wtw said

And I'll agree with you concerning French people not being too helpful with strangers ...

I was obviously grossly exaggerating ... or more like referring to 30 - 40 years ago. Since then, attitudes have changed.

My kid grew up in Cologne and we also spoke German at home. My bad that I didn't make sure he could speak native style English... just a funny approximation. When he hit high school age and left for Paris, he discovered that it was really cool to speak English with his French classmates. What changed in that generation? (He's 30 now so you'll know better that me, @wtw. I think part of it (for better or for worse) was that being at ease in English was one of the necessary tickets to go grab a cool job in "The City". Word was also out that some of the big European conglomerates (think French-German pharma co, Sanofi Aventis) used English as their corporate language (again, for better or for worse.) There were other factors I can think of, too, like the EU student exchange subsidies from Erasmus... By the way, wtw, where did you pick up your perfect English? 

wtw said
Well, as long as you speak english, it's mostly fine. If you're foreign and trying to learn  and speak french (and not english), I bet you'll meet a lot of blank stares...

I hear you but I'm also pretty sure that applies to most places. Since my only point of comparison is Germany, I can assure you that, as much as millennials love to give their English a workout with tourists, just pop some Dutch or Polish on them (I'm talking countries they share borders with!) and you're in for blank stares too