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'Idleness of the fossilised French' French
Ian Sparks in Paris17 Feb 2009
A LEADING French writer has described his countrymen as idle, oblivious to the global financial crisis and more interested in holidays than going to work.
In his new book Jurassic France, Gerald Messadié says that after being admired by other nations for centuries, France was a shadow of its former self because of an "ethic of laziness" of which the 35-hour working week "is a perfect example".
Messadié also says France's position as a trendsetter in the arts now "lies in tatters". For this he blames the success of reality television, an obsession with the internet and even president Nicolas Sarkozy's "low-brow" taste of pop music. The opposition socialist party described the remarks as "an insult", adding: "This is offensive to the millions of French people struggling to earn a living in tough economic times." Mr Sarkozy's UMP party refused to comment.
