Banh mi, not baguettes: French influence in Vietnam declines

As Vietnam celebrates the 80th anniversary of its declaration of independence from colonial rule this week, French cultural influence remains ubiquitous, but not many people in the South-east Asian nation are aware of its prevalence.

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HANOI -

A massive military parade on Sept 2 will herald the independence proclaimed by revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh on Sept 2, 1945, which was meant to end nearly a century of French rule but instead started a decade-long war until the French eventually left in 1954.

Ba Dinh Square in central Hanoi, where the legendary leader affectionately known in Vietnam as Uncle Ho made his historical declaration, is flanked by two of the capital's best-preserved French colonial buildings - now home to the presidential palace and Foreign Ministry.

But none of the six under-30 Hanoians interviewed by Reuters in front of the yellow-painted Foreign Ministry headquarters, a masterpiece of French Indochine style, was aware of its architectural origin.