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I recently came back from a wonderful 10-day vacation in France. It was my second time in Paris, a city like no other.
New York and London, of course, are great examples of truly international cities. But to me, nothing compares to Parisian food, climate and passion. In New York, neighbors can be strangers. In London, people pride themselves on their "reserve". Paris embraces life with abandon. In the words of Claude Terrail, owner of probably the best restaurant in the world, La Tour D'Argent, "The only serious thing in life is pleasure."
Forgive me Chicago, but Paris is my kind of town. So I was a bit bemused when friends cautioned me to expect to be treated rudely, if not downright nastily by the French.
Maybe it's just me, but I'm an optimist, and usually in a good mood. I ignore most snide comments and let the truly purposely hurtful ones roll off my back like water on a duck. So armed with my high school French, I figured I would greet people with a cheery bon jour and a smile. People would respond in kind, and upon engaging further in conversation, would switch to English, pleased that I had at least tried to converse in their mother tongue. I was cautioned about the dogs - I'm a dog owner who carries plastic poop bags wherever I go -- and the French arrogance about not cleaning up after Fifi. I found the French to be no more (and no less) arrogant than Americans who don't clean up after their dogs.
For the 17 months that American troops have been fighting in Iraq, we've been told how the French must hate us because they didn't support our position - supposedly, if any nation wasn't with us, they must be against us. And while the French are as passionate about this war as we are, the ones I met and spoke with didn't hate all Americans. In fact, they could separate politics and people. I was not blamed for the war, though many asked for my thoughts on how we got there, what our mission is, and our nation's plans for peace. I wish I could have such open and frank discussions here without being lambasted, pilloried or accused of not supporting our troops.
Maura Harty, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs describes the U.S. passport as "the world's most valuable identity and travel document." It's primary evidence of U.S. citizenship, yet only 53 million Americans currently hold U.S. passports. That's less than 20 percent of the population. Even a smaller percent of passport holders actually travel outside the United States, leaving a vast majority of Americans woefully ill-informed about other countries and their cultures. We need to travel abroad to expand our point of view. And it helps us see how good we have it here.
The corollary to "they must hate us" is that the French are ungrateful wusses even though we saved them from the Germans. And again, it simply isn't true. I was in the resort town of Jullouville on July 31, the 60th anniversary of its liberation from the Germans by Allied troops. Not only did the town hold a very moving liberation ceremony, but when the mayor found out I was an American, the attendees at the ceremony not only personally thanked me for liberating them (eight years before I was born), but made me and my travel mates guests of honor at the party held at the village hall, including offering us the first glass of champagne.
I also went to the hallowed ground at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Omaha Beach. People from all countries and walks of life were there with me, and there was no loud talking, no cell phones, no unruly kids, no walking on the grass except to place flowers at the base of the crosses, no disrespect to the 9,300+ soldiers that lie in rest.
My skin color was not an issue or a handicap while I was in France. No one treated me with distrust or disdain. No one followed me around in the stores thinking I was a shop-lifter. No one assumed I was a crack-addicted welfare mother. No one discriminated against me because I was a renter and not an owner in a posh resort town. I wish I could say the same about my own country.
Of course, many Americans are polite and friendly. So are many French citizens.
But don't take my word for it. In fact don't take just anybody's word for it. Take time to see and experience it for yourself.
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