National and regional identity

For the French, or the Parisians more specifically, being a Parisian, means more to them than indentifying themselves as French. The regional nationality is not just about identifying yourself, or the specific specialties of your region, it is a state of mind. Currently I am at a friend's house in the regional location of Alsace. In Alsace the region is popluar for their farming and their long history with being fought over by both France and Germany. The people in Alsace are extremely different than the people in Paris. The way they eat, speak, and address guests is very different than the hustle of busy metropolitian Paris life. The specialties of the national regions such as cheese, wines and dishes help to build a particular repetoire for each area. The specialties can be nationally recognized and must be recognized by the government in order to be grown or claimed to be from that area. I hope to go to more regions in France and contiune to notice the differences between the regions, because it is very important for the French to have an identity more specific to the actual region that they come from. It is similar in the United States when considering the federal regions, or the individual states. Now that I am outside the states, I refer to myself as being from the states, and do not specify California, but when I am in the states, I refer to myself as a Californian, or even go further to say that I am from Los Angeles. I think I do this and that the French have their regional identies first in their mind because home is not a country, home is a place, a specific place, that has specific meaning to your identidy, such as what that region is known for or what that region produces. Whenever I tell anyone that I am from LA they automatically assume that I constantly am seeing celebrites or that it is common to just see Brad Pitt walking around. Regions make the ties to our home feel more intimate.