Greatnan, we have a house in Fran and | too wonder where the French got their reputation for style.
I think it arises because in Paris and other big cities a very thin layer of well off people do dress very well - and expensively. Some years ago my daughter was an avid reader of Vogue, French and British versions, and we used to comment that in the pictures at the back of the magazine of high society social events awash with the aristocratic ladies, the French women were always beautifully dressed and groomed and the British aristos always looked as if they had just finished washing the dogs.