There are many, many beloved myths about France that nobody really wants to see debunked.

Even the expats, who learn to know better about lots of things, go gently with starry-eyed visitors who look on life here as a slow-motion, non-stop replay of A Good Year. We just smile and nod as they beam with joy at all around them, agreeing that only the French know how to live well, eat well, dress well - hell, even love well.

Who would take away their delight in a few days enjoying the carefully chosen cafes and restaurants, the cobbled squares under shade-giving trees, the drives on empty roads from village to village? We let them sigh in wonder in the morning markets, pointing at tomatoes as if they were a newly discovered vegetable, trying on the straw hats as if they too were native to this place. And when we serve the various bits and pieces to accompany the five o'clock aperos sitting outside, we are genuinely thrilled to watch them fluff up like contented chickens basking in the heat.

Who needs to be told on holiday that actually, far from being the lotus eaters of folklore, the French are the largest consumers of antidepressants in Europe? Who needs to be told the charming little bistro at the heart of every village has often been replaced by a takeaway pizzeria, or that they will actually eat better these days virtually anywhere in the UK than here? Who needs to be told the winsome, crumbling, rose-strewn cottages tended by octogenarians are sad proof that the youth have fled?

The old hands who have been coming to France for years do, however sadly, point out the changes: the graffiti now prevalent in even the tiniest towns; the increasing girth of the population as fast food and quick meals replace the hallowed ritual of lunch; the changes in the supermarket with once-forbidden out-of-season produce and shelf upon shelf of microwave meals and packs of sandwiches.

But, thankfully, in my large chunk of La France Profonde, there is still enough semblance of the old vie francaise to reassure them there are many years to go before we approach the life they have left briefly behind.

I would agree - but only up to a point. In the few years I have been here, the changes have been fast and unpredictable, to the extent that politicians now seek punitive means to stop the creeping destruction of all that is held dear here. This week the French health minister addressed the biggest myth of all - how the French drink.

All francophiles enjoy recounting how responsibly the French drink: only with meals, never to excess, never to simply get drunk. And they love quoting the infamous French paradox whereby wine, rich cheese and saturated fats are all enjoyed without fear of heart attack or stroke. The paradox implies that the relaxed lifestyle and Mediterranean diet negates the bad.

It is actually a statistical illusion but one held dear by we incomers as we gorge on the obscene amounts of fat surrounding most meats in south-west France, drool over oozing cheeses and fling the wine down every day. So long as we wallop the salads with plenty of olive and walnut oil, have a long lunch and enjoy the afternoon sun, we will tap in automatically to the paradox. That is the skewed thinking.

And as for the youth of today - thank God French children do not disgrace themselves like the ones we tut at when they are splashed in the tabloids. Ah, but they do, and increasingly so. Drunken teenagers, drinking contests and bad street behaviour have become commonplace in French cities and towns.

It says a lot that English is used to describe the phenomenon: le binge-drinking. Such scenes are described as the Anglo way of "enjoying" oneself. Embarrassing, non?

Last year there was an 80 per cent increase in drink-related incidents that ended in young people being admitted to hospital. Some student cities have barred open-air drinking or restricted the hours of drinking. Over the past three years, numerous studies have shown that France has a serious and growing problem with young people's drinking habits.

Now, if the proposed draft legislation goes through, "directly provoking a minor to excessive consumption of alcohol" will be punished by a year's imprisonment and a fine of €15,000 (£11,850). Anyone who incites someone else to "drink until drunk" will be liable to six months in prison and a fine of €7500. There may also be penalties for those producing games, clothing and other objects that "glorify the excessive consumption of alcohol".

It is impossible to predict how much of the bill, part of a raft of proposed health measures, will get through. It goes without saying there is a powerful drinks lobby here.

But in my still semi-slumbering neck of the woods there is genuine disgust at such behaviour. Although attitudes are changing, there is still bemusement at the desire to simply get drunk. How can one appreciate the wine when the senses have fled?

As I do with my visitors I just nod and agree with my French neighbours. Sometimes it is the kindest thing to do.