The American Tourists Return to Paris

When I was in Paris back in May, one of the waiters joked [in very good english] that "The only thing worse than Paris filled with Americans is Paris with no Americans at all." He said it with a smile and a wink, and I left a nice tip (or at least, I think I did. Maybe I stiffed him by accident, and did my part to destroy international cooperation.)

There were plenty of Americans, though: most of them were working hard to pretend they were Canadian. (Bastards.)

Anyhoo, I've long thought it hilarious that the central premise of so many of our alleged intelligentsia in this country is that 1.) you can be an American who prides yourself on using the word"intelligentsia" to describe oneself yet can't understand whypeople laugh at you for it, and most importantly 2.) that the goal of American foreign policy should be to insure that the locals are happy to see you when you take your well earned sabbatical in Provence.

Well, it looks like the American tourists are beginning to return to Paris, although the reason is not amusing locals. (Hint: its not to go and do pennance by laying the severed head of Paul Wolfowitz at the feet of the Charles de Gaulle statue...)