Driving "on the continent"

Our drive to Vitoria was comparatively stress free as a consequence of  the capable driving of Mr Glis (and my navigational skills, she added, modestly!). That said, with only one or two exceptions, the general courtesy shown by the French and Spanish road users was of a very high standard, with little lane hogging or cutting in. We were surprised, as it has been several years since we last took the car to Mainland Europe and we thought that there would have been an inevitable decline in driving behaviours, just as has happened in the UK.  Maybe we were lucky?