I just got done living in Paris, France for 3 months.
My observations are completely contrary to the ongoing, false stereotypes, about France.
The first week I was there, I was shocked that I nearly starved to death, because the food was so bad. The french have the best ingredients in the world, don’t get me wrong. The problem begins when you give these fine ingredients to a french chef. I ended up cooking everything my self, from scratch. Try finding a decent jar of Marinara sauce in Paris or some cheddar cheese. Good luck with that. And a plate of steaming, smelly snails just makes me want to run, fast...
And for the rudeness of the French people. I know about 10 words in French and the whole time I was there, I met the nicest people, everywhere. It was astounding. If I looked lost, people would just come up to me and attempt to help. I had one very attractive girl, go out of her way to take me to the train station I needed to get to. People who say the French are rude are full of it. The fact is that the French didn’t grow up in a Disney/Hollywood culture like Americans have, so they don’t go around smiling at each other like we do and that is the real issue.
The French are pretty rude, sorry. They don’t do it to be mean, that is the way their culture is. You find exceptions to this, but as a rule they live in their own world and ignore everyone else around them.