I'm Back Stateside

So I'm back from my walkabout in Europe. Let me just say it was awesome, amazing and way cooler than I had ever imagined. I thank you all for your comments and well wishes.

To answer the question about whether or not Europeans hate Americans, etc., the answer is definitely no. They think our government is quite mad, but most of them think their own governments are quite mad too. There's the rub, most governments are corrupt bastards, but the people are nice. They think sometimes that we're a bit obnoxious, but they think the French are more obnoxious, except of course the French, who think everyone else is inferior.

Actually, that's not true. The French are actually pretty nice, or at least the ones that I met were. Even in Paris where I had been warned that everyone was rude and hated Americans, I failed to come across a single rude person. And for a city that size, I was shocked. I've met more rude people in London. And I butchered French, I only speak a little, and most people if they knew English would just start speaking English to me when they realized that I wasn't fluent. Which is a bit infuriating if you're trying to learn their language. Most of the French in Paris speak English by the way, I suppose it's because they're so close to England, only a little over two hours away by Eurostar train. You know attitude is a lot of it. I wonder how many people who complain about others being rude to them, are really the cause of their own problems.

Now the French in the south, they don't speak much English, but they're as nice as can be. We got by with my terrible French and waving our hands about a lot. Check my blog on the Albigensian Crusade, because I'm going to update it and include a few photos that I took.