3 things I dislike about France

I like France, and I don't dislike French people any more than any other nationality (I've lived here for 5 years after all). However, there are some traits that seem to be common amongst French people and which drive me mad.

1. Dog shit on the pavements: I live in a city - people living in cities shouldn't be allowed to have dogs (in France anyway). I live in a block of flats with a worryingly clear view of the opposite pavement (how romantic). Every evening you can see them - people walking so slowly along the pavement edge that if you didn't know better you would think that they were searching for fag ends in the gutter. But no. They are waiting for their dog to have it's crap so that they can get back home as quickly as possible. France has some fine architecture. Unfortunately, to enjoy it, you have to look upwards - if I do this, it invariably involves standing in dogshit. Living in a flat with no garden or hosepipe means that you may end up scraping the stuff off your shoes somewhere you shouldn't (for example, the bath -apologies to any visitors that have used our bath) - did you ever see the scene in the Royle Family where Barb is using her cutlery knife to do the same in the kitchen sink? I am also convinced that my bad neck is caused by having to look at the pavement directly in front of me to avoid stepping in the stuff. They're not all bad though - I once saw someone actually picking the stuff up and putting it in the bin - I almost broke into applause.
   
2. Bad driving: The French are terrible drivers: Aggressive and dangerous. It's no wonder that they have almost the most dangerous roads in Europe . It is an unwritten law in France that when the traffic lights turn from green to amber you should speed up - slowing down is considered dangerous to the following cars because of the second unwritten law - when the light turns from amber to red you should speed up.
3. Dropping Litter: Maybe it is me, or my "British-ness", but I find it offensive to see people think nothing of dropping a Coke can or fag packet in the street. I would chase after the smallest piece of paper if I happened to drop it. As a little test, I counted how many times I witnessed this in town this afternoon. Final score: 5 in 2 hours. That doesn't seem so much, but I'm pretty sure that if I walked up a main street in London, I wouldn't count more than one and they would be frowned at by other shoppers (a frown is as far as it would go - English people don't like to cause a scene, as opposed to the French who like nothing more than a good-old stand-up argument in public...).

Why is this? The closest I have got to answers, particularly points 1 and 3 come from the book "60 million Frenchmen can't be wrong" (excellent subtitle "Why we love France but not the French"). This is a semi-serious attempt to explain the French. I think the idea that the French are used to having the state look after them could explain in part what leads them to this behaviour - dropped some litter? Don't worry, someone fom the council will come along shortly and pick it up for you. Dog shat on the pavement in front of the school? Council will take care of that too. You pay your taxes don't you? It' the least you can expect!
When Paris decided to cut down the number of "dog-shit-picker-upper" machines it led to an amazing rise in the amount of soiled pavements and the poor old Parisiens demanded their return.

I will soon write about what I like about France - just give me some time while I try to think of something ;-)