You just got in the way of a perfectly good circle jerk where we were all happy trotting out the same tired jibes. Hope you are satisfied.
However, Patton really did say that.
I didn't bother mentioning Lafayette because nobody cares about ancient history.
Didn't bother to raise the point that pre-WWI French military doctrine emphasized the elan of the fighting soldier - WWI turned into a defensive trench war and hundreds of thousands of French soldiers bravely and suicidally charged entrenched machine guns. Pre-WWII doctrine emphasized defense - Maginot line - and they got a blitzfrieg war.
I contend that the French are fallible humans who have been more screwed over by bad politicians and toady generals than most nations.
But they do eat snails!!!