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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Storms, stationery and pigs named Napoleon

This week there's been a lot of weather chat, plus some political watching and the start of 'stationery season' - our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 20 August 2022 11:01 CEST
Inside France: Storms, stationery and pigs named Napoleon
Storms lashed France this week as the heatwave broke. Photo by Valery HACHE / 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.

In a development  guaranteed to make Brits feel at home, the whole of France has been talking about the weather this week, specifically rain.

Rain storms over the weekend were welcomed with joy when they broke another scorching heatwave and brought cooler, fresher air.

But as the week went on the storms got heavier, leading to flash flooding in cities including Paris and Marseille until, on Thursday, an extremely violent storm hit the island of Corsica, claiming six lives.

IN PICTURES Flash-flooding hits Paris

While storms along the Mediterranean coastline are normal as the temperatures fall and autumn arrives – they’re known as épisodes cévanol – weather experts predict that they will be unusually intense this year, due to the extremely high temperatures recorded over the Mediterranean this summer.

Macron return

After a few weeks holidaying in Fort Brégançon, Emmanuel Macron stepped back into the limelight on Friday with an official visit to the Riviera town of Bormes-les-Mimosas to attend the ceremony marking its liberation in 1944.

The trip down to the Riviera villa of Brégançon is traditional for French presidents, since the property has been the official ‘holiday home’ of the holder of the office since the 1960s.

In previous years Macron has combined beach time with hosting meetings or foreign leaders, but this year his entourage let it be known that he needed a break and would be spending a couple of weeks ‘studying’ – a sign perhaps that even the famously hyperactive Macron was exhausted after two years of pandemic, followed by war in Europe and back-to-back presidential and parliamentary elections.

Pencil time

Have you ever wondered why French schoolkids have those enormous bags? It’s because schools insist on a ridiculous amount of kit – 29 items are stationery alone are apparently required for the start of each school year.

Although the kids still have a couple of weeks of holiday left, this week the back-to-school allowance was paid out to parents and supermarkets began filling up with the dizzying array of pens, pencils and geometry kit for la rentrée.

Cake, pigs and Napoleon

And I’ve been greatly enjoying researching our French History Myths series, where we delve into some of the widely-touted ‘facts’ about French history – did Marie Antoinette really tell the poor to eat cake? Has it ever been illegal to name your pig Napoleon? And does the French army always surrender? Find the full series 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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