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 enlarge | Author: Polly Platt
Publisher: Assimil Gmbh
Category: Book
Buy New: $10.52
New (13) Used (4) from $9.99
Rating:  37 reviews
Sales Rank: 49184
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2nd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 296
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.6
ISBN: 0964668432
Dewey Decimal Number: 914
EAN: 9780964668430
ASIN: 0964668432
Publication Date: June 15, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Cultural Differences 101 January 3, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
If you thought your inlaws from another part of the country were difficult to understand, wait 'til you read about the French. Their culture has been evolving for literally thousands of years, certainly greatly for the past five hundred years or more.
They have had some dicey interactions with the English, e.g. Hundred Years War, but don't seem to have learned much from them (good thing!). Paris has been a leading cultural center for a long time. The French deserve to have a unique and special culture; it complements their unique and beautiful language.
Their culinary preferences are far healthier than our own in the english speaking world, let alone tastier. You recall the joke in which the germans are the cops, the americans are the lovers, and the english are the cooks in Hell.
This book is well worth reading for the insights you will gain about the French - culture is a big component of each of our natures. We can't escape from its influence, and we can't refuse to recognize the salient points of foreign cultures.
You may learn plenty from this book; Tchao!
Very good follow-up book to "French or Foe" November 17, 2006
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I can recommend this book to those interested in the French culture or those planning to travel there. If there has to be a choice between this book or her first book "French of Foe", her first book would be the better choice.
 Parisians Understood November 5, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This one book enabled my wife and I to enjoy Paris and Parisians more fully. The insights, anecdotes and perceptions of the author and her contributing friends were right on. This book helps non-French gain an insight as to nature of French behaviors, French values and the art of the French Language. In addition, you gain a better understanding of how to mingle successfully and, more importantly, respectfully. I highly recommend this entertaining and insightful,if slightly dated (pre Euro France), book.
 Handy and Informative, if a little "Cute" June 25, 2006
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
I bought Savoir Flair! by Polly Platt before I went off for a couple of weeks in Paris. I had never been to France before, but I was familiar with the reputation of the French for being rude -- this coming from Americans, of all people! Platt has lived among the humans of France, like Goodall among the chimps of Gombe, and I thought she might be able to provide some cultural insight.
The book met my expectations, and I can recommend it as reasonable for anyone in a situation similar to mine. The book is organized into intuitive chapters dealing with arrival, hotels, shopping, the prevalence of canine feces, eating out, cafes, etc., and each section contains useful contact information. You'll also find numerous anecdotes of problems other visitors have had, which in some regards will save you from having to learn them the hard way: CDG is a big and confusing airport, lots of hotels in Paris have similar names so make sure you have an address and a map, cabbies begin charging your fare from the moment you call them (not from your door), etc. At the same time, this is France, not the Congo or Afghanistan. After spending a couple days in Paris, I concluded that Polly Platt's tales of tourist and ex-pat frustrations were largely worst-case scenarios. Except for the challenge of most interpersonal interactions going on in French (it is France, after all) and some of the crazy aspects of French culture (e.g., same alphabet, different keyboard), I found the people to be completely pleasant - both polite and easy on the eyes.
Savoir Flair! is touted by the editors as funny and entertaining. Actually, I would say it is more "cute," although readers with no fun or entertainment in their lives may enjoy its style. It is a quick read, and worth the effort if you are on way to France. However, Polly Platt seems to have made her literary career out of writing and updating basically the same book, so check to see if she has something more recent. It is likely to touch all the same bases and will perhaps have even more cute anecdotes.
Prepared For Paris October 19, 2005
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
My husband treated me to a romantic trip to Paris a couple of years ago in celebration of our 13th anniversary. In preparation for this fabulous trip we did extensive research on France. The 211 tips contained in this book gave us basic tips for enjoying France and the French.We had a fantastic time and we attribute much of our trip's success to the knowledge obtained in this book. Savoir Flair! holds a special place on our book shelf right next to our fabulous photos of this memorable trip.
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