Originally Posted by hotturnip
And as far as the language thing--I love these comments such as, "Can you believe they didn't speak a word of English?" How about this instead: "Can you believe those tourists show up in our country and don't speak a single word of French?" I can sure imagine people here saying that about foreign tourists.
We're talking about an AIRPORT, not about Paris. I don't think I should be required to learn French / Mandarin / Russian etc just to be allowed to transit through CDG, PEK, Moscow etc.
"Can you believe those tourists show up in our country and don't speak a single word of French?" Why not? I'd rather hear a sincere "Thank you" with smile instead of a quick insincere "Danke schön". It's the attitude that counts for me, not the language.
Originally Posted by karthik
I transferred ... and walked (didn't realize there was an airside shuttle at the time.) The immigration officer didn't stamp my passport, and when I went back through immigration to get to my connecting flight, the officer there checked my name off a list. So it is possible to transit landside at CDG without entering the EU.
So what would you call the area between the terminals if it's not French or EU territory? I don't think you would have been allowed to transfer landside if you hadn't had the right credentials. Whether they stamp your passport or not is a different matter I think.
HTB.