What does it mean to be French?

I only read (at university) the text by Heinrich der Glîchezære , the Alsatian poet. (It's the oldest German beast epic.)

Ooooh, biting.
I'll need to hear it/read it again - the words go by fast.

yeah, he doesn't pull his punches... Renaud has a very sarcastic, sardonic side. On Letty's radio I only post his most poetic ballads but he can be a (very funny) caricaturist.

He wrote about his two sides in the following song which brings us back to the Roman de Renart mentioned upthread. "Renard" means "fox".

Doctor Renaud, Mister Renard



Like there was Gainsbourg and Gainsbarre [a nickname for Gainsbourg's seedy side]
There's the Renaud and the Renard
Renaud drinks only water
Renard runs on Ricard
One side white, one side black
No one is just ugly or beautiful
Half angel half asshole
And that's what we gonna see

Doctor Renaud, Mister Renard...

Renard is a hellish drinker
Renaud is as sober as a sparrow
When Renaud goes to bed
Renard collapses in the gutter
Renaud is afraid of pot joints
That make you stupid
Renard rolls them fine
To blow up his skull

Dr. Renaud, Mr. Renard...

Renaud tries - it's his job -
To write nice little stories
To touch his audience
And amuse the kids.
At the cutting edge of his pen,
Renard only gets clichés
Dark thoughts inspired by gloom
And paranoia

Doctor Renaud, Mister Renard...

Renaud suffers from all the ills
Of this barbaric world
He carries them
Like a cross on his back
But the biggest injustices
Only makes the cynic Renard laugh
He snides at this whole mess
If the whole world died tomorrow
Renard would rather rejoice...

Doctor Renaud, Mister Renard...

Renaud chose the guitar
And poetry and words
As somewhat ridiculous weapons
To castigate all the bastards
Renard - it's his anarchist side -
Spits on all the ideals
He can't give a rat's ass
For the most beautiful deeds

Doctor Renaud Mister Renard...

Renaud should be praised
Because in love - and that his pride -
He is as tender as a lamb
For one single story
Renard rubs himself against all flesh
And only has one night stands
With the uglier and the cutest
Renard is quite the little pervert

Doctor Renaud, Mister Renard...

As they both turned 50
Despair is growing and
Renard is bound to take over Renaud
Today, he lost his love
His beautiful Dominique
She left the villain Renard
But she will always love Renaud

For a modern (and hilarious) version:

- smelly cheese
- women don's shave armpits.
- nobody likes to wash
- frogs instead of dinner
- vine instead of water
- arrogant and snotty
- don't speak English (thank god they can't read this)
- eat croissants with everything
- reeealy lazy! And irresponsible (srsly. This one is not a joke...)
- funny moustache



Just kidding

I've never been to France, but I've read about it, she says smiling. (Key in music)

For years I saved some article about French style that fit me, where some foxy woman was shown wearing a trench coat and dark glasses, all of that maybe in an old Mademoiselle magazine. I was there already, with my gabardine trench from a local thrift. I still have it, sleeves made shorter.

I take French people as varied as the rest of us.

Oh, wait, some of us aren't varied.

Vernon of Prague, your post above which ended "Just kidding" has convinced me that you are a KNOB as they say in Britain.

Mais pas un casse-couilles

Pas du tout. Un suce-bite, je pense.

Les hamsters sont d'accord avec toi, il sembel ...

Et toujours pas d'étiquette infamante "Pas Sûr Pour le Travail"... Incroyable! C'est donc vrai ce qu'ils disent à l'organisation de la francophonie: le français comme "espââââce de liberté"... ;-)

Profitons-en. Un peigne-cul, une couille molle, une tête de noeud...

No offence please. French are like Dutch - everybody likes them and sorta admires them but it's hilarious to joke about them.

anyway, just found this:

French are like black people. Those who joke on them try to compensate for something...

I don't know. I like to joke about all nations. But mostly southerns as they are all so funny. Ask my Spanish friends

anyway, nowadays, most of French ARE black people. Hahaha!

ok, I order not to insult anybody, here are reasons why I Admire France!

- beautiful culture. I really love French dressing, architecture (both traditional and modern), food
- beautiful environment - southern France par instance, Bordeaux...
- good humor (Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez, Fantomas are my favourite movies, Asterix and Obelix...)
- beautiful women - I really like how they look and their style
- (some) are really hardworking - I have several good Friends who are role model of their generation...
- French language. When I hear it together with other languages I can hear the charm of it...


soo... is it OK?

Southerners tend to have a better sense of humor than northeners? They just don't take themselves and their lives too seriously i guess.

I could learn from that...

Indeed you could.

From my observations of tourists to NYC, French people seem to be concerned if they are projecting the best bon vivant image to others, and are being noticed for their enjoyment of life. The men often have a sweater wrapped around their shoulders, tied in a loose knot to the front of their chests. They might not sit with their group, but sit apart on a public conveyance, talking incessantly to their group sitting nearby.

I tend to think that if I look at their shoes I might see closed captioned English subtitles? Or if I listen closely I think I might hear the music from a Man and a Woman reaching its crescendo during the dawn beach scene.

It seems to be so exhausting to be truly French. One seems to need great energy for all the emotion one has to display. Also, the enjoyment of mimes is beyond my comprehension.

From my observations it is rather narrow minded to just foreigners by their attitude when being on holidays.
But perhaps that's the best way.