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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Bashing footballers, British royals and Breton cakes

From the climate row engulfing a French football club to a behind-the-scenes look at France's presidency, via the particular place that British royals hold in French hearts, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 10 September 2022 09:07 CEST
Inside France: Bashing footballers, British royals and Breton cakes
Greenpeace activists deploy a banner which reads "Climate: No time to laugh" as they protest with a sand yacht outside of the Parc des Princes, after the PSG private jet row. Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / 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.

Football focus

We’ve seen this week in France huge outrage at Paris Saint-Germain football club taking a plane to Nantes, a city that is accessible by train in just two hours – a row that perhaps seems trivial, but one that I think shows how much the dial has shifted in France on environmental issues.

A big chunk of the population has already made changes to their own lifestyle because of the climate crisis, and now they expect businesses and the super-rich to follow suit and avoid what is becoming known as un effort à deux vitesses – a two-speed effort.

And here’s one protester putting a distinctly French spin on things;

“Our planet is the only one where they make Kouign Amann, save it!” – in case you’re unlucky enough not to have tasted it, Kouign Amman is a Breton speciality made of sweet, laminated pastry. 

France in mourning

And we also saw this week, on the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, just how popular the British royals are in France.

As well as fulsome tributes from political leaders, British flags were flown, the Eiffel Tower lights were turned off and three French daily newspapers made the death their front page story. Many Brits in France have also reported their French friends, neighbours and colleagues offering condolences on the death of the Queen.

I find it fascinating because you might think that famously republican France would have no time for royals, but in fact this obsession with the British royals is a long-standing phenomenon in France.

French cultural commentators all focus on one thing – unity, remarking that often-divided France envies the sense of stability that a monarchy brings. Which is ironic because in the UK itself the monarchy is far from an uncontroversial subject and a significant chunk of the population believe that they should have no official role.

Perhaps a case of things always looking better from the outside?

READ ALSO ‘The French have a taste for princes’ – why are British royals so popular in France?

Macron uncovered

You might have seen this clip circulating below, showing a phone call between Volodymr Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron on the morning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It comes from a fly-on-the-wall documentary that was screened on France 2 TV channel at the end of June.

The whole thing (mostly in French) is well worth a watch, giving fascinating insight into how things work behind the scenes, the personal relationships and the secret smoking that goes on in the Elysée – find it here.

Talking France

And our podcast Talking France has returned from its summer break. You can find the new episode HERE, where me and Genevieve Mansfield talk with Europe editor Ben McPartland and veteran political reporter John Lichfield about the big questions facing France.

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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