Freedom Fries

Ah, the faux pas minefield of visiting other cultures with which you are unfamiliar.

Bush met with Chirac yesterday in Brussels, and while the U.S. press is acting as if the two are kissing and making up, according to my friend Nathalie, the French press is saying that the two are still very cold with each other.

New York Times:
http://http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/22/international/europe/22france.html?8bl

LeMonde:
http://http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-399043,0.html

Bush and most Americans probably think that the U.S. President was being good-natured when he said, in reference to Chirac, that he was looking for a good cowboy. However, that is a derogatory term in Europe. It's what they derisively call Bush, meaning that he's not-intelligent, that he shoots first, and asks questions later. The French are also very aware that if the owner of a ranch is looking for a cowboy that he's simply looking for a hired hand. So, in other words, Bush insulted Chirac.

The Times also revealed that an American source said that Bush called the fried potatoes served at his dinner with Chirac, French fries -- to show that there weren't any hard feelings against the French any more. You'll remember that French toast and French fries were renamed Freedom fries and Freedom toast on Air Force One and in the Congressional cafeterias in protest against the French not supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Well if you want to appear suave, don't go into a restaurant in France and order French fries. The French think it's very strange when Americans call their pomme frites, French fries because they aren't French, the dish comes from Belgium. So Bush's comment about French fries simply served as a reminder of the animosity that America flung at the French because France didn't support the Iraq War.

Another hint: if you want to appear sophisticated, when in France, don't use the term French bread. My husband's cousin told me that when he was a kid, and his diplomat father was stationed in Paris, he went to the dentist with a piece of bread crust lodged in his gums or between his teeth. He told the dentist that it was French bread. The dentist said, "Here, all the bread is French."