Au contraire, M. Chombi! The French have produced some extraordinarily innovative & well-built devices: Citroen gave us the first effective front-wheel drive monococque in 1937 (Traction Avant: approximately 750,000 built from 1937-1956), over twenty years before the first Mini, which is usually given credit for these things; Mavic & Simplex have both produced cutting-edge, competitive and durable bicycle parts; Alex Singer's design and craftsmanship are very fine, despite being quirky and dependent on braze-ons.

And let's not get onto cooking. Or wine. Or art. Or literature. Or Bernard Carre.