This country loses a star purely for its people. Yep, they are, well, difficult (that's a good word). And ya know what? They are fine with that! So ignore the people as much as possible, and enjoy the sites. There is so much history to be discovered.

Never heard of it.

The parts I've seen (northern France and Paris) are beautiful, and the French countryside is remarkable for its scenary and tiny jewels of villages.

Paris, like any ancient city of its size is a place that one could live for a decade and still not know.  

As to the comments about "rudeness" by the natives of the country, let  me say this.   People outside of Paris are no more rude or polite than they are anywhere else in the world.  Parisiens, on the other hand, seem to take a certain pride in their rudeness (somewhat similar to the attitude adopted by some New Yorkers) but I can assure you it isn't a rudeness solely directed to Americans.  Non-Parisien French generally regard their city dwelling fellow citizens as surly.

  And as to their military prowess or lack of it, I append the following video, showing their undoubted genius in withstanding a siege. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7zbWNznbs

je parle un peu de francais

if only they were nice...

No point beating around the bush, Brits don't like the French and Visa Versa. There is allot of dislike, even hate between both countries. But as a man born in the UK I would still recognize that France is a very beautiful country with a great culture both in food and tradition! Yes we clearly have our differences and well the French have been a constant thorn in the flesh but it is a nice place!!! The thing is you must understand that even though the French around the world are known to be arrogant and rude. You must understand that these people historically have gone through hell and back!!! Yet as a country France still blossoms time and time again! The countryside is very beautiful and scenic! The market places are just great to shop at and the beer is cheap!!! Paris is known as the romantic city but I would beg to differ as there are some really romantic places outside of Paris that in my opinion represent Romance! All in all I will give the country 4 stars as it does have character and beauty that even an Englishman cannot deny!!!

I know the French and the Americans have had problems but after living there for a little over a year...I loved it. I lived in the south with all the Roman ruins and carmague and near Arles and St Remy of Van Gogh fame.

Snobs.

I don't care if the people are rude. There's so much in France to see.

France has got the best wine

Paris and Straßbourg

OK, so I've given France a 5 star rating to counterbalance all the negative criticism on here; Of course France is not the best country in the world, but it is one of the most beautiful and diverse, with a huge amount of history and culture. As a people, they have a reputation for being unhelpful and grumpy, but I guess that this is more due to communication problems, given that most French were not taught English as a first language (nor to a very high level) until very recently. Ideed, if you look at their demographics and at incidents of racism etc, you'll see that they are a very tollerant nation, as a whole. So, learn a couple of useful phrases eg. parlez vous anglais, before you launch into your speach and you'll be able to appreciate what a great country it is.

Americans say the people in france are snobby and rude, but they are actually kind and friendly. I would say americans are worse than the french in the way they act to foreigners.

Ignore the surly locals and just take in the country.

I have no doubt that France is a beautiful country. Further, I have no doubt that there are a lot of good French people. However, they owe their freedom to the USA twice over; yet they crap on the USA every chance they get. And who are they to preach against agression? Look at their (even recent) history. No use for France.

Although France catches a lot of bitterness here in America, it was still the most beautiful place I have ever been. I found the people pleasent and very helpful. Paris was a city like I've never seen before; so eloquent and romantic. The eiffel tower and Notre Dame were breath taking. Although I don't necessarily agree with the French Government I don't think we should hate the country as a whole because of the actions of a few people.

I hate them. I hate hate so I hate them. Let's call peace!

The natives were very rude to Americans. They all pretended not to understand English when in reality, they did. Now, I do have a problem with permanent residents that refuse to assimilate but I never condone mistreatment especially of tourists.

Political disagreements aside, France is definitely a beautiful country. Anyone who has ever had the chance to visit it would probably attest to this as France is the home of some of the most picturesque sceneries and areas in the world. From the larger-than-life Eiffel Tower, to the mournful beaches of Normandy, visitors are at once awed by the beauty and majestry of these historic icons. Furthermore, any country who has the STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL Melissa Theuriau as their morning news anchor cannot be all that bad, can it?

Most of the negative comments are by people I doubt have ever visited. Were the people in Paris rude? Not any ruder than the people in NYC, Philly or Boston. It's a big city full of self important people. What do you expect? Is it still worth visiting? Absolutely. Paris is the most physically buetiful large city in the world. And the people are actually friendly in the French countryside, which is also buetiful. This is a rating based solely on France as a destination, so the political comments left here seems out of line.

Excellent food, gorgeous cities and a beautiful countryside. Too bad about the people and their unfortunate culture.

la france c'est mieux sur la lune

Never generalize about anything. There are idiots everywhere, and fine people everywhere. Try to think as a world citizen, this would be a way to give a chance to our planet.

> You have the British who are stubborn, funny, survivors. > The Germans are strong, intelligent, hard-workers. The > Italians... passionate, friendly, fun. Then you have the > french....who are....how can I say..French. yes, and chinese people are small and make kung-fu. japanese people are small too, and when they're not samurais, they're ninjas... french people are like in every other country: they are all different.

a continental point of view. Hy cowboys! as a half french/ half english student living in france, i'm amazed by the poor arguments around this post, from the pro france who see france as a postcard that limits itself to paris and from the anti who've never set foot on french soil or spoke to a single frenchman, is that all the fuss about being an american patriot, getting in a mood because we france didn't believe the crap about MDW (hey we're they main supplier, we know about their stocks!), clearly xenophobic about any country speaking out(F u fellow british citizens, cowards!). wy is france cristalysing all the anger coming from popular american frustrations? now dont get me wrong france is far (very far) from being an idilic country but so is america so is any other country. come anytime to my country, its honestly not as bad as you think it is bon baisers de france... PS:french chicks are very disciplined about their shaving

Awful country full of French people who don't bath and use a lot of perfume. One country I have no desire to visit. Whats the fasted thing on earth with 50000 feet, the French in retreat.

Cool country. The French are very direct and in-your-face, if they hate you, they let you know it, unlike... Asians that are all smiley and then give you the finger when you turn around, or Mediterraneans (Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece) that offer you the world and then try to rip you off. This has been said over and over, just try to speak a little bit of their language, it doesn't have to be perfect, and their attitude with you as a tourist will change.

amazing country, amazing people, no matter what these toby keith loving cockwads say. to the dumbsh*t that said berlin is the capital of europe........uh, no, paris is.....the french are superior in every way to the germans, they have faster trains/transit service, cleaner streets, better food, a larger armed forces (despite what these right wing dumbf**ks say, the old sterotypes about french martial history are meaningless, france has the largest standing army in western europe, 200,000 men,(compared to germanys 85,000) the most advanced airforce (yes, the french have better planes than the UK or germany and more of them than either country) france has more nuclear weapons than the UK and better special forces (foreign legion, GIGN, the black panthers anti terrorist squads, marines, ect ect)the 2 most important battles in european history where won by the french, the battle of tours where charles martel defeated abd al rahman and his muslim arabs in 732, thus preventing the arabs from conquering europe, and the battle of hastings in 1066, when a french duke by the name of william the conqerer routed the english and laid the groundwork for the rise of modern britain. so in effect, the british owe their nationhood to the french!) and france generally has more beautiful landscapes than germany or britian (pyrenees, alps, the dordogne, the camaruge,riviera ect ect) france rates 5 michelin stars on my travel itenerary anyday.

Is France really worth a 5? Maybe and Maybe not. I've been there and liked it, but I had to give France a 5 for all the American robots who bash France even though they know nothing about the country, only that some conservative hack told them to hate it.

I can give you my first hand view of the real France since I've been living near Paris for 7 months now. Even in an optimistic light, the French are definitely not my favorite race of people. They tend to be pretty intense (in a negative way), but it is possible to find nice ones. They're pretty annoyingly chauvinistic and their government is too socialist. But overall, I think it's a good place to visit if you speak French and have an open mind (just don't be offended if the French people don't). I recommend Toulon, Strasbourg, and Paris for best cities. If you're just planning on going up the eiffel tower and buying an I love Paris hat, don't even bother because the French people (and some foreigners) don't like you. To all the rest of you, bon voyage!

Amazing history, architecture, culture. Must see places would include Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame , Palace at Versailles. Plus south Franch is beautiful. Maybe to see some winerys would be a good day trip. Paris subway is surprisingly clean and efficient compared to American subways(except for D.C. which is also good). Dont listen to the right wing hype. France is a great place to visit and people are not as unfriendly to Americans, at least they were not to us, as popular myth.

Definitely overrated country

Incredibly rich cultural heritage, but French are too nasty and nationalist to be appreciated.

France is a fine European country to visit. You will love the history, including Note Dame, Chartes Cathedral, the prehistoric painted caves of Lascaux, the Eiffel Tower, and the Palace of Versailles. Many Americans hate France mostly because of that country opposing the war against Iraq but i have opposed the war against Iraq myself so I have agreed with France. The only gripe is that France is a little too soft on prostitution and drugs but at least, the crime rate is lower there then in America. I also like France because of their ban on religious symbols in their public schools which we don't have for our public schools and they do a better job of honoring the separation of church and state than we do.

I love Franch music and the Franch language, and I haven't been there but I have been told that it's beautifull as well. The problem I have with France is that it is antishemetic, and that is why I can't visit there.

Culture is overrated. For places to holiday go to Italy or Spain, as far as being a European leader it's third tier compared to Germany or Britain. Berlin is now the capital of Europe. English is Europe's language.

The jealousy on this board speaks volumes.

One thing about the French. They're always there when they need you!

FRANCE SUCKS!

Bad service, look down on people who arent French.

Bonjour Mother fuc$er!

in the 'USA' entry, there are many Yanks berating others for giving low ratings because of Iraq, Bush etc and not on the US as a holiday destination or place to live. Ignore those stupid comments re France's position on Iraq. As a place to visit it is probably one of the 3 most interesting countries in Europe - stunning scenery, many beautiful historic cities, great food, THE wine (also Normandy beers), culture, a far lower level of Americanisation than Britain, very efficient public transport system, best skiing in Europe is not the world.. On the downside, Parisians are a pretty rude crowd and generally pretend not to understand you unless you're speaking native standard French.

Jean Van de Velde may be the only non-pu$$y from France. He proved this by going for broke on the last hole of the 1999 British Open. Nevermind that it cost him the tournament and has since slipped away into obscurity. Viva la France!

Michelin Guide#Un-Madame Rosa(Fraunce;Lay Miserob)One of the best movies France produced in the last thirty years,Madame Rosa is about the relationship between an Aushwitz survivor and an Arab boy. Michelin Guide #Du(France;Less Miserables;)Madame Rosa is a film from another planet(planay)because of the current level of Jew-hatred in France.From Alfred Dreyfus who was sent to Devil's Island after being framed for treason to current reports of Jews being victimized by thugs from Arab countries,France is a country run by an elementary school principal who runs things from an ongoing wine-and-cheese orgy.One Jewish exception was Ira Einhorn, who hacked up his girlfriend in Philadelphia,went on the lam and hid out forever in France. The French finally returned him to the US with the agreement that he wouldn't receive the death penalty(Maybe the US can pull an April fools joke and revert to Plan A). If Madame Rosa were made today,it could actually be a better movie.Obviously,she'd have Benya Krik-Isaac Babel's great Jewish gangster burn down the police station.

France as a country is beautiful. I think a lot of what gives it a bum rap for Americans is that the Parisians (and the government) spoil things for the country as a whole. On my one visit to France, the first Frenchman I met when I crossed the Channel was an officious gendarme. Wrong way to start the day. However, virtually every other Frenchman I met was courteous and helpful. Food was OK (although overrated and overpriced). The wine - forget it. I had some local red in the countryside that literally turned my teeth and tongue purple for a couple of days, and it tasted horrible. French wines, and food, are not all that good, especially when compared to Italian. I'll say this for the French - they know how to market themselves and their products. Too bad the Romans weren't able to completely inculcate them with Latin culture. One French writer's definition of a status-seeker was a Frenchman speaking with an Italian accent (he was ostracized by his fellow French writers). Anyway, for the most part the people are OK (outside Paris, at any rate), and the countryside itself is beautiful.

Nothing like the good ole days when France would get a front row seat to watch Europe's pastime, developing burtal, megalomaniac blood thirsty dictators. Go Europe!! Eurpoe, the most savage place in the history of mankind, hopefully you have learned how to live together in peace like America!

If it wasn't for the fact that the French are willing to stand up to Yank inilateralism you wouldn't be criticising them half as much. Not that French politics is corruption free by any means. They can be either charming and sophisticated or completely mad, and French society does have a disturbing racist undercurrent, but at least they've got a damn sight more common sense than the average yank (which isn't particularly hard). Which again, is probably why they objected to the war in Iraq (or should that be eyerak). As a country it's more picturesque and not as overcrowded as the UK, and the public transport system works (unlike the UK). Would have given it 5 just to polarise the argument a bit more, but I really can't condone the racist thing.

My previous comment here was pretty harsh. Maybe France would be a cool place to visit. Especially the Eifell Tower when it's not on fire or maybe you could hook up with a French lingerie model. It's true that 1 out of 3 French people hoped that Iraq would win the war against the U.S. This also means that 2 out of 3 did NOT. Not to mention a large number of Americans hoped Iraq would win (because they thought we had no business being there). Remember all the college students who would lay down in the street and disrupt our traffic and commerce in an effort to protest the war?

I'm giving this country a five because the people giving it a 1 are bigoted jerks.

UMMM Let's see where do I start, The fact that they have been supplying Iraq with weapons that are dated 2003? They were so Concerned with us not going into Iraq because they were going to lose millions that Iraq owed them for weapons and mines? Then after war they have enough nerve to try and get us to let them help rebuild Iraq so they can get more money? F@$K Them! They should take every american that died in france During WWII and bring them home to Arlington. Its a disgrace to have them over there in that pathetic SH!T HOLE. Plus their women are smelly and don't shave.