Are the French really as special as they believe? And if so is that the secret of their extraordinary success in art, cookery, and fashion in la bonne vie? Or the reason for their economic failure, endless strikes and high unemployment. The high-speed TGV railway, the Louvre pyramid, post-war cinema, France has produced many distinctive achievements which are the envy of the rest of the world. But it is also a country plagued by political corruption and extremism, widespread pessimism and a heavy bureaucracy. What does vive la difference really amount to and is it still in the interests of France or the rest of us in Europe?