Lovers' Spat or Quitsville?

By George Davis [Paris, France-April 10, 2003] - I’ve been answering lots of e-mails these last few months regarding traveling to France. Mostly people trying to decide whether or not to rent Maison Margaux in Paris for their next vacation despite current geopolitical reverberations, and many ultimately agreeing that it’s a great time to visit the City of Light. But not everyone. One recent e-mail read: “This would have been perfect for our vacation, but alas as US citizens we have been told that the people of France despise [us]…”

Despise? For some reason we Americans tend to slip into love-hate vernacular pretty easily. Fortunately, it’s usually the latter when talking about France. But not lately. Anger and frustration with the French administration seems to be straining America’s love affair with France. What to do? Head off to the counselor? Reserve a therapist? Sort of. Times of strain and crisis push us to the brink, where we teeter and then decide to split or work things out. Divorce or talk. Let’s talk!

The good news is that most of the “anger” on the French side is isolated among a handful of politicos (predictably frustrated with the American administration and its rather cavalier foreign policy), and the pressies (eagerly and hungrily embroiled in the latest sensational polemic). It is at its core largely a historically ingrained adversity to war. Quoted last week in Carol Pucci's article in the Seattle Times Traveling soon? Biggest hurdle may be your own fear), Adrian Leeds, Paris-based publisher of Parler Paris, reminds us that the “French are our comrades, our friends, our admirers. They are not in any way anti-American. ... What is clear, however, is that they are frightened and concerned by the threat of war. They never want to live through a World War II again… This doesn't make them anti-American. Only anti-war.”

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