The French marched on Paris in the hundreds of thousands against gay marriage.
They give the liberal Hollande a 15% approval rating, don’t know what they think of this particular vote, I imagine he feels a lot of opposition.
They have no respect for Obama, I imagine, don’t know.
Americans tend to hate the French. It always seems to be a result of bigotry or ignorance. I don’t know, what is it?
We can never figure it out.
When we go to France, we go to places we want to see war memorials, shrines, museums, and we stay in good hotels, and eat locally (not mcdonalds like our friends do), we shop at the department stores and, our favorite, Monoprix, and we speak French.
We went to Normandy with a group, our friends drove us in their van. He was looking for, and complaining that there was no McDonalds.
sigh.
We went to a restaurant ON Utah Beach and had the best fish and white wine one could ask for in a pull over and eat something lunch.
Our proprietor there and at the B&B were wonderful and very nice to us.
Normandy is preserved. you could be there 70 years ago, you can imagine it.
On to Carentan, where the Airborne dropped in on DDay.
The churches had their stained glass windows blown out in the bombing, and had been replaced by local artisans with images of paratroopers.
I just don’t get why Americans hate the French.
My buddy was on a wine buying expedition for his company on May 15th near the Rhine. He said it was like a national US holiday there. It may be almost 60 years since VE day but those from those areas love the US. Perhaps those in Paris feel otherwise but their distain for non French speaking peoples is universal.
I think to some extent the French like to take an opposition stance to the US.
I can still remember how a decade ago the French stabbed Bush in the back over Iraq. But it’s easy when the US plays a leading role in defending Western values for the Europeans to call us cowboys and preen arrogantly about peace in our time.
When the US abdicates that leadership role and elects a radical Islamist to the White House not once but twice, the Europeans are finally forced to stand up for their own interests. There was a big leadership void, and if it wasn’t the French it could’ve just as easily been the British or Germans.
Many of us ridiculed the French for avoiding participation in Iraq, but then the French sent soldiers to Afghanistan. Americans who show a more generalized and lasting hatred against the French tend to be those who identify more as Italians, Germans, Irish and English folks (from families of more recent immigrants from Europe—mostly fans of Rome). I lived in an American community of people like that for a few years. Interesting.
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle an others since with his attitude.
I haven't seen any polls on it lately, so I don't know the percentage of Americans who actually do hate the French. I'd guess that that percentage is smaller than you think. A large majority of Americans have never been to France and don't really know any French people. So they would probably have no opinion on that question.
The most common things that seem to tick off Americans about the French are (1) arrogance toward American tourists by some Frenchmen; (2) a feeling that France hasn't sufficiently repaid the US for saving her in both WWI and WWII - e.g., doesn't necessarily align herself with US geopolitical interests; and (3) in recent decades, France has admitted too many Muslim immigrants and tends to appease her domestic Muslim masses both in terms of her domestic law enforcement policies and her foreign policy toward the Islamic world.
Incidentally, France also did the right thing by putting down an Al Quaeda-backed uprising in Mali.
In eastern France the people like Americans. I had nothing but good times there. I think a lot has to do with the Quebeckers and political history. The Quebeckers come down to the east coast beaches in the summer and they are some strangers...more so than the English speaking Canucks. That and the whole Paris mentality...similar to DC mentality, is enough to make anyone hate you.