The IQ2 London-Paris Festival, held jointly at the Royal Geographical Society and the Institut Francais on 6-8 October, has been billed as an opportunity to reflect on why, basically, the French and the British do not get on.
Among those things listed as irritating to the British is French foreign policy, especially on Iraq, seen as based on only one principle – naked self-interest. The French, for their part, are equally cynical about the so-called “special relationship” between Britain and the United States, believing it illusory at best.
The British are envious of some aspects of the French social model, while suspecting that even the French no longer believe in it and can no longer afford it. As for the French health service, the British cannot make up their mind whether this is as superior to the NHS as it seems, or simply reflects the much greater investment in it.
French curiosity also extends to matters much more mundane. For example, acknowledging the success on the international stage of so many British designers, they are baffled as to why so many Britons, as they see it, have an execrable dress sense.
www.iq2londonparisfestival.com
From our October 2006 e-newsletter
