Forget anything you have been taught at school – it’s all lies. My job here is to help debunk a few worldly myths, one country at a time. This week, we take a closer look at the European domain known as France.

French people bike around the city holding baguettes and wearing striped shirts with a beret on their head and a red scarf around their neck:

All. The. Time. This is a traditional French custom carried out only by the purest of the Français. If you spot one, consider yourself lucky, so maybe stop them and ask for a bite of their baguette. They’d be more than wiling to accept.

All French are chefs:

Publicly no. Secretly yes. At the age of eighteen all French people are enlisted in a special chef camp for training in the culinary arts. A few times a year, a special cooking gathering is held in different locations, depending on the regions. Through an extremely reliable source, it is believed that there they discuss cooking secrets and plan their strategies to remain a country known for amazing food.

French people smell bad:

What? Of course not! With all that Chanel, Christian Dior, and Lancôme Paris, the French are constantly floating in a cloud of sweet smelling paradise. Personal hygiene, however, may be a different story as there is obviously no need to shower if you continuously smell good.

You have to speak French to visit France:

Generally speaking, if you want to indulge in an enlightening philosophical conversation with a local, knowing more than a few common words would certainly be useful. However, for those planning to simply enjoy the country without too much socializing, “Parlez-vous anglais?” and “Excusez-moi, mais où sont les toilettes?” are the only two phrases you would need to know.

The French hate fast food:

True! Why do you think they like to indulge in roasted snails or frog legs on a stick?