A tribute to France and the French people

[Steel God]

I haven't been to France recently, but did have occasion to visit in 1990, 1994, and 1997, and on those occasions I found most Frenchmen to be generally happy to meet Americans IF you made at least a half hearted attempt to respect their language and their culture. If you tried to blend they gave you full credit. If you acted like the "Ugly American" that is how you were treated (all of my trips were on business with traveling partners so I had opportunity to see good and bad behavior).

French history is a glorious one, and they can take refuge in knowing that people tend not to create jokes about things that do not matter. Meaning, no one would make jokes about French military victories if there was no some tacit acknowledgment of their achievements.