Vive la France! Observers today continue to assert that “Sixty million Frenchmen can't be wrong”—France is a great place to visit, a magnificent culture to enjoy, no visit complete without a stroll down the Champs Elysees and a visit to the Louvre. Who can argue with the wines and cuisine of Burgandy and Bordeaux? It was once said that you couldn’t sit at the Café de la Paix in Paris for more than ten minutes without meeting someone you know. Today you don’t have to wait that long to meet the French—a French avatar may be standing alongside you right now. So it would be worth your while to know a bit about the temperament and preferences of a proud culture that refuses to let its tradition be colonized while at the same time encouraging bold and imaginative initiatives in art as well as politics.

Developed by Gilles Asselin President of SoCoCo Intercultural, Gilles Asselin specializes in cross-cultural management and training, especially between Western Europe and North America. With Ruth Mastrom, he is the author of Au Contraire: Figuring out the French, now in its second edition.

Use the Cultural Detective: France® along with diversophy® to round out your training, coaching, teaching, or self-directed learning. This instrument helps you see French core values and explore how they are likely to affect typical business and social behavior. You will learn how to analyze critical incidents and create appropriate bridges to avoid or repair difficult situations or to take advantage of working with diversity. To order directly from the Cultural Detective website, click here.