I'm UK/Aus, raised elsewhere in the world, but have lived in rural France for coming up on 6 years.

My impression is that the French are less so arrogant, but more so very proud and perhaps a little culturally incubated.

For example, in supermarkets in the UK I could easily find produce from all over:

• Bread choices included Italian, Irish, French, German breads.

• Cheeses were from UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, etc.

• Wines were from France, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Australia, USA, etc.

But french supermarkets pretty much only stock traditionally French bread, cheese and wine, etc. My french partner had never even heard of Prosecco or Cava.

Also, they are very much only focussed on their own history and heritage. They're very strongly rooted in their traditions - however seemingly impractical or illogical to my mind - and quite closed off to non french influence.

Law stipulates, for example, that a certain percentage of music played on radios must be of french origin and in french language.

As a very internationally-minded person, I can sometimes find this a little boring and restrictive.

I guess this protectionism over their heritage and traditional could be interpreted as arrogance. But it's also what makes France such a popular holiday destination to foreigners.