The next time someone tells you that we're a bunch of rednecks but the French are so sophisticated - -

show them this - -

France's constitutional watchdog on Thursday endorsed a divisive law forbidding face-covering Islamic veils anywhere in public, but expressed concern about applying it in places of worship such as a mosque.

The decision of the Constitutional Council removes a key hurdle for the law, overwhelmingly approved in both houses of parliament last month, despite concerns from some Muslims that it will further stigmatize France's No. 2 religion.

The law, the first of its kind in western Europe, forbids veils such as the niqab or burqa anywhere in public and imposes a euro150 fine ($210) on anyone wearing one — and a euro30,000 ($41,700) fine on anyone who forces a woman to wear one. Only some 2,000 women in France are estimated to wear such veils, but proponents see the law as a symbolic defense of French values such as women's rights and secularism.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130405230

Always remember, according to the U.S. media, the French are chic and cultured, and Americans are Islamophobes!