Volume 1 Issue 5 - October 2006

by Stephen Gascoigne

France, and the French, have attracted a lot of criticism in recent times. Remember the comment by George W Bush that they don't have a word for entrepreneur? There was also the accusation that they were 'cheese-eating surrender monkeys”, whatever they happen to be! Such comments were seen, in Europe at least, as the product of overzealous Americans who didn't understand the complexities of European politics and history. As a committed Francophile, I could ignore these words and rest in the conviction that France is God's country, a place of great beauty, with an elegant, aristocratic language and wonderful food.