The article reflects on the cultural significance of smoking in France, particularly from the perspective of an exchange student who adopted this habit to fit in. With France planning to ban smoking in many public spaces, the author expresses concern that a fundamental aspect of French identity is fading. The text draws parallels between national habits across cultures, suggesting that smoking has historically been a defining characteristic of the French—tying it to literary and artistic icons.
"By the end of the weekend, I could sit in a café with a cigarette dangling from my lips like a shorter, swarthier, coughier Jean-Paul Belmondo in Breathless."
"If you are forbidden from lighting up in almost every social situation, then smoking, mon ami, is effectively illegal."
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