It’s a good point. The French are usually the absolute masters when it comes to the humble potato: frites, gratin, dauphinoise, algot etc etc. But they struggle with the crisp. Weird.
I used to love these as well. An event I have always remembered is being in Newcastle at a 10 year old and asking for a bag of these in a shop. I asked how much they were but couldn’t understand the thick Geordie accent, the guy had to tell me numerous times they were “9p” before I understood...