| 30. "All the French want is a good time. That's all they think about in Paris." If you judge the French by those you see on the Champs Elysees or in Montmartre, you are making the same mistake that was made by the tourist who visited the House of David and asked "Why don't Americans shave?" Paris is not France, any more than 52nd (sic) Street is America. Paris has for several hundred years been one of the great tourist attractions of the world. As a matter of fact, the French have much 1688 of the "having a good time" habit than we do. The average French family ordinarily spends less on pleasure in a month than we do on a week-end. The French reputation for gaiety was built on the fame of Paris as a gay city and on the French way of doing things. The French theater was always bright and varied. Paris' cabarets and music halls were famed throughout the world. But there are about 35 million Frenchmen who do not live in Paris. |