When a French TV correspondent wanted to know what “real Americans” were saying about people in his homeland, he came to Lawrence to find out.

Pascal Golomer, a New York-based reporter for the France 2 network, visited a Kansas University French class Tuesday to learn how the U.S.-led war in Iraq has affected relations between the two nations.

“A lot of people in France assume people in the middle of the United States aren’t very concerned about the French position, that they’d want to boycott French products,” he said. “Even though the two official positions are different totally, all Americans aren’t George Bush. But to a lot of French people Americans are George Bush.”

Golomer, along with photographer Tristan Le Bras, arrived in Kansas Monday, when he participated in a radio talk show with Jim Cates on KMAJ in Topeka. Golomer said he’d been surprised how civil Kansans are about their views, which range from total support of the war in Iraq to total opposition. The pair came to Kansas because the map showed them it was nearly the exact middle of the continental United States.

The 25 students in assistant professor Bruce Hayes’ class on Tuesday were generally opposed to the war and sympathetic to French views. Their comments will be featured during an evening news program Thursday on France 2, the rough equivalent of the BBC in England.

Mohammad Mohtashemipour, a senior from Leawood, said he was glad to let the French know some Americans are opposed to the war.

A French TV network, filming in Kansas to see what real

“I think it’s a great way to express what the average people think of the war,” he said. “It’s not just stereotypical. There are people here who support France’s point of view.”

Paige Worthy, a sophomore from Prairie Village, agreed. She said she was concerned about the rift between American and French governments spreading to the rest of their societies.

“There’s so much tension,” she said. “I think it’s great to have (the TV crew) here. There’s so much anti-American sentiment in France.”

While in Kansas, Golomer and Le Bras also are driving to Wichita, where they will tape stories about the return of freed POW Patrick Miller and the aircraft industry.

Hayes, the professor, said much of the class — titled “France Today” — has been spent talking about U.S.-French relations and reading the French press. He said he was glad to help give French TV viewers the students’ point of view about international relations.

“Conflicts always start in stereotypes,” he said. “You’ll have a French national audience. That does a huge amount to change perceptions.”