Question

[james_davis_nicoll]

Is it possible to find nice things to say about France without the ensuing discussion rapidly evolving into a U!S!A! U!S!A! U!S!A! discussion of health-care systems and such?

No.

Comments

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

Chic. No one, no one, has chic like the French. This holds as true for the overseas departments such as Martinque and Guadeloupe, as well as for former colonies such as Vietnam and Senegal. A Frenchwoman knows how to present so little with an elán that nobody else can rival.

Not any accident the Fre3nch invented ballet and the swashbuckling historical adventure, via Dumas.

There is wine, also.

Love, C.

[kithrup.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall that was Dan Moran's response to why the French rule the world in his Continuing Time stories -- they just seemed cool to him when he was a kid.

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

Are cool and chic synonymous?

Myself, 'cool' is identified with attitude and presence. Chic, to me, means what and how you wear what you got wearin' on you (to inaccurately quote a teeny phrase from George Clinton's immortal "Summer Swim". :)

Though certainly the two can and do support each other!

Love, C.

[kithrup.livejournal.com]

In this case, "cool" is the same as "interesting." E.g., "Oh, that's cool!" said by a 9 year old.

[seawasp]

Dumas I'll give you, but wine, ballet, and chic seem more like they're on the OTHER side of the equation to me.

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

If you want something damning about the French, you need only two words: San Domingue.

However, because of that, and the expense of trying to take it back from the revolutionaries, Napoleon sold Jefferson the Louisiana Territory, and thus we got New Orleans, a New World treasure house of music, almost equal to Havana.

Love, C.