One of the thing I really like about the French national character is the love of "le grand projet". The TGV network is a fine example of this; from a French perspective, high speed inter-city rail travel has been a wonderful thing (when the drivers aren't on strike !!).
The French have the luxury of space, France has roughly the same population as the UK in a country twice the size. The damage to parts of the British countryside for HS2 is heartbreaking.
