In defence of the french

Another post that has nothing to do with our canvas art business, although the concession of adding the pictures means I can tell myself this is 'work'!

Over the last few days I've heard a few utterances of that common English statement, 'I hate the French'. On a national radio programme, there was also a reference to 'Cheese eating surrender monkeys', and that wasn't even Jeremy Clarkson this time. This is a time when (thankfully), xenophobia in the UK is if not decreasing, then at least being driven out of our everyday consciousness. But it appears that one of the few socially acceptable bastions of the ignorant is to dismiss the population of France with such a sweeping statement.

If I challenge these statements when I hear them in person, I am met with several factors which come together to convince English people to hold these views. The first of these is rendered no less stupid by my typing it, as when it is spoken by these people. They stink. Or they stink of garlic. Seriously, sometimes this is repeated by people who have jobs, seem quite intelligent and contribute to society in some way or another. Is garlic not commonly used in the UK's most common cuisine - Indian food? Or on pizzas, pasta, Chinese food or in many English dishes?

Let's take another one, they are arrogant. OK, there are some arrogant people in France, but using such an arrogant statement to criticise people for being arrogant makes little sense. And people should contrast the average level of customer service these days in Paris compared to London. Their capital city, famed for rudeness, is streets ahead of its English counterpart. Like England, the majority of French people are pleasant and welcoming, in some cases more so.

Another one is a further classic. They hate us so we hate them. Well, there's an ideology that is going to sort out the world's problems.

Some of this negativity stems from the Second World War, with a cavalier mindset that in this period in history all Frenchmen were cowards. It is historically correct that France did surrender following the invasion by Nazi Germany. But people who make these allegations rarely have any concept of what occured. The defeat owed much to the defensive strategy of French military command, insufficient preparedness, the declaration of war by Italy and the absence of any allies with the military power to resist the superior German war machine. These factors, coupled with superior air power, led to the end result more than any inherent lack of bravery.

Such a dismissive attitude is a poor tribute to 100,000 French soldiers who were killed, or the 1 million who spent the rest of the war help captive in camps. It should not be forgotten either, that 30 years earlier, a war fought bitterly on French soil led to the deaths of 1.7 million of the nation's inhabitants. With such a horrendous toll in living memory, there was inevitably going to be an effect on the nation's psyche.

France is a beautiful country, with fantastic wine and food, an enviable transport infrastructure, countryside, culture and cities. Just like the UK, with the exception of the wine and the transport links. I would listen if these statements were backed up with arguments based on the concerning rise of odious right wing politics in France. Or the treatment of former colonial subjects or the casual attitude to animal cruelty. But not because they stink.

And as for the cheese eating. There are more varieties of cheese in Britain than there are in France. We love the stuff too.