J'aime France!

although it seems everyone today in america hate france, it's culture and it's people, i happen to be obsessed with it! j'aime tous les trucs francais!

in 6th grade i had to make the decision between taking french and spanish. i figured i couldn't roll my r's so i picked french. i had a lot of people question my decision because they thought what practically could french have in my life? clearly spanish is the second language in the united states and i should have taken it...but i do not regret the choice to take french.

after about 7 years of different french classes, sadly i am still not fluent. but, i have learned enough about the french culture to want live there for the rest of my life. i feel once i live in paris or the cote d'azur... i'll become fluent.

now there are a few specific aspects of the french culture i have come to love and appreciate over the years. as of now, with the current situation in the media, dominated by politics, i happen to be obsessed with their president nicolas sarkozy and his wife of less than a year, carla bruni. it always amazes me that people believe that france is so foreign and different than the united states. as its president has been married 3 times and his current wife is a pop singer! i think americans need to realize sarkozy is an ally of the united states, not an enemy.

anyways, i don't want to get political in this blog. so i'll get to another reason france is great...it's cinema. i'm a cinema minor and some of the greatest films come from france, in my opinion. the renoir epic "la grande illusion" starring jean gabin and eric von stroheim (sp?) should be seen by more americans. i know it is hard to sit through a foreign film but it is so well made and should be re-released in american theatres more often. another one of my favorite films is called "le jeu du cons" or "the dinner game." a very very dark comedy that could have been made by apatow and co. if you have a wicked sense of humor this movie is def. for you. and also i mean the cannes film festival. the most reknowned festival in the world and is in one of the most beautiful settings in the world. along the croisette, what's better than a non-stop week of partying with great films, movie-stars and great beaches? je ne sais pas!

politics and cinema are great exports from france but the country itself has a great history of its own. i've taken several classes on euro history and one on modern french history and france's story from monarchy to modern republic is a great one. they have some of the greatest figures in all of history. hello!! louis xiv and napoleon. without louis we would never have the great palace of versailles, merci france pour le roi soleil. and yes i know he was a horrible person who bankrupted the country and starved his people but versailles is a marvel.

yes, i know. i've used some french in this blog. i can't help it. it's one of the most beautiful languages in the world and at the olympics is still the other language the announcer speaks besides engligh and the host country's language. french is a dipolmatic language and i hope it doesn't die. more people should speak it to understand it's beauty. i try to speak it as often as possible. it usually gets fused with english forming mine and my friends favorite language...franglais. you say as much as you know in french and fill in english words for the rest! oui, c'est tres cool! et cool est un mot en francais.

oui, beautiful like the country itself. from the great wine fields in the north (burgandy and champagne) to the great palaces to the cote d'azure (the blue coast)---france has many sites to see. i know that paris is still the number one tourist destination in the world, it represents l'amour. but i don't think americans appreciate how great the rest of the country is. i have never had a problem in france and i totally don't speak the language fluently. i find if i am a tourist, an american tourist, they treat me just as well as any other person there.

j'espere que i've convinced some to understand why france is so great. i've barely named any reasons at all. all i know, is that i've become immersed in it's great culture ever since i started taking the lanuage in 7th grade and i've never looked back. vive la france!

c'est trop dommage qu'il est impossible pour moi d'ecrire tous cette blog en francais :(
there are def. some grammar problems in that sentence, o well.

ps i forgot to mention food! obvi france is known for their amazing cuisine, i mean who doesn't love crepes? je ne sais pas!!!