WESTWIND1950,
Yes, I've flown to France, speak NO French, and vowed never to fly there again! At the time, they refused to speak English with me. I guess they didn't like the German registration on my aircraft.....
(enough French bashing.... sorry, I couldn't resist).
Never mind about French bashing...
We don't like to fight, but we love to defend... And we've got arguments.
I just wonder : when was "the time" you refer to ?
Things have changed a bit in the last 20 years, since I entered ATC.
To be short : English AND French can be used with any ATS in France(except a few FISOs, I guess). As said above, it's written on the charts.
There's a difference when there's no ATS at all, for obvious reasons.
A decade ago (or so), I had to land a German pilot who thought he could speak French. When I answered, he couldn't understand me. And he couldn't speak English either (he had used non-controlled airspace until he contacted me...). My aeronautical German was not good enough to work safely.
So, I made the rest of the traffic yield to him and he eventually landed safe and sound on the runway.
Finished well...
I think your "D" registration was not a problem. Had you been "G" registrated...
