Some turn up their noses at new French resistance
www.sptimes.com By TOM ZUCCO, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published March 1, 2003
Call it a jokester's jihad, this war waged in one-liners. The guns may be trained on Iraq, but the salvos fall on France.
"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion." -- U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
Antoine Louro, owner of Chateau France restaurant in St. Petersburg, says business has been good, despite recent anti-French sentiment. To show contempt for France's opposition to U.S. policy on Iraq, a bar owner in West Palm Beach dumped his entire stock of French wine and champagne into the street.
Not to be outdone, Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson sought a resolution that would change the name "french fries" to "freedom fries" or "American fries." He also promised to try to block a French company from getting a $25-million contract to build a sludge plant.
And in the Tampa Bay area, radio personalities from station WFLZ repeatedly rammed an empty French Peugeot with, ironically, a Mercury Marquis.
As the United States presses for a United Nations resolution authorizing military force to disarm Iraq, the nations of Germany, Finland, Sweden, Greece and Ireland, all have taken the same wait-for-more-inspections stance as the French.
But it is the French, or as a New York tabloid described them "primates capitulards et tou-jours en quete de fromages" (cheese-eating surrender monkeys), who are taking the heat.
Never mind that the French played a major role in the American Revolution, that the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France and that French resistance provided some of the bravest fighters in World War II. The hits just keep on coming.
"I had a guest last week who canceled a reservation because of France's stand on Iraq," said Antoine Louro, owner of Chateau France in St. Petersburg.
Louro, who was born in Nice but has lived in America for 22 years, said he tried to explain that France has a large Muslim population, and that France and America have been allies for more than 200 years.
"But he didn't want to hear that," Louro said.
"Somebody was telling me about the French army rifle that was being advertised on e-Bay. The description was, "Never shot. Dropped once.' " -- U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
Melissa Bosc, who works at her parents' restaurant, Cafe Croissant in northwest St. Petersburg, is bothered by all this French-bashing.
Bosc, 21, was born in New York. But her parents are both from France, and she speaks fluent French.
"I'm hanging with my friends and they start talking about how America should go to war and the French should go along. I told them I didn't want to talk about it because it could affect our friendship. Just change the subject.
"My parents and I talk about it with our customers," she added, "but nothing gets too heated. I have heard the stories about the wine dumping, but I don't think those people really understand the French people."
Florida is not a prime destination for French tourists. About 160,000 people visited Florida from France in 2000, the last year for which statistics are available. That's about one-tenth the number who come from the United Kingdom. Visitors listing France as their home country ranked seventh in 2000, behind Canada, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Germany.
Some observers have suggested the animosity is little more than a series of media-driven publicity stunts directed less at the French than at Francophiles, the snooty chablis and brie set.
A Gallup poll in early February found that nearly 60 percent of Americans view France favorably.
"Know why the French don't want to bomb Saddam Hussein? Because he hates America, he loves mistresses and he wears a beret. He is French." -- Conan O'Brien, TV personality
At the Cafe Largo restaurant Friday, a dozen French winemakers, many making their first trip to the United States, completed a week of tastings and sales calls in Florida without encountering anti-French sentiment.
One winemaker said a customer in Miami wondered what President Bush would think of his buying all that French wine.
"We agree Saddam (Hussein) must go," said Francois Labet, the proprietor of Chateau de la Tour, a winery in Vougeot, France. "It is only a question of how."
Still, the jokes persist.
"A lot of folks are still demanding more evidence before they actually consider Iraq a threat. For example, France wants more evidence. And you know I'm thinking, the last time France wanted more evidence they rolled right through Paris with the German flag." -- David Letterman, TV personality
Philippe Richou, a spokesman for the French consulate in Miami, accompanied his parents to St. Petersburg two weeks ago to visit the Dali Museum. He has lived in America less than three years.
"We've never heard anything rude or disrespectful," Richou said, "and I have a very strong accent. In fact, no one has called the consulate to complain. Florida is quiet. Except for Aaronson.
"Sometimes," he said, "there are differences between the French and Americans. But I know the main feeling in France is that the Americans are our friends.
"And I hope and think it's the same here."
-- Times staff writer Chris Sherman contributed to this report.