Day 3190 (Tuesday) 3rd March 2026

This is the Castle Hill waterfall in Nice

and this is Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

It was quite cold today, the sun tried to shine but it didn’t quite manage it, the tourist boat was quite empty, which is so sad to see.

After doing some chores Huw planted the new flowers we bought yesterday.

We’ve tried growing geraniums before but they’ve never worked, fingers crossed these will last.

This one is called a treasure flower

Badger had a good munch on the geraniums

found this article about French stereotypes, it’s quite long so I’ll post it over a few days.

French People: Stereotypes and Myths

So much has been written about French stereotypes... some of it wrong, but much of it uncomfortably close to home. Being French, I do fit in with many of these – but certainly not all.

The French being French, we disagree on most everything and succeed in confusing everyone, but there are a few bases for consensus: we are complex, our culture is rich, our history fascinating and our food (most of it, at least) delectable.

I am half-French and so I have the privilege of being only half confused. Let's look more closely at some of these French people stereotypes and determine which are true, which are outright lies planted by our historical enemies, and which are true-ish but we'd rather not admit it.

The French are arrogant

This is among the most common stereotypes of French people but is a bit unfair, as it lumps all French together. Parisians tend to behave more arrogantly than people from other parts of France, where you'll be surprised to find people are quite normal, possibly as familiar to you as your own.

And even this isn't quite true.

Parisians have made great efforts in recent years to be more welcoming and have, to widespread surprise, succeeded rather well.

Let's face it, if you're from a city like Paris, you could be forgiven a bit of one-upmanship, don't you think? And let's not forget, we French tend to believe we are better than most, wherever we're from.

Perhaps pride is mistaken for arrogance because the French are extremely proud of their country and won't abide any negative comments about it. This may be arrogant, or even rude, but... it is.

The French are lousy tippers

Quite true, and with reason: the tips is already included in the bill.

A 15% service charge is usually added to your meal and distributed to your waiter or waitress. In France, restaurant staff make 'decent' salaries and do not live off their tips. That said, it is rather nice to round things up... but it's a gesture, not an obligation.

The only exception is when service is not included, in which case the menu will note it clearly: 'service non-compris'. In this case, in theory, you should leave a tip — because it is 'non compris', not included. I would leave 10%-12%. 

Generous yes, but not too generous

Here's what a normal tip looks like when service is included: say your drink costs €2.80, and you'd like to leave a tip: round it up to €3. If your meal is €37, you can leave €40.

The more expensive your meal, the more you might consider leaving. But remember: it is not an obligation. Unlike in the USA, where a waiter might chase you down the street (as once happened to me) for not leaving enough.

Here, an oversized tip won't make you look generous – just odd. A really large tip might actually prompt a waiter to chase after you — thinking you've made a mistake.

The French always break the law

If you're talking about the car that speeds past you at 150 km/hr, then yes, absolutely. And if you mean avoiding paying for parking or other small infractions, then yes, we do try to circumvent the law.

But on big things, we tend to be law abiding, especially if there is a price to pay. The French broadly demonstrated obedience and courtesy during the Great Lockdown of 2020, sticking by the rules (helped of course by a massive police presence and hefty fines).

We will obey the law when there is a good reason to (like avoiding prison). The very rich and well connected, of course, play by a different set of rules, but that's not only in France... Plus, frankly, we have our share of weird laws so the urge to disobey is understandable.

The French are always on strike

This is no myth: it's true. I myself rarely fly Air France because each time I've done so, I've been delayed by a strike of pilots or aircraft mechanics or air traffic controllers.

That said, strikes are often predictable and workarounds can be found: people tend to walk off the job around holidays, to be as disruptive as possible but also because extending existing holidays by a few days is not at all unpleasant.

Plus, we love a good fight (think French Revolution). It's one of our endearing personality traits.

The French are good lovers

This one you must find out for yourself.

The French are sexy

The French attitude is that sex is a private matter and in any case, most French abhor talking about their personal lives.

What is true is that the French aren't as hung up on sexual issues as are our Anglo-Saxon brothers and sisters. We don't take sex lightly, exactly, but we don't consider it such a major issue either. The same goes for nudity. It may be outrageous to you, but to us it's just normal (or at least used to be until our younger generations became more prudish).

That said, some surveys have determined that the French have more sex each year than any other nation. Indeed, many French men and women feel (and have felt for centuries) that adultery isn't all that bad as long as it doesn't hurt anyone and no one finds out. 

We like to complicate things

We do. We also like to debate, and to contradict, sometimes with reason, but often just for the joy of  intellectual exercise.

Read a newspaper in French and English and you'll immediately understand. An American or Britlish news story will start with the most important fact, simply put, and will work backwards, with the story unfurling into its minor details.

A French-language story will bury the main point somewhere within the folds of an argument. Instead, the story will start with something witty or clever, the point being to use words wisely rather than to say what you mean. The (erroneous) assumption is that anyone with a brain should be able to read between the lines...

In reality, writing well probably carries more weight than providing information.

In the same vein, we tend to be abstract rather than concrete, with abstraction the more nuanced and therefore preferred approach. This, you see, provides us with more room for manoeuver, because we can shift along with the debate and adapt our arguments. Be concrete and you'll be locked into your position for life. How boring.

We prefer form over function

This leads on from the previous point, although it is not necessarily true.

We believe we measure up to our Germanic and Anglo-Saxon competitors with our technical savvy and industrial expertise and, when required, we can be precise and exact. But that doesn't stop us from wandering away from a technical discussion because a product's beauty or shape has caught our eye, a discussion that will inevitably end up heated, over lunch and halfway into the afternoon.

This is why beauty is so intrinsic to the French: we love it, in all shapes and forms, in art, in fashion and in ourselves. We don't have to look perfect, but we do have to look our best (a bit like Italians but with fewer hand gestures)