"Frank Vaughan" wrote in message
...
France, if you recall, has for years been excessively rude to US
tourists.

Oh come on, you can't criticise people for having a hobby. :^) This maybe
something of a generalisation, but call it an un-scientific observation:
North American tourists (I'll include Canadians too, why not) often *appear*
to be of the opinion than anyone and everyone in the countries they visit is
there solely for their benefit, like we're all staff at Disneyland or
something. When I hear a whiney kid point at an old house (say 40 years+)
and go "Gee Ma, is that a castle?" it's hard not to be rude. (Ok, so
that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I did hear it from one pointing at a
church once.)

BTW, don't take this post too seriously, it's just all the manic
nationalistic attitude in this group today has gone to my head and I thought
I might as well just join in for the hell of it.

Si