Travel Trivia – Can Neighbours have Contrasting Cultures and Attitudes...?

Travel Trivia 

Contrasting Cultures and Attitudes  

Observations from our recent Europe (Austria Switzerland Paris) Tour

By

VIKRAM KARVE

Last month – in July 2018 – we visited three countries in Europe – Austria, Switzerland and France (Paris).

It was a 12 day group tour (with a serendipitous unscheduled one day stopover at Istanbul, Turkey – due to our delayed Paris–Istanbul Flight – which resulted in our missing our connecting flight to Mumbai – and this gave us a whole day to see the sights in Istanbul and relish Turkish Delight and Baklava.

We left for out tour from Mumbai and flew to Vienna via Istanbul.

The Europe tour started off from Vienna (Austria).

After Vienna – we visited Salzburg (Austria) – Innsbruck (Austria) – Vaduz (Liechtenstein) – Lucerne (Switzerland) – Endelberg (Switzerland) – Bern (Switzerland) – Geneva (Switzerland) – and – we saw many interesting places enroute like Mondsee (Sound of Music) – Wattens (Swarovski) – Rhine Falls (Zurich) – Interlaken – the magnificent snowclad mountains/glaciers at Mount Titlis and Jungfraujoch (Top of Europe) in the SwissAlps– cruises on Swiss Lakes etc.

Finally – we had 3 days in Paris (France) – where the Europe tour terminated – and we flew back home to India (Mumbai) via Istanbul.

In Austria and Switzerland – we saw a number of “tourist attractions” – and – at each place – the local tourist guides would glorify the rich heritage of their nation, eulogize their national culture, extol their national history and laud their achievements.

Hearing the Austrian/Swiss tour guides lavishly praise of all aspects of their country – it was evident that they were immensely proud of their nation and their people.

However – the moment we entered France – we were in for a surprise.

The tour guide warned us:

“Paris is full of thieves and criminals. You may get “mugged” or robbed – if you are not careful. Guard your belongings properly. Avoid going out of your hotel at night. And – even in daytime – don’t carry anything visible – no purses or anything in your pockets. There are thieves and pickpockets everywhere…”

We were told to carry our passport and money/cards in a pouch and tuck in the pouch inside our shirts so that it was not visible.

We were warned that if we lost our passports – it would be a troublesome hassle to get new travel documents and we would be offloaded from the tour.

We were advised to lock our valuables in the safe in our hotel rooms – and to carry only the “hidden” pouch with passport/money/cards – and not to carry any bags with us.  

The tourist guide narrated some sordid instances of tourists getting “mugged” and losing their passports, money and valuables in Paris due to “snatching” and pickpocketing.

He impressed upon us that Paris was a dangerous place.

He then made some disparaging comments about “immigrants” – who – according to him – had spoilt the culture and vitiated the safety in his country.

Our coach driver (who was driving us for nearly 10 days since the first day in Vienna) also said that we should take care of our luggage and not leave any belongings in the bus.

He narrated an incident in Paris where a thief had jumped into the bus (the moment he opened the doors for passengers) – and – the thief decamped with a bag.

(In Austria and Switzerland – the same bus driver would tell us to leave our bags and belongings in the bus – and he assured us they were perfectly safe)

The bus driver too made some disparaging comments about Parisians – especially their terrible traffic sense.

At Eiffel Tower (and other tourist attractions) we saw notices warning of “pickpockets” (“Beware of Pickpocketing”) – and we did observe some “unsavoury” looking men hanging around the entrances of various tourist places trying to hawk “curios” (our guide had warned us to avoid these “shady” hawkers as they were likely to cheat us or snatch our bags/money).

All this was quite surprising – since in Austria and Switzerland – we had roamed around freely on the streets – even late at night – and it was considered perfectly safe to do so.

Unlike in France – in Austria and Switzerland – the tour guide (and local guides) had never warned us to be “careful” (from thieves and pickpockets) – and – we were encouraged to venture out of our hotels and see the cities and do shopping – whereas – in Paris – we were advised not to leave the hotel – and not to walk around the streets – especially at night.

Is Paris (France) really so unsafe as compared to other European countries like Austria, Switzerland etc…?

Were the tour guides exaggerating the “dangers” of Paris…?

Why were they “running down” their own country/city…?

Maybe – the tour guides were speaking from experience – because they did not want a “mishap” to happen to the tourists under their care.  

It may not be fair to generalize – but – we observed that in Paris (France) – that – things were quite disorganized and inefficient – and people tended to be rude and unaccommodating towards tourists – as compared to Austria and Switzerland – where things ran like clockwork – and people were courteous and helpful.

There was a huge difference in the way the local tourist guides conducted tours of various attractions.

The tourist guides in Austria were most meticulous and efficient as they conducted the tours and explained all aspects of the historical places with great dignity and passion.

Their sincerity and pride in their national heritage was clearly palpable.  

In contrast – the tourist guides in Paris were perfunctory and they seemed to be in a hurry to finish off the tour.

They had an air of arrogance too – and it seemed that they take tourists for granted.

Maybe – Parisians feel that their “tourist attractions” are so famous – that tourists will come in any case – hence the “couldn’t care less” attitude.

This contrast in attitudes was quite surprising to us.

We wondered how the cultures of neighbouring countries could be so different…? 

Dear Reader: 

During your Travels – have you noticed such contrasts too...? 

VIKRAM KARVE
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