Like any other country in the world, France has a large number of stereotypes and clichés.
Although the stereotype of the typical Frenchman wearing a beret, with a baguette under one arm and a bottle of red wine in the other hand, is no more present, other classical clichés remain.

French people are considered as cultured, educated and sophisticated people, who appreciate good food and fashion.  They also stand up for each other and thus participate in many demonstrations and strikes.
They are often seen as eternal latecomers, stingy, egocentric, stubborn, haughty and teasing.  French people are said to be bad at learning foreign languages.
However, French people seem unable to defend their language and their culture; the current trend seems to Americanization, which is especially marked among young people from 15 to 25 years old.

Here is a short list with some important French facts:

• Paris, with its famous monuments (Eiffel Tower of course but also the Louvre Museum, Notre Dame, Montmartre and the Sacré-Coeur Basilica) constitute the archetypal cliché of France.
• Gastronomy (escargots, frog legs, bread, Bordeaux wine, Camembert cheese, 'The Laughing Cow')
• Sophistication, with fashion (Coco Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint-Laurent), and famous festivals like the Cesar ceremony and the prestigious Cannes festival.
• The French romanticism, redrawn in a large number of French or foreign films like Amélie (original French title : Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain), Sabrina, An American in Paris, and popular songs like La Vie en Rose interpreted by the famous French singer Edith Piaf, and Ne me quitte pas, or Quand on a que l'amour by the Belgian singer Jacques Brel.
• The freedom of speech, from the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789. Witnesses of this freedom of expression are the strikes, the demonstrations, the press and media (TV show, radio, Internet, etc.).
• Solidarity with the presence of different organizations like 'Les Restos du Coeur' ('Restaurants of the Heart'), the Red Cross, Médecins du Monde (also known as 'Doctors of the World'), or famous people like the French catholic Priest l'Abbé Pierre, who created the charitable "Emmaüs organization".