William Sjostrom reveals his dirty little secret:
I admit it; I adore France. Granted, their politics are messed up, badly, but that seems minor compared to the best cooking in the world. A country that gave us Audrey Tatou (everyone has seen Amelie, or at least I hope so, but do not miss her really creepy He Loves Me . . . He Loves Me Not)....
Emboldened by this frank admission, I'll admit that I concur. French politics stinks, The delusions of grandeur shared by France's political elite and fans of Les Bleus is hard to take, but France is actually a pretty nice place and I've generally found French people (including "French" Belgians and Swiss) to be pleasant and friendly. Any country which produces Ms Tautou can't be that bad but a country which gave the world Ms Tautou and Foie Gras deserves plenty of plaudits.
I've never pretended to hate the French; they produce great mathematicians, writers, composers, painters, and they have wonderful architecture, scenery, cooking and fashion, which makes it all the more a shame they're such assh*les when it comes to politics.
Posted by: Abiola Lapite | January 04, 2005 at 02:22 PM
The gallic conundrum...
Posted by: Frank McGahon | January 04, 2005 at 02:38 PM
I love France. I admire the fact that the intellectual culture is welcomed rather than scorned. I also was amazed that while we Americans have only presidents and other political figures on our money, the French francs had scientists (Curie) and even literary figures (The Little Prince). It says something about priorities. Still I must beg to disagree slightly: though French cooking is very good, Italian cooking is the best. Though admittedly I don't think anyone can touch the French in the bread and pastry department.
Posted by: Brian | January 04, 2005 at 05:46 PM
Well I am an Italophile too so I'm not in total disagreement!
I was in Rome last September and a couple of years ago in Nice. French coffee is not so good (who drinks coffee from a bowl?) and Italian pastries are pretty stale. So breakfast was only ever half-good in each country. The ideal combination is Italian coffee with French pastries.
Posted by: Frank McGahon | January 04, 2005 at 05:54 PM
I hate the French, although mainly for cultural reasons. I'll never forget the first time I went to Paris and found that the whole city smells of piss. I think historians are overlooking the role of an offended sense of hygiene in causing three Prussian invasions.
Give me the Germans any day. You can't beat some Bach, or Strauss or (really loud) Wagner to get one in the mood...
Posted by: Peter Nolan | January 04, 2005 at 11:37 PM
"You can't beat some ... (really loud) Wagner to get one in the mood..."
In the mood ... for world conquest!
Posted by: Abiola Lapite | January 05, 2005 at 12:30 AM