Following the German surrender, General Devers, commander of the 6th Army Group, began a letter to General Lattre de Tassigny, commander of the French First Army, by writing "We have fought together these past months, often against the Germans..."
Historically the French since the defeat of Napoleon I have suffered primarily from poor leadership both politically & militarily (and poor equipment!). Individually from the mid/junior officer to common soldier the French have shown great bravery and in WWI crazy bravery. To label the French as surrender monkeys is historically inaccurate.