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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Dried-up rivers, primped-up Paris and why we love the French tax office

From extraordinary pictures of France's rivers to voting rights for foreigners and a TV show that we will all love to hate, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 13 August 2022 09:09 CEST
Inside France: Dried-up rivers, primped-up Paris and why we love the French tax office
A picture shows the dry bed of the Loire River in Saumur, western France. Photo by GUILLAUME SOUVANT / 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.

There really is one picture that has summed up France this week.

The mighty river Loire – famous around the world for wines, chateaux and its beautiful valley – has in places dried up to little more than a trickle.

It’s just one example of rivers, lakes and marshland drying up as France’s worst drought on record continues, and more and more of the country is placed under water restrictions.

IN PICTURES: French drought intensifies as River Loire dries up

We spoke to hydrologist and climate expert Emma Haziza about why the drought is so bad and what we can expect by the rest of the summer.

And if you’re wondering why French people are urging ex president François Hollance to visit their region, it’s because they think he might bring the rain – a reference to this photo from 2014 of a drenched Hollande continuing regardless with a World War II commemoration event in Brittany.  

Say what you like about Hollande, but he was a trooper . . . 

Voting rights

With parliament in recess and most Ministers on the beach, there’s not been a lot of political news this week, but one MP has trailed a new bill – to give foreigners in France the right to vote.

At present EU citizens living in France can vote in local and European elections (but not presidential elections), but non-EU citizens cannot vote at all, neither can they become local councillors (which meant that many Brits had to give up roles in their local communities after Brexit).

Now Macronist MP Sacha Houlié wants to give non-EU citizens who are living in France the right to vote in municipal elections, and to become local councillors.

However before we get too excited, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin is apparently “strongly opposed” to the idea.

Happy tax

This might sound unusual, but this week I have been sharing the love for the French tax office.

Yes, residents in France pay a lot of tax, but if you ever need to deal with the tax office, their staff are surprisingly lovely and helpful – a stark contrast to my experiences of dealing with HMRC back in the UK.

When I tweeted about a recent visit, many people replied sharing their positive experiences and French tax offices – which by the way exist even in quite small towns and you can walk in without appointment and find someone to help you.

Vive les taxes! 

City streets

And for readers in Paris or planning a visit, I can highly recommend this free exhibition of street art, hosted in the Tunnel des Tuileries, beside the Seine.

The tunnel used to be a road, but is now a walkway and cyclepath and this summer has this wonderful display of European street art – just one of the examples of the rapidly changing face of Paris. 

And speaking of Paris, if you loved to hate Emily in Paris, then September is going to be a good month for you!

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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