In France, the american way is seen as a threat to our culture and most of what is imported or copied there is not the best America could provide. Nobody forces the French to adopt the base ball hat toward the back and the baggy pants dragging crotches on a the curb...sure! but come on: the US marketting is huge and via TV shows, movies and video Games the junk culture is spreading like the plague.
Politically, the US is a young powerful country, a kid, a bully with attention disorder and short term memory. Italian guy is right, I would be German or Russian without the cold war....but I know better now and history showed me it was not just an act of greatness of heart. For one country the US brought freedom too, I can easily name one that was messed up, most of the time with a good intent at the start.
As far as remembering our debts, again, we celebrate May 8 and October 11 every year on top of each little city or town celebrating its liberation day. Military honors, vets, civilians crowd the US military cemetaries back home and "celebrate" all the US soldiers who died for us...we remember! In America everything was packed up in Vets day! I wonder how many among you can right away, from the top of their head, tell me what 6/6, 5/8 and 10/11 are? We all do and it is a day off!
As far as relations go you have 3 things in motion: the media and their agenda but not representative of the people (french hatred vs US hatred), the politicians (power play, national agenda) and the military (France is the second force provider in Afghanistan after the US, supports the US in Haiti and former Yugoslavia, just moved to help Sudan on its own and has 1 third of its total forces deployed in various countries within the UN or NATO!).
We have our own culture, national agenda, sensitivity. Too often the US tried to boss us around or stabbed us on the back too (Indochina, Suez).
It is the famous French - American love-hate partnership!