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As a French native living in Strasbourg (Alsace), I'll just give my point of view that is NOT based on history, geography and whatever else. Just my opinion, my feeling.
As an Alsatian, I feel closer to Germany, and not only geographically. Our mentality is closer to the Germans's than to the French. We often joke about wanting to be annexed to the Bade Wurtemberg rather than to Lorraine (in the recent project of fusioning different regions). A lot of Alsatians also say "We're not French, we're Alsatians..." The dialect is a German dialect. I can go to Germany whenever I want, I live just a few minutes away.
People of the South can do the same with Spain. I see the south of France as being more Latin than the rest of the country. Again, their mentality, the way they work and live seems closer to the Latin countries for us, Alsatians and Northerners.
So I'd say Alsace has more in common with Germany. South has more in common with Spain. The rest of the country is French.
Alsatians tend to suffer from "Kevinismus" ("Kevinism") just like Germans! These "English" names like Justin/Justine, Candice, Mandy, Kevin, Jason etc. seem to be more common there than in the rest of France!
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Originally Posted by Perfect Stranger
You mean racist, sexist, "white nationalist" "libertarian" ideologist Charles Murray? Is that where you get your worldview from? And you have the arrogance and ignorance of trying to shed light on us?
Arturo vidal= Don_Caballero/Traveler86: a self-hating Argentine/Chilean who looks down on his fellow "darker-skinned" countrymen and always brags about how white he is and how "swarthy" and "Latin" the native populations of the British Isles supposedly are as compared to Scandinavia or Germany.
I as a northerner feel definitely closer to Germany, but the South ("Occitania") is much MUCH closer to Spain. As my grandfather used to say "we're 2 folks in 1"- and this not counting the Celtic, Basque,Italian (Corsican) oversea territories and immigrant communities. France is actually a melting pot. But it's not enough for some "antiracist" ideologues. They want this country to be yet more of a melting pot, more even than the US, they argue that it is "France's historical destiny". Might be , but I wonder how can one still have more, I believe the extreme limit is already reached.
As an Alsatian, I feel closer to Germany, and not only geographically. Our mentality is closer to the Germans's than to the French. We often joke about wanting to be annexed to the Bade Wurtemberg rather than to Lorraine (in the recent project of fusioning different regions). A lot of Alsatians also say "We're not French, we're Alsatians..." The dialect is a German dialect. I can go to Germany whenever I want, I live just a few minutes away.
Coming from the south of Baden I also feel more at home in Alsace than in other regions in Germany where they speak differently. The common dialect (and hence ethnical background which I am not allowed to mention in this thread) is still more unifying than the official nationality.
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