I am partial to St Malo myself. Spent a month vacation based there. I could on the other hand do without the 700 odd steps to the top of Mont St Michel.
I have run into that, and I even speak french [with an american accent.]
Except not so much. The Germans were certainly reckoned pussies in the 19th century, and the French were heirs to a magnificent fighting tradition, due to the endless times, 17 ?, the latter invaded the former: much of this was sending in crack troops into peaceful farming land and stealing their stuff: rather like sending US Airborne troops against the Amish every now and then. The French of Louis XIV’s and The Revolutionary Armies could have learnt little from the nazis or soviets later.
This was mostly due to France having been melded into a strong unified state by the French Kings in the early middle ages, and centralised in the Revolution, whereas the Papacy broke the Empire and Germany, whilst existing as a people, splintered into many fairly weak disunited states. Which cannot have been foreseen when the German Franks split the Empire into France and the East.
In the meantime, Germans were engaged in the Teutonic Crusade, the other Crusades, and fighting a lot of people points east; plus visiting Italy a lot — they were placed centrally and couldn’t concentrate on France exclusively. Plus they were highly reckoned as reliable soldiers, like the Swiss were, by the sort of people who hired military forces. Not to mention the Emperor Charles V smashed the French at Pavia.
Them during the 18th century, Frederick showed what could be done with limited means against overwhelming odds; and Prussia/Germany began a pattern of being the underdog fighting against giants that lasted until 1945. They didn’t have any choice in this; but they still fought brilliantly with clever staff-work and skill. To anyone comparing Prussia against Napoleon’s France, it might be noted that Prussia had a population of 5 million against France’s 38 million ( however hard Napoleon devoted himself to diminishing the latter ): it was a wonder they fought at all.
Both have a great military heritage; but the French had the better hand.
You’ve got to admit, if American soldiers in 1945 liked the Germans better than the French, the French must have been doing something wrong.
For what it’s worth, I briefly visited Paris a couple of years ago and I found the French to be polite enough. I just got the impression that speaking English fluently was a lot less common among the French than say, the Dutch. I never really bought the whole “They speak English but pretend not to because they’re dicks” thing.
I offer, for your viewing pleasure, the military history of France.
Hey, they added entries! I first saw the core of this when it was posted here ~ a decade ago. It’s longer now, but it’s still a ridiculous conglomeration of a couple of truths, a far larger number of half-truths, a massive truckload of omissions and some flat out errors ;). Those French - always good for a laugh!
Excellent!
No wonder the term ‘cheese eating surrender monkeys’ fits them, so well. 
My SO just this second, showed me a tin of Altoids breath mints. Printed on the white paper wrapper inside of the tin is the phrase, ‘Wave this in case of surrender’!
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! 
My girlfriend, whose father is French but has lived in America since he was about 20, relates a story where during a family vacation in Paris, her father ordered dinner for the whole table since his wife and daughters didn’t speak French very well. The waiter, after diligently taking down the order, then complimented him on his ability to speak French! Apparently his French has picked up an American accent in the last few years. Still, this does prove that it’s possible for an American to be complimented on their French in Paris. You just have to actually be a Frenchman!
Are you aware of Lucky Luke? It’s a French-language long-running comic series featuring an American cowboy in the Old West. I’ve had my girlfriend’s family ask me about Lucky Luke several times upon learning that I’m from the Western U.S., even though I’m from Oregon and lumberjack stereotypes are a lot more appropriate. Cowboys and the Old West are a well-known trope in French. This Texan probably seemed to the French to have walked directly off a page of Lucky Luke.
To be fair, this is exactly what most French people say about Parisians.
I suspect some of it almost has to stem from our shared cultural history with the UK. I’ve experienced tons of criticisms and jokes about France from the British. Now, in both cases, American and British, it’s often (I’d say usually) good natured joking, but either way, the same jokes tend to be used by both countries – almost assuredly coming from Britain’s long and colored history (and oftentimes rivalry) with its neighbor. The irony is, perhaps, that part of that “rivalry” involved the French helping America against the English in the American Revolutionary War, but whaddya gonna do?
The people who actually hate France in America are, in my experience, the same people who hate “Europe” as an amorphous blob of terrible living conditions and extreme unhappiness caused by SOCIALISM. The usual “hate” is mostly just lame jokes no different than you’d hear about your chosen sports team’s rivals.
I work for a French-owned company in the US and many of my cow-orkers are French. To a person, they tell me that Parisians are disdainful of any one who is not Parisienne
One of the YouTube channels I subscribe to is a Swedish guy, and he says “Excuse my french” when he burps, and I’ve generally gotten the impression that they’re generally targets in Sweden as well. Perhaps more of a “yeah, I know I’m stereotyping” kind of way, but it’s more than just an English-derivative thing.
As for more serious American disdain, recall also that when we launched F-111s to bomb Libya in the 1980s, the French refused permission to fly through their airspace. Right or wrong, justified or not, it’s yet another case of the French impeding or working against American interests–why should anyone be surprised if Americans look a little down upon a country constantly working against them?
I do too. That is a sweet deal. They tell us that just by working for them we are better than the normal American enemy plus we get awesome vacation and benefits. Well smack my ass and set me down to a meal of snails and frog legs any day. I love it all. I would stop wearing deodorant again if they just sent me a memo telling me not to. I am a ‘Real American’ in every way except that I love the French.
I was in Paris for a very short stay, and found everyone reasonably polite and helpful. However I rode the Metro from the airport and the B.O. was pretty rank.
Milan, on the other hand, was filled with rude, offensive people. Horrid place.
Amen brother! 4 weeks of vacation/year? Sold!
8 weeks paid paternity leave for each of my kids? Merci!
I’ver heard that too from multiple French people. I’ve found that to be the case in my limited experience. The French are warm and friendly and love having outsiders visit so they can show off their country. Parisians are rude and obnoxious.
Those were American tourists. 
Thirding the comment on Parisians. Ditto food. Paris is full of bad food and bad people. The rest of France is rather nice, friendly and delicious.
That’s how it played out when I worked at a French helicopter company back in the day- the Parisian interns were generally snooty, while the guys from Marseille and elsewhere were a lot of fun and interesting to talk to.
This has been referred to obliquely in this thread, but I remember a news item about De Gaulle announcing that he wanted all American military personnel to leave France; this was sometime in the late 1960s.
A report asked, “Does that include the American soldiers and sailors buried in France?”
De Gaulle had no answer for that.
Also, when he and FDR met for the first time in World War II they took an instant dislike to each other; FDR thought De Gaulle was too sure of his postition as leader of the Free French, and De Gaulle resented the fact that Roosevelt did all the talking.
And, of course, after the war–which the French could not have won without American presence–the French became resentful to Americans, since they wanted to be able to defeat the Axis all by themselves. Ingrates. :mad:
If you are thinking of taking a trip to France… make sure to go to Normandy.
The Normands have not forgotten what the Americans did for them. And they are deeply grateful.
This puts the Parisians in a contemptible tour d’ivoire!
One time while visiting France I wanted to see their famous tapestry about the battle of Hastings.
The train was completely full of French people. And I thought “Wow… So many French people are so interested in seeing that tapestry just like me.”
We came to one stop…And EVERYBODY got off except me and my wife. Well short of the stop where the tapestry was.
Turns out it was the anniversary of D-Day. Which I had completely forgotten about. They were all going to visit the cemeteries where the American soldiers from WW11 were buried.
I felt slightly ashamed about the whole thing for myself, but developed a whole lot of love and respect for those “ungrateful” Frenchies.