French and the French...

The French intellectuals with whom Franz had entered the ballroom felt slighted and humiliated...the Americans, supremely unabashed as usual, had not only taken over, but had taken over in English without a thought that a Dane or a Frenchman might not understand them. And because the Danes had long since forgotten that they once formed a nation of their own, the French were the only Europeans capable of protest. So high were their principles that they refused to protest in English, and made their case to the Americans on the podium with their mother tongue. The Americans, not understanding a word, reacted with friendly smiles. In the end the French had no choice but to frame their objection in English: "Why is this meeting in English when there are Frenchmen present?"

Though amazed at so curious an objection, the Americans acquiesced: the meeting would be run bilingually. Before it could resume, however, a suitable interpreter had to be found. Then, every sentence had to resound in both English and French, which made the discussion take twice as long, or rather more than twice as long, since all the French had some English and kept interrupting the interpreter to correct him, disputing every word.
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera

Reading a book about life in Prague, I'm surprised to find this paragraph taking a jab at the French.
Well to be fair, the image that the French only wants to speak French is a rather outdated one. The people I've met mostly has a good proficiency of English and does not avoid speaking English. If anything, I think some of them would rather speak English than hear non-french people massacre French grammar and pronounciation in an attempt to talk to them...Hahahahaha...

Still, the French really has a lot of stereotypes attached to them, and I still smile at the good times I have in Paris merely testing whether they conform to the stereotypes I've read. Well most of the books I've read are written by Englishmen.....but aren't the opinions of our "enemies" about us often much more interesting than the opinions of our friends?