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Just in case you get tired of bashing England (GB) on the other thread.

Doesnt France have a High Number of Private Arms ownership compared to the rest of Europe?

I know Wikipedia is not the most reliable source on the web, but here's what they say. France is ranked #6 in gun ownership (world).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... _ownership" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't mind telling all the France jokes, but i gotta tell you, when we toured France in Jun 2004 with Dad for the 60th D-Day anniversary, I was impressed at the outpouring of appreciation and hospitality from the french people, young and old alike. There were American (and British) flags flying from balconies all over Southern France.
And I've heard from soldiers in Afghanistan that the French soldiers may be the fiercest fighters of our allies Over there.

I suspect that most of the televised anti-U.S. sentiments there come from their sizable Muslim immigrant ghetto community

and then there's this from Leno (from memory):

"Pat Robertson blames the Haitian earthquake on a pact with the devil made in the 18th century to rid the island of the French.
Pat, Please! You don't have to make a pact with the devil to defeat the French!"

Here we go...

The french get a bad rap here in the U.S., but truthfully, that's kind of like the french assuming that all Texans are idiots because Obama is a political klutz. It doesn't work.

Yes, I am biased... My mother is french. I've lived in France. I went to school in the french public school system (which, by the way, is academically superior to our own by a good deal). I speak the language more or less fluently. I continue to have relatives who live there; and I've vacationed there as recently as 2004.

The truth is more like this: The "France" that most Americans love to hate is really "Paris, France." Parisians are largely snobs who cannot be convinced that they are anything less than the birthplace of culture and sophistication. They condescend to anyone who isn't parisian, which by the way, includes anyone who lives in the french equivalent of "flyover country." And since Paris is also the seat of their national government, naturally, parisian attitudes tend to inform their relations with the rest of the planet.

Here is an example of the parisian social ethic: when I lived in NYC, I lived and worked in Manhattan, and I had a friend from work who lived all the way out in Flushing Queens. Richie had to take the Flushing subway line all the way to the end, then board a bus for quite a while to get home from work. One night, he was on the way home on the bus and it was SRO. There was a french guy sitting next to him. A young, attractive woman got on the bus, and grabbed a strap to hold onto, standing in front of Richie and this french guy. After a few blocks, the french guy turned to Richie and, with his voice dripping incredulous disdain, said, "Aren't you going to give her your seat?"

Once you get away from Paris and its surrounding banlieues, you start running into the french who are the salt of their earth. It is true that, after years and years of hearing their government backstab the U.S., they tend to be reflexively anti-American, but they also are very proud of their traditions of hospitality and the good life, and they are eager to share those things with American visitors. And once they get to know you, they are usually willing to admit that the U.S. gets a bad rap from France. And when you get to the vicinity of Normandy, or to areas where the Resistance was active in WW2, you find that most people remember America fondly, and do what they can to preserve America's image in their country.

When you go to the haute Charente, you can visit the ancient town of La Rochefoucauld and its palace, which was the home of the Duke de la Rochefoucauld, a contemporary, friend, and confidant of Benjamin Franklin's. When you tour the palace today, if you are American, the mother of the current Duke is eager to tell you all about her husband's ancestor's influence on the formulation and development of Ben Franklin's political philosophy.

France is also full of conservatives (mostly businessmen) who although being strongly nationalistic, are not much enamored with their government's socialist policies. Consequently, while they are understandably more concerned with french national interests than American national interests, they tend to be sympathetic to our political structure.

I like to keep in mind:

1)Without France bankrupting herself, we may well be slandering Queen Elizabeth in OUR tabloids and drinking tea twice a day.

2) The French resistance saved countless air crews from interment in Stalags during WWII.

3) The French Foreign Legion is arguably the most elite fighting force on the planet.

Now the downside:

They make Brie.

They speak French which seems to have some inherent prohibition against pronouncing consonants and thus spell things funny.

Mimes...need I say more?

Dragonfighter wrote:Now the downside:

They make Brie.

You're a sissy. Brie has a big brother named "Camembert" which smells like something Brie left in a pasture. Compared to that, Brie is Jack Cheese.

Dragonfighter wrote:They speak French which seems to have some inherent prohibition against pronouncing consonants and thus spell things funny.

The the "on" combination is one of the worst — best pronounced by doing an imitation of someone with severe stomach cramps. THE worst is the letter "U," which has no equivalent in any of the world's other languages, but can be approximated by taking a big whiff off of a Camembert cheese.

Dragonfighter wrote:Mimes...need I say more?

Nope. You got me there. I got nuthin'.

The Annoyed Man wrote:Here is an example of the parisian social ethic: when I lived in NYC, I lived and worked in Manhattan, and I had a friend from work who lived all the way out in Flushing Queens. Richie had to take the Flushing subway line all the way to the end, then board a bus for quite a while to get home from work. One night, he was on the way home on the bus and it was SRO. There was a french guy sitting next to him. A young, attractive woman got on the bus, and grabbed a strap to hold onto, standing in front of Richie and this french guy. After a few blocks, the french guy turned to Richie and, with his voice dripping incredulous disdain, said, "Aren't you going to give her your seat?"

How come the Frenchman didn't give up his seat? Now, I'm just teasing a little, but it sounds like he wanted someone else to do something he thought should be done, but wasn't willing to do himself.

I've vacationed in Paris twice in the last 6 years and had a great time both times. I did not observe the stereotypical attitude that I was expecting.

I mistakenly took French throughout junior high, high school and college...so now I'm learning Spanish with Rosetta Stone...LOL...I'll probably go to France someday...I tend to like stinky cheese, gourmet foods and wine...

C-dub wrote:How come the Frenchman didn't give up his seat? Now, I'm just teasing a little, but it sounds like he wanted someone else to do something he thought should be done, but wasn't willing to do himself.

That's about the size of it. He wanted to sit next to the girl, and he thought my friend should give up his seat to make it happen. He was not so much interested in making sure the girl got a seat, or he could have surrendered his own seat. The french guy was a stranger to my friend, so it wasn't a "hey, help me out here, buddy" situation. He was a snot, and his arrogance prevented him from seeing how ridiculous it made him seem.

With one notable exception, I've had nothing but positive experiences in France.

Plus, Brie is wonderful and so is Camembert.

I like to toast French bread, then cut in small pieces and dip into melted Brie, while of course drilling down a good Cab.

As for elitist attitudes, look at our own East and West coast people and examine their general perspectives regarding folks from the south. They're often convinced those from the south are at best knuckle draggers and are certain they'll hear "Dueling Banjos" when they get off the sidewalk, if they deign to come down below the Mason Dixon line that is....

Dragonfighter wrote:3) The French Foreign Legion is arguably the most elite fighting force on the planet.

According to Wiki, only 25% of the members are French.

The Parisians are like New Yorkers in their worldview, but otherwise I liked France. They have their problems with immigration, particularly from North Africa, but that's increasingly true all over the world.

WildBill wrote:

Dragonfighter wrote:3) The French Foreign Legion is arguably the most elite fighting force on the planet.

According to Wiki, only 25% of the members are French.

I thought French citizens were not allowed to be in the FFL at all. I'm pretty sure I remember hearing this on a show about them on the History channel.

Abraham wrote:With one notable exception, I've had nothing but positive experiences in France.

Plus, Brie is wonderful and so is Camembert.

I like to toast French bread, then cut in small pieces and dip into melted Brie, while of course drilling down a good Cab.

As for elitist attitudes, look at our own East and West coast people and examine their general perspectives regarding folks from the south. They're often convinced those from the south are at best knuckle draggers and are certain they'll hear "Dueling Banjos" when they get off the sidewalk, if they deign to come down below the Mason Dixon line that is....

You're absolutely correct, and that is the point I was trying to make. BTW, I LOVE me some good stinkey brie or camembert.

A "pickanick" lunch while riding the Vélo-Rail a few miles outside of La Roumazier on the way to Chabanais in the Charente region:


That would be a camembert cheese on the right, along with some peasant bread, a good dry salami, and some juicy fresh apricots. The only reason there was no wine was that we had to pedal several miles back into town, and it was about 90º that day.

Here is the Vélo-Rail:

It's essentially a little rail car, powered by two sets of bicycle cranks with bicycle type seats, and then molded plastic seats for 3 additional passengers. They run along old abandoned railroad rights of way.