It's just the way the way it's done here.

It's just the way it's done here.

Hi, I'm Rick Steves.

Today on Travel with Rixeves, we'll take another stab at our ongoing attempt to understand French culture on its terms.

Patrick Fidal is a Frenchman who guides American tourists.

He'll help us anticipate the reasons for the inevitable faux-pah you'll commit as a visitor

to France and how French attitudes are changing.

I think what change I come to the most is the loss of the colonies because we used to have learned all over the world.

And Elaine Schillino, an American based in Paris,

shares what she's learned about this seductive nature of French culture

while reporting on the country for the New York Times.

It really is embedded in French culture that if you dress yourself well from the beginning you will feel differently about yourself and you see it all the time.

Find out what it means to be civilized, a la Francais, in the hour ahead.

It's travel with Rick Steves.

What is it about the French?

They're often the butt of jokes for comedians on late night American

TV and they're even the target in perennial political diatribes. But these interpretations

of the French seem to miss the point entirely.

I've found just about anyone who's been to France can tell you it's one of the friendliest

most charming countries anywhere. But when people try to judge French culture on American terms, well that's when we get a few cultural

misunderstandings. Today on Travel with Rick Steeves, we're learning about the Jean-Nacacroix that makes France

such a pleasure to anyone who's willing to surrender to its charms.

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