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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Playboy photoshoots, funding probes and romanticising the mob

From a minister's Playboy pictures to the scandals that perhaps lie behind them, via the history of some charred doors and rude French place names, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 8 April 2023 12:39 CEST
Playboy bunnies
Photo by STRINGER / CENTRAL PRESS / 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.

Fille de lapin?

We’re moving on from violence to sex this week in France – after several weeks dominated by violent protests over pension reforms, this week headlines were taken up by a government minister’s Playboy photoshoot.

The (fully clothed) pictures of social security minister Marlene Schiappa have provoked quite a reaction, with even the Prime Minister apparently taking the time to phone Schiappa to tell her that her appearance was “not at all appropriate”.

Surprising, you might think, for a country that has an international reputation as an ‘anything goes’ kind of place when it comes to sex.

Fake news

It was perhaps this reputation that led to so many anglophone tweeters falling for the below faked image of the magazine’s cover. Even if you ignore the shoddy Photoshop job, the clue here is ‘49.3’ scrawled across her boob – that’s a reference to Article 49.3, the highly controversial constitutional tool that the government used to ram through it’s unpopular pension reforms without a parliamentary vote.

Distractions

In fact it’s been quite a week for high-profile magazine appearances from politicians – Emmanuel Macron, who rarely gives interviews, spoke to the children’s magazine Pif while Olivier Dussopt (public face of the much-hated pension reform) chose to come out as gay in an interview with Tetu magazine.

While this is obviously something to celebrate for him (and makes him the fourth out gay minister in what must be one of France’s most gay-friendly governments ever) it’s hard to avoid a cynical reaction that this media flurry is an attempt by the government to distract from the continuing anger over pension reform and its own ‘undemocratic’ behaviour over the reform.

In Schiappa’s case, she’s also facing investigation over handling of the Marianne fund, which is intended to fund groups combating extremism and radicalisation, dating back to her days as the citizenship minister. 

Charred piece of history

Speaking of that anger, you may remember the dramatic scenes from Bordeaux, where protesters set fire to the doors of the town hall.

The fire was quickly extinguished and didn’t damage the building, but the doors were left badly charred.

Now the city’s mayor – a Green politician who also sounds like a remarkably forgiving guy – is leading a public debate on what to do with the doors – restore them leaving the charred patches visible as a souvenir or replace them and put the burned ones in the town museum? The burned doors are, argues mayor Pierre Hurmic, “part of the citizens’ history of Bordeaux”.

It’s been said before that France is a country that romanticises the mob . . . 

Childish giggle of the week

Is it sophisticated humour to laugh at foreign names that sound rude in English? No, it is not. But no-one has ever accused us at The Local of being sophisticated, so here are some of France’s funniest place names, from Anus to Bitche to Misery. 

Podcast

And you can here the team from The Local talk about these and other issues in our weekly Talking France podcast – download it HERE or listen on the link below.

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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