Opinion of France

[windjammer]

Because it could be interesting to have a foreign opinion about my country!

[TNF]

Freedom Nation.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Our oldest ally...

So, freedom nation.

[Supersonic]

They're alright. Awful politics though. Much prefer Germany.

[Antonio the Sixth]

France is nice. The French, not so much (though maybe I'm biased because Parisians are the worst kind of French ).

[memphis]

Very positive. I've heard very good things about Lyon, in particular.

[afleitch]

I love France, I've spent good times there. These past few months however, well I've seen a side of France I don't like and it'll take a while for that to pass. Still a great nation

[Antonio the Sixth]

These past few months however, well I've seen a side of France I don't like and it'll take a while for that to pass.

OMG don't tell me... That was disgusting.

[angus]

Because it could be interesting to have a foreign opinion about my country!

You should make this a poll. 

It is the only country in that region with which we have never had a war, and the only one with which we always have been on the same side during wars we always fought.  Our country owes its freedom to France, and vice-versa.  We are exactly the same kind of nation:  arrogant, we think ourselves God's gift to the world, just like the French do.  We think our culture should be adopted and think that anyone who doesn't adopt our culture simply doesn't understand it, just like the French do.  This, of course, puts us at odds.  For example, we cheer May 5, 1862 when North America rid itself of the French at the Battle of Pueblo.  Ask any Gringo about Cinco de Mayo.  It's one of the few foreign milestones that we celebrate here, and yet we fell in right behind the erstwhile French Empire after they were defeated by a bunch of hillbillies at Dien Bien Phu with our own costly Indochine involvement.  And we were defeated by those same hillbillies in much the same way. 

Liberty, Fraternity, Equality.  Sounds nice.  Much like the things we say we believe, but like the French, we have never achieved any of those things.

Two peas in a pod, our two nations.  Arrogant, stubborn, and God's gift to the civilized world.  It's no wonder that we make fun of each other so much.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It is the only country in that region with which we have never had a war, and the only one with which we always have been on the same side during wars we always fought.

Only if you want to quibble over whether the Quasi-War was actually a war.

However, the Republican Party does recognize the inherent goodness of France as witnessed by their efforts a decade ago to rename French Fries as Freedom Fries in their honor.

[Franknburger]

My opinion of France - it is getting better and better. There are of course the commonplaces: cuisine, savoir-vivre, haute couture, Paris as a truly fascinating city, etc. But I also remember quite well from my youth the feeling of not being welcome as a German in France (yeah, we have a quite complicated history with each other), and the typical French arrogance à la "Why should we learn foreign languages, French is the language of international diplomacy".

The commonplaces haven't changed (and shouldn't), but the whole attitude has changed a lot. I have come across many French people with decent foreign language skills, confident of French culture, but at the same open to and interested in other cultures. I feel France getting truly European - not anymore the 1990's approach of seeing Europe (the EU) as a new vehicle to fulfil Louis XIV's aspirations, but as a  relevant player among other equally relevant players. Whether that is the vision of the French political elite, I don't know, but it comes across in the attitude of the French people I have met over the last years, and that is what will matter in the end.
I especially feel that German and French political cultures are converging (with cultures, I mean things like underlying value sets, issues taking public attention, etc.). If I had been asked twenty years ago for countries that are socio-politically similar to Germany, countries worthwhile to exchange experience with and learn from, I would probably have come up with a country like Sweden, but never with France. Today, I' would put France  quite close to the top of the list.

[TDAS04]

Freedom Country.  My sister lives in Paris because she married a Frenchman.  I've been there, it's nice.

[angus]

Only if you want to quibble over whether the Quasi-War was actually a war.

However, the Republican Party does recognize the inherent goodness of France as witnessed by their efforts a decade ago to rename French Fries as Freedom Fries in their honor.

I've never heard anyone quibbling over that, and I've heard a lot of quibbling.  The XYZ affair we discussed in school, but that resulted in no wars.  Also, while I know of know no "inherent goodness" of France, or of mankind in general, I do enjoy a freshly-salted, warm serving of Freedom Fries.  With mayonnaise, of course (upon which I have expounded elsewhere.) 

[H. Ross Peron]

Freedom nation. I especially admire the French health care system, and its infrastructure (such as the high speed rail system and the nuclear power plants)

[DC Al Fine]

Mixed but lean FF.

Really interesting history, politics, and religious issues though. Also, why do you guys seem to love your revolution so much? I can kind of get the American one, but the French one seems like a bloodbath.

[RogueBeaver]

Mixed but lean FF.

Really interesting history, politics, and religious issues though.

Same here. Another way I'd put it is that I've love to visit but wouldn't want to live there. Plus helps to know the language.

[PJ]

Lean FF

[Zanas]

Well, France is a good country. FF. We have it better here than anywhere else in quite a number of ways. Paris is fascinating.

The French, however... I pretty much hate them. Yet again, I hate pretty much everybody.

[dead0man]

mixed/lean FF

They take sh**t for being cheese eating surrender monkeys, yet SOOO much military related things have French origins.

[opebo]

I like the French - they're so much nicer than Americans or British or Australians.  In fact most of my friends in Thailand are French, oddly enough.  I think I just fit better with Asians and Continentals than with Anglo-Saxons nowadays.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Mixed but lean FF.

Really interesting history, politics, and religious issues though. Also, why do you guys seem to love your revolution so much? I can kind of get the American one, but the French one seems like a bloodbath.

Sometimes bloodbaths can have good long-term consequences. Acknowledging that the Revolution went completely off the rails after 1793 does not cancel all the truly beautiful and inspiring events that happened in the years before (yeah, a few pretty awful things happened in these years as well). In particular, France has inherited a political culture from the Revolution which I find pretty fantastic (though credit should really go to the Third Republic for setting this legacy in stone).

And BTW, Angus is absolutely right.

[windjammer]

Mixed but lean FF.

Really interesting history, politics, and religious issues though. Also, why do you guys seem to love your revolution so much? I can kind of get the American one, but the French one seems like a bloodbath.

Sometimes bloodbaths can have good long-term consequences. Acknowledging that the Revolution went completely off the rails after 1793 does not cancel all the truly beautiful and inspiring events that happened in the years before (yeah, a few pretty awful things happened in these years as well). In particular, France has inherited a political culture from the Revolution which I find pretty fantastic (though credit should really go to the Third Republic for setting this legacy in stone).

And BTW, Angus is absolutely right.

Wel, the  French Revolution, initially I would have probably supported this event. But, it becomes vicious... Massive executions in Vendee, guillotine, Terror,... LOL
And honestly, with Lechapelier law, the french revolution was made by this f***** capitalist: anti corporation, worthy of Rick Snyder or Scott Walker.

And for the Third Republic: LOL. It was just realized by franc-maçons, upper-middle, radicals, who wanted to destroy catholiscism instead of supporting a better social state.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Only if you want to quibble over whether the Quasi-War was actually a war.

I've never heard anyone quibbling over that, and I've heard a lot of quibbling.  The XYZ affair we discussed in school, but that resulted in no wars.

If the Quasi-War was not a war, then the last war the US was involved in was World War II.  The Quasi-War was just as much a war as Korea, Vietnam, Iraq I & II, and Afghanistan were, complete with a Congressional authorization for the use of force without a formal declaration of war.

Indeed, if news that the Quasi-War had ended had reached these shores sooner, John Adams might well have been reelected, so it is hardly as inconsequential as is often portrayed.

[Keystone Phil]

Ha. Don't get me started.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Our oldest ally...

So, freedom nation.

This, even despite being a hotbed of left-wing secularism.