The French people's bad reputations for rudeness and arrogance is due almost entirely to the fact that most US tourists only see Paris and Parisians. Folks in the French countryside are some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. You see more or less the same thing in Spain (Madrid vs. smaller cities/towns) and Italy.
Incidentally, France also did the right thing by putting down an Al Quaeda-backed uprising in Mali.