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Parlez-Boy-Francais

I know that's wrong French grammar, but I wanted to point out the bilingual tour guide we had at the Lady Dive amphibian tour we rode in Ottawa, Canada.



His blonde hair was tied in a ponytail. I think his name was Daniel. He asked every passenger seated inside the bus where they were from. I was busy writing postcards to friends, so he skipped me. My family told him we're from New Jersey. Later on, he would use this info to customize his trivia speech, e.g. he would acknowledge the lone Brit in the group whenever something British would come up in his talk.

The small group in front of him, I think there was about three or four, were the only French tourists in the ride. The rest were mostly Americans. I've been on amphibian tours before, but this is the first time to be on one where the guide is bilingual--which I thought was cool. He would first speak in English, then translate it in French. Here's a snippet of him in bilingual action:



As we crossed part of the Ottawa River that belongs to Quebec territory, he announced that he has to speak exclusively in French at that point. A tourist in the back yelled in disbelief, "Are you serious?!" After a short silence, the tour guide admitted that he was only joking.

The tour was $30CAN per person, and it takes you around the landmarks around downtown Ottawa and morphs into a cruise boat on Ottawa River.

We tipped him at the end of the tour, then asked him to take our family photo by the side of the bus. It would have been a perfect photo had he not chopped the sign off the frame. It ended up reading "Les Tours Lady Di...."

1 vandalized my wall:

Asian Traveler said...

The tour price seems reasonable. I haven't tried the amphibian tour yet, but looks like a fun way to explore.

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