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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: A new political era, pharmacy tunes and Macron’s suntan

From apocalyptic pronouncements to suntan jokes, via private jet rules and pharmacy tunes, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week

Published: 27 August 2022 06:29 CEST
Updated: 27 August 2022 17:16 CEST
Inside France: A new political era, pharmacy tunes and Macron's suntan
Photo by Patrick VALASSERIS / 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.

Apocalypse maintenant

As France returns from its summer break, president Emmanuel Macron got la rentrée off to a cheery start by appearing to predict the apocalypse.

In his opening remarks to the first cabinet meeting – which, unusually, were televised – Macron predicted “the end of abundance, the end of insouciance, the end of assumptions – it’s ultimately a tipping point that we are going through”.

And in case anyone was nurturing the delusion that this was merely a tough winter that we face due to energy shortages after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Macron added that this was a long-term trend which is also linked to climate change.

OPINION: Macron’s Churchillian rhetoric provides a vital clue to events in France

It was left to his government spokesman Olivier Véran to attempt to reassure the French that Macron was merely laying out the challenges facing the country in a transparent fashion and that we won’t be living through a live-action version of Mad Max in the months to come (to slightly paraphrase his press conference). 

Here Véran also slips in a revival of the Covid-era slogan tenir ensemble (pull together).

Climate crisis

The Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is due next week to set out the government’s long-awaited “energy transition”, and she has quite the challenge on her hands – coming up with a plan that will drastically cut France’s energy usage and finally take real action on climate change, while also maintaining the standard of living for the majority of the population.

She may be helped, however, by recent polls that show that climate change is now the number 2 concern of French voters, fractionally behind inflation but way ahead of immigration, crime or terrorism.

It seems that for many people the summer of sweltering temperatures, huge wildfires, storms and the worst drought in 60 years has really brought home the reality of the climate crisis on a visceral level.  

Bronzage 

There was one other aspect of Macron’s speech that caught many people’s eye – his distinctly bronzed appearance.

Even allowing for the fact that he’s been down on the French Riviera for the last few weeks, the president appeared to be unusually deeply tanned.

Private jets and swimming pools

One French proposal that really hit the international headlines this week was a proposal to ban or at least regulate private jets, in response to the climate crisis.

Digging closer into this, and it seems it was really nothing more than some remarks from the Transport minister Clément Beaune.

We’re nowhere near a government policy on this, and Beaune later added that he wanted to work on it on an EU level, so it seems that any action would be years away.

Interestingly, though, the idea seems to have been very popular in France, the country with the highest rate of private jet activity in Europe (according to 2019 figures).

A suggestion by a Green party MP that private swimming pools should be banned because of droughts, however, has been instantly shot down. Perhaps because France also has the highest level of private pool ownership in Europe.

End of summer

Although the government is back (with a bang), schools don’t return until next week, so this is the weekend that many French people will be reluctantly dragging themselves off the beach, packing away flip-flops and contemplating the return to work.

La rentrée really is a national mood in France, even for those who remained at work in August.

Pharmacy fever

And if you’re suffering from post-holiday blues, I can highly recommend heading over to Tik Tok to watch some of these lovely videos of French pharmacy signs set to music.

You may have noticed that the graphics on the distinctive green crosses outside pharmacies are getting more and more sophisticated – from just a simple time and temperature, some of them have become little pieces of entertainment in their own right.

I hope these raise a smile. 

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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