Frog legs, anyone?
02.12.2003If anyone's interested in some French-bashing, there's a slew of letters in The New York Post. Of course, some of the letters also support France, which is fair.
I know that things French aren't very popular right about now (at least among a great portion of the American population, according to Gallup). However, the French people -- like all other people -- come in good and bad variants. I don't like the current French foreign policy (heck, most of the time it's pretty bad). And I don't mind a good ribbing here and there. But there are (still) some great things about France. Here's a short list (feel free to add others):
Croissants, Albert Camus, Victor Hugo, the Marquis de Lafayette, crêpes, fondue, Alexis de Tocqueville, Matisse, Renoir, Motobecane, the Maquis (French Resistence during Second World War), cabernet souvignon, Paris, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, Roussea, Voltaire, the Enlightenment (good God! don't forget that), the metric system, the phrase "raison d'étre" and other "chic" phrases, Gustave Eiffel (an artistic engineer), Monet, Pascal, Joan of Arc, the Renaissance, the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen", the Statue of Liberty (the best gift this country ever received from another nation), Diderot, Honoré de Balzac, Emile Zola, Claude Debussy, Henri de Saint-Simon, Edith Piaf, Amélie (one of the best movies ever), Audrey Toutou, french kissing, Chanel No 5, great pop music, film noir, berets, the bistro, the French press (for coffee).
Posted by Miguel at 08:06 PM
Comments
In the spirit of good ribbing, here's a link of Chiraq in various backgrounds.
I feel a little crummy!! I was taught not to make fun of political leaders. It started with that Clinton-Lewinsky affair.
Nevermind. Have fun!
Posted by: lippy lin at February 13, 2003 09:55 AM
Fear not, Lippy, you can only not criticize your leaders in Singapore ... and Iraq ... and North Korea ... and Libya ... and Zimbabwe ... and China ... and Saudi Arabia ... and Sudan ... and Cuba ... and ... Christ, forget it.
Posted by: Miguel at February 13, 2003 06:41 PM
Camille Saint Saens (Composer)
Claude Debussy (Composer)
Marcel Proust (Writer)
...and I've always taken a liking to no. 19 more than no. 5
Posted by: cat at February 13, 2003 07:50 PM
Nutella, Evian, operas (an amazing layered pastry), Antoine de Saint Exupery (Le Petit Prince), black and white truffles, quiche Lorraine. Art movements galore: Impressionism-Degas, Manet, Renoir; Fauvism- Matisse; Gothic; Pointilism- Seurat; Realism- Millet, Daumier; Rococo- Fragonard; Surrealism- Mirot, Magritte.
And the greatest gift from France ever is Jordy, dur dur d'etre be'be'. Je adore le Francais.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jordyclub/
Posted by: meredith at February 13, 2003 09:34 PM
I mean j'adore.
Posted by: meredith at February 13, 2003 09:36 PM
simon de beveouir= the french person who taught me the most
Posted by: bil at February 13, 2003 09:38 PM
Simone de Beauvoir
Vanessa Paradis
baguette
BTW, can you criticise or make fun of leaders in Bolivia?
Posted by: Lippy Lin at February 14, 2003 05:42 AM
Oh, yeah! Bolivian leaders (government and opposition) get satirized in the press really bad all the time. So we do still enjoy a very free press.
Posted by: Miguel at February 14, 2003 12:51 PM
Lucky you!
Posted by: Lippy Lin at February 15, 2003 09:03 AM
Yeah, sorry Lippy. I remember how, um, "restrictive" Singapore was.
Posted by: Miguel at February 15, 2003 02:27 PM
That's ok, we Lippies just have to learn to be more, um, "diplomatic" and "creative" in our responses.
Posted by: Lippy Lin at February 16, 2003 10:47 AM
Grey Goose
Posted by: Ernie G at July 15, 2003 09:21 AM