It's BASTILLE DAY! Say something nice about France/The French!

[Bicoastal]

I'll begin:

Without their military support, we may never have won Independence from the British, and thus we would not have celebrated OUR national holiday ten days earlier. Read here about Marquis de Lafayette, the first person to become an Honorary Citizen of the United States.

Also, Bill O'Reilly hates them.

Also, French women...:loveya:

[navarth]

1. The French are great people.

Anybody says different, fuck 'em.

[Iggo]

62. Kisses. Bread. Ticklers. Language.

Oh yeah, and they really know how to cut a bikini.

[panader0]

2. Um, they make love with their faces?

[awoke_in_2003]

75. The Brits seem to be keen on it, too

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Xck9FaO_zA4

[femmocrat]

3. Vive la France! nt

[DavidDvorkin]

4. I have French relatives by marriage. I'm very fond of them.

Paris is a great place to be a tourist. So is the countryside.

I could also say negative things, but that would violate the spirit of this thread.

[a la izquierda]

5. they have a lovely country...

which i've never been to, but i've seen plenty of thanks to the tour de france.
also, they make great cheese and wine.

[Taverner]

6. French Wine, Bread, Food, Women, Partiers, Just plain people, RAWK!!!!

[Lex]

7. I must say, they sure know how to do up a Revolution right.

Can I get a what-what and a guillotine!

[krabigirl]

8. French men! :)

lol, DH is French so there ya go.

[Lex]

9. Oh, the wine thing. How could I forget.

The wine! The grapes! The terroir!

[NightWatcher]

10. didnt they lop off the heads of their insolent government figureheads?

sounds pretty nice to me

[MercutioATC]

11. Thay gave us a big copper woman.

I mean, hey...that's a unique gift.

[TomClash]

12. Best wine in the world

No doubt.

[SmileyRose]

13. I like their fries and their toast.

[awoke_in_2003]

76. To quote the Beastie Boys:

"I feel continental when I eat french toast"

[muntrv]

14. 35 hour workweek, 7 weeks of paid vacation per year, universal health coverage.

[classof56]

15. I'm sure France is tres bien, but Bastille Day is my anniversary.

An easy one for my spouse to remember...once I remind him. :-) 41 years today! Must be the French wine!

Blessings!

[Danmel]

16. They know how to eat

nothing beats a good French meal and good french wine- my husband tells me I should live in Paris because I shop every day- I can't help it- I like FRESH food.

[The Gunslinger]

17. Yes. Bastille Day

Definitely one of the best songs by Rush.

I Don't have any problems with France. I just wish they didn't elect an conservative in their last election.

[Bicoastal]

20. Well, I bet they wish that about us, too.

[The Gunslinger]

30. Very true. I wish that as well.

[AntiFascist]

18. Thomas Jefferson loves you...

but he probably would not love your current government.

[hfojvt]

19. They gave us the metric system

and we gave it back.

[Cant trust em]

21. The French seem to understand what quality of life is.

I love that country.

[dflprincess]

22. The people don't let their government walk all over them

and they take to the streets whenever it tries to pull something.

[HughBeaumont]

92. Not only that, their media actually REPORTS when the people protest.

Unlike our compliant Repuke-friendly heap of trash we call "cable news" that can conveniently reduce a 500,000 person anti-war protest to a mere mention on their blurbs and brush it off with a yawn and greatly reduced numbers.

[catzies]

23. Baguettes, Bordeaux and brie! Liberte, egalite, fraternite!

Vive la France! :patriot:

[hendo]

24. paris is disgusting, but the french countryside is nice

they also make good wine. Although, the germans do it better.

I have tons of anti-french things to say, but I will spare you all.

[lastliberalintexas]

29. Have you ever been to New York? Or worse, Houston?

Whenever I hear someone say that about Paris, I just can't imagine that they have been to any major US city for any length of time. Paris is the cleanest big city I've ever been in, and I've been to many.

[krabigirl]

96. Well, I'm not sure it's the cleanest...but it's not the worst.

[hendo]

110. new york yes, houston no

when I was in Paris, the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, which is supposed to be white was pitch black. That is just nasty.

[shadowknows69]

25. I still loved French Fries even when it made you a terraist

Never stopped eating French Dressing either. Vive La France!!!

[mrs_p]

26. René Descartes

father of modern philosophy...

"Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum" (Latin: "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am")

[orleans]

27. i saw the movie sicko. france sounds like a great country. n/t

[marmar]

28. J'aime France.....

:loveya:

.... and Paris is the greatest city on this earth.

[trusty elf]

77. Moi aussi, j'aime beaucoup la France!

Et je suis d'accord avec vous-Paris est une ville merveilleuse!

[cherokeeprogressive]

31. They make really great toast.

[distantearlywarning]

32. I went to Paris last summer.

It was my favorite vacation ever, hands down. I've traveled all over the world, and I've literally never seen such a beautiful place as Paris in mid-summer. To me, everything in that city represented the pinnacle of the beauty that man is capable of creating. I literally cried when I had to get on the plane to come back to the States.

[lastliberalintexas]

34. Moi aussi

Je pourrais habiter a Paris toujours. :(

Though I have only been there in the winter, but it's always just as beautiful.

[Ilsa]

33. There are too many great things about the French to list!

I started my career on Bastille Day in 1980. It was in banking. Glad I'm not in that line of work any more.

[MasonJar]

35. I love the French. Bastille Day is my birthday and next year I am spending

it in Paris along with family and friends.

[Schema Thing]

66. It's my ex-gf's bday too. She lives in Paris.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

36. The opera Carmen by Georges Bizet

Just a thing of pure beauty through and through.

[izquierdista]

37. Carrefour is better than Wal-Mart

But then again, so are open-air markets in third world countries.

[jberryhill]

48. You know....

They're safer that way...

http://blog.al.com/live/2007/07/tornado_hits_walmart_no_one_in.html
High winds tear Wal-Mart roof, 6 injured

[happyslug]

38. France, a county that went to war to free another...

And during that war, the country seeking its freedom signed a separate peace treaty, told the French Government of the peace treaty, then asked for a Million Francs all in the same meeting. France accepted the separate peace treaty and gave the Million Francs. Without that Money Washington army would have dissolved for lack of money. After we pulled that stunt on the French, how can you not like them.

[Thothmes]

85. I believe that the prime motivator of the French govt

in our revolution was the old saying "my enemy's enemy is my friend". They were at war with the British empire. Their aid to the American revolution was based on sticking it to the British, not out of regard for American Freedom. Much like our aid to the Muhajdeen (sic) against the Soviets. We could have cared less about Afghanistan other than the fact that they were causing the Soviet Union considerable trouble. JMO.

[Hekate]

39. French is Mr. H's first language, and 7/14 is the day he moved in with me....

....about 25 years ago. :loveya:

Also the French valiantly helped to hold off the Germans in 2 world wars until the US finally showed up, and the graveyards of our soldiers there are still honored by the French in memory of our efforts.

Hekate

[AnnieBW]

40. Ben Franklin Appreciated the French Women

Repeatedly!

Also - Maurice Chevalier, Brigitte Bardot, Louis Jourdan, Julia Ormond, et al.

[zeemike]

41. It is the people that make a country

And the French have a passion for life...that is why they eat so well and love so much...you have to admire that,

[WorseBeforeBetter]

42. Niki de Saint Phalle...

and the delicious fragrance in her name.

Cheese, wine, bread, pastries.

Beautiful country to cycle through.

Rollerblading through Paris at night.

And the tremendous gift of the Statue of Liberty.

:smoke: <insert little beret on Mr. Smilie>

[NewJeffCT]

43. they have an excellent health care system

far better than the US

[TheWatcher]

44. Right now they are the cutting edge for Horror Movies

I know the films coming out of France right now definitely aren't some people's cup of tea, but the French are doing some really fantastic Cinema right now, and not just in the Horror genre, either.

But as far as the aforementioned genre goes, Japan has lost it's Crown to Paris. :)

And it bears repeating, as the OP pointed out, that their military support was vital to our success in the Revolution.

Viva La France!

:)

There's no bread, let them eat cake
There's no end to what they'll take
Flaunt the fruits of noble birth
Wash the salt into the earth

But they're marching to Bastille Day
La guillotine will claim her bloody prize
Free the dungeons of the innocent
The king will kneel and let his kingdom rise

Bloodstained velvet, dirty lace
Naked fear on every face
See them bow their heads to die
As we would bow as they rode by

Lessons taught but never learned
All around us anger burns
Guide the future by the past
Long ago the mould was cast

For they marched up to Bastille Day
La guillotine claimed her bloody prize
Hear the echoes of the centuries
Power isn't all that money buys

Rush- Bastille Day

[Mythsaje]

57. I can hear the song now... n/t

[dysfunctional press]

45. french ticklers are fun.

[Generic Brad]

46. Great toast and fries!

:thumbsup:

[K8-EEE]

47. They have the best health care in the world...available to ALL!

I'll be visiting there in 2 weeks!

[Laelth]

49. They have much better system for delivering medical care.

I envy the French on many levels.

:thumbsup:

-Laelth

[ThatsMyBarack]

50. So many memories of France....

I traveled there a lot when I was a kid! :loveya:

[Olney Blue]

51. I love everything French!

And I collect Eiffel towers

[tomreedtoon]

52. They make good pastries, but spit on you when they serve 'em.

If French people didn't insult and spit on you, they wouldn't be French. But damn, they have the pastry down to a fine art.

[Wiley50]

53. French Nobility really knew how to stick their necks out

and the common folks had much more guts then, the kind we need now

and much more compassion now than we do

[mopinko]

54. my 15 year old seems to have a gift for the language.

she needed something good to come out of freshman year, and it was the highest grade in the french class, without really breaking a sweat. miss elementary star student needed a break. big chunk was girlfriends ahead of her that tried to speak it when they hung out together.
thank you paris.

[ElboRuum]

55. Could not honestly care less.

[Raster]

56. I love brie!

[uppityperson]

58. pain, brie, cider, moules. Août en France!

Merci des milles de voyageur fréquent !

[proud patriot]

59. Man I wish We had the courage of the French

They get what they need from their government .

They may not bomb and invade countries but they sure know how
to control their Government .

:thumbsup:

We Americans have a lot to learn from them .

[The River]

60. Le Tour

The greatest bicycle race on earth..

It's going on for another 11 -12 days.

[SpookyCat]

61. I love Paris!

The food, second to none.

One of my favorite chocolate shops on earth.

A fantastic subway system.

Pere Lachaise Cemetery

The Ossuary

Ahhhh....so much more...

And the French? They are alive, arrogant, witty, rude, lovely, warm and stylish.

You know, city people! :-)

[Tindalos]

63. Je vous aimez

Vive la France!

[Catchawave]

64. Les Miserables !

http://www.lesmiserables.com/

I actually went to a Bastille Day party yesterday and met some French Navy fighter pilots...woot!

[struggle4progress]

65. The French keep Spain from bumping into Switzerland, but their spelling is even worse than mine

French is a lovely language, and they speak it better than I do: whenever I hear them say anything in French, I usually think they are talking about sex, but it always turns out to be a long story about getting a flat tire or something like that

Also their food is pretty good: you could order escargot and baguettes at the McDonald's in Paris, but I don't know if they have it, and please don't ask me what it is

France is famous for its many great scientists, like Lavoisier and the Curies

France is also famous for the great revolutionary hymn La Marseillaise which was actually written by a monarchist who was experiencing Liberté! Egalité! Fraternité!

And we still weep today remembering the Paris Commune and the Trench Mutinies of the Great War and the French Resistance

Les Allemands étaient chez moi
On m'a dit résigne toi
Mais je n'ai pas pu
Et j'ai repris mon arme.

Personne ne m'a demandé
D'où je viens et où je vais
Vous qui le savez
Effacez mon passage.

J'ai changé cent fois de nom
J'ai perdu femme et enfants
Mais j'ai tant d'amis
Et j'ai la France entière.

Un vieil homme dans un grenier
Pour la nuit nous a cachés
L¹ennemi l'a su (Les
Allemands l'ont pris)
Il est mort sans surprise.

Hier encore nous étions trois
Il ne reste plus que moi
Et je tourne en rond
Dans la prison des frontières.

Le vent souffle sur les tombes
La liberté reviendra
On nous oubliera
Nous rentrerons dans l'ombre

écrit en 1943, à Londres

http://www.shoaheducation.com/resistancesongs.html

[roody]

67. Tina Turner lives in France.

[closeupready]

88. I thought she lived in Switzerland?

n/t

[roody]

109. Maybe she moved.

Ten years ago, plus a couple, when Oprah did a home tour with Tina, she lived on the French Mediterranean.

[followthemoney]

68. American were suoposed to hate them for their freedoms.

I'm just jealous. Health care long vacations, etc.

[Aristus]

69. Sophie Marceau. For her alone, France will always top my list of

outstanding countries!

Also, their food, wine, cheese, Paris, the provincial countryside, first nation in Western Europe to completely desegregate racially, the French language, which is a verbal art form all by itself, etc., etc.

Sophie Marceau:

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

73. I second that - Sophie Marceau is beautiful

I'm a big fan of French cinema. I have a collection of over 600 old French films from the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. France has had a very rich cinema with amazing actors, actresses, and directors. The great and incomparable Raimu was called the greatest actor who ever lived by none other than Orson Welles. Harry Baur, the great actor of the 1930s made some wonderful films like his trilogy of Les Miserables before he was tortured and then murdered by the Gestapo during the war. Erich von Stroheim made several great films in France besides the Grand Illusion before he had to flee the country because he was Jewish. My favorite French actor is the great Louis Jouvet, who had a touch of Bogart toughness but with a lot elegant charm. And the greatest comedian I have ever seen in any movie in any language is Louis de Funes. I've nearly lost control of my bowels when collapsing to the floor during some of his funny movies.

Here are some of my favorite French actresses:

Mireille Darc:



Micheline Francey:



Nicole Courcel:



Edwige Feuillere:



Viviane Romance:



Michele Morgan:



Emannuelle Beart:

[Fox Mulder]

82. I'll third that.

:)

[Raster]

84. Now I'm no straight guy, and I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea...

...but this one has a certain je nes se qua :evilgrin:

[Blue_Tires]

70. Les Bleus!

[shanti]

71. happy bastille day, cousins!

:hi: my mom's family is french:)

[anonymous171]

72. Savate is fucking awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savate

[Iwillnevergiveup]

74. TODAY

is my parents' 64th wedding anniversary!:party:

[awoke_in_2003]

78. I love Perrier

I especially love bringing it to work so I can watch coworkers fume over (damn freepers)

[begin_within]

79. Robert Bresson was a brilliant filmmaker who never got the accolades he deserved.

[tuvor]

80. Chanteuse France Gall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNwC2r5VrOg

[Fox Mulder]

81. I so want to live there.

It's probably one of the most beautiful countries on the planet.

[BadGimp]

83. I was blessed with an opportunity to visit Paris in 2000

My older brother won a sales contest and his lovely wife was afraid to travel to France. So I got the call. Woo Hoo!

It was my nephew Derek (who studied all the online sources and was the most amazing familia tour guide) my brother and myself. Derek made all the difference. We rented bikes for 2 whole days and rode all over that city. I am left only to believe that God had a hand in making Paris, Paris. What an amazing city.

What struck me most was the realization that the French understand human history much better than we do. They lived so damn much of it.

Get this: Under the Louvre Museum main entrance is the ground floor of a castle circa 1100-1200 I think. But under that (one level down) is the ground floor of a medival castle that dates back to a few hundred years after the birth of Jesus of Nazereth. Holy crap, that's old.


We maybe go back 400 years here right?

[knitter4democracy]

86. Great literature, cheeses, and our nation's independence.

What great gifts they've given us. We should always be thankful for that.

[closeupready]

87. Champagne, fashion and Paris!

Laissez le bontemps rouler!

[closeupready]

89. Oh, and Les Dieux du Stades!

:evilgrin:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

90. French cinema!

[JBoris]

91. They were right about Iraq. n/t

[Ysabel]

93. i love madison i love france i've just invented a jump rope dance...

:D

[ensho]

100. that sounds interesting - a jumprope dance

nt

[Ysabel]

102. i think it really ought to be a jump rope song but i wanted it to rhyme...

- also i think that perhaps jump and rope should actually be two separate words ah well c'est la vie...

:)

[ensho]

103. so sorry I bothered you, ta.

nt

[Ysabel]

104. no you didn't bother me and i have no idea what you're implying but that's okay...

have a good day really i mean that...

- i'm going to... :)

p.s. thinking of madison and france (i love both) makes me feel like dancing whatever else you may have gotten from that is all in your mind not mine and i had no clue that apparently i bothered you until you suggested that i somehow bothered you which was definitely not my intent i don't even know you why would you think that i would want to bother you what a silly idea i like people and i do not want to bother anyone i like getting along okay now i am going to enjoy my day and forget about this ridiculous meaningless entirely off the wall (for me) conversation with someone i do not know and hold absolutely nothing but the best wishes for as i hold for any other earthly inhabitant and i hope that you get past whatever this little bizarro moment is as well and go on to have an enjoyable day as well i mean as much as is possible in the midst of this world so full of hunger war global warming etcetera...

p.p.s. ah fuck my sentence structure is all amiss so okay i admit you've got me flustered why the hell i have no idea either i suppose you were in attack mode or some such idiotic thing bfd i despise that shit are we not on the same side here wtf is going on btw last time i came here i opened four freaking threads in a row in which people called women bitches and no one said a damn thing about it some fucking progessivness that is...

- screw it so don't have a good day if it suits you i'm off and i will despite this fucked up crap...

[scheming daemons]

94. They're smart enough to get most of their energy from Nuclear plants

instead of coal or oil.

[rox63]

95. Wonderful food and wine, universal health care

And some of my ancestors were French.

[zanne]

97. I'm French-Canadian and let me say...

I rock!



Le chien dit WOOF!

[helderheid]

98. We PARTIED last night with a French wine and cheese party!

:woohoo:

[ensho]

99. I hope their delicious jams (fruit) keep coming across the ocean

musical jams too :)

[jakefrep]

101. It must be a great place....

because my birthday ( 7/14 ) is a national holiday.

[LeftishBrit]

105. Great chefs and have excellent health care and Paris is beautiful

also the British tabloids don't like them!

[chaska]

106. ORAL SEX!!!!

[kpominville]

107. Je suis français

Mon nom de famille est Brault de Pominville.

Viva La France!

[Imagevision]

108. The French people looked fine to me in the movie, "sICKO"...

[eowyn_of_rohan]

111. Bevet Breizh !

;)