I've no first hand knowledge of Europe, but given what I know of human nature, I'm pretty distrustful of someone describing a place the size of a continent as intellectual... still, it does make me kinda wish it were true! But I mean, honestly...

It might be a overly broad, but I don't think its entirely untrue.

Your mileage will vary of course - Spaniards and Brits are very different.

I think you could broadly divide Europe to 4 parts along the north/south axis and the west/east axis.

I believe this thread pertains mostly to the northern and in particular north western part.

... but not very humble, eh? :)