[LK44-40]

its been pretty rough hearing anti-French rhetoric

Pinging you to my #123 on this thread....wish I had seen this post of yours and added you to the address line.

(I am not trying to add to your discomfort in the present climate of hostility to the French but am genuinely interested in how you will react to my post. Cheers.)

[Diva]

I doubt all the French are happy with their government and I find it odd that those who collaberated with the Nazi's might have had any power at all after the war, I thought the French in general were pretty upset with the Vichy government. The leaders were executed after the War. But, I don't know many details and have not studied much of French history during or after their revolution.

When I speak of French culture I am speaking of France from Clovis to about the time of the Rennaisance. As to ugly chapters in the history of coutries, haven't found a country yet that doesn't have them.

Having said that I am not a French defender either. On an individual level I have met and admire a number of French people, and in the few dealings I have had with the French up close (in their own country) I found them to be very polite. However, we were a group of college singers on a trip organized by a Jesuit priest who had many friends in the Catholic world that still existed back in the 1970s.

Recent spewings from the likes of Villepin and Chirac are certainly frustrating but not unexpected from a socialist government.

[Diva]

Ooops, almost forgot. My real love is French Romantic and Impressionistic Music, especially the Art Songs. And, the Gregorian Chant as interpreted by the monks of Solesmes in the 50, 60s and 70s.