Jonathan Meades on France

Jonathan Meades travels through Lorraine and explains why, although close to its eastern border, it has become the symbolic, or even mystical, heart of France and a stronghold of a romantic nationalism that is also expressed by such diverse means as typography, music, engineering, exquisite urbanism and, above all, a sensitivity to Germany's proximity.

France granted independence to its colonies in the 1960s. That, anyway, is the official line. In fact, through such agencies as Francophonie which notionally promotes the French language and the secretive Francafrique which wields influence throughout much of Africa, the French state is in reality still a colonial power. Jonathan inspects the Parisian palaces of tyrannical dynasties, the sites of political murders and the village where the Ayatollah Khomeini lived in exile.

'Go home yankee - but take me with you.' The French delude themselves that they are indifferent towards the USA, yet all around them there is blatant evidence of the country's cultural indebtedness to American architecture, American sprawl, American music and American fast food. The Atlantic coast of western France might be the Atlantic coast of the eastern United States. A sort of road movie that contains scenes of musical embarrassment, so be prepared to wince.