My wife and I just spent three weeks in France. For years we've heard all the stories about the rude, unfriendly, stuck up French. They are SO not true. I just have to share this example:
We were in Chartres. It was pouring down rain so we ducked into one of the restaurants across the street from the cathedral. We sat at one end of the bar. We ordered from les formules déjeuner. Another American couple came in and sat a few stools over.
The woman practically confronted the barman, and in a loud voice demanded, "Do you have sandwiches?"
He looked a bit confused.
"Sandwiches?" she said, louder, looking at him like he was an idiot. "Sandwiches?" she practically yelled.
He looked down his nose at her. "No, madame, we don't have 'sandwiches.' Perhaps you could try a grocery store."
"Well, give us a menu then. In English." She gave him a sour look.
A few minutes later she announced, "We're going to have a salad and a cheeseburger. Does it come with French Fries?"
Now it was the the barman's turn to look sour. He said curtly that it came with frites, not "French Fries."
"What are those? Freets?"
He pointed at another diner's plate.
She corrected him. "Those are French Fries." And then a demand couched as a question, "Will you cut the cheeseburger in half so we can share it?"
The barman walked all the way around the long bar and crouched down next to them. Quietly and with obvious distaste he said, "No. I am not going to cut up your food for you." Then he walked all the way back around the bar.
A little later, when they had finished, the man motioned the barman over. With a little sweeping motion of his hands, he indicated the dirty plates and said sharply, "Take." He glared at the barman for a second, and then he and his wife threw some money on the bar and left.
The best part of the story? The whole time this was going on, my wife, the barman, and I were have the most delightful conversation. Partly in our worst tourist French, partly in his real French, and partly in English. We joked and shared stories and talked about the food, and what it was like growing up in Chartres, and how proud he was of his town, and what we should do while we were there. He was very funny and gave us a little extra with our dessert.
Everywhere we went, we met people like him, fun, happy, knowledgeable, helpful. We apologized for our bad French, they apologized for their English (even when it was pretty good), and many actually asked us to please speak English so they could practice! (I even learned a joke about people like me: Je parle française comme une vache espangnole [I speak French like a Spanish cow]!)
My recommendation: first, learn at least a little French. Rick's phrasebook is especially good. I took a couple of months of weekly online lessons; my wife tried Duolingo. And then at least try to have conversations with the people you meet! A little bit of Italian in Italy and German in Switzerland and the Süd Tirol have all had the same effect: you'll find really friendly people all over Europe if you give it a try!