Nothing like a good international rivalry to brighten up your morning paper and the French politicians can always be counted on for a good zinger every now and then. Chirac’s latest off the cuff remark overheard by a reporter at the French paper Liberation was well-timed right before the G-8 summit being held in Scotland.

“We can’t trust people who have such bad food,” Chirac was quoted as saying. He reportedly added that only Finland has worse food in Europe and that mad cow disease was Britain’s sole contribution to European agriculture.

Ouch! Well the morning papers ate it up as everyone spoils for a good fight. Of course, when news that London clinched the 2012 Summer Olympic bid from runner-up Paris, my mailbox was peppered with all sorts of good-natured jabs such as the photo above.