In general i could say France is seen as a dream country in where i live. The first thing that comes to people's minds when they hear the word "France" is the Eifel tower and the magnificence of Paris. Another lovely thing about France is it's wonderful language. The language is known to be very romantic and classy in here. Actually there were a lot of French in Iran around 200 hundred years ago up to the Islamic revolution. The first school teachers here were the French, because at the time when the first schools were established there was no local teacher so we had to import the French teachers, and naturally the language of Education became French for a long time. That's why there are so many French words in our language. Another important view about France is its superb culture. French literature, music, and cinema are very popular in Iran. Writers such as Camus, Voltaire, Sartre, Hugo, Molier, Flaubert, and the list goes on, are widely read. The list on music and cinema will be so long that i'd rather just mention some of my own favorites, i love Jacque Brel and Aznavure, and Edith Piaf ( I also listen a lot to Stromae, but he's not well-known in Iran). i can't think of any bad public opinion about France. People also speak of French exquisite cuisine and fashion. ah i just remembered, some people think that debauchery is very common in France and they see lots of it in French movies. So some people think of you as unscrupulous ;)

Oui Nicole, beaucoup d'étrangers considèrent les Français comme des gens fashionable mais je trouve qu'il y a beaucoup d'inégalités dans notre pays.. I mean, il y a très peu de Français très riches et beaucoup de très pauvres. Malheureusement, ce sont toujours cette petite quantité de très riches qui sont mis en avant, qui font la mode. Tout le monde pense que la France est représentée par ces très riches mais la plupart d'entre nous se moquent de la mode, du style fashion, nous ne pouvons pas mettre 400$ dans un t-shirt parce que c'est du Yves-Saint-Laurent ou du Jean-Paul Gaultier. Je ne savais pas que les Françaises avaient un certain style dans la façon de manger hahaha nous ne sommes considérées que comme des femmes stylées mais stupides. Les temps changent, nous préférons avoir un bon job, un bon salaire, partir en vacances, plutôt que de devoir compter sur l'argent de notre époux :')

I agree with Amelia: French cooking is always considered very good. (And I actually really like escargot and I could die of happiness in some patisseries...!). The first time I went to Paris it seemed like everyone smoked, but that was before the big smoking ban in 2007 and, to be fair, I think that's probably true of many big European cities. I can't say I noticed it much at all the second time I visited after the ban so I wonder if that has anything to do with it (or if it's in my imagination!). I think another major cliché, but not necessarily a negative one, is that French people are all very classy and fashionable and fit. Obviously not all of them will be in reality, but I think a place that has created so much art and fashion and 'aloof but sensitive' creatives has lead to this idea forming in people's minds. In fact, there is a book called "How to be Parisian: Wherever You Are" which has become pretty popular in many bookstores (and I'm sure it is not the first book like that to be popular in the British and American markets). I think I even remember a book a while ago about how to eat like a French woman. I think, on the one hand, books like "How To Be Parisian" shows a preoccupation with the French which could be flattering, but I've flipped through it in the store and found it that it did have a *lot* of clichés about the effortless cool that all French people are somehow born with. I assumed it was all just meant to be light and silly... On the other hand maybe some of that shyness actually gets interpreted as a cool indifference instead of rudeness sometimes. Who knows! ((I've always thought many French people seemed pretty cool if I'm honest...)) ha

Hmmmm Nutella