Why did the french build the suez canal

The Suez Canal was built to make the trip from Europe to Asia shorter. Before it opened in 1869, ships had to sail around the Africa to get to Asia which took months of sea travel.

When France had probably the best Civil Engineering schooling system in the world, a lot of really talented French engineers started dreaming of building a canal through Egypt to connect the Mediterranean with the Indian Ocean (via the Red Sea). This of course would be a great contribution to mankind (particularly the portion of it living in Europe). It might also help bring Egypt into the modern community of nations (IOW: draw it closer to France).