French phlegm

One of the more treasured beliefs of the English psyche is the tacit understanding that French people are cowards (but not as bad as the Italians). To be honest, it's a little disingenuous to still hold this view 60 years after VE day, just because they collaborated with the Nazis a bit. After all, it wasn't their fault the Germans walked into France through Ardennes, instead of gamefully hurling themselves at the machine guns and artillery batteries of the Maginot Line. You only have to watch the German football team to realise that this is a nation that prizes ruthless efficiency over sport.

Anyway, recent events in Toronto disprove that belief, in my opinion. As a meteorologist, I can tell you that anyone who tries to land a commercial airliner in a downdraft can hardly be called a coward. Criminally stupid, perhaps, but not a coward. Even braver is the passenger who stays on the plane despite knowing there's a Frenchman behind the wheel.

Have you ever seen the Champs Elysee at rush hour? I have, and it opened my sphincter more effectively than a vindaloo from Ghandi's.