Why Italy and France are each other's closest sister nation..

[Lightshade25]

Funny how Western Europeans know Germany as a wine producing country of note (with a long tradition) but people like you and CV don't. Amazing. Where I come from we'd it an example of a hole in ones education.

In the US, Germany is known as a beer country, not much for its wine production. You live close to Germany, maybe that's why.

[Cristiano viejo]

Do you know what we used to say? "Africa begins at the Pyrenees." Now it's not true anymore because of Iberian mass immigration; the border moved North.

Now it is us who say it

Germany has a real tradition in wine making btw. Going back around 2000 years. But then again: maybe Spanish are the odd ones out in not knowing Western Europe very well.

Perhaps since a Dutch perspective German wines are that good

"The wogs begin at Calais" was a satyrical sentence made up by a labour MP to mock what he perceived as the excessive xenophobia of a conservative MP.
The sentence about Africa beginning at the Pyrenees wasn't satyrical, it comes from a quite serious 19th century book from Dufour de Pradt:

"It is an error of geography to have assigned Spain to Europe; it belongs to Africa: blood, manners, language, the way of life and making war, in Spain everything is African. The two nations have been mixed up for too long–the Carthaginians who came from Africa to Spain, the Vandals who left Spain for Africa, the Moors who stayed in Spain for 700 years–for such a long cohabitation not to have confused the race and customs of the two countries. If the Spaniard were Mohammedan, he would be completely African; it is religion that has kept it in Europe."

Nothing is Spain is African.

You as French can not say the same.

[The Lawspeaker]

In the US, Germany is known as a beer country, not much for its wine production. You live close to Germany, maybe that's why.

I suppose Americans need to learn fewer stereotypes and more in-depth knowledge. It's not just because we live close to Germany, we actually get history and geography here it's also because in Western Europe, we've known our neighbouring countries (intimately - take that literally - as travel and intermarriage rates have always been high) for a long, long time. Pretty much, our histories can be seen as one.

[The Lawspeaker]

Just so you know btw:.. this is not the national costume of Germany:



It's a Disney-fied version of the real Bavarian Tracht - which is a completely different thing (and yes, the sample from below just shows the Tracht from a particularly valley or even village and only for those belonging to a certain social group or people who were either single or married - Protestant or Catholic) - because these clothes used to be a code to tell people everything they needed to know about a person's societal rank, marital status, place of origin and religion:



And is, mostly, only worn on very special occasions.

Germany is not Bavaria. There are a lot more states and a many more regions within those states. Each one being very different from the other.

[Western_French]

I think north Americans live a lot with a stereotyped perception of Europe, same goes here in Latin America where I settled a few years ago. Germany is maybe as diverse as France if you compare each one of its borders.

[Tenma de Pegasus]

I think north Americans live a lot with a stereotyped perception of Europe, same goes here in Latin America where I settled a few years ago. Germany is maybe as diverse as France if you compare each one of its borders.

Are you enjoying Latin America?

[Western_French]

Are you enjoying Latin America?

Love it. People are very friendly and easy going and also have great values. Where I live in Southern Chile there is also a big connection with Germany, more than half of the people here have at least someone of German ancestry in their family.

[billErobreren]

Funny how Western Europeans know Germany as a wine-producing country of note (with a long tradition) but people like you and CV don't. Amazing. Where I come from we'd it an example of a hole in ones education.

We do get German wines: Riesling being the most commonly found. They are, for the most part, pretty affordable and unassuming. I reckon one, by the name of "Black Tower" could be among the cheapest of their exports. I know this mostly because I'm in the minority of Americans that drink wine pretty often, although it's mostly to accomodate other people, I'll admit, also my mother always liked Rieslings the best. So those would always be on my list if I were to have her over for dinner.
Wine was always seen as a bourgeoisie drink here. 85% of the wine produced comes from California and red is the most popular among US wine drinkers from what I've seen, so I can understand why most don't browse hard enough for German exports.

[The Lawspeaker]

I think north Americans live a lot with a stereotyped perception of Europe, same goes here in Latin America where I settled a few years ago. Germany is maybe as diverse as France if you compare each one of its borders.

Bretagne:



Les Landes:




Etc. etc. In Germany the same story.

Saxony - a couple on their wedding day:




She is from the Vierlanden area near Hamburg:



From Wurttemberg near the French border:




On the other side of the river in France (in Alsace):




From Scheeßel in Lower Saxony:



What newly-weds from Niedergörsdorf in Brandenburg used to look like:



Of course, costumes are now something for very special occassions but it should show one that there is no such thing as "one France" or "one Germany".

[The Lawspeaker]

We do get German wines: Riesling's being the most commonly found. They are, for the most part, pretty affordable and unassuming. I reckon one, by the name of "Black Tower" could be among the cheapest of their exports. I know this mostly because I'm in the minority of Americans that drink wine pretty often, although it's mostly to accomodate other people, I'll admit, also my mother always liked Rieslings the best. So those would always be on my list if I were to have her over for dinner.
Wine drinking was always seen as a bourgeoisie drink here. 85% of the wine produced comes from California and red is the most popular among US wine drinkers from what I've seen, so I can understand why most don't browse hard enough for German exports.

Riesling is quite big here too. Cheaper wines would be of the Liebfraumilch variety. Not my thing, though, I prefer slightly better quality and Germany offers a lot of that too.