What is it about a girl sitting alone, reading, that makes French guys want to come up to her and attempt to pick her up? Is there an invisible sign that says, "Hey, come over and bug me, please!" Not last I checked. This, of course, happened to me yesterday. I was sitting out on the steps of my the Marseille train station when low and behold, this exceptionally icky man, who had to be at least 55 if not older, came up to me, sat down, and proceeded to attempt conversation. I tried looking disinterested (wasn't hard) and give him the cold shoulder, but that didn't stop him from making a move. He wanted to know if I wanted to go for a walk underneath the trees with him and his friends (!) 'cause I looked like I was getting too much sun. I turned to him, disgusted by all his missing teeth and told him that no, I was just fine where I was. He asked me several times again, each time I promptly told him no. After ten minutes, he got the clue and left. But why me? The fact is is that southern guys (we have had the problem in Spain and Italy) think that every girl is just waiting to be with them and that they should let the girls know how they feel the minute they are spotted. This results in massive whistling and cat calls on such a regular basis I'm afraid I'll miss it when I go back home (but trust me I won't). And we can't figure out if they are yelling at us because they actually think we are pretty or if it is just because we are female. And they never seem to get the clue that we aren't interested. All of these catcalls and whistles must have worked at one point, otherwise why continue? Somehow this all got culturally accepted, and no one knows why. Why are French women putting up with this crap? Are their self-esteems so low that they need gross, chain-smoking, beer guzzellling French guys calling to them to make them feel attractive? Who is giving in to this that it has become a norm? Well, certainly not me.
Conclusion de jour: Try not sitting by yourself in Marseille, and learn how to say "bug off!" to French guys, 'cause they will attempt to pick you up, no worries on that.