HOW TO SURVIVE PARIS WITH NO DATA AND LITTLE FRENCH
1.) Know The Basics: If this is your first time traveling to a non english speaking country…learn basic phrases. I just travelled to Paris for the first time and let me tell you, it was not easy trying to communicate with the locals who speak little to no english. Before you go to France, or whatever country you are headed to, know how to say basic phrases such as; Can I have/Excuse me/Thank you/Where is the toilette?/Sorry, do you speak english? (And so on). This will make your life so much easier and attempting to speak their language shows them respect, so if you are having trouble they are more likely to help you out.
2.) SCREENSHOT IS KEY : If you are like me and do not have an international plan and can only go online when on wifi, take note. Before you head out on your own and wander off, city map your route and screen shot each direction you have to go in order to get to and from your destination. I made the mistake of only taking pictures of how to get to where ever I was going and didn’t take pictures of how to get back…but no worries, I made it back in one piece. Moral of the story, screenshot will become your best friend when traveling with no data.
If you do both of these you should be set! Don’t get too stressed over the language barrier, there are a lot of people who speak english in these countries so if you are in desperate need of help, there will almost always be someone around you that will come to the rescue!
youngbrokeandinlondon 
From being in Paris recently, I completely understand how you felt. Some of the people were willing to help out, but some of them were not too happy that I was even there! Another good tip if you are using the Metro, there are small maps outside of the stations that have all of the lines and their connections…This was a life-saver because I would just take pictures of the stops that I needed to switch or get off at. Super helpful!
LikeLike
Anna, I’m finding myself in the same situation as you especially when I visit other countries. My lack of data has really forced me to rely on my sense of direction. I definitely will take your advance and learn how to say key phrases when I go to France because I have zero knowledge of the language. I found that it’s also super important to know the address of where you’re staying. When I went to Barcelona, I needed to tell taxi drivers where I was going in Spanish. I quickly learned that knowing your hostel location and the surrounding areas in multiple languages is key!
LikeLike