France

[marksiwel]

AM?

[The Annoyed Man]

AM?

Where did you find my picture?

[suthdj]

When I was in the Army we had these deck of cards that had NATO vehicles as well as the enemies, we would have to say friend or foe to them whenever we came to a French vehicle the response was "undecided".

[Abraham]

Of all my caps and hats my black wool beret is the most comfortable and warmest.

It had been my girlfriend's - she of Brighton, England, who at eighteen had an apartment in Paris. So when we got there, having driven all day in our Volkswagen camper from St.Tropez, she knew how to get around.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

France is unfairly demonized by many, undeservedly so.

In Plano, TX I had a French family who lived next door from
1998-2004. They enjoyed life, had plenty of vacation time, were
happy, and kind of appalled at the American medical system and
the oppressive corporate culture in America.

An invitation to sup at their house meant that my whole night was
"shot" but not really. We'd have a Mediterranean style meal with
a variety of healthy items, some wine, dessert. We'd sit around for
hours talking about everything. They wanted the kids to experience
America, and the kids' English was very good. It frustrated the parents,
though, since they would ask the children things in French, and the kids
would respond in English, or maybe Franglish!

They were originally from Strasbourg, France, which is on the French/
German border. The husband's dad had been drafted into the German army
during WWII. He was captured on the Russian front and the family thought
he was dead from battle, or dead from POW executions. Several years after
WWII ended, he simply appeared in Strasbourg one day. The Russians had
let him go!!

They now live in Toulouse, France, which is in the southern half of the country.

When this country went through the renaming of french fries to "Freedom
Fries" I cringed. Talk about crassness to an ally. What was not reported widely at
the same time is that French troops rescued Americans who had been
caught in riots/civil wars in former French possessions in Africa.

We may laugh at all the strikes in France, but their government is somewhat
cowed by their citizens. As opposed to the US, where the government of any
party just does what it likes.

SIA

[marksiwel]

France is unfairly demonized by many, undeservedly so.

In Plano, TX I had a French family who lived next door from
1998-2004. They enjoyed life, had plenty of vacation time, were
happy, and kind of appalled at the American medical system and
the oppressive corporate culture in America.

An invitation to sup at their house meant that my whole night was
"shot" but not really. We'd have a Mediterranean style meal with
a variety of healthy items, some wine, dessert. We'd sit around for
hours talking about everything. They wanted the kids to experience
America, and the kids' English was very good. It frustrated the parents,
though, since they would ask the children things in French, and the kids
would respond in English, or maybe Franglish!

They were originally from Strasbourg, France, which is on the French/
German border. The husband's dad had been drafted into the German army
during WWII. He was captured on the Russian front and the family thought
he was dead from battle, or dead from POW executions. Several years after
WWII ended, he simply appeared in Strasbourg one day. The Russians had
let him go!!

They now live in Toulouse, France, which is in the southern half of the country.

When this country went through the renaming of french fries to "Freedom
Fries" I cringed. Talk about crassness to an ally. What was not reported widely at
the same time is that French troops rescued Americans who had been
caught in riots/civil wars in former French possessions in Africa.

We may laugh at all the strikes in France, but their government is somewhat
cowed by their citizens. As opposed to the US, where the government of any
party just does what it likes.

SIA

Yep. I think a lot of people assume that they have it "Best" here. I lived in Boston, and frankly the Public Tranist system in Texas is a bad joke. I dont know how ANYONE gets ANYWHERE on DART or the slightly better Austin system.
or my Canadian co-worker who just moved here. She is planning on having a kid, she found out that My work (like most places) only gives you 6 weeks paid time off. In Canada its a YEAR, a Year, Full pay!

To condemn our allies because they didnt want to a Fight a war with us (Can you blame them?) when almost half of OUR country didnt want to get involved is a bit, immature. The whole Freedom Fries thing is everything thats wrong with America. France has a pretty big military presence in the world, I think if we played nicer we could have gotten their help or thier support in the future.

Are some of them rude, xenophobic, arrogant jerks? Yeah, but so are alot of the people 'round here (the US and Texas)
Not to bash America, but our treatment of the French has been poor at best.

[frazzled]

Yep. I think a lot of people assume that they have it "Best" here. I lived in Boston, and frankly the Public Tranist system in Texas is a bad joke. I dont know how ANYONE gets ANYWHERE on DART or the slightly better Austin system.
or my Canadian co-worker who just moved here. She is planning on having a kid, she found out that My work (like most places) only gives you 6 weeks paid time off. In Canada its a YEAR, a Year, Full pay!

To condemn our allies because they didnt want to a Fight a war with us (Can you blame them?) when almost half of OUR country didnt want to get involved is a bit, immature. The whole Freedom Fries thing is everything thats wrong with America. France has a pretty big military presence in the world, I think if we played nicer we could have gotten their help or thier support in the future.

Are some of them rude, xenophobic, arrogant jerks? Yeah, but so are alot of the people 'round here (the US and Texas)
Not to bash America, but our treatment of the French has been poor at best.

What is this public transit you speak of?

[Abraham]

"She is planning on having a kid, she found out that My work (like most places) only gives you 6 weeks paid time off. In Canada its a YEAR, a Year, Full pay!"

Yeah, working for an evil American corporation - it's bad, cuz you know, those evil employers receive corporate welfare from American taxpayers.

Wait, what is it called when an employee takes off an entire year with full pay and benefits...?

And later, perhaps has another child...?

Hhmmm....

[old farmer]

This has been a good read. I may post a subject "Cloudy Day" to see if it is mostly sunny day or mostly cloudy day. The French are just Texians with a funny language.

[rmoraes]

B”H
I lived two long and miserable years in France, and thank G-d not in Paris.
To make short, the only thing good there is the cheese. USA and Australia make better wines now.
Cannot buy guns without the approval from the chief of local police, not the City, but the police stain from your neighborhood, and is the decision of EACH chief. Cannot be anything larger then .223 and more then 4 shots for a rifle! I got a license to bring my Remington 700 hb because the city official did not know that a .308 Win and 7.62Nato is the (almost) same thing!
Other official stats from the EU, only 2% of Frenchy people ever leave France!

[suthdj]

Wasn't it the French that got us sucked into Vietnam just to have them bail. Then when we asked for their help in the "stan" region they decline.

[Trinitite]

I was looking forward to getting French benefits.

[Kythas]

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....

That reminds me of a story my mom told me. My mom was on an airplane one day and the lady sitting next to her had a very haughty air. My mom, who LOVES to talk, asked the woman where she was from. The woman looked at my mom as if she were aghast this person who was so beneath her station would dare to speak to her, and replied "I'm from The City."

My mom, in her best Texas accent, smiled and said "Oh, you mean Dallas?"

[quidni]

My husband has a co-worker who used to constantly carry on about how superior everything French was to everything American... and of course, the height of French Culture to him was the French Cuisine. (Note - not regular, wholesome French food... he liked the "cuisine." No, he's not from France.)

One day my husband turned to him and asked, "Do you know what we call French Cuisine here in Texas?"

When the co-worker said no, my husband said, "We call it 'bait!'"

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Wasn't it the French that got us sucked into Vietnam just to have them bail. Then when we asked for their help in the "stan" region they decline.

IIRC, Vietnam was a French colony, but an insurgent movement wanted to throw
the French out in order to have their own country back. Ho Chi Minh had actually
been working with the CIA during and after WWII, but eventually his politics diverged
from cooperating with the US, who backed France continuing to own Vietnam.

In 1954, the French had their heads handed to them at Dien Bien Phu (sp?). The
French had set up a large contingent of their army in a valley. The North Vietnamese,
with considerable stealth, managed to haul up large artillery pieces to the high ground
around the French base, then proceeded to bombard the French. This was the last big
battle.

I don't believe that the French "sucked us into Vietnam". JFK had sent advisors in there,
but it was LBJ who went whole hog and got us into the war. The US was going to show the
French how it was done. We all know the rest of the story. Since the US knew that the
French were "cheese-eating surrender monkeys", the US would take over the fight.

LBJ wasn't the only President who thought we could win in Vietnam. Years before another
American became President, he had this to say about the easy upcoming war to be waged in Vietnam:

It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend in the jungles of Vietnam
when we could pave the whole country and put parking stripes on it and still be home by Christmas.
Ronald Reagan

SIA