Born in raised in Cleveland Ohio. Spent time on the east and west coasts. Most of the anti-french sentiment in the US is hard to swallow because it’s not based on first hand immersion experience, and sometimes no experience at all, just stereotypes.
On the other hand, I’ve never really been a violent person. I’ve never wanted to hit people. Until I moved to France. Lyon is bad, too, maybe even worse than Paris for an expat, because they are less welcoming of foreigners (apart the student population, but when you are in your teens and early 20s, from my first-hand experience, you notice the impoliteness less, somehow. I believe it’s because you are part of a different category and are therefore judged differently.)
I went to the country for a month this summer, a village I’ve gone to since I was little. I felt a lot better because I was like, “oh, it’s not that I dislike most french people, I dislike most city french people.” Also went to port leucate (not far from perpignan), wonderful. I think the small cities are better and the southern ones although I don’t have first-hand experience yet, really. Couple days in Nice were ok.
I had the thought that if I stay in this country at some point I was going to get assaulted and at some point commit assault. (I repeat - I NEVER had these kind of impulses before). So some girl decided to hit me in the face with her umbrella. (She was trying to push me out of the way when I had a lot of bags and was right in front of the metro door and I stood my ground). So I’ve been assaulted. I am seriously considering moving to Germany despite the colder climate and needing to learn German because I do not like the way I have these violent feelings from so much rudeness. Realistically, I will probably move to a smaller village or at least a smaller city south.
It seems the french love to stress each other out. They seem to love to wait in line. I understand there are certain questions of labor being expensive in this country but at the same time people stand around at work everywhere I see talking all the time. The bureaucracy gives you 5 different answers to the same question and seems designed to delay the proceedings. It took me 7 years!!! to get my citizenship papers and I have been trying to do a specific file since June with the french social security (all my stuff was done) and was only able to turn it in in September! I’ll have the answer Nov. 1st. All this delay at great cost to the social security system. I don’t get it.
I tried, well, not being mean, but holding my ground, and I got hit in the face.
I am now experimenting with sarcasm, outright eye-rolling and sighing (never done this type of behaviour ‘out-loud’ in my life - sooo impolite!) and it actually seems to be working quite well. Especially with female shop keepers. They pull attitude, I respond with fiercer attitude, and most of the time the relationship will become lovely after than and we will even talk. It’s just exhausting. I don’t understand, even french people have confirmed to me that the french go out of their way to annoy other people. *rant 
