France loses perch as top tourist spot

After years of grunts directed at foreign visitors, the French have come up with at least two initiatives that could improve their reputation. The first is a rugby glossary, Oui Je Parle Rugby, published last month by the Foreign Ministry. The second, more audacious, is Meeting the French, an agency which arranges for tourists to be invited to dinner in French homes. The preliminary tourism figures for July, published last week, showed a sharp decline in bookings in northern France and a rash of cancellations or early departures on campsites in Brittany and Normandy.