From Notre Dame Cathedral to the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower and the Pompidou Centre - for centuries the French have been world leaders in building construction.
The expertise of the nation's architects, engineers and construction workers have created some of the globe's most iconic structures.
Yet many experts believe that for years, the GCC's building industry did not utilise this pool of skilled workers.
For decades, the region was seen as the domain of British and American project leadership.
However, many believe that French representation is now beginning to muscle in on Middle East's markets.
In 2006, trade between the UAE and France stood at US $6 billion (AED22 billion).
This compares to trade between the UAE and the UK in the same year, which was $12.4 billion.
Another indicator could be the number of exhibitors at last week's Big 5 event. There was a French presence at show, with 45 companies exhibiting.
But this pales into comparison with its neighbours the UK, which has almost 80 stands, and Germany, which has more than 300.
So why has the country so far not been as involved in the UAE's construction upsurge as its neighbours? Philippe Tartaglia, partner, Frame & Associates, believes in the past it had been a lack of demand for French expertise in the Middle East, combined with the conservative outlook of his countrymen.
He said: "France has not been a major contractor in the UAE for a while. It used to be in the past, but many companies were not convinced by the market - as they did not make a lot of money out of it.
"In France, we are used to developing the whole project - you receive the designs which are not 100% complete and then make changes as you go along.
"Therefore just to participate for tenders, where they mix local and foreign contractors, is not the way we wanted to work.
"In Europe, the market was quite booming as well and so often French companies didn't want to take a risk here in UAE while they had interesting work at home."
Tartaglia added that although there was a multitude of exciting projects in Dubai, they were not in the areas of French expertise, especially bridge building.
"Yes, you have the highest tower in the world in Dubai, but you don't have bridges which are outstanding," he said.
"Many of the bridges in the city are, without meaning to be critical, quite common. We are experts in sophisticated techniques in bridge building, such as the famous Viaduct of Millau.
"We are superb at making very innovative structures with a lot of reduced weight, making them very futuristic with very sophisticated techniques. I think the UAE government is realising its landmarks should not just be towers, they need excellent bridges and other structures as well. There are some fantastic plans for landmarks which will be bought to the UAE by French experts."
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