French Arrogance

So it seems that France is speaking for the entire European Union these days.

I think becoming head of the "United States of Europe" has always been their intent. It's not surprising that a country characterized by arrogance would see nothing wrong with indicating their repugnant goal so publicly.

It's not surprising that a country characterized by arrogance would see nothing wrong with indicating their repugnant goal so publicly.

You took the words right out of my mouth...

 

Well, talking about Visas... and rudeness... it works both ways.
Every time I visit the US, I (and every other german travelling to the US) have to fill out a declaration that I didn't perform any cruelities during WWII, that I didn't take part in the crimes of the Nazi regime etc.
I think this is rather embarassing.

Especially because I was born in 1979.

That's weird, but I don't think it's on the same level as French's actions. It would be like the U.S. denying people entry to Canada, Mexico, or other American nations.

Good point, you're correct.
Let's just say it's rude and weird in another way. Maybe the French could learn from it and start asking you wether you killed any native americans every time you travel to France.

It would be like the U.S. denying people entry to Canada, Mexico, or other American nations.

Not quite - the NAFTA countries don't have quite the same close ties as the EU countries - they share no common currency, nor, more importantly, do they share their visas - a visa into Mexico will never allow passage into the US without another visa, but one into Europe will often apply to the whole region.

France is the only country I ever visited where I felt totally unwelcome. Upon arrival at the airport in Paris, which they refer to as an "international Airport" there was not a sign in any language other than French. If I hadnt lived in Canada for a number of years I would never know that "sortie" meant exit...and I would probably still be wandering the hallways there looking for a way out. The shopkeepers in Paris were arrogant and unfriendly, totally refusing to try to understand what I was trying to say.
I cut my visit short after 3 days... I was intending to spend 2 weeks there but found it most uncomfortable.

forgot to add...in the airport in London, the exit says Way Out!

France is the only country I ever visited where I felt totally unwelcome.

Same here. I have hated the time I have had to spend in Paris. Give me Lucerne or Munich any day.

France is the only country I ever visited where I felt totally unwelcome.

Please don't base your entire opinion of France and the French on one city.  That's like basing your opinion of the US on one visit to the zoo that is New York or LA.

I spent a lot of time in France growing up, and I've always felt welcome there.  I spent time in Aix En Provence, Marseilles, Nice, Dieppe, Calais and Paris...and whilst I totally understand your feeling about Parisians I'm telling you that the rest of the country isn't like that.  They're arrogant, yes, but no more so than the Germans.

I love Paris. Been there 3 times, totaling about a month. But I speak a little French, and I was never too concerned with meeting people. The Metro is awesome, the architecture is wonderful, the history is palpable.

It's a sign on a consular in one city!

Probably written by a single person who was getting upset at being poorly treated. What's the problem? Would other EU countries have a problem if the French officially took the view that they could ban entry to other countries? Yes! Is this the case here? No!

And as a matter of interest, someone who has had a visa application refused in 1 European country is logged onto a database for the other coutries to be aware of this refusal and the reasons. This will indeed most likely result in an application refusal, assuming the initial reasons for refusal are valid,

Paul.

So France doesn't condone the sign?

France has not commented on the sign.

Not much of a surprise really, as I wouldn't expect a nation to comment on a single sign that is not part of official policy.

Indeed until this post I hadn't even heard of it, which says a lot about how the Europeans neighbours view the importance of it. It's a single sign, not an indication of French arrogance. Storm in a teacup.

Paul.

despite smattering of  jeers, it appeared to me as if lance armstrong was welcomed warmly as he entered paris at the end of the tour de france.  i gotta wonder if our citizens would be as gracious if the situation were reversed and a french athlete took the championship of an 'american' sport 6 years in a row. 

Anyone entering the USA and passing through immigration would be right to comment on arrogance. Has ANYONE not been treated with utter contempt by those jumped up army rejects?

I suspect (as someone in the process of obtaining a US visa currently) that anything of this "official" nature is tortuous and designed to make you ill at ease WHICHEVER country is concerned.

I also think any country has arrogance inherant to some degree and there is no degree to go bashing France specifically. Was the US arrogant to go through a UN process and then go into Iraq regardless when they didn't like the outcome? Am I arrogant to complain that Americans can't spell words in OUR language properly?

Probably yes on both counts

Martin--I think you are right. I've had one pleasant visa obtaining experience and that was in Ireland--it was the same person who had issued me a visa three years prior and he thought it was funny that I was back and that he found his signature in my passport. I had a hideous time getting a student visa in the UK--it went so far that the US Embassy was encouraging me to declare that my passport had been stolen by the British Government and apply for a new one.

It's the nature of the job that the people behind the desk are going to be business-like and cold...they've got to be with the amount of abuse that is hurled at them daily!

I'm with Solitar on this one--sounds like the work of one overly pissed off employee and not the official word of France.

despite smattering of jeers, it appeared to me as if lance armstrong was welcomed warmly as he entered paris at the end of the tour de france. i gotta wonder if our citizens would be as gracious if the situation were reversed and a french athlete took the championship of an 'american' sport 6 years in a row.

"a smattering of jeers" ?? if this is gracious to you then I am at a loss for words.
Quote from the Sunday Times News -
"But many, particularly the French, deplore Armstrong. They accuse him of cheating the doping detection, a charge the American spends half his days denying. They spit in his face in the Alps, and he rides straight past them.
They applaud when Richard Virenque, a Moroccan-born Frenchman, passes through the Pyranees and the Alps, and claims a lesser record of being seven times the King of the Mountains."

I won't even go into the punishment Lance took from the French press.