| 40. "Why do the French parade all the the time? Take the Champs Elysees, for example; every time you turn around there is a parade." They don't parade all the time. They do parade more than we do. They have more holidays. They have had a much longer and more complicated history. Since 1789, France has had two empires, two monarchies, and three republics. In France, as in America, there are a great many organizations {like our American Legion, VFWs, Masons, Odd Fellows, etc.) which hold annual meetings or conventions or parades. In France, as in any country which has been liberated after being under the heel of a conquerer for four years, there is an understandable upsurge of patriotism - and a desire to celebrate liberation, to honor their martyrs to commemorate their resistance. |