WHY

does it seem to take longer to get into France at passport control than it does to fly there?

If my recent experience in Bordeaux and Toulouse is anything to go by, it has less to do with the volume of passengers than the fact that fewer than half the booths were manned.

Those that were appeared to be occupied by powercrazed jobsworths who were clearly enjoying every second of our discomfort.

The French, vindictive? Impossible.