by sgtdede, March 4, 2014, 3:50 PM
La nourriture revient beaucoup des deux côtés. La capitale est plutôt mentionnée du côté américain. Les commentaires américains sont positifs, la France semble être un pays attirant. Du côté français il y a quelques nuances, du fait d’avoir vécu dans ce pays depuis toujours. De ce point de vue ça ressemble aux réactions des américains à propos des Etats Unis.

by wandujar, March 4, 2014, 4:01 PM
Paris semble être le mot le plus associé à la France par les Américains. Paris et surtout la tour Eiffel sont le centre de tous les clichés des Français. Je pensais que le luxe parisien ou encore la mode seraient plus présents parmi les mots cités.
N’associez-vous pas Paris à la mode ?
Quant aux Français, les notions tournent autour de la la liberté, de la démocratie et des droits, certainement liés à la déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen qui est un symbole international. La gastronomie est également mise en avant à travers le fromage, le vin, les saucisses par exemple. Ce qui est étonnant, c’est que personne n’ait relevé le fait que les Français mangent des grenouilles et des lapins ! (frogeaters).

by Paco H, March 6, 2014, 12:00 AM
For me, I am not that familiar with fashion in general, which explains why I would not associate it with Paris. I associate Paris, as the American side shows, with more of its history.
Also, I did not know that the French eat frogs and rabbits! (I only knew of snails).

by ifebakare, March 6, 2014, 4:41 AM
France is mainly associated with history and culture by Americans. Paris and its famous landmarks were mentioned several times by the Americans but only twice by the French. This is expected because this is the first thing that comes to foreigners mind. On a separate note, it is interesting to see that there is no mention of the current French president but in the USA tab Obama is mentioned once.

by mkitaoka, March 6, 2014, 7:30 AM
I enjoy fashion, but I associate a lot of Europe with fashion, as opposed to just Paris and/or France itself (Louis Vuitton is great though!), since fashion is also part of the culture in Italy as well, for example. Connecting to the forum on “Europe”, I think a lot of Americans see Europe as one continent with a lot of different countries, but since it’s foreign and many Americans don’t venture across the ocean until they are older, it’s still one entity as opposed to several countries united in the EU. The ideas of France that stick most in our minds are the ones that are very striking but also references that we see in American culture as well, like the Eiffel Tower (which is always associated with Paris) and cheese and the baguette, but some facts that the French might consider obvious (like eating frogs and rabbits) are not the first idea that comes to an American’s mind when thinking of France, possibly because Americans aren’t exposed to that kind of diet.

by wandujar, March 6, 2014, 8:31 AM
Ce que je pensais surtout à travers mes propos c’est que j’ai l’impression que les choses qui s’exportent le plus de France vers les Etats-Unis c’est le luxe, et donc la mode. Il y a aussi le cinéma avec le festival de Deauville et le festival de Cannes. Vous connaissez ?
Je suis content de t’apprendre que nous mangeons du lapin et des grenouilles, les escargots aussi ! Vous dites que vous nous connaissez pour notre histoire, quelle partie de notre histoire vous est enseignée ?

by Rachel A, March 6, 2014, 8:56 AM
@wandujar
I haven’t ever heard of the ‘le festival de Deauville’ but I have heard of the Cannes film festival many times though it’s far from the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about France. I think it’s because at the Cannes festival movies from all over the world are viewed and so I think of it as international and not uniquely French the way the Eiffel Tower and Paris are.
Also, I think the people commenting above were saying they do not eat frogs and rabbits :D
I wasn’t taught French history so what I know is sketchy and from novels and fictitious TV series. I (vaguely) know about the Revolution, (I think everyone knows) Napoleon, and your part in the World Wars.

by Paco H, March 6, 2014, 10:27 PM
@wandujar
I also have only heard of the Cannes film festival.
In addition, to answer your question, in high school I learned about the French revolution. The highlights of what I can remember is the Storming of the Bastille, Robespierre, Versailles, and of course Napoleon. You mentioned the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which I now remember learning about. How important is the declaration in French society today (I ask because some people in the United states always talk about the US constitution).

by mkitaoka, March 7, 2014, 5:52 AM
I also learned some French history in high school, covering some of the more famous monarchs, the Revolution, and the World Wars. I also enjoy reading the works of classic French novelists, such as Victor Hugo. I recently learned that the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, both iconic landmarks for France and the United States, respectively, were built by the same engineer, which is a great connection between the two countries! On the flip side, how much do you know about American history?

by Sarah W, March 7, 2014, 6:26 AM
Going back to the comment about the French being frogeaters, do you think there has been a change in the relationship between France and America? It seems as though the stereotypes we have about the French are more positive than you had expected. We associate France primarily with its art/history/culture/food (food as in cheese, baguettes, croissants, etc), not with the stereotype of “frogeaters.” In fact, the term is so uncommon, that I hadn’t heard it until it was mentioned in this thread. Why would you think that we would consider you as that?

by mbennaim, March 7, 2014, 6:50 AM
Connecting this to the discussion on the “United States” page, it seems to me that when Americans think of France, they think of French culture, food, and some art. For food, I would think of cheese, wine, croissants, etc – I had never really heard of frogs or rabbits. For art, I would think of many french artists (Matisse, Monet, Manet, and others). I personally don’t know about fashion, so I can’t really comment on that. And I think that while Americans in general know about Cannes film festival, film is not the first thing that most Americans would associate with France. This may be because most Americans watch American films and less French films.

by wandujar, March 7, 2014, 10:22 AM
Sur l’histoire américaine, on connait surtout à partir de 1492 avec l’arrivée de Christophe Colomb et la colonisation. Il y a ensuite le commerce triangulaire, guerre de secession, guerre d’indépendance puis le XXème siècle.
Le festival de Deauville c’est un festival dédié au cinéma américain : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deauville_American_Film_Festival
Tant mieux si l’image des français est plutôt valorisante, la rivalité est peut être plus forte avec les Britanniques.

by meinew, March 10, 2014, 9:57 AM
A propos d’hsitoire je suis étonné de voir que Napoléon est si connu et étudié à l’étranger. En France son histoire est étudiée comme tout autre chapitre de l’Histoire sans particulièrement insister sur le rayonnement internationnal.
Quels faits vous enseigne-t-on à ce sujet?
Concernant la statue de la liberté et la tour Eiffel, je suis au regret de rappeler qu’elles n’ont pas été conçues par les même personnes (Frederic Bartholdi vs Gustave Eiffel). Le symbole aurait été beau mais il aurait surement déjà été repris lors de rencontres internationnales.
Ce qui nous fait penser que vous nous imaginez comme des mangeurs de grenouille est surement que l’idée d’être caractérisé ainsi nous étonne et donc nous avons gardé cette image. Mais ces pratiques culinaires sont en vérité assez marginales.

by Paco H, March 12, 2014, 2:40 PM
@meinew
I learned about how Napoleon took power (and the consulate) and later more about the results of the Napoleonic Wars, like what it meant for areas like Germany.