I guess I'll get a chance to see if the French live up to the stereotypes in April....
In the few days I spent in Europe this year, I found the Danes and the Dutch to be charming, and Germans to be brusque and rude... and we were decked out in our Canadawear!
My gosh, though, that ferry that carried our train from Denmark to Germany... that was really something! We went from Copenhagen to Hamburg, without having to change trains. It was the most amazing thing.
My friend Fabiola (the Brazilian) just traveled in Europe (France, Spain and Portugal) , and she was only only required to show her passport once (in Spain) - thought she felt hassled by them.
I get quite a hassle now every time I cross the US/Canada border, going either way. The Canadians feel they have to reciprocate, since the US is being so stupid about this stuff now (just like the Brazilians - when we go there, we can expect to get fingerprinted and grilled - because that's the way it works when Brazilians come to the US - if they aren't sent to Syria for torture because they are named Fabiola Castro or something, and the think they caught Fidel...
You don't have to present your passport at the border, yet, for now you can still use your birth certificate and 2 pieces of picture ID. Because everybody carries their birth certificate around with them, right?
The only time I was asked for any ID in Europe was when I rented a bicycle in Holland...
It's very eye-opening to actually get out into the world, Americans should do that more... and not on those big tours where they are surrounded by other Americans. Of course, the trouble is that if people start moving about freely and getting their eyes open, they might "come to the wrong conclusions" as Reagan would say, which is exactly why they don't want people to go to Cuba.... they might come to the wrong conclusions.
Now that France has a right-wing president who backs Bush, the right conclusion is "the French are A-OK" but I want to make up my mind for myself. I know that's Un-American.
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"Yesterday on '60 Minutes' French President Nicolas Sarkozy got up and left in the middle of the interview. Citizens of France say the president acted rudely — and they've never been prouder."
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