FROM WHENCE CABANA BOY:

Our attitude problem is not something to be proud of, says Paris politician (Kim Willsher, 10/10/2004, Daily Telegraph)

Senator Bernard Plasait, a member of France's upper house of parliament, has concluded what millions of visitors have known for years. "Our bad image in this area, the arrogance we are accused of, our refusal to speak foreign languages, the sense we give that it's a great honour to visit us are among the ugly facts of which we should not be proud," reads the first paragraph of his report, commissioned by the government.

"Certainly these accusations don't date from yesterday," the report continues. "In the 18th century, Horace Walpole wrote that he couldn't stand the French. 'I detest them for their insolent and misplaced air of superiority,' he declares.

"Where does this detestable reputation, which is like a ball and chain, come from?" His conclusion is that the French have only themselves to blame for their notoriety. [...]

"To claim we are the 'number one tourist destination in the world' doesn't count for anything," says the report. "Among the 75 million visitors counted in 2003 were those who were only crossing the country, once on their way to Spain or Italy and a second time to return home."

The report says a more realistic way of judging is by the annual income from tourists that places France in third position with €30 billion (£20.4 billion) after the United States - €73 billion - and Spain, on €33 billion.

It also says an Ipsos survey of world travellers who were asked which countries they would most like to travel to placed France fourth behind Italy, Spain, Britain and equal to the US.

The government was particularly alarmed by the 21 per cent drop in spending by US visitors to just under €5.2 million.

Wealth of Others Helped to Shape Kerry's Life (ROBERT F. WORTH, 10/10/04, NY Times)

ST.-BRIAC-SUR-MER, France - The estate that belonged to John Kerry's grandparents sits high on a bluff in this Brittany resort town, a massive stone house overlooking a stunning landscape of wind-tossed ocean and jagged headlands. Villagers still speak in awed tones about his grandmother, who was known for her generosity and her regal horseback rides along the hilltops.

It was here, on childhood summer visits with his cousins, that Mr. Kerry played on the beach and fished for octopus in the tidal pools. And it was here that the boy from Massachusetts glimpsed a much grander life than he had known back home, and began, perhaps, to acquire the sheen of privilege and sophistication that would become an inescapable part and a persistent liability of his life in politics.

"Look - the best view in all of northern France," said Ian Forbes, Mr. Kerry's maternal uncle, speaking in French, as he led a reporter to the back of the family house in St. Briac with its vast lawn stretching toward the sea.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 10, 2004 3:22 PM