Mar. 4, 2003 - No one is replacing the complimentary bottle of Evian with Calistoga, but it cannot be denied that the French have suffered some casualties of late at the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood City, Calif. 

They have taken down their flag. 

C'est la guerre -- such is war. 

The French hotel chain says this courtesy is being extended at all of its 10 hotels in the United States so no American guest will feel unwelcome. The dispute between the two countries over whether to invade Iraq may also be a factor. 

"They explain it by that very well-known saying," said a French Embassy spokesman in Washington, D.C., who would not give his name. "`Business is business.'" 

The falling of the flag in Redwood City is nowhere near as serious as a gesture by a cafe owner in Beaufort, N.C., who replaced the French fries on his menu with "freedom fries." And the change is elegant compared with the recent observation of Jed Babbin, a former deputy undersecretary of defense, who said: "Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion -- you just leave a lot of useless, noisy baggage behind." 

Many French in the United States say that Americans have misunderstood their country's position on Iraq, and Americans do not appreciate that two world wars in your back yard can bring a different perspective. 

"The two world wars are still very fresh" for the French, said Sophie Ravel, a Palo Alto real estate agent who has lived in the United States since 1984. "People in America have never seen their family killed in front of their eyes." 

The French are no cowards. France has 4,500 troops in Afghanistan. The French fought beside the Americans in Bosnia and made up the second-largest contingent of peacekeepers in Kosovo. They were America's allies in the Gulf War. 

Yo-jung Chen, press attache for the French consulate in San Francisco, said that office has received 400 phone calls, e-mails and letters about a possible war. Most back France's stance of giving United Nations weapons inspectors more time. Chen's staff is hoping to respond. 

"Of course," he said, "when the mail is full of dirty words, we don't answer it." 

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(c) 2003, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.