The French love affair with London
Will the British and the French ever understand each other? “Rosbifs” are well known as the discoverer of binge drinking, they are awful cook and hypocritical. On the other side of the Channel, the “Froggies” are uppity, unclean and always on strike. Both keep clichés going and issues of dispute are not lacking as the debate between Sarkozy and Cameron at one of the last European convention demonstrated. Jean Guiffan has supported in Histoire de l’anglophonie en France (2004) that almost 15% of the French people declared not to trust their neighbours across the Channel. On the other hand, they demonstrate respect for each other when they walked hand-in-hand through les Champs-Elysées to celebrate the centenary of the Entente Cordiale in 2004. Part of our common history would make us think that French and English people do not get along but the French community in London is one of the most extensive and well established around Great Britain.

At first sight, some cultural differences may simply be too wide to bridge. It is not easy to ignore the ancient rivalry when the station of the Eurostar in London is called Waterloo. William the Conqueror, Jean of Arc, the Hundred Years’ War, the Napoleonic Wars, and the race for colonies: from the cradle, French and English people feed their hard feelings. For example, “Son of British” was a common insult in Middle Ages in France (Zeldin, 2002). Anglophobia was an heirloom handed down from generation to generation and many more with the marines. From Trafalgar in 1805 to Mers el-Kébir in 1940, the Perfidious Albion has been feared (Guiffan, 2004). According to the historian Jean Guiffan the term of Perfidious Albion is a pejorative French expression. Perfidious refers to the 17th century French Bishop’s sermon, which outlined the separation of the Church of England from Catholic faith under Henry VIII in the 16th century: ‘England, oh, treacherous England, as the bulwark of its seas rendered inaccessible to the Romans, the faith of Christ is addressed.’ Secondly, Albion was the Latin name of Great Britain (Guiffan, 2004). French journalists used this stock expression whenever there were tensions between France and Britain. For example during the competition for colonies in Africa. Then, it was further popularized by its use in La Famille Fenouillard, the first French comic strip (Cristophe, 1893).

During the Second World War, the alliance between France and the United Kingdom had no impact on the relationship. Christian Rondaut (2004) said that when the British naval fleet had to sink French squadron, the ghost of ancient defeats was still engraved on everyone’s memories. Even after the Second World War, Clemenceau argued that “Great Britain is a French colony which went bad.” It is hard to believe that the alliance was only an interlude of our history. Nowadays, disagreement between the governors still has a strong impact. Conflicts with Irak rekindle oppositions from both sides of the Channel: The Sun’s front-page (Brook, 2003) featured a graphic illustration of a worm with the head of Jacques Chirac emerging from a map of France. In addition, they used anti-French jokes: “Do you know how many French people you need to defend Paris? Well, nobody knows the answer: they never try”. As the journalist, Ciar Byrne (2003) reported the inflammatory hot news could have forced the Sun to pay a £30,000 fine. However, the Sun is not representative of British opinion.

On second thoughts, the French and the English also compete in sports. From the ring to the sports grounds, they both take every occasion to make a fool of the adversary, as Chritisne Geoffroy (2001) reminded us. At the Euro of 2004, the British provoked the French: They had shown onto the Arch de triomphe the St George Cross. As a response, the day after the victory of the French, the tricolour was proudly hoisted on Westminster. Nevertheless, the defeat of the French at the nomination for the Olympics’ city in 2012 is one of the cherries on the top of the cake. In spite of all these differences, until the 14th century the French was the idiom spoken at the English court: still today, the British Monarch’s motto is “Dieu et mon droit”. However, after the Hundred Years’ War it is now the turn of the French people to say “Brits out!” (Lichfield, 2004). In this respect, a rash of graffiti has been appearing in northern Brittany complaining about the influx of British house buyers, which has gathered pace in Brittany, Normandy and south-western France in recent years. Finally yet importantly every subject that links the French and the British seems to separate them.

Otherwise, there has been an absolute explosion in the size of the French community: according to the home office, more than 300,000 French people have settled in London. So, what is revealing in their new lives on this side of the Channel despite all of these oppositions? The number of French people living in Britain has risen every year since 1991, jumping by almost 10,000 in 2006 (anon., 2011). In fact, by population London is the 7th largest French city. Approximately two-thirds of them live in London, but there are thriving French communities across the country according to the Guardian (Day, 2008). Driven from their homeland by a stagnant job market and restrictive economic policies, the French have chosen the extravagancy of London.

Besides, expatriates all agreed that London and English way of life are plenty of great flavours and a world of opportunities: “There is no 35-hour working week, no restrictions and the people are much more friendly”, added Mister Fernando (BBC, 2000). In fact, many French citizens had left home for London because there are many jobs and it is easier to get work experience in something interesting or to be promoted. In addition, about ten years ago, the United Kingdom treated foreign workers in an advantageous way and there was a strategy to attract a certain kind of person with low taxes and international pension plans. For example, people who wanted to start their own business without being weighed down by high taxes and restrictive labour laws. Indeed, the United Kingdom is much more proactive in developing business because it does not require as much experience and training to be the director of a company as in France. The New York Times (Katz, 2008) gathered the story of Eric Rousseau who opened Belle Epoque a French bakery in Frog Alley, one of an increasing number of Gallic outposts in London. He emphasized that the French “savoir-faire is very much appreciated here” as 60,000 French people are employed in the City of London. So many well-educated young people have moved to Britain that President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has named “France’s children” to bring their talents home. He became the first presidential candidate in 2008 to campaign in the United Kingdom, attempting to woo back voters with promises. Moreover, the unemployment in France is 9.8 per cent at the last quarter of 2011 (INSEE, 2012) compared with Britain’s 8.4 per cent (ONS, 2012), while almost a quarter of young adults in France are out of work (INSEE, 2012). Because unemployment is quite high in France, they feel that they have a lot more job security in London. As Elizabeth Day (2008) added that is enough to not lure people back at a time when London offers many comforts of French life. Last but not least, a study of the BBC (2000) reveals that living abroad means for French people that they only get to experience the good things of France when they go back.

All of the expatriates agreed that Paris is the epitome of perfection and elegance whereas London of imperfection and eccentricity (Deen and Katz, 2008). In fact, the ethnic diversity of London, the open-mindedness of people and in general London’s informality attracts many French people suffocated by the social mores of France. It seems that for many French the opposites attract. In term of cultural activities, the invasion means the Anglo-French social scene, the French Cultural institute, hosts regular wine tastings and the film festival: “It is possible to spend all your time just seeing other French people”, said Osvaldo Belliardo for the BBC (Krimer, 2005). Although the United Kingdom has a reputation for a rigid class hierarchy and an elitist education system, most French expatriates believe that it is a glorious social free-for-all (BBC, 2000). So, another benefit is that schools like la Petite Ecole Française, in west London or the prestigious L’Ile aux Enfants primary are bursting. Even Madonna struggled to have her daughter Lourdes on the waiting list (Alan Katz, 2008). Even though the food is ‘awful’ and very ‘heavy’ for a French person as Mister Fernando said (The Guardian, 2008). Fortunately, some of them find London’s new international flavour refreshing and many French restaurants opened. For instance, La Grande Bouchée in London is a well-known French restaurant that provides you a bit of mouth-watering French foods’: “People said it’s like family because they can find all the food they would normally have at home” said the proprietor (Day, 2008). Finally, The French community in London is also well established on the Web with websites, which list everything from shops and restaurants to French vets and even psychiatrist for those finding the expat life challenging (Lichfield, 2006). Of course, the melting pot between the French and the English way of life is challenging. However, despite their seemingly rampant Anglophilia, there are still some things that French miss like a chance to cheer on their rugby team without being shouted down as “cheese-eating surrender monkeys”. The British sense of humour is still sometimes misunderstood for French people but after years, the anomalies now delight rather than confound them. It seems that the French expats fell in love with the life in London because it is a civilised place in contrast to Paris: “People queue for a bus and people respect that, but in Paris it’s a bit of a fight. If you drive in Paris, you change lanes too fast, drive aggressively and park wherever you want. London is more reasonable. You drive more considerately and there are parking bays” said a French expat (Cousin, Aboulian and Haget, 2004). For French people, this way of life really strikes them. Of course, a well-organised approach to parking is not the most romantic reason for emigrating but it is representative of the overall environment in England, which is protective of others. People do what they have to but never if it embarrasses or hurts someone else: “it is much freer in that respect” agreed numbers of expats for the BBC study (2005).

To conclude, London is famous for being a city where many cultures come together. However, one nationality that perhaps people do not immediately associate with London is the French. The entente between the French and the English might be cordiale. However, the relationships between both old nations, which had been built in opposition one to another will always be special. As Jack Straw from the British Labour Party declared when he was the foreign secretary of the Cabinet in 2005: “These relationships make me think about family ones: they are not always easy; actually, we never choose our family that’s why there is sometimes heated disputes; but we know that they are special.” Also, the diverse of London and all of the opportunities it can provide you in term of business and way of life attract lots of French people. The French emigrants who have fallen for Britain and its Capital have settled in because their “savoir-faire” is well-known, the opportunities of the job market and the charm of the English etiquette change compared with the French habits in a better way while keeping the best aspects of it. So the French love affair with London has no ending. Perhaps it is related to the fact that the United Kingdom goes it alone with the rest of European Union. However, the French who live in Britain still call the English “les Rosbifs”.

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