Hi. I will be kind-of training in Nice France in April. It’s too cold to swim in the Med. Any pool recommendations? Preferably 50m?
I swam at Piscine Jean Boudin when I was there in September. It was a very nice facility, but very French. It is long course, or at least it was when I was there. Very reasonable entry fee. Also super easy to get to on the red tram line.
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The saltwater pool in Monaco is a must!
You have to wear Speedo’s or Jammers at that pool. They won’t let you in if you have shorts or tri-suit.
Well, i was in the water last year with a tri suit?
Which is…?
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Certainly not an insult, but as an American visiting it was very clearly not a pool for tourists’. I barely spoke enough French to purchase my pass 
I was in neither a speedo nor jammers but was in a women’s training suit 
ok, I thought they were all wearing Beret and mariniere instead of swim cap and swimsuit
Was that during the race week? They relax during that period but normally they don’t.
Ha ha. I opened the door right up on that one!
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Always amazed to see Americans expecting the whole world to speak their language when they honor us with their glorious presence! 
Well, i was on a planned ride to menton from antibe…in nice, i was joined by a young guy and we started battleing each other…became buddies with basically non verbal incline language i started a conversation in bad french and the ice was broken, we switched to english. He had a very hard time speaking english but he offered me to join to ride to menton and he maneuvered me trough the formula race track etc…at the end, he told me he was a teacher in Nice and i was surprised how bad his english was for being a teacher there…
French people do not speak english, even if they are able to until you start to speak french with them…they feel honored and may jump in with english…
I always feel bad, not being able to speak french fluently on a conversational level, BUT NEVER START in german or english…so just try french first, no matter how bad it is…
I think the whole trump thing will not make it better being identified as an US citizen…
Well, I’m gently annoyed by the constant bashing of the French regarding their language skills. Yes, generally, French people, if you compare them with people from northern Europe, are not proficient in english, and those who can hold a conversation have a terrible accent, but saying “French people do not speak english” is just dumb.
Do you think the proportion of American people able to hold a conversation in french (or any other language, excluding spanish for the latino community) is larger than the proportion of French able to hold a conversation in english?
Well, i love France, i should have written, french people prefer to speak french
we visit the french riviera for decades and plan to retire there…
calling me dumb …well, freedom of speach are you french?
I just wanted to show, that it eases things to try to communicate with the native language and not being afraid of any accents or missing words…
usually (French) people appreciate the efforts…but of course, assholes do live in france, too…
so i did not want to bash french,its vise versa
I’m not sure that’s a fair interpretation of what I was saying? It was a culturally very French pool. I have spent years of my life in the water and it was a very different experience from an American pool. On an English-speaking forum, is that so wrong to point out? I literally sat on the tram practicing how to buy my ticket in French and when I was asked a follow up question, I was a deer in the headlights. They let me purchase a pass anyway
For what it’s worth, I went to Nice expecting to be embarrassed of my language skills for the duration of the trip. The people I met in Nice were SO kind and always seemed to appreciate the effort I put forth in French. I also had several mostly non-verbal conversations that made the trip incredibly memorable.
Fair enough points on the complaints about Americans, but that’s not me and please do not lump me in with that group.
I did not mean to call you dumb, it’s the generalizations that I find to be dumb. or maybe the word is too strong, I reckon I did not take the time to check in the dictionary. I guess my skills in english are not good enough to make me understand (for, yes, I’m French). Anyway, I apologize if I hurt you, it was not my intent.
I can confirm I appreciate the effort when an American comes to me in French when in France. And more than happy to switch the conversation to english because I wouldn’t want him/her to feel embarrassed by their language skills (or lack of). I largely prefer to embarrass myself with my own skills, might be some sense of hospitality.
Hello tof,
no problem at all…i am German
so, we even run into more problems in France…
so we both got lost in translation
i will be in Nice in Juyl…we may can ride our bikes together but i am old and slow…
I researched. It is a pool run by the city for locals.
On the topic of French pools (and what is a ‘French pool’), I swam in two pools in France, one out in st malo and one in paris.
Both were very very different to the pools I am used to in Aus.
In Paris the life guard poked me with a long pole and told me to put a swim cap on (I had to say in my very bad Fr that I did not have one, and that I did not speak French). He then threw me something and was not happy one bit.
There were many many people doing breastroke very slowly, swimming in the middle of the lane, swimming all different speeds all together in one lane. There was about 10 people in each 25m lane.
In the 50m pool in st malo there was a maze like toilet / change room area before you could get to the pool. There were some good swimmers in st malo.
I have swam at a few pools in the States as well, and those pools were very American! Yards, indoors, hot, people not leaving any of their stuff on the deck (stuff in lockers), a college kid sitting up on the guard tower and thinking about their dating life, someone asking to split the lane with you.
All different to the many outdoor and indoor 50m pools in Aus. People just chuck their stuff on the ground, jump in without asking to share, usually a slow, medium or fast lane, people having a chat at the end of the lane hanging over the lane line.