Growing up in South Vietnam before the fall, its culture and attitude seem very similar to what you ascribe to France. In fact, French was taught to me in elementary school, and French words remain an integral part of my vocabulary. It was only natural to become a Francophile, even more so after moving to the states. And I love my time in France as a youth. Yet in my adult life, the more I learn, the less I am impressed with the French way. And the more I understand, the sadder the French way becomes. Rustic and quaint but in a “you can never go home again” kind of way.
I linked to this post and to your "Socialism" post here:
http://frogblog-lavache.blogspot...lle-
france.html
Thanks for linking to my site, Paul. I'm still very much a Francophile, sometimes more aggressively so than many Frenchmen who are eager to Americanize.
What frustrates me is that the French are evidently very intelligent people, and are capable of revealing aspects about life like no other people. But when it comes to its political choices, the record during the last two hundred years has been embarassing.
Huan,
My father was born in Vietnam when it was still a French colony, only to be whisked away to France right before the Japanese surrendered during WW2. His parents remembered Vietnam fondly,as they had lived substantial portions of their lives there. It's true that 'la francophonie' engenders the numerous friendships I have with people from "l'Indochine".
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