Your post implies that:
a) I did not follow your Golden Rule and
b) I acted like a noisy American everywhere I went.

No, the reactions I received from the French people were totally uncalled for. Unlike you, every interaction with them, without even a word from us, was approached with seeming disdain.

Examples:
a) On out first day in Paris, my friend and I met a friend from high school who had lived with his family in Paris from birth to junior high, when they came to America. Mid-high school they moved back. He spoke perfect French and as far as we knew, totally fit in. We all sat at an outdoor cafe. We didn't say a word. He talked to the waiter in French. When the waiter left, our friend said he had been talking to him very rudely, because he sensed we were American. The waiter didn't come back for 15 minutes, and even then handed us some bread and water then left again. Our friend said we should just leave, so we did.

b) when my friend and I (the one I was traveling with) were leaving Paris to go to Barcelona, we took the train. We got to the station with a good amount of time, but couldn't for the life of us find the right train. We finally asked an attendant which train was going to Barcelona. Her reply was like something from a movie:
[snooty]"I'm sorry, French trains don't go to Spain"[/snooty] Then she turned and walked away.
When I say it was snooty, I am not exaggerating. It had nothing to do with what an American thinks of the French accent from movies and such. We had plenty of exposure to that while we were there. If you could hear my exact impression in real life, you would be amazed. I promise I am not making more of it than was really there. You see, if she had wanted to be more helpful, she would have clarified: the trains go to Spain's border, then you hop across the tracks and get on another one, which takes you to your destination. So, instead of pointing out which train that was, she just left. We barely made it to the right one, and really had no idea if it was or not when we borded.

c) The worst of all. Coming back from Spain, through France to Italy. Just before crossing the Italian border, we had to do the train switch again. What did I do? I left my money belt on the train. It had my passport, any ID, and all my money. I was a total mess. I had no idea what to do. I called home at 3AM US time and my parents tried to talk me through it. My friend and I eventually found a police station by the train station. In it were Italian and French police officers. The Italians (identified because my companion is Italian) were extremely nice and helpful and seemed concerned. We weren't there more than 3 minutes before a French policewoman, leaning back in a chair at her desk on the other side of the room said "oh don't listen to them, they're just Americans."

These were exact experiences that I had. I did not exaggerate any part of it, or even paraphrase what these people said to me. In each situation we didn't say a thing that could possibly be considered rude, because we either didn't say anything at all, or we were simply asking for help. Because of these situations, I have no affinity for the French. You have no idea how insulted I felt with the way they treated us.

That's why I say don't make assumptions about the American visitor, ie: that we weren't the ones treating the people correctly. Your Golden Rule should have been explained to the hosts, not the guests.

And by the way, as I said, every time we met someone or needed help in any of the other three countries we visited on that trip, we treated those people with respect, gratitude, and friendship, and they treated us the same way.

sorry if I'm offending anyone, I don't mean to