I share your sentiments. France is a country i visit fairly frequently and just like Australia, but with many more immigrants and so not all that one sees are French particularly in Paris.
The French tend to rebel when gov'ts impose anything which they feel impedes their liberties. One time when i was in Paris the gov't declared (no smoking in the underground/metro as of Monday) but in defiance all and sundry were in the underground lighting up, as if to say "What are you going to do about it"
What many English speaking countries seem to forget is that French is the language of that country but it is often percieved wrongly by visitors to France.
I have often seen American's, English and also Aussie's behave badly to the point i felt ashamed.
A female can walk the streets of Paris alone without too much fear but i can't exactly say the same about here.
Cheers and i am pleased to see an Aussie with a name like Hot Dog can post something closer to the truth.
