Laura Donovan's Blog

Check out my study abroad column in today’s issue of The Arizona Daily Wildcat.

As an American tourist in France, I’m not sure I can comment on the behavior of French tourists, but this Yahoo article apparently captures the French tourist stereotype pretty well:

“The French don’t go abroad very much. We’re lucky enough to have a country which is magnificent in terms of its landscape and culture,” he said, adding that 90 per cent of French people did their traveling at home.

“So when they’re on holiday they can be a bit stressed, they’re not used to things, and this can lead them to be demanding in a way which could be seen as a certain arrogance.”

French tourists are also accused of generally spending less than other nationalities when abroad.

De Roux said the French, not accustomed to leaving large tips at home where a service charge is automatically levied on restaurant bills, can seem “tight-fisted” compared with other nationalities.

Hello again from Paris. Just so you know, this blog will soon be updated more frequently. I leave Paris on July 11, and I’m excited to get back to blogging the second I have time. It’s been difficult to blog anything other than my Paris experience over here, so I’ll have a lot of catching up to do.

I really hope you’ll check out my study abroad blog when you get the chance.

After all this is over, I plan on covering UA and national events. I’m sad that I haven’t had the time to write about any recent news. I’m fascinated by all these plane disappearances. Airline news has always been of interest to me. The Iranian elections were also quite controversial.

I truly miss US culture. I’m upset that I haven’t been able to see THE HANGOVER, to tell you the truth. I miss my Blackberry. I miss seeing friendly people everywhere. I miss water fountains and excellent customer service. It sucks being so out-of-the loop, but at the same time, it’s nice. Things that would normally devastate me in the US don’t really hurt me while I’m over here.

I’ll feel reality set in once I’m home, and then I’ll turn to blogging.

Be on the lookout for more updates soon. Sorry for leaving this blog behind for so long. Don’t worry, I’ll be back. It’s pretty hard to get rid of me.