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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Government reshuffle, a strike deal and pétanque news

From the latest political shenanigans to torturous French puns and exciting news from the world of pétanque, our weekly newsletter Inside France brings you all the news and talking points from France that you might have missed.

Published: 9 July 2022 06:44 CEST
Inside France: Government reshuffle, a strike deal and pétanque news
French president-branded pétanque balls are on sale at the Elysee. Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP

Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

Reshuffling the reshuffled

We’d barely learned the names of some of France’s new government ministers before a second reshuffle of the government was held this week.

President Emmanuel Macron appointed a new Prime Minister – Elisabeth Borne – shortly after he won re-election in April and the pair named a new government. But after a disastrous parliamentary election result that saw Macron lose his overall majority in parliament, a second reshuffle was required.

Some of this was out of necessity, since three ministers lost their bid for election or re-election – French ministers do not have to be elected MPs, but Macron said before the election that any minister who stood and lost would be expected to relinquish their seats. But the reshuffle went wider than that, with several new faces while other Macron loyalists were rewarded.

The new cabinet, with a 50/50 gender balance as with previous cabinets, also provides an interesting French pronunciation challenge for foreigners. 

Summer strikes

Striking staff at Paris airports on Friday voted to accept a day deal, and cancelled planned strike days for later in July. Their move comes just a day after airport-based firefighters also accepted a pay deal and cancelled their own strike action.

So better prospects for anyone with flights booked out of Paris’ Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, but there are still other strikes planned by Ryanair staff and on the railways. 

CALENDAR: The French transport strikes planned for summer 2022

Frenchman of the decade

France’s new hero is obviously 34-year-old Raphaël Paesa, an electronics technician from Toulouse who has invented a luminous cochonnet (jack) which allows pétanque games to continue into the night. 

One year since its initial launch, the product is sold out and a new edition will be released in time for this summer season.

Often seen as an ‘old man’s game’, pétanque is actually hugely popular throughout France, from old men in villages to groups of young people in the cities – in my neighbourhood of Paris there were even illicit ‘pétanque sauvage‘ sessions during lockdown as enthusiasts couldn’t bear to miss out on their games.

British bye-bye

Events across the Channel also caught the attention in France, where the fall of the notorious ‘French-basher’ Boris Johnson was not much mourned.

Most political observers agree that British-French relations fell to their worst level since World War II during Johnson’s term as Prime Minister – despite his father Stanley taking French citizenship – and many are now hoping for a re-set in the relationship under Johnson’s eventual successor.

The leftwing French daily Libération splashed on Johnson’s departure under the headline Big Beigne, a slightly torturous Big Ben pun, as in French a beigne means a hit or a blow.

The same newspaper simply wished the UK ‘good luck’ at the beginning of Johnson’s premiership.

Talking France

The Talking France podcast is now taking a break for the summer, you can catch the last episode of this series – where we discuss the all-important French subject of holidays – here and you can find the whole of series 1 and series 2  HERE.

Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Violence, QR codes and stuffed animals

From violent unrest in a French territory to the QR codes required at the Paris Olympics, via D-Day and weird taxidermy, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 18 May 2024 07:38 CEST
Inside France: Violence, QR codes and stuffed animals

Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

High tension

After a relaxed week with a double holiday and most of the country taking a break, it seems that the news has come roaring back this week – first a highly dramatic jailbreak that left two prison officers dead and a fugitive at large, then the worst rioting in 30 years on the French island of Nouvelle Calédonie which left five people dead, and finally a man shot dead by police while apparently trying to set fire to a synagogue in northern France. It seems that there’s barely been time to breathe. 

These three things are, of course, not connected and in the case of Nouvelle Calédonie have followed years of political and ethnic tensions on the Pacific islands.

But it’s not surprising that people feel a bit punch-drunk at this series of events. Already right-wing parties are attempting to make capital out of this ahead of the European elections – a favourite tactic of the far-right in recent years has been trying to portray France as in the grip of an uncontrolled wave of crime and violence.

While no-one would deny that France has crime and that there are problems with violence, the statistics do not bear out this image of a ‘lawless’ country’. 

QR codes

Talking of security, the big topic in Paris this week has been whether we need QR codes to get around the city during the Olympics, after the security plan for the Games was unveiled in detail.

For many people this will bring back bad memories of Covid restrictions, attestations and health passes – although once you dig into the detail of the Games QR codes you realise that they won’t actually affect all that many people.

The areas that they cover are limited and the most onerous restrictions are only in place for the week leading up to the Opening Ceremony. You can find a complete guide to whether you need a code, and how to get one if you do, HERE.

Talking France

We look at the QR code situation on this week’s Talking France podcast, as well as France’s economic reality, the quirks of the French health system and the new ‘drive like a woman’ campaign.

Plus John Lichfield talks about his involvement in projects to commemorate D-Day in his Normandy home, and why the 1944 landings still hold such a special place in French hearts. Listen here or on the link below. 

Get stuffed

But my biggest question about France remains unanswered – why is weird taxidermy furniture so popular? If you’ve spent time at a French brocante you will likely have come across stuffed animal parts made into a variety of items from coathooks and ashtrays to – as below – chairs or stools.

Answers on a postcard, please.  

Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

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