I almost laughed out loud when I came across this article by Natalie Huet on Yahoo! News. It’s about the Parisian Tourism Bureau attempting to tackle what’s probably the No. 1 complaint by tourists about the city of Paris–the people are rude.

I can attest to this. My travel buddy and I went to Paris several years ago and had many WTF moments with rude people. In one bar, even though my two companions where ordering alcoholic beverages, I was asked to leave because I didn’t order anything. In another instance, a guy standing in the doorway of his shop shooed us away when we inquired about directions.

And don’t get me started about the smoking habits of Parisians. They will not hesitate to blow their smoke directly in your direction (or in your face) when you are seated at a restaurant having a meal.

Of course not everyone fit the bill. The woman that prepared our free breakfast at our hotel was kind, and had infinite patience with us when we asked for more jam and more chocolate and more croissants, more, more, more! It was all so delish!

The point of this rant: I don’t think a manual is going to cut it. But read more for yourself.