{"id":9,"date":"2008-09-25T17:13:51","date_gmt":"2008-09-25T21:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=9"},"modified":"2008-09-25T17:13:51","modified_gmt":"2008-09-25T21:13:51","slug":"gallic-pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/gallic-pride\/","title":{"rendered":"Gallic Pride"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I was quick to observe when I began living in Paris in 1997 as a young, impressionable university student, the French are very, very proud of their language, culture, history, wine, food, geography, women, clothing, music, brands, etc. etc. and did I mention their food and wine?\u00a0 <\/span>After having already lived in Spain where, especially at the time, most people were still wary of demonstrating even the slightest bit of nationalism out of fear of being called a fascist, I was actually quite shocked to find that a country existed with people who were just as avid flag-wavers as the Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of my close French friends is a very typical chauvin<\/em>, in other words he manifests excessive patriotism and like many of his compatriots, shows an exaggerated admiration for his country.\u00a0 <\/span>No matter what the topic is, he somehow always finds a way to insert his Gallic pride into the conversation.\u00a0 <\/span>For example, once we were at a restaurant and after I tasted the wine the waiter had just filled my glass with, I said \u201chmm it’s very good\u201d…and he said, \u201cOf course!\u00a0 <\/span>It’s French!”\u00a0 <\/span>He has responded in that same way many, many times since then whenever I acknowledge liking anything I come across when in France.\u00a0 <\/span>He has also stated many times that the French language is the preferred language of diplomats as it has the most nuances and can therefore explain any situation.\u00a0 <\/span>Now, I don’t know if that’s true, but he insists.\u00a0 <\/span>The French roads and highways he drives on are the most modern in Europe.\u00a0 <\/span>The French women know how to best dress and put on make-up.\u00a0 <\/span>French cheese is the only cheese in the world that actually tastes like the grass from the pastures (supposedly that\u2019s a good thing).\u00a0 <\/span>French beef is so good and uncontaminated that it can be eaten raw (as in <\/span>steak tartare<\/span><\/em>).\u00a0 <\/span>The French invented soccer and Zidane is the best player in the world.\u00a0 <\/span>He, like many other French people, proudly assumes the title of chauvin<\/em> after it was popularized by the comedy La cocarde tricolore<\/em> in which an actor named Chauvin personified extreme patriotism.\u00a0 <\/span>A French cleaning lady once haughtily told some of my fellow university students who asked her to clean up a mess in the hallway that they could not treat her \u201clike a dog as they were in France!”\u00a0 <\/span>What??? She was<\/em> the cleaning lady\u2026wasn\u2019t her job to clean?\u00a0 <\/span>Charles de Gaulle\u2019s credo even states, \u201cFrom time immemorial there has been a pact between the greatness of France and the liberty of the world.” <\/span><\/p>\n

Although the term ‘Gallic pride’ which makes reference to the land (Gaul) settled by the Franks known today as France, can be used with a positive connotation, in English, we occasionally…okay if you look at newspaper and magazine articles and such…we often use it to refer to French people but in a derisive and critical way.\u00a0 <\/span>But, given that the French are proud of being chauvins<\/em> and proud of their Gallic pride\u2026I think it\u2019s all in good fun.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a video where you can clearly see and hear just how proud they are.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WB4H1HbWxjI<\/a><\/p>\n

Vive la France!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I was quick to observe when I began living in Paris in 1997 as a young, impressionable university student, the French are very, very proud of their language, culture, history, wine, food, geography, women, clothing, music, brands, etc. etc. and did I mention their food and wine?\u00a0 After having already lived in Spain where…<\/p>\n

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