Two or three years ago, my Sister and BIL were vacationing in Hungary. They would send me pics about every week or so. One day they happened on a parade of mostly military items. After the parade the President of the Country gave a speech only a few hundred feet from where they were.
Among the pics they sent me was of a bunch of French soldiers all carrying those funny looking rifles and in full uniform, of course in parade formation.
They flat out impressed my. They really looked like a bunch of mean characters. Not in the least bit wussified. They also appeared to be unusually large.
Back in the day, I was on a couple operations in Africa. I saw the Legion and the French Army up close. I like having them on our side.