Caution - Taxi Drivers

If like me you are used to London taxi drivers exercise some caution with the french.

I don%26#39;t subscribe to the stereotype of rude Parisians in fact I have found them to be some of the kindest people I have met in France.

However the taxi drivers without exception were very different. Firstly the taxi I got from Charles de Gaulle to a well known restaurant in central Paris. It was driven by a woman with a disgustingly dirty dog in the front seat who decided half way through the jouney to get into the back and try to hump my leg - she did nothing to stop it even when it started trying to bite me. She had no clue where to go and in the end I had to phone the restaurant to get directions.

Not knowing where to go was a very common theme even when I had an address. I speak reasonable French so it was not a language problem but on at least two occassions I ended up getting out of a taxi and into another one as the driver had no clue where to go.

I also experienced a driver having a very loud argument on his mobile all the way to the restaruant which was not the greatest start to an evening.

The only positive experience was when I left a bag in a taxi and the driver returned to the hotel to drop it off. Other than that if you can use the metro it is not worth spoiling a great city with such bad experiences.

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Izzy, sorry to hear about your bad taxi experiences (altho I had to laugh about the amorous french dog). I%26#39;ve been living in Paris since Sept 07 and have had only 1 or 2 somewhat bad experiences, where I was taken on the long route, rather than the best/shortest way to where I was going.

on the other paw, I%26#39;ve had some awful taxi experiences in London. the last time I took a taxi from the Eurostar station to the Savoy Hotel (before it was closed for renovations) the taxi driver took me to another hotel instead, in a completely different part of London - about 20 minutes out of my way. the driver was apologetic, tho, and didn%26#39;t charge me for the extra miles.

I usually find that London taxi drivers spend the ride complaining about politics, whereas the french taxi drivers are usually quiet and have wonderful jazz on the radio.

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Izzy, sorry but I laughed when the dog became amorous too. The biting is another thing but I gather it was more a mouthing?

I haven%26#39;t had any trouble with Parisian Taxi drivers so far - touch wood

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Nope it was definitely more of a bite but I had a thick coat on! Think it may have been upset at my rejection. All I could remember in french was your dog is bad but she just looked at me and continued to complain she couldn%26#39;t find the address of the restaurant on sat nav.

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Goodness, that is not on!

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We have encountered the clueless taxi drivers also. Paris IS a very large city, but really the central touristy areas are not that large, that frankly the taxi drivers SHOULD be better equipped to get you where you are going.

I feel that since many of the drivers we had were obviously immigrants( accented french) , that I suppose they are not completely familar with the city yet( it could definately take years,, all those crazy one ways which can take you out of the way easily)

And frankly many taxi drivers could take a lesson on how to be pleasant, unlike most Pariseines they seemed to have missed out in the %26quot; smile revolution%26quot; LOL

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%26quot;I feel that since many of the drivers we had were obviously immigrants( accented french)%26quot;

A taxi driver born in Southern France or in Alsace may also have a heavy accent when speaking French, not be an %26quot;immigrant%26quot; and not know all the streets in Paris.

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And again you assume I could not tell the difference between a French accent that varies by region and one that is from a different conitinent.. geesh.

Lets put it this way, if my french is as good as theirs then they are not FRENCH borne and raised,, unless they are stupid, I think it is more charitble to assume then are immigrants don%26#39;t you?

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