France has played a leading role in adopting technologies such as self-checkout at supermarkets, credit card operated petrol stations, self-service car washing and touch screen credit-card-based ordering in fast food outlets. Line 14 on the Paris Metro is the world's first fully automatic underground line, carrying 725,000 passengers a day on driver-less trains. 



Is it a relentless quest for technological advances that has spurred French advances in technology, I wonder. Or is it the 3300 page labour code and 39% payroll taxes faced by the employers?