Something in the back of my head is telling me this morning's post slammed France a bit too hard, so this post is here to balance things out. The attitude of the French is enormously relaxed compared to the English. A 'Mediterranean' attitude to the world in many ways, France's fellow Latin neighbours also treat their own countries as the best things on Earth. No surprise that most have had fascist governments in the past century; and it is exactly the government that will help my argument: the problem with France is not the people, but the structure within which the people operate.
Take old Chirac for instance. He believed in his country, he put very capable people in top positions to address important issues. On the other hand his personal costs were staggering; Elysée bills reached €90m in 2005 but Mr Chirac had always been notorious for his food bills well before he arrived there. When mayor of Paris, he and his wife spent the equivalent of €251,000 on food in one year. Their personal food bill over eight years at Paris town hall was €2million, which includes €60 a day spent on herbal tea. Nothing was in place to stop him, and when a storm kicked off calling for him to be arrested once his presidency ended, he tried becoming a 'senator for life', also known as 'rich untouchable bureaucrat'.
France is proud to be French, I could slam France all day but they will still be happy being French, and the English will still be miserable! Maybe it's their good weather...
