Why do some people think of the French as being swarthy?

[Borealis]

Objectively, French people look no swarthier than other western/central Europeans. But in popular imagination a lot of people see them as being on the darker end for European populations. Why is that? Even myself, I grew up thinking of the French as looking more like south Italians than what they actually do.

[Dentist]

Northern tip of France is swarthier than Southern tip of Britain.

Objectively, French people look no swarthier than other western/central Europeans.

Objectively, their pigmentation sticks out like a sore thumb from UK/Germany.

Also, Normandy being the blonde hotspot is a meme, the local DNA is not very different from neighboring regions.

[Oliver109]

Northern tip of France is swarthier than Southern tip of Britain.

Also, Normandy being the blonde hotspot is a meme, the local DNA is not very different from neighboring regions.

I think Normandy is darker than Pas de Calais and Stratsbourg region, from what i have seen they are not very different from Bretons.

[Tooting Carmen]

France is INTERMEDIATE between the UK/Germany and Spain/Italy.

[Borealis]

France is INTERMEDIATE between the UK/Germany and Spain/Italy.

average French from Paris area seem not too different to UK/Germany

[Borealis]

double

[Tooting Carmen]

average French from Paris area seem not too different to UK/Germany

Yes, but try Marseille, Nice, Montpellier, Bordeaux or even for that matter Clermont-Ferrand or La Rochelle.

[Ouistreham]

Objectively, French people look no swarthier than other western/central Europeans. But in popular imagination a lot of people see them as being on the darker end for European populations.

There is a bit of truth in every stereotype. Average Frenchmen are indeed a tad swarthier than average Britons, it would be pointless to deny it.

Yes, but try Marseille, Nice, Montpellier, Bordeaux.

I suppose you're aware that in those places the ethnic French have been long time ago replaced by Italian, Spanish, Arab and Portuguese migrants.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

My impression when I was younger came from French noir films.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

I suppose you're aware that in those places the ethnic French have been long time ago replaced by Italian, Spanish, Arab and Portuguese migrants.

How would people know of the ethnic composition of each group in a city if the French government doesn't allow for the collection of data on religion, race, and ethnicity? I can't only think of using a phone book and looking at surnames but that's far from ideal.