I lived a couple of months in France in 1999, working at the LOA and Saclay- I stayed in a town called Gif-Sur-Yvette- charming town with cobblestone streets and and friendly people...

On my way back and forth to the train station I passed a small book store- I sometimes went in to pick up english newspapers and french books and magazines- I could read French, especially science papers and articles (Science has language that has neccessarily become internationalized). Despite my surname, I cannot speak the language or understand it when spoken at a normal rate. Ciel et espace was a delight to read... but what blew me away was how- in this tiny shop- there were bona fide scientific journals- referreed journals... on many areas of science for sale...

Here, I have to dig behind copies of 'Maxim' and hot Rod magazines with bimbos in bikinis on the cover to find 'Scientific American'... It is clear that the French citizens value education more than the american public...