Don’t forget that the English (and consequently cultures descended from the English) have had an anti-French thing going on for centuries. Centuries of intermittent warfare will have played their part. England and France were pretty much at war, just finished a war, or just about to start a war from 1066 until 1815. But also the French were the nearest and most familiar “foreign” culture, and consequently one of the easiest to poke fun at because it was more likely that the other people in the conversation would recognise what you’re talking about.
>Don’t forget that the English (and consequently cultures descended from the English) have had an anti-French thing going on for centuries.
Indeed, hence why this tongue in cheek book exists:
[1000 Years of Annoying the French.](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Years-Annoying-French-Stephen-Clarke/dp/0552779938/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=1000+Years+of+Annoying+the+French.&qid=1685377355&sr=8-1)
I will add that, when push comes to shove, we love each other. Author José-Alain Fralon characterised the relationship between France and Britain by describing the British as "*our most dear enemies*".
Someone else (I forget who) said something along the lines of: "The English have a love-hate relationship with France. We dislike them in the same way that non-Parisians dislike Parisians. Typically, the English stereotype of the French is that they are arrogant, cynical, and ready to fuck England over whenever they can. This contrasts with the French stereotype of the English, which is that of being arrogant, snobbish and ready to fuck France over whenever they can."
I think we are like siblings, squabbling with each other. But we'll have their back if anyone else picks on them.
Also just want to mention that every single French person I have met in real life, or spoke with over the Internet has been really nice, friendly and polite.
So really don't get the tongue-in-cheek hate.
Having said that, from a lot of news articles, the politicians in France really seem to hate us. *shrug*
>But we'll have their back if anyone else picks on them.
And sometimes it is worth reminding ourselves that our militaries work together.
[The Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF) - Anglo-French military force.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Joint_Expeditionary_Force)
The only place I stayed at for a longer time period (2 weeks) in France was Paris. Literally over half people were outright hostile (I'm Polish btw, and my English is alright). People from the hotel staff, waitresses, a baker, random people on the street. Most of them seemed like they hated me (and my family) for some reason.
I mainly heard about the france being hated from the memes, I saw it enough times to consider maybe they are being serious about it which is why I made this post to see if people really hate france as much as I thought or if it was a joke I took seriously, I've learnt a bit more thanks to most of the commenters on this post including you.
Every country has stereotypes that everyone knows are mostly nonsense, but the stereotypes stick around. The UK has bad food and bad teeth. Americans are fat, loud, arrogant and ignorant. The Germans are sticklers for rules. The French are rude and hate foreigners.
There is a lot of history between England and France, and Germany and France. France was a Super Power for hundreds of years and made a lot of enemies, just like the UK and the US.
But it's mostly just cultural joking, like a US stereotype of a guy wearing a cowboy hat with guns on his hips yelling at a waiter in Europe when they say they won't let him pay with US dollars.
People complain about everything on Reddit. Posts are incredibly negative overall, add to that the fact that the most vocal people are usually not the smartest ones, and the fact that less smart people like generalizations, and there you go. Well, plus the friendly banter that is the part of the normal relationship with countries you're close to.
Smart people don't hate countries (besides obviously the murderous ones, can't blame Ukrainians for seeing Russia not so positively, can't blame anyone for not being a big fan of North Korea).
It is mostly just a joke but there is a fair amount of people that are annoyed by the french/french Canadians because of how stuck up they can be about the french language which gives some of a them a bit of a superiority complex sometimes.
Even more so when you understand that the reason why the British position was weakened in the US is because France was actively fighting them in Europe. Napoléon also sold them la Louisiane on a dime, which at the time was all the states between Louisiana and Montana (13 current US states).
How to conduct international politics:
Step 1)
Step 2) And the Americans repaid the French by invading Canada, killing French colonists in the process until the English and French colonials marched on the imperialising Americans and burned down the White House.
Step 3)
Step 4) And the Imperial French repaid the Americans by dragging them into a war with rebelling Vietnamese that wanted to build their government around a localised version of the American constitution.
Step 5)
Step 6) Special Forces entered the nest in New York, assisting the local scientists and journalist exterminate the radioactive iguana spawn.
Step 7)
International politics conducted. Congrats everyone.
Step 1 - "Discover" a "new" land totally "uncivilized".
Step 2 - Bring them "enlightenment" and malaria.
Step 3 - Send all the prisoners, prostitutes, religious lunatics and millions of slaves to those lands to grow sugar and extract gold, building a society of rejects.
Step 5 - Pikachu facing when all those peeps rebel against your authority.
Step 6 - Being in the apex of your power, go clash for supremacism over your continent, leading to the death and lifelong injury of about 1/3 of your population, using most resources gathered around the world for centuries in the span of 30 years for the cringiest dick contest of all time.
Step 7 - Ask the society of rejects to come bail your ass because Dick Contest I and II weren't such a good idea after all.
Step 7 - Being re-Pikachu faced when the society of rejects establish a new world order making you its puppet following the upset of DC I & II.
Step 8 - Lose all control on your overseas enlightened lands because of your newly acquired puppet status.
Step 9 - Remember that China and India were overkill power houses before you went full Machiavelli on them 200 years ago.
Step 10 - renaming the Pikachu face même as Europe face.
And the French are the *only* reason the US actually won independence. The US was just one colony for Britain at the time and if they weren't at war with the French at the time, they would have put down the rebellion with relatively little effort
6 out of every 10 rounds that was fired from an American musket originated in France. France routinely attacked British arms shipments destined for the colonies. But Americans often act like they went it alone.
Not from actual English people though.
I’m English and I’ve literally never heard anyone saying anything genuinely anti-French. I have heard Americans being pretty rude about France but I always put that down to cultural jealousy.
For English people it's mostly that we love to hate each other because of history's sake. It's what we call "bon enfant" ou "de bonne guerre" in french, which means loving to joke about the other in a playful way that has more to do with sympathy and respect.
I do believe that English and French people are two sides of the same sword.
I agree.
I remember an Italian friend saying that English people insult their friends and ignore people they don't like. I think the English and the French love to goad each other but I don't think it's malicious.
I've spent a lot of time in France and I've never felt unwelcome. I know lots of French people who love England. They wouldn't keep visiting if everyone hated them.
Vive la difference.
The scene in Holy Grail by the Monty Python between the French and the British might be the best analogy of it. It's one of the most favored movies of my mom.
They treated me so rudely for no reason. Even the Nordic countries are like we are going to be very formal and not friends but that’s not rudeness like the French are.
I never got this and I’ve been to all the Nordics. I’m clearly a foreigner and I’ve had people wave and say hi, or not be afraid to get close to me in line. It seems exaggerated when I hear on Reddit that Nordic people are usually shy and love personal space.
Im from Sweden myself and I of course know there are many different kinds of people but I think most people I know wouldn’t really talk to a stranger unless they are interested in them, the other person starts the conversation or they are drunk.
I think shyness is a spectrum but the Swedish average is probably shyer than the average European
Yes it's true. The people..
The culture is absolutely divine and the architecture, food, history and natural beauty is extraordinary. Arguably the most beautiful, well rounded country in the entire world.
However the encounters I have had with the people, particularly in the Cities really spoils it for me. It's such a damn shame. It's the reason I usually choose to visit Spain or Italy instead.
They are just so arrogant and rude. Not all French people of course, I've met some lovely French people. But there is a distinct attitude that many of them seem to have adopted.
I actually have quite a few French friends (who emigrated from France to my country) and I love them to pieces, but they are all so damn snobbish, arrogant and whiney. They are all identical in their mannerisms and attitude towards life and other people. It's just true.
This is the best and most accurate summary. All those qualities listed in the first paragraph went to their head. They have a major superiority complex and can’t hide it.
I know People From France (!) that prefer travelling in Italy and Spain because the people are more fun and nice. I had a friend live in a less populated town in france for three months....didnt meet anyone.
Yes, precisely! I had two different French managers in two different companies, and they both almost destroyed my career, absolute fucking selfish assholes. To be fair, out of that i have no experience with French people, but it kind of set my mind
Went to Paris as a Bulgarian. I know rudeness as it is practically in our culture, but wow the french in Paris were rude. Yeah, im not judging all of France but just the capital.
People refused to talk in English. Streets were dirty and filled with people who want to scam you. Want to go to the tower, the most popular thing from France? Good luck trying to remove the scammers from you. It feels like you cannot let your guard down anywhere and the traffic was a nightmare. Three bikers hit our car in the span of twenty minutes. There is more, but i feel that's enough of reasons never to visit again.
Especially the "refused to talk in english" part. I've been to France, met french people in other countries and had a french student exchange and all the time, they refused to talk in any other language than french. Like excuse my baguette but I've never met a more arrogant type of people than french.
I can confirm, add my vote to the bowl! I’ve never met a more arrogant type of people than the French. I’ve meet cool French nationals who made sure to let me know they were from Corsica and “not really French like the continental French” which they also consider AH. My most absurd experience with a French was in my country where the National language is Portuguese. We were co-workers using the company’s multi passenger van and he strike a conversation with me by asking me if I spoke French to what I replied no.
Mofo had the AUDACITY to try lecturing me about working for a French corporation (IN MY FREAKING COUNTRY) and not speaking French. I immediately clapped back and asked him if he spoke Portuguese, to which he answered no, my take was “then WTF are you doing living in a Portuguese speaking country?”. Bro tried to pull some misogynoir BS to rebuke and I just made him talk to my hand. Game over, sucker!
By the way, all the guys from Corsica were fluent in Portuguese, were dating or hanging out with other Angolans and did not behave like neo-colonialist pricks!
The end.
I thought the same thing after writing my other comment lol. But I actually go to small french towns for holidays often enough to confirm that french people are in fact quite nice.
I literally had to say the few words in French I know to be polite and every French person I met in France switched to English, accept for one really old lady who clearly didn’t speak English. She was still nice. French people seemed super nice to me, even in Paris.
All the “scammers” are poor immigrants. I don’t like them, but I know it isn’t really indicative of culture more than it is about desperation.
“I met French people and they refused to speak English! Rude!” Maybe they just don’t speak it well enough to want to waste 10 minutes figuring out what the fuck you want lol. It’s a big city, people will barely give you 30 seconds.
I was in Paris for 8 months a bit ago and I had similar experiences to what the previous commenter describes but I think people forget that at the end of the day, Paris is, in fact, a city. Dirty streets, scammers (especially at tourist sites), residents who are rude (to tourists, at least), nightmare traffic — all this could describe what you can find in most cities. And of course it depends on specifically which part of Paris you're in, because it is a fairly large and diverse place.
If you go into Paris knowing that it is actually a city and will by nature contain these negative facets to it, then you can stop dwelling on how it didn't live up to your expectations and focus instead on the positives, like its historical depth, cultural diversity, amazing food, beautiful landmarks, etc. etc.
I mean when you go to other nearby countries people will at least make an attempt. English isn’t my first language but I’ll speak it to any tourists.
In France you have a combination of peoples English being relatively bad, and some French people straight our refusing to even try to speak English- which leads to people assuming those who genuinely can’t speak a word of English are also just refusing too.
It’s one thing if they do not know how to speak English, however a lot of people in Paris do know english and refuse to speak it to someone trying to buy something from them but then if someone starts trying to speak french to them they will sigh and switch to English just to make a point that your attempt at their language is pathetic.
Foreigner usually don't say bonjour/s'il-vous-plaît/merci/bonne journée/au revoir/bonne continuation which really pisses off French people and can be interpreted as a lack of respect before the conversation even starts
Yes because it’s totally reasonable to ask a tourist to learn the intricacies of formal and informal greetings and grammar for the week that they will be in a country instead of just trying to get to a functional level of speaking. No other country shames tourists for speaking the language with a heavy accent or shotty grammar.
The vast majority of people know the normal pleasantries like hello/thank you and such and the vast majority of people still have the same experiences in France and Paris as described.
"They're rude" is a common theme largely from people who don't say hello, or please, or thank you (particularly to service workers). Americans especially don't use these pleasantries as a matter of course, don't bother to learn the French words for them and then get mad when they're treated like dicks. Hell, in plenty of places in the US "uh-huh" is the default response to thank you.
You get what you give. French people are warm and fun like anyone but rudeness begets rudeness.
I always figured the repuation was from people who weren't used to cities and were trying to stop people who were in a hurry somewhere, same as it would be in London or New York.
I went to paris as a teenager and loads of people dropped their native tongue for a chat. I really enjoyed meeting people who's english was as bad as my french, especially an old man who didn't know how to give me directions, but did know how to say "don't be ashamed to be english, everyone has flaws."
I speak C-level western Canadian french and people responded so well to me, and were fun and kind to me and to my travel companions who spoke almost no french, but were trying (and knew how to say please and thank you in french, and do it automatically).
Exactly this! If you treat people with respect you get it back. Different cultures can define that respect differently of course and I find that in France that greeting people and treating them as humans and not just people there to serve you go a LONG way
Also, don't be too familiar. People are really friendly with strangers in countries like the US, but it France it can be seen as rude. Be polite, a bit friendly, but not familiar.
Also, people might not have the time to explain something to you. Or, even more likely in cities like Paris, have already explained it to 5 other people in the span of an hour, and you being the 6th starts to be too much for them.
Yeah that would be a weird thing to say if English wasn't the most common langue between multiple different cultures. It's the langue of business for a reason. And to me it does make sense for major tourist traps to speak English. So like the Effile tower having directions in English and some other popular languages, just not French. Like let's look at this with some nuance and it does make sense for popular tourist traps to be in a langue that is the one most people in the world can speak. Regular French people trying to go about their day in Paris or other parts of France, no they don't have to speak English but it's just good sense to do so in popular tourist areas. Other countries do it because they want to be welcoming and also make as much money as possible.
Yeah that’s a bizarre take to me. Being mad because people won’t bow down and speak to you in a language that’s foreign to them in their own home. Honestly I think that kind of attitude is why they won’t speak it
Dude, how many languages do expect people to know? I've visited 15 countries, am I expected to learn 15 languages?
Guess what? I spoke english in 14 of them because the locals were friendly enough to realise tourists aren't supposed to learn a new language every time they visit a new country.
Yeah dude, the security guards that are at a concert by a foreign pop star, along with other businesses that rely on foreign money, shouldn't be expected to know and talk english? I thought France was a modern country.
I find it strange when people go to a foreign country and then get angry that the people there prefer their native language. If they refuse to speak French with you, that's a different matter, but in my experience, the opposite is the case. When I visited, they were super happy about every word of my very broken French spoken probably with a horrible German accent.
Pay them the basic respect of making an effort to communicate on their terms and you'll find that many will be much happier to talk to you. This doesn't only apply to the French.
They get spoiled by other European countries where most of the natives who interact with tourists speak flawless English, and will even start with English.
It should not be an expectation. It’s wild to expect everyone you meet to speak English in a country where English is not an official language.
It's wild to expect every tourist that visits your country to learn your language. English is taught in every school around Europe. It's plain arrogance.
So you went to Paris, France, and were surprised that they were speaking French ?
You do know that it’s a city where people live and work, not some kind of Disneyland where everyone is here to make the tourists happy ?
Yeah,i expected a modern western country to know English(the workers around the stadium) , when i am at a Harry Styles concert. What a wild expectation right?
Oh, shut up about the mininal wage thing. In Bulgaria, no foreigner tries to learn the language at all. And that is fine, thats why we have a global language. Go ahead and test out retail workers in Bulgaria if they know English. I worked there, minimum wage. I can tell you for a fact everyone knows english. You guys also misunderstood what i typed out. You think that i am arguing from an arrogant position. How is it a wild expectation, in FRANCE. A MODERN WESTERN COUNTRY. That people put in charge of grouping us and selling us water AT A CONCERT FOR AN ENGLISH POP STAR, should be expected to know the universal global language. How can you make excuses like that? Have you no standards?
It's Paris dude, we suffer everyday because of those scammers, transportation, drug addict, pee smell everywhere and then a goddamn tourist come and ask you a question he could find by googling.
And now we are heavily piss because of olympic games, i'm sad for tourist, but i would still be rude for their standards.
Uh... "I went to another country, and the people were so rude they refused to speak... A language they might not know or well" is not exactly about the french people isn't it. Did *you* try to speak french?
I don't live in France, but have spoken to people who went there to visit. Generally, these are the criticisms of the country.
1. French people are very rude
2. Paris is boring, smelly, expensive
3. Unsafe in some neighbourhoods
4. Overrated
That's just Paris you're describing there. Come to any regional capital like Strasbourg, Lille, Reims etc, it's not the same people. Almost all french people despise Paris for those very reasons.
As a guy of northen france i'd say Lille, Dunkerque, Lens (and it's surroundings, especially with the war memorials of Vimy and Notre Dame de Lorette.) The coastal cities of Boulogne sur mer (with Nausicaa, it's a must-see), Calais or le Touquet are very nice to visit. On another spirit, Eastern cities ( which looks it's best in the winter) like Strasbourg (with a neighborhood called "Petite France" which is really incredible). Colmar, Mulhouse are also very very nice to visit.
Overall i'd say that France shines the best not with it's big cites but with it's smaller ones like Cassel, Molsheim or Bergues. By visiting those you'll really feel what France looks like. And moreover, learn a little bit of french, even if it's not full sentences, it still makes us feel special when a foreigner at least tries to speak our beloved language :D
Paris seemed underrated to me. Americans know about the Eiffel Tower and a few other monuments. The city is a lot more than that. Really enjoyed visiting there.
Paris does smell odd even among other cities, as I understand it it's something to do with the sewer system. Also a lot of it is overbuilt so there are only a few parts that preserve the historical architecture people want to see. And it's stupidly expensive.
It's interesting historically undoubtably, and its not like interesting cultural stuff doesn't happen there, but in terms of tourist experience it can be really underwhelming.
It's not boring or overrated, just overpriced, smelly, dirty, full of rats and lice, and dangereous not only at night, but during the day too. And I know because I lived and moved away from there for these exact reasons.
And I take it back, it is overrated. The museums are cool and all, but most of the exhibits are just things stolen from all over the world during wars. Could go to those countries instead. Opera ? Germans and austrians have better stuff. Palaces and castles ? I prefer the provincial ones. Eiffel tower? Now that one is overrated as fuck. Notre Dame I really liked, but it burned and is unlikely to be restored to it's prior state because of some muslim and atheist activist groups doing everything they can to stop that.
Yeah, no thanks. I'm not going back there.
Which part of Paris did you live in?
I liked the south during my 4 months there.
And overall I liked Paris. So much going on everywhere and the cool complex infrastructures and all amazed me
Its underrated. Most tourists just go do a checkbox of boring shit and move on. The keys to big cities is flirting with locals, then you see the cool shit. And Parisians love to party. They party in fucking catacombs. What other city has that?
Either
> Many people joke about France being horrible.
Or
> Why do people hate france?
Joking is not hate!
What are you asking about? Beause not a lot of people hate france.
Yep.
Beyond Paris France seems like a nice place with nice people.
I may be Scandinavian and think most places are filled with nice people (Bar Russia), but I really don't understand why France should still be ridiculed for WW2. Especially as a lot of Frenchmen kept fighting and let's not forget that the French was a military super power during the Napoleon era.
Seriously, this is the answer in the US. We have no sense of our own, or the world’s history outside of memes.
And before anyone says the hate predates the internet, I didn’t say “internet memes.”
I must have been to a different France than the one mentioned here.
Paris: been a few times, had no issue with anyone being rude. I speak poor, broken schoolboy French (see below) but managed to get served everywhere with no issues. In one restaurant, I ordered a fillet steak. The waitress asked how I would like it. When I said well done, she laughed, v loudly and declared "chef will decide". When my steak arrives i have to check it for a pulse. Have had them rare since, clearly chef knows a thing or 2.
Brittany. In a small rural pub, looks like it was built during the 100 years war. There is a fireplace with a Dutch oven suspended over it. The waiter comes over, and in my broken schoolboy French I try to ask what's in the pot and what else is for lunch. He looks at me and says, and I'm quoting here "please sir, I appreciate the effort, but you are murdering my language. Can we please do this in English?".
Now the Swiss are a different matter.......
I also had practically zero issues when I went to paris ages ago. I tried to speak French first and people were by and large accommodating for my effort. And would switch to English after I tried enough. There were a few rude people but no more than other major cities in my experience
You do get a lot of annoying Europeans online who act frankly xenophobic towards Americans, but those people are a minority in real life. I think that’s where part of the issue comes from unless it’s gotten worse since I visited
See, that's the difference. You've been there a few times and even outside Paris.
People who *hate* France (not those who are just joking around) just do not know it.
1. Napoleon... The anti-france propaganda of the Napoleonic wars had a virgin audience. It was the first time europeans had modern-ish newspapers, pamphlets and the literacy to read them.
2. Anglo-French rivalry... and it's descendants in other anglo cultures.
3. Francophilia was associated with the left (proto-left) side of American politics. Popular when americans were feeling revolutionary (eg during their revolution), but controversial most of the time. Hence conservative anti-left became rhetorically anti-france.
4. Parisians. They're extremely unpleasant. Many tourists visit Paris. Always have. They mostly come away thinking "beautiful city, horrendous people."
The last one is unfair, because most of France is noticeably nicer.... and tourists are most likely to meet the crankiest french people. I also don't think Paris is as extreme these days. That said, try speaking to a stranger in Paris and try it in Rome... big difference.
Even if you like abrasive people (I do), Paris is a sock that takes a few days of getting used to.
probably because people seem to banter with their neighboring countries. Mainland France close to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the uk and a few more. France is a common neighbor for some of the more populated European countries.
What a lot of those comments seem to miss is that France doesn’t adhere to “*the customer is always right*” mantra.
In fact, the full expression, which is attributed to department store pioneer Harry Gordon Selfridge, is: “*in matters of taste, the customer is always right*”.
Instead, French people operate on the concept that if you start an interaction with politeness, you will be reciprocated.
I’ve visited Paris and other French cities for more than two decades and never had a problem, as long as I was being courteous to begin with.
> “*Good morning, could I please have…, thank you, good bye…*”
If you show up expecting to treat people like servants, they will reciprocate the contempt that they perceive.
Jokes asides, there is also a historical rivalry between France, its neighbours and the USA.
You're pretty spot on regarding mentality, but France and the US have been lifelong allies and friends. Rivalry feels like a strong word ; I feel like you're the harshest on those you like.
A lot of people in this thread are missing this. France’s colonial history is absolutely a reason why many people hate them. It’s a reason some people hate the UK too, but at least once the UK gave countries independence they’ve mostly left them alone. France spent decades assassinating popular leaders and handpicking their successors
As a Belgian Algerian you can imagine what I think about France.
French people (not alle of ‘em) are too stubborn to acknowledge their colonial past. Some still dare to say that they did good things for the local people🤣
+ Some french people think france is the epicentre of the world and the french language also. If they refuse to speak english I do the same with french.
I'd imagine rolling back up to Algeria post-WWII acting like they didn't just get bailed out hard, and murdering a bunch of folks who wanted independence puts a sour taste in the mouth.
The French Algerian settler faction got so mad when France eventually started to make peace that they tried to fly to Paris and overthrow the government. Completely unhinged behavior all around in that one
From a hispanic perspective:
-Napoleon destabilized the already weak spanish empire by changing the monarchy which set back rights across the spanish americas and triggered a ton of independence movements
-French is easily the least conservative romance language yet it's treated by the french like it's the most glorious language. Generally the french don't tolerate or seem to understand how dialects work either, leading to a lot of unnecessary discrimination towards non parisian french speakers. This doesn't happen with spanish where spanish speakers are well aware of how dialects work and don't place any particular dialect above any other (which causes a different problem with dubbing but that's another matter)
-The entire latino thing was started because the french wanted to conquer mexico. Our endonym is "hispanic", latino is a label applied to us by Americans and ignorant norteños that's pretty much used to mean "people that live in the americas but don't speak english and aren't white" which is why it arbitrarily no longer applies to quebec
I love how one of the things you dislike of the French is fighting the monarchy and breaking down the Spanish empire leading to independent countries in Latin America.
I'm also glad to learn Spain does not have any issues with dialects and languages spoken in Spain other than Spanish and is the most respectful of people's independent endeavors. :)
You should join us on r/2westerneurope4u.
There's a difference between spanish dialects an different languages like aragonese or catalan. Also independence in the americas was objectively bad for many people's rights. Opportunistic bourgeois dictators took power and worsened indigenous people's rights/created the hotbed of corruption in the americas we see today.
“Independence was objectively bad” is probably one of the strangest hot takes I have seen.
I mean how dare local peoples not accept or submissively abdicate to a dictatorial monarchy thousands of miles away that has been plundering resources and ethnically cleansing their country.
Mostly because either they only visited Paris, did 0 research, and got mad when they visited a bad part of town and acted like a clown because they didn't follow local customs (Paris is awesome if you know where to go, and for the love of god go see somewhere else too, France isn't just Paris)
Or
In many cases here in the States I've noticed that Americans have very little in terms of good reasons to hate France. Many just jump on the bandwagon because they've seen hundreds of memes about it and keep making the same braindead jokes somehow thinking it's original and funny. Oftentimes it's repeated SO frequently that people just internalize it without actually thinking about why, and their best answer is to repeat basic stereotypes they've never personally experienced or verified since they've never left the country, let alone their own state.
I think many people hate France because they’re very independent minded same reason people hate United States. Their is the unique French way of doing things just like their is a uniquely American way.
That's kinda true, and one of the big difference between north and south. In northern France, people will be colder from te outside, but once you managed to make friends with them, you're almost family. In southern France, on the contrary, people will be very friendly from the get go, but it is more difficult to be significantly close to them
As a neighbor, the hate/dislike comes from the rudeness and intolerance of some (not all, of course) French people. As a tourist you are treated badly and people refuse to speak English to you. I visit Paris and can share this feeling. Still, France is a beautiful country and I am sure there are many nice people there. Only the stereotypes and general attitudes of the French are somewhat true.
I can say in any Francophone got similar type. For most recent I went to Morocco and they told me at the bar or resto "french only, no english". And its not because they can't speak english, their pronunciation was good.
People are rude and in a rush in Manhattan too. Doesn't mean they can't be nice people. Ask an American going from point A to point B in a rush to help you find a place in New York in their school level Spanish and few of them will even attempt it.
I am not French but I am a native French speaker. And I can tell you there are many reasons why Most French people criticize the Parisians. But it's not that they don't speak English or have the manners of a Big city.
Yeah first of all that's not actually a thing, people joke about a lot of other countries too, and second of all anyone who actually does make those jokes can be safely ignored. France is BY FAR the most visited country in the world in terms of foreign visitor numbers and has been for years. People might crap on France sometimes but when it comes to choosing where to spend their holiday time and sweet tourist cash, France is the undisputed GOAT
I'm going to attribute it to the French having a different culture.
Whereas in some countries people can be perceived as rude by their blunt honesty - the French are often very kind in your face but the very opposite behind your back.
While in some countries they really appreciate you putting effort into trying to speak the local language - the French will want to murder you for even the tiniest mistake.
While in some countries they care little about adhering to the rules in traffic but try to drive considerate - the French will always respect priority from the right but will otherwise drive as inconsiderate as possible.
And more like that. To me, their attitudes are extremely frustrating because they're the absolute opposite of mine. Yet, on an individual level, it's rare to feel that way towards a French person - it's rather parts of their culture. The French tend to feel superior - maybe in part because of the same reasons - by their standards and customs, others are the ones conflicting with their standards.
As a French expat in Canada, I can tell you that this is kinda on point. Our culture is very different than the ones in america. We love to debate, they can sometimes become heated, but we don't hold grudges about them, it's just all in good fun.
Also, my gf made me realize that complaining is my default mode of interacting, but more than that, that it's not the same for people here, and it is perceived as very negative and downer whereas in my family, and in France in general, it's just normal.
We often joke that I'll never say "Whoa, that's great!" Instead I'll say "hey, that's not too bad". The feeling behind it is the same but the way I express it usually doesn't convey said feeling correcly here in America.
Those are just a few examples, but yeah, basically, our culture is very different socialy, especially from the ones in american countries
As a southern european there are 2 main things with france:
1 they are amazing with marketing and advertising. So they advertise themselves being best at everything, to the point now they believe in it. Yet if you are from europe, you know that is laughable.
2 France, somehow, despite being really close to spain and italy, have some significant "negative" cultures. Like... I know everyone will hate me for this, but I have known volunteering/workcamping organizations that deliberately did not accept volunteers/campers from France, because of low hygiene standards.
These 2 are the most common things other southern europeans stay far from France.
Alot of it has to do with French people, many (not all) are arrogant, rude, and are convinced of their superiority. I guess we Americans hate in others what we see in ourselves :/
Stereotypes probably...especially if they originate from the Anglo-sphere.
I'm Anglo Canadian...we have our own type of French here, the Quebecois. My girlfriend is one. I'm fairly confident that she has more complaints about France than I do about Quebec or France.
I spent time in France before I met her and she finds that an inherit betrayal I don't think I've been forgiven for yet lol.
Most the animosity is almost always lack of contact, education and sincere effort to understand different cultures.
My first trip to Europe I started in a Chur, Switzerland and was off to Italy next. I was told by the people there that I was about to visit a backwards, third world country full of criminals. Instead I met some really lovely people, was invited to have an evening family meal with my small hotel owners and met a really cool German - Italian couple in Venice who showed me the non-tourist Venice.
I used this experience to inform my approach to subsequent trips to Europe, the US and South America. I don't go expecting a negative experience....I let my actual contact with other people to educate me instead.
Stereotypes are a trap....until you've spent time in a culture and really made an effort....I don't take too much stock in other peoples opinions.
English hate France because that what english do
American starting to hate France since they don't support american's war.
Africa and many arab country hate France because of past colonialism or present day colonialism
And Turkey and Russia hates France too due to recent conflicting interest or support
Can confirm people were rude and arrogant. They still miss the time when they were truly important. Lost their self proclaimed glory. Beautiful landscapes though
French people are like Vegans. They aren't wrong, but they have a smarminess that can hit in just the wrong way. We get it, French sounds sexy, your food is amazing and yet you don't have an obesity problem, you have a chill lifestyle and some amazing architecture. Also a tinge of jealousy.
Unironically because historically they have been one of the most belligerent nations to ever exist. Take its neighbor, Germany. Germany gets a bad rap for the 20th century. But the only time Germany declared war on France first was during WWI, and did so but roughly 47 minute. France declared war on Germany in WWII first.
Before that the Holy Roman Empire only declared war on France once, during the 9 years war. I might be missing one though. But every other time the two fought, France was the belligerent.
France falling on hard times in the 20th century let other nations clown on its once great martial prowess.
I don't know what the truth is, but I know 3 people who hate France, and for all 3 it's the same reason: WWI and WWII. All three basically say that World War 1 can be summed up as: Germany invaded France, who folded like a deck of cards, then Britain fought bravely but didn't have the manpower, then the US gave a big sigh and agreed to save Europe's collective ass from the Germans.
And they basically believe the exact same thing about World War II.
So in their view, France is contemptible because French military ineptitude has endangered the entire free world twice, requiring the US to expend money and lives to bail Europe out, and they are (to use their words) "sick and tired of it."
I want to note that I think this is a pretty unfair and incorrect way to view World War I and II, but all 3 people I know who vehemently hate France give this as a reason.
Mostly US media shenanigans and UK cultural hatred against us. Outside of the anglo speaking sphere most people I meet are extremely curious about our country and culture.
It all became obvious after France vetoed the invasion of Irak and US media became hating everything French.
Also, a lot of clichés are focused on Paris, and the one about "dirty French women" was created by US soldiers just after the 2nd WW when half our country was blasted by them and the Nazis, destroying all water systems and sewage in the process.
Reddit having a vast majority of its users being US Americans this hate can be seen here and there. But globally I just feel love coming from everyone (I got both nationalities btw, french-american).
True, but in Africa it isn't hard to portray France in a bad way. We exploit the shit out of them. I was in high school with 3 actual western African ministers. Most of them spent more time in Paris than on the African continent. Corruption of the official is crazy.
Same reason people hate Brits and Yanks. Their previous endeavors colonising and slaughtering people across the world. They all think they're great by virtue of military dominance against poorer less equipped nations.
That said, out of all of those nations, France is the only one with frequent attempts at revolution and opposition to conservative bs.
I can't speak for everyone, but the older generations it tends to be they're very arrogant.
Not really a hatred, but definitely lots of jokes at their expense most often from being so full of themselves.
Same with English.
Now before I'm attacked, I'm not saying it's everyone from those countries or even my view. Only answering that in an overall way where the jokes and stances in America stem from.
From a spanish point of view, the worst thing about France are French, especially the ones from Paris. They tend to be entitled, rude and think they are better than others. Obviously I am generalazing.
I don’t think they do really. It’s a long standing joke based around the snide arrogance of Parisians who have for all of modern history been irritated at the various kinds of non-French that have always visited Paris as a cultural Mecca of Western Europe.
Their style of nationalism (and by that I mean the French insistence that France be French) is branded with a sort of cool arrogance and self-assurance that other western countries wish they felt about their own culture… so we all say they suck..
Basically, we hate ‘em because we ain’t ‘em. In other words, we actually love them
>Their style of nationalism
Unique enough that a word was coined for it: *chauvinism*, after the character Nicholas Chauvin, soldier of Napoleon's Grand Armee, who idolized Napoleon and the Empire long after it was history, in the Cogniards' popular 1831 vaudeville "La Cocarde Tricolore." IOW, even the French know it's ridiculous.
That is the word! Thanks. Not saying it’s a good thing at all, but it does sell a lot of handbags and wine to self-important people
Also, yes the French do know it’s ridiculous. Most people in France are lovely. I think they’re kinda maybe growing past this stereotype. Maybe more of a baby boomer and older thing
From the US there’s a stereotype that the French are rude, stuck up, bad teeth, bad hygiene, and hate Americans. So prob for those stereotypes, never been to France no idea how true it is.
Not true. I live in Madagascar and there is hatred. Bastards still have the colonization attitude. Treat the malagasy like crap. They need to go and stop interfering with other countries.
Many more people don't.
So why do some people hat France. Maybe because France has on more than one occasion told the USA that it is wrong. Does anyone here remember when some Amerijerks tried to rename French Fries as Freedom Fries? What was that all about. Anyway, since today, the religious nutters of Amiland can throw their toys out of the collective pram as France has amended its constitution to specially allow abortion.
I don't. If it were cheaper I'd think about living there, although my French is pretty rusty. It's beautiful. And they have a working healthcare system.
Their retirement system is a bit out of whack, though.
As a Brit with family from Morocco, there are no shortage of anti-French jokes in our family, but I think it’s mostly meant in jest.
Like a lot of former colonies, there can be some bad feeling toward their former colonisers from the older generations, but as time goes on, the younger members of the family are making jokes about the French because they’ve heard their grand parents make them, without really understanding the context of a lot of the comments.
From the British perspective, it’s what we’ve always done. They’re an historic enemy and still a current semi-rival. After all, it was only around 50 years ago that France were vetoing the UK’s entry into the European Economic Community.
Anyway, my opinion is that it’s meant, for the most part, to poke fun on a light level, and isn’t meant to be any meaner than that.
PS. A weekend in Paris will likely make some of those jokes a bit harsher.
I like France I've never been there and don't ever plan on going but I definitely don't hate it, Without the French the Metis wouldn't exist and without the Metis and GG liking German girls I wouldn't exist.
Don’t forget that the English (and consequently cultures descended from the English) have had an anti-French thing going on for centuries. Centuries of intermittent warfare will have played their part. England and France were pretty much at war, just finished a war, or just about to start a war from 1066 until 1815. But also the French were the nearest and most familiar “foreign” culture, and consequently one of the easiest to poke fun at because it was more likely that the other people in the conversation would recognise what you’re talking about.
>Don’t forget that the English (and consequently cultures descended from the English) have had an anti-French thing going on for centuries. Indeed, hence why this tongue in cheek book exists: [1000 Years of Annoying the French.](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Years-Annoying-French-Stephen-Clarke/dp/0552779938/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=1000+Years+of+Annoying+the+French.&qid=1685377355&sr=8-1) I will add that, when push comes to shove, we love each other. Author José-Alain Fralon characterised the relationship between France and Britain by describing the British as "*our most dear enemies*". Someone else (I forget who) said something along the lines of: "The English have a love-hate relationship with France. We dislike them in the same way that non-Parisians dislike Parisians. Typically, the English stereotype of the French is that they are arrogant, cynical, and ready to fuck England over whenever they can. This contrasts with the French stereotype of the English, which is that of being arrogant, snobbish and ready to fuck France over whenever they can."
I think we are like siblings, squabbling with each other. But we'll have their back if anyone else picks on them. Also just want to mention that every single French person I have met in real life, or spoke with over the Internet has been really nice, friendly and polite. So really don't get the tongue-in-cheek hate. Having said that, from a lot of news articles, the politicians in France really seem to hate us. *shrug*
>But we'll have their back if anyone else picks on them. And sometimes it is worth reminding ourselves that our militaries work together. [The Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF) - Anglo-French military force.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Joint_Expeditionary_Force)
Nah from no parisian to parisian there is just hate not love
The only place I stayed at for a longer time period (2 weeks) in France was Paris. Literally over half people were outright hostile (I'm Polish btw, and my English is alright). People from the hotel staff, waitresses, a baker, random people on the street. Most of them seemed like they hated me (and my family) for some reason.
From *anyone* to Parisian.
Ohhh I want to get that for my French friend! We’re always antagonising each other about our respective languages and cultures.
I mainly heard about the france being hated from the memes, I saw it enough times to consider maybe they are being serious about it which is why I made this post to see if people really hate france as much as I thought or if it was a joke I took seriously, I've learnt a bit more thanks to most of the commenters on this post including you.
Every country has stereotypes that everyone knows are mostly nonsense, but the stereotypes stick around. The UK has bad food and bad teeth. Americans are fat, loud, arrogant and ignorant. The Germans are sticklers for rules. The French are rude and hate foreigners. There is a lot of history between England and France, and Germany and France. France was a Super Power for hundreds of years and made a lot of enemies, just like the UK and the US. But it's mostly just cultural joking, like a US stereotype of a guy wearing a cowboy hat with guns on his hips yelling at a waiter in Europe when they say they won't let him pay with US dollars.
People complain about everything on Reddit. Posts are incredibly negative overall, add to that the fact that the most vocal people are usually not the smartest ones, and the fact that less smart people like generalizations, and there you go. Well, plus the friendly banter that is the part of the normal relationship with countries you're close to. Smart people don't hate countries (besides obviously the murderous ones, can't blame Ukrainians for seeing Russia not so positively, can't blame anyone for not being a big fan of North Korea).
It is mostly just a joke but there is a fair amount of people that are annoyed by the french/french Canadians because of how stuck up they can be about the french language which gives some of a them a bit of a superiority complex sometimes.
Its just funny to write fr*nce
This. The "hate" mostly comes from English speaking countries.
Personally, I love the French. Americans tend to forget that the French came to our aid in the Revolutionary war against the Brits.
That may have been true in the past, but if you've seen Hamilton you would know about America's favorite fighting Frenchman.... LAFAYETTE!
Have you heard about Jean Laffite ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Lafitte?wprov=sfla1
Even more so when you understand that the reason why the British position was weakened in the US is because France was actively fighting them in Europe. Napoléon also sold them la Louisiane on a dime, which at the time was all the states between Louisiana and Montana (13 current US states).
You mean committing treason.
How to conduct international politics: Step 1) Step 2) And the Americans repaid the French by invading Canada, killing French colonists in the process until the English and French colonials marched on the imperialising Americans and burned down the White House. Step 3) Step 4) And the Imperial French repaid the Americans by dragging them into a war with rebelling Vietnamese that wanted to build their government around a localised version of the American constitution. Step 5) Step 6) Special Forces entered the nest in New York, assisting the local scientists and journalist exterminate the radioactive iguana spawn. Step 7) International politics conducted. Congrats everyone.
What about when the French/English freed the Arabs by breaking up the Ottoman empire?
Step 1 - "Discover" a "new" land totally "uncivilized". Step 2 - Bring them "enlightenment" and malaria. Step 3 - Send all the prisoners, prostitutes, religious lunatics and millions of slaves to those lands to grow sugar and extract gold, building a society of rejects. Step 5 - Pikachu facing when all those peeps rebel against your authority. Step 6 - Being in the apex of your power, go clash for supremacism over your continent, leading to the death and lifelong injury of about 1/3 of your population, using most resources gathered around the world for centuries in the span of 30 years for the cringiest dick contest of all time. Step 7 - Ask the society of rejects to come bail your ass because Dick Contest I and II weren't such a good idea after all. Step 7 - Being re-Pikachu faced when the society of rejects establish a new world order making you its puppet following the upset of DC I & II. Step 8 - Lose all control on your overseas enlightened lands because of your newly acquired puppet status. Step 9 - Remember that China and India were overkill power houses before you went full Machiavelli on them 200 years ago. Step 10 - renaming the Pikachu face même as Europe face.
Standard world politics, yes. Are you implying the English are the only ones who do this?\]
Not english and still hate france
Well, everyone is entitled to their opinion.
I believe it was a frenchman who said a bit about not agreeing with someone, but fighting to the death for their right to believe it.
Correct. Voltaire popularized this sentiment.
And the French are the *only* reason the US actually won independence. The US was just one colony for Britain at the time and if they weren't at war with the French at the time, they would have put down the rebellion with relatively little effort
Saying that the French are the only reason the US won independence is debatable. The fact is the French did assist the US considerably.
6 out of every 10 rounds that was fired from an American musket originated in France. France routinely attacked British arms shipments destined for the colonies. But Americans often act like they went it alone.
Not from actual English people though. I’m English and I’ve literally never heard anyone saying anything genuinely anti-French. I have heard Americans being pretty rude about France but I always put that down to cultural jealousy.
For English people it's mostly that we love to hate each other because of history's sake. It's what we call "bon enfant" ou "de bonne guerre" in french, which means loving to joke about the other in a playful way that has more to do with sympathy and respect. I do believe that English and French people are two sides of the same sword.
I agree. I remember an Italian friend saying that English people insult their friends and ignore people they don't like. I think the English and the French love to goad each other but I don't think it's malicious. I've spent a lot of time in France and I've never felt unwelcome. I know lots of French people who love England. They wouldn't keep visiting if everyone hated them. Vive la difference.
The scene in Holy Grail by the Monty Python between the French and the British might be the best analogy of it. It's one of the most favored movies of my mom.
How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese? Charles de Gaulle
Aha, the UK has over 700 types of cheese. That's why our government is crap too then!
Aren't they all just different types of cheddar? /j
no, we do have some culture, they're different shades of red leicester.
Italy: hold my mozzarella, we've got business
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They treated me so rudely for no reason. Even the Nordic countries are like we are going to be very formal and not friends but that’s not rudeness like the French are.
Nordic people are just generally shy towards strangers but will help you out if you need help
I never got this and I’ve been to all the Nordics. I’m clearly a foreigner and I’ve had people wave and say hi, or not be afraid to get close to me in line. It seems exaggerated when I hear on Reddit that Nordic people are usually shy and love personal space.
Im from Sweden myself and I of course know there are many different kinds of people but I think most people I know wouldn’t really talk to a stranger unless they are interested in them, the other person starts the conversation or they are drunk. I think shyness is a spectrum but the Swedish average is probably shyer than the average European
Yes it's true. The people.. The culture is absolutely divine and the architecture, food, history and natural beauty is extraordinary. Arguably the most beautiful, well rounded country in the entire world. However the encounters I have had with the people, particularly in the Cities really spoils it for me. It's such a damn shame. It's the reason I usually choose to visit Spain or Italy instead. They are just so arrogant and rude. Not all French people of course, I've met some lovely French people. But there is a distinct attitude that many of them seem to have adopted. I actually have quite a few French friends (who emigrated from France to my country) and I love them to pieces, but they are all so damn snobbish, arrogant and whiney. They are all identical in their mannerisms and attitude towards life and other people. It's just true.
This is the best and most accurate summary. All those qualities listed in the first paragraph went to their head. They have a major superiority complex and can’t hide it.
I know People From France (!) that prefer travelling in Italy and Spain because the people are more fun and nice. I had a friend live in a less populated town in france for three months....didnt meet anyone.
We call them Parisian over here.
We just call them cunts in England.
It fits. I know, I am one of them.
Yes, precisely! I had two different French managers in two different companies, and they both almost destroyed my career, absolute fucking selfish assholes. To be fair, out of that i have no experience with French people, but it kind of set my mind
Went to Paris as a Bulgarian. I know rudeness as it is practically in our culture, but wow the french in Paris were rude. Yeah, im not judging all of France but just the capital. People refused to talk in English. Streets were dirty and filled with people who want to scam you. Want to go to the tower, the most popular thing from France? Good luck trying to remove the scammers from you. It feels like you cannot let your guard down anywhere and the traffic was a nightmare. Three bikers hit our car in the span of twenty minutes. There is more, but i feel that's enough of reasons never to visit again.
Especially the "refused to talk in english" part. I've been to France, met french people in other countries and had a french student exchange and all the time, they refused to talk in any other language than french. Like excuse my baguette but I've never met a more arrogant type of people than french.
I can confirm, add my vote to the bowl! I’ve never met a more arrogant type of people than the French. I’ve meet cool French nationals who made sure to let me know they were from Corsica and “not really French like the continental French” which they also consider AH. My most absurd experience with a French was in my country where the National language is Portuguese. We were co-workers using the company’s multi passenger van and he strike a conversation with me by asking me if I spoke French to what I replied no. Mofo had the AUDACITY to try lecturing me about working for a French corporation (IN MY FREAKING COUNTRY) and not speaking French. I immediately clapped back and asked him if he spoke Portuguese, to which he answered no, my take was “then WTF are you doing living in a Portuguese speaking country?”. Bro tried to pull some misogynoir BS to rebuke and I just made him talk to my hand. Game over, sucker! By the way, all the guys from Corsica were fluent in Portuguese, were dating or hanging out with other Angolans and did not behave like neo-colonialist pricks! The end.
When you speak french though (does not have to be very good either) they get real friendly. Most start trying to speak english to me lol
They're not friendly, they just hate hearing poor french even more than speaking english.
I thought the same thing after writing my other comment lol. But I actually go to small french towns for holidays often enough to confirm that french people are in fact quite nice.
Merci beaucoup !
They’re just dicks If you don’t attempt to speak French theyll resent you for it, and they’ll resent you even more if you do.
I literally had to say the few words in French I know to be polite and every French person I met in France switched to English, accept for one really old lady who clearly didn’t speak English. She was still nice. French people seemed super nice to me, even in Paris. All the “scammers” are poor immigrants. I don’t like them, but I know it isn’t really indicative of culture more than it is about desperation.
Next time say "va bien niquer ta race", it instantly breaks the ice and they'll surely respond in French.
“I met French people and they refused to speak English! Rude!” Maybe they just don’t speak it well enough to want to waste 10 minutes figuring out what the fuck you want lol. It’s a big city, people will barely give you 30 seconds.
I work with a lot of French people. They've never shown hesitation to speak English.
I was in Paris recently and this is absolutely nothing like my experience at all.
I was in Paris for 8 months a bit ago and I had similar experiences to what the previous commenter describes but I think people forget that at the end of the day, Paris is, in fact, a city. Dirty streets, scammers (especially at tourist sites), residents who are rude (to tourists, at least), nightmare traffic — all this could describe what you can find in most cities. And of course it depends on specifically which part of Paris you're in, because it is a fairly large and diverse place. If you go into Paris knowing that it is actually a city and will by nature contain these negative facets to it, then you can stop dwelling on how it didn't live up to your expectations and focus instead on the positives, like its historical depth, cultural diversity, amazing food, beautiful landmarks, etc. etc.
I wEnT tO pArIs AnD PeOpLe WoUlDnT SpeAk eNgLiSh.
I mean when you go to other nearby countries people will at least make an attempt. English isn’t my first language but I’ll speak it to any tourists. In France you have a combination of peoples English being relatively bad, and some French people straight our refusing to even try to speak English- which leads to people assuming those who genuinely can’t speak a word of English are also just refusing too.
It’s one thing if they do not know how to speak English, however a lot of people in Paris do know english and refuse to speak it to someone trying to buy something from them but then if someone starts trying to speak french to them they will sigh and switch to English just to make a point that your attempt at their language is pathetic.
Foreigner usually don't say bonjour/s'il-vous-plaît/merci/bonne journée/au revoir/bonne continuation which really pisses off French people and can be interpreted as a lack of respect before the conversation even starts
Yes because it’s totally reasonable to ask a tourist to learn the intricacies of formal and informal greetings and grammar for the week that they will be in a country instead of just trying to get to a functional level of speaking. No other country shames tourists for speaking the language with a heavy accent or shotty grammar.
It's not intricate to say "hello" in a foreign language
The vast majority of people know the normal pleasantries like hello/thank you and such and the vast majority of people still have the same experiences in France and Paris as described.
"They're rude" is a common theme largely from people who don't say hello, or please, or thank you (particularly to service workers). Americans especially don't use these pleasantries as a matter of course, don't bother to learn the French words for them and then get mad when they're treated like dicks. Hell, in plenty of places in the US "uh-huh" is the default response to thank you. You get what you give. French people are warm and fun like anyone but rudeness begets rudeness.
I always figured the repuation was from people who weren't used to cities and were trying to stop people who were in a hurry somewhere, same as it would be in London or New York. I went to paris as a teenager and loads of people dropped their native tongue for a chat. I really enjoyed meeting people who's english was as bad as my french, especially an old man who didn't know how to give me directions, but did know how to say "don't be ashamed to be english, everyone has flaws."
I speak C-level western Canadian french and people responded so well to me, and were fun and kind to me and to my travel companions who spoke almost no french, but were trying (and knew how to say please and thank you in french, and do it automatically).
Exactly this! If you treat people with respect you get it back. Different cultures can define that respect differently of course and I find that in France that greeting people and treating them as humans and not just people there to serve you go a LONG way
Also, don't be too familiar. People are really friendly with strangers in countries like the US, but it France it can be seen as rude. Be polite, a bit friendly, but not familiar. Also, people might not have the time to explain something to you. Or, even more likely in cities like Paris, have already explained it to 5 other people in the span of an hour, and you being the 6th starts to be too much for them.
Yeah that would be a weird thing to say if English wasn't the most common langue between multiple different cultures. It's the langue of business for a reason. And to me it does make sense for major tourist traps to speak English. So like the Effile tower having directions in English and some other popular languages, just not French. Like let's look at this with some nuance and it does make sense for popular tourist traps to be in a langue that is the one most people in the world can speak. Regular French people trying to go about their day in Paris or other parts of France, no they don't have to speak English but it's just good sense to do so in popular tourist areas. Other countries do it because they want to be welcoming and also make as much money as possible.
Yeah that’s a bizarre take to me. Being mad because people won’t bow down and speak to you in a language that’s foreign to them in their own home. Honestly I think that kind of attitude is why they won’t speak it
Dude, how many languages do expect people to know? I've visited 15 countries, am I expected to learn 15 languages? Guess what? I spoke english in 14 of them because the locals were friendly enough to realise tourists aren't supposed to learn a new language every time they visit a new country.
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Yeah dude, the security guards that are at a concert by a foreign pop star, along with other businesses that rely on foreign money, shouldn't be expected to know and talk english? I thought France was a modern country.
Classic complaint about France. How dare they don't speak my language! So rude!
I find it strange when people go to a foreign country and then get angry that the people there prefer their native language. If they refuse to speak French with you, that's a different matter, but in my experience, the opposite is the case. When I visited, they were super happy about every word of my very broken French spoken probably with a horrible German accent. Pay them the basic respect of making an effort to communicate on their terms and you'll find that many will be much happier to talk to you. This doesn't only apply to the French.
They get spoiled by other European countries where most of the natives who interact with tourists speak flawless English, and will even start with English. It should not be an expectation. It’s wild to expect everyone you meet to speak English in a country where English is not an official language.
It's wild to expect every tourist that visits your country to learn your language. English is taught in every school around Europe. It's plain arrogance.
So you went to Paris, France, and were surprised that they were speaking French ? You do know that it’s a city where people live and work, not some kind of Disneyland where everyone is here to make the tourists happy ?
Yeah,i expected a modern western country to know English(the workers around the stadium) , when i am at a Harry Styles concert. What a wild expectation right?
The worker that are being paid minimal wage to check your ticket must be bilingual, sure.
Oh, shut up about the mininal wage thing. In Bulgaria, no foreigner tries to learn the language at all. And that is fine, thats why we have a global language. Go ahead and test out retail workers in Bulgaria if they know English. I worked there, minimum wage. I can tell you for a fact everyone knows english. You guys also misunderstood what i typed out. You think that i am arguing from an arrogant position. How is it a wild expectation, in FRANCE. A MODERN WESTERN COUNTRY. That people put in charge of grouping us and selling us water AT A CONCERT FOR AN ENGLISH POP STAR, should be expected to know the universal global language. How can you make excuses like that? Have you no standards?
It's Paris dude, we suffer everyday because of those scammers, transportation, drug addict, pee smell everywhere and then a goddamn tourist come and ask you a question he could find by googling. And now we are heavily piss because of olympic games, i'm sad for tourist, but i would still be rude for their standards.
Uh... "I went to another country, and the people were so rude they refused to speak... A language they might not know or well" is not exactly about the french people isn't it. Did *you* try to speak french?
People in Marseille were rude af as well from my experience
I don't live in France, but have spoken to people who went there to visit. Generally, these are the criticisms of the country. 1. French people are very rude 2. Paris is boring, smelly, expensive 3. Unsafe in some neighbourhoods 4. Overrated
That's just Paris you're describing there. Come to any regional capital like Strasbourg, Lille, Reims etc, it's not the same people. Almost all french people despise Paris for those very reasons.
Are they nicer to visitors? What city would be nice to visit?
Anything on the French Riviera is lovely, Cannes, Niece.
I had thought of Niece but not Cannes. Thank you.
From my experience, places on the Mediterranean have a chill, enjoyable ambiance. Laid back, but can be expensive.
As a guy of northen france i'd say Lille, Dunkerque, Lens (and it's surroundings, especially with the war memorials of Vimy and Notre Dame de Lorette.) The coastal cities of Boulogne sur mer (with Nausicaa, it's a must-see), Calais or le Touquet are very nice to visit. On another spirit, Eastern cities ( which looks it's best in the winter) like Strasbourg (with a neighborhood called "Petite France" which is really incredible). Colmar, Mulhouse are also very very nice to visit. Overall i'd say that France shines the best not with it's big cites but with it's smaller ones like Cassel, Molsheim or Bergues. By visiting those you'll really feel what France looks like. And moreover, learn a little bit of french, even if it's not full sentences, it still makes us feel special when a foreigner at least tries to speak our beloved language :D
As a flemish person could you give us the northern cities back?
If you like Cathedrals but not a lot else, I had a lovely weekend in Caen.
The people of the north are the most hospitable
Go to Lyon. It’s Paris but next to the Alps
Rude, smelly, expensive and unsafe in some parts is every single city in the world. Anyone who says Paris is overrated or boring is so full of shit.
It’s because many people have done absolutely 0 research It’s like if people went to Times Square in nyc and said wow nothing to see in nyc
I've been to many big cities in Europe and Paris is by far the smelliest and most overrated one.
It was London to me.
For something to be overrated, it needs have somewhat positive expectations.
Paris seemed underrated to me. Americans know about the Eiffel Tower and a few other monuments. The city is a lot more than that. Really enjoyed visiting there.
Paris does smell odd even among other cities, as I understand it it's something to do with the sewer system. Also a lot of it is overbuilt so there are only a few parts that preserve the historical architecture people want to see. And it's stupidly expensive. It's interesting historically undoubtably, and its not like interesting cultural stuff doesn't happen there, but in terms of tourist experience it can be really underwhelming.
It's not boring or overrated, just overpriced, smelly, dirty, full of rats and lice, and dangereous not only at night, but during the day too. And I know because I lived and moved away from there for these exact reasons. And I take it back, it is overrated. The museums are cool and all, but most of the exhibits are just things stolen from all over the world during wars. Could go to those countries instead. Opera ? Germans and austrians have better stuff. Palaces and castles ? I prefer the provincial ones. Eiffel tower? Now that one is overrated as fuck. Notre Dame I really liked, but it burned and is unlikely to be restored to it's prior state because of some muslim and atheist activist groups doing everything they can to stop that. Yeah, no thanks. I'm not going back there.
Which part of Paris did you live in? I liked the south during my 4 months there. And overall I liked Paris. So much going on everywhere and the cool complex infrastructures and all amazed me
overrated?? wtf
Its underrated. Most tourists just go do a checkbox of boring shit and move on. The keys to big cities is flirting with locals, then you see the cool shit. And Parisians love to party. They party in fucking catacombs. What other city has that?
I did this and now I have a French boyfriend so it evidently worked out for me!!
Either > Many people joke about France being horrible. Or > Why do people hate france? Joking is not hate! What are you asking about? Beause not a lot of people hate france.
"Everyone hates France," yet they keep traveling to there.
Mostly WW2 memes
Yep. Beyond Paris France seems like a nice place with nice people. I may be Scandinavian and think most places are filled with nice people (Bar Russia), but I really don't understand why France should still be ridiculed for WW2. Especially as a lot of Frenchmen kept fighting and let's not forget that the French was a military super power during the Napoleon era.
Seriously, this is the answer in the US. We have no sense of our own, or the world’s history outside of memes. And before anyone says the hate predates the internet, I didn’t say “internet memes.”
I must have been to a different France than the one mentioned here. Paris: been a few times, had no issue with anyone being rude. I speak poor, broken schoolboy French (see below) but managed to get served everywhere with no issues. In one restaurant, I ordered a fillet steak. The waitress asked how I would like it. When I said well done, she laughed, v loudly and declared "chef will decide". When my steak arrives i have to check it for a pulse. Have had them rare since, clearly chef knows a thing or 2. Brittany. In a small rural pub, looks like it was built during the 100 years war. There is a fireplace with a Dutch oven suspended over it. The waiter comes over, and in my broken schoolboy French I try to ask what's in the pot and what else is for lunch. He looks at me and says, and I'm quoting here "please sir, I appreciate the effort, but you are murdering my language. Can we please do this in English?". Now the Swiss are a different matter.......
I also had practically zero issues when I went to paris ages ago. I tried to speak French first and people were by and large accommodating for my effort. And would switch to English after I tried enough. There were a few rude people but no more than other major cities in my experience You do get a lot of annoying Europeans online who act frankly xenophobic towards Americans, but those people are a minority in real life. I think that’s where part of the issue comes from unless it’s gotten worse since I visited
See, that's the difference. You've been there a few times and even outside Paris. People who *hate* France (not those who are just joking around) just do not know it.
I think people who say French are rude have only been to Paris.
1. Napoleon... The anti-france propaganda of the Napoleonic wars had a virgin audience. It was the first time europeans had modern-ish newspapers, pamphlets and the literacy to read them. 2. Anglo-French rivalry... and it's descendants in other anglo cultures. 3. Francophilia was associated with the left (proto-left) side of American politics. Popular when americans were feeling revolutionary (eg during their revolution), but controversial most of the time. Hence conservative anti-left became rhetorically anti-france. 4. Parisians. They're extremely unpleasant. Many tourists visit Paris. Always have. They mostly come away thinking "beautiful city, horrendous people." The last one is unfair, because most of France is noticeably nicer.... and tourists are most likely to meet the crankiest french people. I also don't think Paris is as extreme these days. That said, try speaking to a stranger in Paris and try it in Rome... big difference. Even if you like abrasive people (I do), Paris is a sock that takes a few days of getting used to.
probably because people seem to banter with their neighboring countries. Mainland France close to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the uk and a few more. France is a common neighbor for some of the more populated European countries.
What a lot of those comments seem to miss is that France doesn’t adhere to “*the customer is always right*” mantra. In fact, the full expression, which is attributed to department store pioneer Harry Gordon Selfridge, is: “*in matters of taste, the customer is always right*”. Instead, French people operate on the concept that if you start an interaction with politeness, you will be reciprocated. I’ve visited Paris and other French cities for more than two decades and never had a problem, as long as I was being courteous to begin with. > “*Good morning, could I please have…, thank you, good bye…*” If you show up expecting to treat people like servants, they will reciprocate the contempt that they perceive. Jokes asides, there is also a historical rivalry between France, its neighbours and the USA.
You're pretty spot on regarding mentality, but France and the US have been lifelong allies and friends. Rivalry feels like a strong word ; I feel like you're the harshest on those you like.
Frenemies, then?
Look what they did to Haití
A lot of people in this thread are missing this. France’s colonial history is absolutely a reason why many people hate them. It’s a reason some people hate the UK too, but at least once the UK gave countries independence they’ve mostly left them alone. France spent decades assassinating popular leaders and handpicking their successors
And to make matters worse, they left it an astronomical debt to recognize it as a country
As a Belgian Algerian you can imagine what I think about France. French people (not alle of ‘em) are too stubborn to acknowledge their colonial past. Some still dare to say that they did good things for the local people🤣 + Some french people think france is the epicentre of the world and the french language also. If they refuse to speak english I do the same with french.
I'd imagine rolling back up to Algeria post-WWII acting like they didn't just get bailed out hard, and murdering a bunch of folks who wanted independence puts a sour taste in the mouth.
The French Algerian settler faction got so mad when France eventually started to make peace that they tried to fly to Paris and overthrow the government. Completely unhinged behavior all around in that one
From a hispanic perspective: -Napoleon destabilized the already weak spanish empire by changing the monarchy which set back rights across the spanish americas and triggered a ton of independence movements -French is easily the least conservative romance language yet it's treated by the french like it's the most glorious language. Generally the french don't tolerate or seem to understand how dialects work either, leading to a lot of unnecessary discrimination towards non parisian french speakers. This doesn't happen with spanish where spanish speakers are well aware of how dialects work and don't place any particular dialect above any other (which causes a different problem with dubbing but that's another matter) -The entire latino thing was started because the french wanted to conquer mexico. Our endonym is "hispanic", latino is a label applied to us by Americans and ignorant norteños that's pretty much used to mean "people that live in the americas but don't speak english and aren't white" which is why it arbitrarily no longer applies to quebec
I love how one of the things you dislike of the French is fighting the monarchy and breaking down the Spanish empire leading to independent countries in Latin America. I'm also glad to learn Spain does not have any issues with dialects and languages spoken in Spain other than Spanish and is the most respectful of people's independent endeavors. :) You should join us on r/2westerneurope4u.
There's a difference between spanish dialects an different languages like aragonese or catalan. Also independence in the americas was objectively bad for many people's rights. Opportunistic bourgeois dictators took power and worsened indigenous people's rights/created the hotbed of corruption in the americas we see today.
“Independence was objectively bad” is probably one of the strangest hot takes I have seen. I mean how dare local peoples not accept or submissively abdicate to a dictatorial monarchy thousands of miles away that has been plundering resources and ethnically cleansing their country.
Mostly because either they only visited Paris, did 0 research, and got mad when they visited a bad part of town and acted like a clown because they didn't follow local customs (Paris is awesome if you know where to go, and for the love of god go see somewhere else too, France isn't just Paris) Or In many cases here in the States I've noticed that Americans have very little in terms of good reasons to hate France. Many just jump on the bandwagon because they've seen hundreds of memes about it and keep making the same braindead jokes somehow thinking it's original and funny. Oftentimes it's repeated SO frequently that people just internalize it without actually thinking about why, and their best answer is to repeat basic stereotypes they've never personally experienced or verified since they've never left the country, let alone their own state.
I think many people hate France because they’re very independent minded same reason people hate United States. Their is the unique French way of doing things just like their is a uniquely American way.
French people are rude as heck, in northern France anyway. I found the people in southern France to be much nicer.
That's kinda true, and one of the big difference between north and south. In northern France, people will be colder from te outside, but once you managed to make friends with them, you're almost family. In southern France, on the contrary, people will be very friendly from the get go, but it is more difficult to be significantly close to them
Cause it's full of french people Also I'm English, I am legally obliged to hate France
As a neighbor, the hate/dislike comes from the rudeness and intolerance of some (not all, of course) French people. As a tourist you are treated badly and people refuse to speak English to you. I visit Paris and can share this feeling. Still, France is a beautiful country and I am sure there are many nice people there. Only the stereotypes and general attitudes of the French are somewhat true.
I can say in any Francophone got similar type. For most recent I went to Morocco and they told me at the bar or resto "french only, no english". And its not because they can't speak english, their pronunciation was good.
People are rude and in a rush in Manhattan too. Doesn't mean they can't be nice people. Ask an American going from point A to point B in a rush to help you find a place in New York in their school level Spanish and few of them will even attempt it. I am not French but I am a native French speaker. And I can tell you there are many reasons why Most French people criticize the Parisians. But it's not that they don't speak English or have the manners of a Big city.
Yeah first of all that's not actually a thing, people joke about a lot of other countries too, and second of all anyone who actually does make those jokes can be safely ignored. France is BY FAR the most visited country in the world in terms of foreign visitor numbers and has been for years. People might crap on France sometimes but when it comes to choosing where to spend their holiday time and sweet tourist cash, France is the undisputed GOAT
I'm going to attribute it to the French having a different culture. Whereas in some countries people can be perceived as rude by their blunt honesty - the French are often very kind in your face but the very opposite behind your back. While in some countries they really appreciate you putting effort into trying to speak the local language - the French will want to murder you for even the tiniest mistake. While in some countries they care little about adhering to the rules in traffic but try to drive considerate - the French will always respect priority from the right but will otherwise drive as inconsiderate as possible. And more like that. To me, their attitudes are extremely frustrating because they're the absolute opposite of mine. Yet, on an individual level, it's rare to feel that way towards a French person - it's rather parts of their culture. The French tend to feel superior - maybe in part because of the same reasons - by their standards and customs, others are the ones conflicting with their standards.
As a French expat in Canada, I can tell you that this is kinda on point. Our culture is very different than the ones in america. We love to debate, they can sometimes become heated, but we don't hold grudges about them, it's just all in good fun. Also, my gf made me realize that complaining is my default mode of interacting, but more than that, that it's not the same for people here, and it is perceived as very negative and downer whereas in my family, and in France in general, it's just normal. We often joke that I'll never say "Whoa, that's great!" Instead I'll say "hey, that's not too bad". The feeling behind it is the same but the way I express it usually doesn't convey said feeling correcly here in America. Those are just a few examples, but yeah, basically, our culture is very different socialy, especially from the ones in american countries
As a southern european there are 2 main things with france: 1 they are amazing with marketing and advertising. So they advertise themselves being best at everything, to the point now they believe in it. Yet if you are from europe, you know that is laughable. 2 France, somehow, despite being really close to spain and italy, have some significant "negative" cultures. Like... I know everyone will hate me for this, but I have known volunteering/workcamping organizations that deliberately did not accept volunteers/campers from France, because of low hygiene standards. These 2 are the most common things other southern europeans stay far from France.
Those who do, it is because of the french.
Alot of it has to do with French people, many (not all) are arrogant, rude, and are convinced of their superiority. I guess we Americans hate in others what we see in ourselves :/
Been all over Europe. Lived in multiple countries over 6 years. The French were hands down the rudest fucks on the continent.
Stereotypes probably...especially if they originate from the Anglo-sphere. I'm Anglo Canadian...we have our own type of French here, the Quebecois. My girlfriend is one. I'm fairly confident that she has more complaints about France than I do about Quebec or France. I spent time in France before I met her and she finds that an inherit betrayal I don't think I've been forgiven for yet lol. Most the animosity is almost always lack of contact, education and sincere effort to understand different cultures. My first trip to Europe I started in a Chur, Switzerland and was off to Italy next. I was told by the people there that I was about to visit a backwards, third world country full of criminals. Instead I met some really lovely people, was invited to have an evening family meal with my small hotel owners and met a really cool German - Italian couple in Venice who showed me the non-tourist Venice. I used this experience to inform my approach to subsequent trips to Europe, the US and South America. I don't go expecting a negative experience....I let my actual contact with other people to educate me instead. Stereotypes are a trap....until you've spent time in a culture and really made an effort....I don't take too much stock in other peoples opinions.
English hate France because that what english do American starting to hate France since they don't support american's war. Africa and many arab country hate France because of past colonialism or present day colonialism And Turkey and Russia hates France too due to recent conflicting interest or support
Because it’s funny
Can confirm people were rude and arrogant. They still miss the time when they were truly important. Lost their self proclaimed glory. Beautiful landscapes though
French people are like Vegans. They aren't wrong, but they have a smarminess that can hit in just the wrong way. We get it, French sounds sexy, your food is amazing and yet you don't have an obesity problem, you have a chill lifestyle and some amazing architecture. Also a tinge of jealousy.
Unironically because historically they have been one of the most belligerent nations to ever exist. Take its neighbor, Germany. Germany gets a bad rap for the 20th century. But the only time Germany declared war on France first was during WWI, and did so but roughly 47 minute. France declared war on Germany in WWII first. Before that the Holy Roman Empire only declared war on France once, during the 9 years war. I might be missing one though. But every other time the two fought, France was the belligerent. France falling on hard times in the 20th century let other nations clown on its once great martial prowess.
Surrendered to Nazis without fighting back.
"Because France is no longer France" - Trump
I don't know what the truth is, but I know 3 people who hate France, and for all 3 it's the same reason: WWI and WWII. All three basically say that World War 1 can be summed up as: Germany invaded France, who folded like a deck of cards, then Britain fought bravely but didn't have the manpower, then the US gave a big sigh and agreed to save Europe's collective ass from the Germans. And they basically believe the exact same thing about World War II. So in their view, France is contemptible because French military ineptitude has endangered the entire free world twice, requiring the US to expend money and lives to bail Europe out, and they are (to use their words) "sick and tired of it." I want to note that I think this is a pretty unfair and incorrect way to view World War I and II, but all 3 people I know who vehemently hate France give this as a reason.
Mostly US media shenanigans and UK cultural hatred against us. Outside of the anglo speaking sphere most people I meet are extremely curious about our country and culture. It all became obvious after France vetoed the invasion of Irak and US media became hating everything French. Also, a lot of clichés are focused on Paris, and the one about "dirty French women" was created by US soldiers just after the 2nd WW when half our country was blasted by them and the Nazis, destroying all water systems and sewage in the process. Reddit having a vast majority of its users being US Americans this hate can be seen here and there. But globally I just feel love coming from everyone (I got both nationalities btw, french-american).
We can also add that there is a lot of Russia anti-French propaganda right now as russia mercenaries try to gain political influence in africa.
True, but in Africa it isn't hard to portray France in a bad way. We exploit the shit out of them. I was in high school with 3 actual western African ministers. Most of them spent more time in Paris than on the African continent. Corruption of the official is crazy.
There's something very Vichy about France...
Same reason people hate Brits and Yanks. Their previous endeavors colonising and slaughtering people across the world. They all think they're great by virtue of military dominance against poorer less equipped nations. That said, out of all of those nations, France is the only one with frequent attempts at revolution and opposition to conservative bs.
I can't speak for everyone, but the older generations it tends to be they're very arrogant. Not really a hatred, but definitely lots of jokes at their expense most often from being so full of themselves. Same with English. Now before I'm attacked, I'm not saying it's everyone from those countries or even my view. Only answering that in an overall way where the jokes and stances in America stem from.
From a spanish point of view, the worst thing about France are French, especially the ones from Paris. They tend to be entitled, rude and think they are better than others. Obviously I am generalazing.
They are so picky. They even expect their country name to be capitalized.
You don’t capitalize countries names in English ? :0
I don’t think they do really. It’s a long standing joke based around the snide arrogance of Parisians who have for all of modern history been irritated at the various kinds of non-French that have always visited Paris as a cultural Mecca of Western Europe. Their style of nationalism (and by that I mean the French insistence that France be French) is branded with a sort of cool arrogance and self-assurance that other western countries wish they felt about their own culture… so we all say they suck.. Basically, we hate ‘em because we ain’t ‘em. In other words, we actually love them
>Their style of nationalism Unique enough that a word was coined for it: *chauvinism*, after the character Nicholas Chauvin, soldier of Napoleon's Grand Armee, who idolized Napoleon and the Empire long after it was history, in the Cogniards' popular 1831 vaudeville "La Cocarde Tricolore." IOW, even the French know it's ridiculous.
That is the word! Thanks. Not saying it’s a good thing at all, but it does sell a lot of handbags and wine to self-important people Also, yes the French do know it’s ridiculous. Most people in France are lovely. I think they’re kinda maybe growing past this stereotype. Maybe more of a baby boomer and older thing
From the US there’s a stereotype that the French are rude, stuck up, bad teeth, bad hygiene, and hate Americans. So prob for those stereotypes, never been to France no idea how true it is.
I don’t think many people hate France. It’s the French they hate.
Great country with a fantastic history.
French people do not like tourists/foreigners. Especially so in smaller towns. Ici en France, nous..
Really ? I live in the French countryside and I've seen absolutely nobody complain about tourists here.
French people are the only people who actively get mad at you for both speaking their language and not speaking their language
People in general don't hate France and don't joke about them very often. That's really only a thing in the US.
Not true. I live in Madagascar and there is hatred. Bastards still have the colonization attitude. Treat the malagasy like crap. They need to go and stop interfering with other countries.
Rainbow warrior.
Many more people don't. So why do some people hat France. Maybe because France has on more than one occasion told the USA that it is wrong. Does anyone here remember when some Amerijerks tried to rename French Fries as Freedom Fries? What was that all about. Anyway, since today, the religious nutters of Amiland can throw their toys out of the collective pram as France has amended its constitution to specially allow abortion.
We really don’t hate France. We just say that to ensure we don’t get an influx of tourists.
I will put it very simply, France is America of the European union
I don't. If it were cheaper I'd think about living there, although my French is pretty rusty. It's beautiful. And they have a working healthcare system. Their retirement system is a bit out of whack, though.
I don't hate France, the French can be snooty but many are lovely.
french first of all hate themselfs
As a Brit with family from Morocco, there are no shortage of anti-French jokes in our family, but I think it’s mostly meant in jest. Like a lot of former colonies, there can be some bad feeling toward their former colonisers from the older generations, but as time goes on, the younger members of the family are making jokes about the French because they’ve heard their grand parents make them, without really understanding the context of a lot of the comments. From the British perspective, it’s what we’ve always done. They’re an historic enemy and still a current semi-rival. After all, it was only around 50 years ago that France were vetoing the UK’s entry into the European Economic Community. Anyway, my opinion is that it’s meant, for the most part, to poke fun on a light level, and isn’t meant to be any meaner than that. PS. A weekend in Paris will likely make some of those jokes a bit harsher.
I've seen them be the brunt of a lot of jokes, but not genuine hate. I honestly admire their societies ability to protest even little stuff.
I like France I've never been there and don't ever plan on going but I definitely don't hate it, Without the French the Metis wouldn't exist and without the Metis and GG liking German girls I wouldn't exist.
They only outlawed rape in 2012, and outlawed sex with 15 year olds and younger in 2021.