In France?! It's a nation of chain-smokers.
It's quite common to see people sitting in bistros underneath "No Smoking" signs lighting up. It's a form of sport.
A couple of years back my wife and I took a motorcoach tour of Spain, Morocco and Portugal. We were in a group of 48, most of whom had been sold on the jaunt by their local AAA Travel Clubs as "a nice non-smoking tour" of those 3 countries. Needless to say, most of the dimwits on the tour had bought that descriptor hook line and sinker...and were appalled to see so many people smoking. Some even said things like, "How DARE they light up around us!" Many demanded non-smoking rooms, which (of course) are pretty much non-existent in Spain Morroco and Portugal. All were blissfully unaware of the attitudes about smoking in those countries - which I found especially amusing in Morocco, where smoking is The National Pastime.
Michael
Even more will start smoking in an effort to collaborate with their new enemy.