My Experience In France
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
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The intention of this article is to objectively record my personal observations during my stay in Paris as part of my international module at IIM Lucknow, and in no way to generalize or criticize any specific country or its practices.
I landed at the Paris International airport with tons of excitement, however, my first experience was not very pleasant as we had to wait over an hour to go through the immigration process because there was only one counter for non European citizens (who were around 80% of total present people) as opposed to a couple for EU citizens. It made me think whether the world has really become global in the true sense? I was not able to solve the puzzle of such inefficiency in one of the most developed & powerful nations of the world.
During our trip to the hotel, I saw lots of bikes all across the city. Initially, I was a bit surprised, however, with some discussions and reading, I figured out how by ensuring availability of bikes all across the city, the French Government is really serious about reducing the carbon foot prints of the country. The volume of bikes available for rent itself speaks for the seriousness of the Government about the initiative. We have grown up in India seeing people using bikes extensively, however, with time we gradually started moving towards other personal vehicles such as scooters, motorcycles and cars. I would really love to see the Indian Government’s focus to promote the usage of bikes in key areas of all metro cities. It would not only help in keeping the environment clean but also help in solving the traffic congestion problem. Moreover, it would also help us in reducing our trade deficit by reducing the import of fossil fuels.
My first experience with Paris’s public transit system, which is one of the most comprehensive metro networks in the world, with more than 200 stations spread over 40 sq mi, was just amazing. After having experienced some other big public transit systems e.g. that of New York and Toronto, I could say that it is the one of the best. After roaming around Paris using various Metros, RERs, Trams and Buses, I can comfortably say that this is the way to explore Paris. In India, although we have started a Metro in Delhi, however, we have a long way to go to have its presence in other Indian metros and also in term of cross connectivity with other transportation modes such as buses, trams and rail.
I was highly impressed, after moving around the city and seeing the way the city of Paris has been preserved. The French Government’s efforts to preserve all its monuments are just amazing. The way 3-4 hundred year old buildings are maintained is commendable. It really made me think, “Why couldn’t we do similar thing in India?” The condition’s of some of India’s finest monuments is abysmal. I would love to see a similar passion to preserve our own heritage. The way the whole of Paris is presented as one of the best tourist places is commendable. I feel deeply hurt to see, even though we have so many good culturally rich places in India, we don’t present it in the best possible way to the world.
Finally, my experience with the customer service at various places in Paris has not been very pleasant. After having lived for over six years in North America (US & Canada) and having experienced excellent service there, I was a disappointed to see such dismal customer service in France. However, my experience in Paris made me think, “Why, in spite of being a developed country, is there no focus on customer service in France?” I thought that my ignorance of the language could be a cause. However, after visiting places like Brussels, Bruges and Amsterdam, I knew this is not exactly the reason. I found people in Belgium and Netherlands friendlier and more open to Non EU tourists. Even though people did not understand English, they did put-in their best efforts to understand and help the tourists. I would definitely not like to have the French way of customer service in India.
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