Every day is a friday in France!
Seriously, I don't think there is much of a difference between reliability of French and Ford. Here in the UK we have a history of believing that french cars are built poorly but to be fair, times have moved on. Citroen offer 20,000mile service intervals with no time limit - that sure as gives me much more confidence in build quality.
I will however say that the interiors in Citroen are a bit pants and it does feel cheap compared to the fiesta cabin. Also, the french do tend to do odd things with wiring and its a pain to work on when it goes wrong (but all cars are like that now too!)
As for Pugs - I loved my 306 D-turbo and Tamara (my girlfriend) now drives it and loves it too. Its far more comfortable than the ST and still is fun to drive even after 10 years on the road. However..... electric windows don't work, radio is dead and the door leaks after heavy rain..... think it was built on a friday