences have not changed in the nearly three decades since I first came here: talking loudly in public places; handling merchandise in shops without asking permission; putting feet on metro, train and bus seats; the failure to say a cheery "Bonjour Monsieur" or "Bonjour Madame" on entering a shop or initiating a conversation.
The Americans don't mean any harm, and they don't understand why the French stiffen and grit their teeth.
The New Paris
The Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre and Notre Dame need no introduction. The city of Paris and the Office de Tourisme want to shed Paris's image as a "museum city" and emphasise the energy and youth of the neighbourhoods near La Bastille in north-east Paris, and the huge selection of constantly changing free street entertainment.
MAIN EVENTS INCLUDE:
Paris Plage: For the third consecutive year the right bank of the Seine has been transformed into a beach, until August 20th. Some 2,000 tonnes of sand, 40 palm trees, sweet-smelling jasmine, a swimming pool, deck chairs, parasols and picnic tables have been spread out on a 3.5 km stretch between the Pont des Arts and the Pont de Sully. Everything is free, but deposits are required for roller skates, books and the French bowling balls known as pétanques.
Quartiers d'été festival: This "mini-Avignon", music, theatre and dance festival is held in public places, usually the courtyards of old hôtels particuliers, in several arrondissements - until August 15th.
La Villette open-air cinema: The equivalent of a US drive-in movie. Film classics are projected on a huge screen in this public park in north-eastern Paris. Families picnic on the lawns while they watch the films. The cinema festival overlaps with open-air balls and concerts, also at La Villette, until August 29th.
60th anniversary of the liberation of Paris: In addition to official ceremonies on August 25th, there will be street re-enactments of the last battle for the city, and a sound and light show at the Place de la Bastille.
La Nuit Blanche (sleepless night): Another innovation by Mayor Delanoë will take place on the night of October 2nd to 3rd. France's best known contemporary artists are given licence to transform Paris monuments, including the interiors of churches, with light shows. Visitors are meant to follow an all-night itinerary through the city.
