> I dunno... they hire French engineers to do the hard work? The work
> > that requires thought?
>
> "French engineers" is an oxymoron.
Hmm? TGV, Exocet, Pont de Millau, efficient and inexpensive nuclear power, Rafale, etc., for very recent examples.
You can go back to French leadership aeronautical & automotive engineering in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. Don't forget the Eiffel tower.
If you want to go even further back, just go to Reims, Chartres, Rouen, Ile de la Cité in Paris, Sens, Beauvais, etc.
Not quite an oxymoron.