Somehow Americans have a respect for France above other nations. What is French is classy and elegant. This is my perception anyway. When Americans favor things from other countries, they most often favor French things. I've never been entirely clear why. Maybe it's because France was the most visible nation to us during our early history?

I've visited England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland. There's no way I could rank one country over the other, they all had their charms. (Swiss food was my favorite.) That said, there was a jen-eh-say-kwah esthetic about France I've never gotten over. I suspect it's my enculturation growing up.