> I grew up in a very “red” part of the US and was given a very negative view of the French (or anyone else for that matter). Why make it political? What does

> I grew up in a very “red” part of the US and was given a very negative view of the French (or anyone else for that matter). Why make it political? What does "red" have to do with it. American exceptionalism is an national traditional. Do you think all the movies and tv shows making fun of the french came from a very "red" part of the US? Last I check NY and LA weren't very "red". > The city struck me as beautiful. Everything was so clean and manicured (my town by comparison was dirty, dusty and unkempt). Are you sure it was paris and not another european city you were in? Parts of Paris is beautiful for sure, but I've never heard anyone describe it as "so clean and manicured". At least those aren't the words I'd use to describe Paris having visited it. > (my town by comparison was dirty, dusty and unkempt). Paris destroyed my sense of exceptionalism. If you were from a small town in a very "red" part of the US, any medium sized city anywhere would have cured you of your sense of exceptionalism.