Ah, Paris was fine. I even talked politics with the guide of a bike tour and a taxi driver. Well, that is until my wife said "Mike enough, we're here to see sights, not talk about the next mayor of Paris !" The taxi driver agreed, then started talking about what not to talk about as a foreigner. I loved it.

My wife and I are the exception. We visit rural areas, stay in bnbs, use local tour guides to get oriented, and try to blend in. She is near-fluent in French, while I get to practice my German and Italian. I can also be polite in other languages, such as an Arabic greeting at a shop in Rome.

A number of years ago, I’ve had multiple Aussies tell me it was common in Miami, USA to cash in their return ticket and use the money to get hammered at the end of their vacay. Then they would let US immigration deport them and put them on a plane to Australia. They didn’t care how bad the seats were as they were…

Nice, France is diverse. At a small cafe, I heard the owner speak six languages. I recognized French, English, German, and Italian. I'm guessing the others were Russian and Arabic.