Due to differing views on substance regulations, 1996 was a year of relative tension between France and the Netherlands. Then Dutch Minister of Transport, Mrs. Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink, thought it witty to declare, while in office: “France is a nice country. It’s a pity the French live in it.” Another famous quote of hers concerns French President Jacques Chirac’s being an “old creepy guy” (“engerd”). Being Dutch himself, Abaelardus feels he has to compensate, penitent in sack cloth and ashes, for her ladyship’s consciously offensive remarks. Instead of doing so in the shallow context of the Franco-Dutch political relationship, he sheds a broader light on these diplomatic incidents, and advocates, nay urges, for the civic virtue of xenophilia in general.
