The French are your buddies, too, unless you're anti-American.
Seriously, I can't believe how much anti-French sentiment there is among ignorant right-wing nuts in the US -- you all should be praising France, not decrying it. France, historically, has been and is probably the US's most reliable ally, and indeed without France there would be no US in the first place.
Further to that, the French political system and the US political system and general culture are remarkably similar -- both countries fought to overthrow tyrants, establish republicanism, and served as a liberal bulwark against reactionaries across the world, and continue to do so today. French and American foreign policy are largely identical in the broad strokes, and, along with Britain, France and the US represent the general trend of Western civilisation and work actively together to promote it.
I just don't get why some conservatives hate France. Was it the Iraq War thing? Well that went realllly well. But then why isn't there similar hate for Britain, who refused to join the US in Vietnam?
I suspect it's rivalry -- given so many cultural, historical and current similarities, there's bound to be some brotherly rivalry. Each believes it represents the best form of Western civilisation.
Even so, the vitriol is a bit much, for so close an ally, no?
I think I described my view on France as "moderately negative." I think that's overall a fair assessment.
As you've said, there are many things to love about French culture. In fact, I've lived outside Lyon for a short time. The French people, their history, culture, language, art and cuisine are a gift to the world.
That said, their politicians and government are like 7 year old children who have been given drum sets for Christmas.
Out of one side of their mouth, they decry decry decry any and all military action proposed or undertaken by the United States. Then, they turn around and use their own military in places like Mali.
Out of one side of their mouth, they clamor for green energy, and wag their finger at those darn polluting Americans for not signing Kyoto. All while ignoring the fact that France is more dependent on nuclear energy than any other nation on earth, and if any of these plants melt down, they would have an unmitigated environmental disaster on their hands.
France only whines about America's military because France doesn't have the most guns. France only whines about green energy because France doesn't have native oil and gas resources. It's the typical French politics and it's always been that way.
I remember when I was a teenager living in Chile, the French decided to break the global nuclear test treaty and test a nuclear weapon on a nearby island.... completely destroying it. Mind you, Chile is no where near France. Many native Chileans had to move their homes, and to this day the Chilean government still has to do cleanups and tests.
Could the French have tested this weapon near their own homes? No, they had to go do it outside someone else's, simply because the island they bombed was one of their colonial relics.
And yet France is the first ones to talk about green this and green that.
I think the world is lucky that we're living in an era where the French are marginalized. They haven't matured one bit from their revolution/Napoleonic days and good riddance.