Francophiles and phobes

Abiola points to a Guardian piece on the book - "Pourquoi les français sont les moins fréquentables de la planète*" by (Frenchmen) Olivier Clodong and Jose-Manuel Lamarque - on how the French are perceived by their fellow Europeans and suggests:

Mon dieu! Could it be that there just may be a touch of truth to the stereotypes about the land of the Franks?

Well, there's no smoke without fire, I guess. But, I suspect that what the British (chauvinists, stubborn), Germans (pretentious, haughty), Italians (snobbish, arrogant) and Greeks (egocentric bons vivants) are mostly responding to is the "official" idealised notion of Frenchness peddled by the political, diplomatic and cultural elite, rather than direct experience of ordinary French people. I've generally found French people, at home and abroad, to be friendly, approachable, polite, helpful - more or less the opposite of the stereotype. Which, of course makes it all the more difficult for me to fathom the bottomless well of political obtuseness they demonstrate when, er, demonstrating or voting.

[* "Why the French are the Worst Company on the Planet"]

Comments

[dearieme]

I was in Paris in March and one frog enquired whether I was "Irlandais". Rude or what?

[Brian]

I've always found the French very friendly, eager to engage you. Perhaps outsiders are unable to distinguish between the cognoscenti and the normal Frenchman.