We were walking around Cannes and this old lady walked up and started swearing in French and spitting at my feet. We tried to avoid her but she followed, spewing venom.

Finally I said, "look lady, it wasn't me who fucked you and ran in the 40s"

She turned around after that. Either she said her peace or my point was made.

The few Italians I know hate the French too. Seems they don't care for their lack of work ethic either. And don't get them talking about the French after a couple bottles of wine....thought they would never shut up.... French faggot this, French faggot that...geez.

At a gun show couple years ago, looking at a Beretta, it was pretty nice except for a ding on the slide....hmmmm, I don't know, I'm telling the dealer. We call that French condition he says. Huh? Dropped once, never used.

Only an hour...and for an actual legitimate reason? That's a good day at CDG. I can't begin to tell you how many times I got screwed over for hours or even days by the French back in the 90s when I lived in Europe. Everybody in that country is employed in some way by the government, and some group that performs a vital transportation function is always on strike. If it's not the pilots, it's the mechanics, or the baggage handlers, or the gate agents, or truck drivers, or train engineers. They take turns, so nobody ever gets anywhere. We eventually learned to solve this problem by never travelling through France.

ETA: it's not just us, either. Everybody hates the French. I had a Welsh English teacher in HS who said that God gave the Brits the English channel to save them from having to live next to the French.

As we were returning to the US after my last overseas assignment we had to drive through France. German car, US forces plates.

We crossed into France and stopped for lunch at a fairly nice eating place. Speaking English, we ordered a meal.

Waited, and waited, and waited and waited. Finally just got up and left. stopped down the road at another eating place. Parked the car where nobody could see the license plates, spoke only German.

Food was good, service was good (other than being practically forced to buy a bottle of wine).

Our lesson for the duration of time in France, speak only German, and since we were all wearing German clothing no French folks knew different, and we got good service.

Had somewhat the same experience a few years earlier when I was traveling back from Iran, in uniform, and ended up in France, needing to get to Frankfurt for my next duty assignment. Treated like shit by the locals.

Our daughter's high school class decided to take a trip to France. She told them she was not interested, had been there, and they hated Americans. They told her she was absolutely wrong, and biased by her German upbringing. Her class went, and came back totally disillusioned. Told daughter that she was 100% correct, that the French were arrogant, discourteous to the point that a couple of the girls had been groped in the hotel by Frenchmen.

Years later I had to travel to France as part of an inspection team for IBM. Our experience there was no different than what we had experienced on our trip back to the US. Somewhat better out in the country side, but not much.

In short, fuck France.

Oh, I asked a German friend, way back when, why the French hated Americans. His answer was simple. We Americans had denied the French the right to throw the German army out of France on their own. How long did it take the Germans to take all of France? Something like 2 weeks? Yeah, they were going to throw the whole German army out of France. Not!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:
Oh, I asked a German friend, way back when, why the French hated Americans. His answer was simple. We Americans had denied the French the right to throw the German army out of France on their own.

That is a BS answer. More likely is that while living in exile at the expense of the Americans and Brits, DeGaulle was such a disruptive asshole that we tried to replace him with a French general named Giraud. It failed and he was the head of state 3x for France over a 25 year period, and in his pettiness helped mold a generation of anti-American sentiment in France.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:
Oh, I asked a German friend, way back when, why the French hated Americans. His answer was simple. We Americans had denied the French the right to throw the German army out of France on their own.

That is a BS answer. More likely is that while living in exile at the expense of the Americans and Brits, DeGaulle was such a disruptive asshole that we tried to replace him with a French general named Giraud. It failed and he was the head of state 3x for France over a 25 year period, and in his pettiness helped mold a generation of anti-American sentiment in France.

Doubt it was a BS answer. The guy is very fluent in French, had a number of French students spend weeks in his home on student swap programs. He, and his family, spent lots of time in France working on various aspects of "sister cities".

He found it amusing that the French were working so hard to create/maintain those "sister city" concepts with Germany. He had discussions with a lot of French people about political subjects.

I trust his explanation of why the French hate the USA a lot more plausible than any other.

I find it more amusing that the French play kissy-kissy with Germany and hate the USA, given the actual history.

Yeah, we saved their asses. We denied them the chance to throw the whole wehrmacht out of France. Yeah we lost 1000s of American soldiers doing what the French were incapable of doing.

People who are not informed should spend some time going through the US war cemeteries in France.

I spent a year and a half working in Barcelona. Just over an hour on the autopista (comparable to interstate highways in the U.S.) to the French border.

Wife and I would spend at least one weekend a month in France.

Our experience was that people in smaller cities, rural villages, etc., were gracious. Paris was a different story, rude, inconsiderate people.

Not that different from the good old U.S.A. People in smaller towns here tend to be more polite, bigger cities more impersonal and rude.

Generalizations of course, but stereotypes exist for a reason.

I have always been treated very well in France. I was there for business, there for pleasure, and it has been good. I do speak French, so maybe that helps, but the people in Brittany and Normandy seem to have long memories and a lot of gratitude, and it shows. The south not so much of the gratitude, but they were still welcoming and friendly.

You are on your own! Even Seal One wouldn't try a rescue.

quote:

Originally posted by billnchristy:
We were walking around Cannes and this old lady walked up and started swearing in French and spitting at my feet. We tried to avoid her but she followed, spewing venom.

My wife used a public restroom in Paris. She came out followed by an older woman who was screaming at her in incomprehensible (is there any other kind?) French. Wife asked me what was going on.

I asked her if the woman was the restroom attendant.

Wife said that she thought so.

I asked how much of a tip she had left.

Uh, oh.

Wife dug into her purse and pulled out a big handful of coins, holding them out to the woman, saying, "here, here, take some" in English.

Woman shouted some more then went back into the restroom.

One positive note for the Frogs: They WERE instrumental in helping us win our Revolution.

With all of the immigrants there - and coming in, they have spelled out their demise. There is little if any assimilation - and the enemy (now within) seeks only one end.

I don't hate them. I just have much contempt for them.

quote:

Originally posted by LtJL:
One positive note for the Frogs: They WERE instrumental in helping us win our Revolution.

While true, and we should be grateful, keep in mind that it was not a magnanimous gesture, but a move on the European political chessboard.