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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: A nation in shock after knife attack on toddlers

Our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France - and of course the news this week has been dominated by shock and horror at the appalling attack in Annecy, in which four toddlers and two adults were stabbed.

Published: 10 June 2023 07:44 CEST
Inside France: A nation in shock after knife attack on toddlers
Candles and flowers at the playground in the Jardins de l'Europe in Annecy, the scene of a knife attack in which four children and two adults were seriously injured. Photo by OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / 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.

Horror

“A nation in shock” is how Emmanuel Macron put it, and that’s a good description for the horror that has gripped France after a man armed with a knife entered a children’s playground and stabbed – apparently at random – four toddlers and two adults. 

READ ALSO Annecy knife attack: What we know so far

The pretty Alpine town of Annecy – best known for its beautiful lake and a popular tourist spot in summer and winter alike – is now trying to come to terms with this appalling tragedy while also fending off the unwelcome attentions of the far-right.

The town’s Green mayor, François Astorg, has pleaded for calm and for the town to be allowed to grieve. Local authorities put in place a ban on demonstrations on the evening of the attack, after calls for far-right activists to gather in Annecy.

Politics

There is of course still a lot that we don’t know about the attacker and his motivations, but the fact that he described himself to police as a “Christian Syrian asylum seeker” was enough for some.

Although he had applied for asylum in France he should more correctly be described as a refugee, since he had been granted asylum in Sweden, where he was living until November 2022. His application in France was rejected because he already had refugee status in Sweden.

Eric Ciotti, the new leader of Les Républicains, immediately declared the attack “a terrorist act” and called for new laws on immigration.

Compared to him, far-right leader Marine Le Pen was relatively restrained in the first hours after the attack, restricting herself to expressions of shock, horror and sympathy for the families – although her deputy Jordan Bardella was a lot less restrained.

Les Républicains – the party of De Gaulle, Chirac and Sarkozy and the dominant force in French post-war politics until 2017 – is traditionally described as a ‘centre right’ party. But this illusion can no longer be maintained under the leadership of Ciotti who seems determined to out-radicalise the far-right. 

Podcast

Our Talking France podcast was made before the attack happened, which is why we don’t talk about it, but there are lots of other topics to consider – such as who ‘won’ the pension strikes and whether this means a strike-free summer, whether French mayors can hike your water bills and how to make the most of summer in France.

Listen here or on the link below.

Marmitegate

And on a lighter note, I really enjoyed the reactions to this tweet – it’s always funny to see how other nationalities view your country’s local specialities and treasured traditions.

I’m a lover of Marmite (which I’m informed was invented by a German, although lots of countries have a variation on the salty yeast spread) but even within the UK it’s not uncontroversial. 

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: The big debate, French values and grammar slapdowns

From grammar-related French put-downs to headline TV debates, via 'French values' and the Paris mayor's swimming plans, the weekly column Inside France takes a look at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 25 May 2024 10:36 CEST
Inside France: The big debate, French values and grammar slapdowns

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.

Face off

Primetime TV in France on Thursday night consisted of two men in blue suits talking about EU policy – in other words, the much-hyped European election debate between Macronist representative Gabriel Attal and Jordan Bardella of the far-right Rassemblement National.

Attal is widely agreed to have ‘won’ the debate – although whether that will make any difference at all to the election result remains to be seen. Current polling shows Rassemblement National with a commanding lead while the Macronists may struggle to even reach second place ahead of the centre-left Parti Socialiste.

Whether you agree with the policies he is peddling or not, it’s hard not to admire Attal’s skill as a debater – eloquent, pugnacious and detail-orientated, and with a cute little half smile that appears when he knows he’s got his opponent on the run.

I was also interested to note that throughout, Bardella addressed his rival as ‘Monsieur Attal’ while Attal called him ‘Jordan Bardella’ – one of the many ways that the French language allows subtle digs. The other minefield being, of course, ‘tu’ versus ‘vous’ with all sorts of sly slapdowns possible through the choice of the informal or the formal ‘you’.

I think my favourite comes from 1981 when François Mitterand had just been elected France’s first socialist president – one of his party colleagues cheerfully asked him Alors, camarade président, on peut continuer à se tutoyer, non ? (So, comrade president, we can still call you ‘tu’ huh?) to which Mitterand glacially replied Si vous voulez (if you want).

READ ALSO When can you drop the ‘vous’ in French?

Putting a value

‘Respecting the principles of the French republic’ will be a new requirement for foreigners in France, and you might be relieved to know that there is actually quite a precise definition of this somewhat vague sounding concept.

Article 1 of the French constitution lays out the four pillars of the republic – indivisible, secular, democratic and social – while the website of the president’s Elysée palace clearly defines what each one means in practice and how it might relate to everyday life.

Explained: What are ‘French values’?

Many people are not thrilled at the idea of having to formally promise this, and see it as the thin end of the wedge when it comes to anti-migrant sentiment. I don’t necessarily disagree, but at least those ‘values’ are clearly defined and are something that I personally would have no problem agreeing with.

As the native of a country with an ‘unwritten constitution’ (by which they mean no constitution at all, and instead a system cobbled together over centuries of precedent, custom and compromise) I can at least appreciate the clarity.

Talking France

We discuss French values in the latest episode of the Talking France podcast, along with the violence in New Caledonia and what it means for France’s complex and conflicted system of overseas territories, plus Paris strikes, overrated French tourist attractions and why Kylian Mbappé is so famous. Listen here or on the link below

Splash down

And Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has set a date for a very special swim. On June 23rd she will apparently take a dip in the River Seine – all part of the city’s long-running project to make the river clean enough to swim in.

If all goes according to plan (and the opening of the enormous new underground water treatment works at Austerlitz is a big part of this), open-water swimming events will be held in the Seine during the Olympics and Paralympics and then swimming spots will open up in the river for public use.

All of which explains why the mayor is getting her swimming cap ready – and she won’t be the first member of her family to take a dip there. Her son Arthur Germain, who is a champion endurance swimmer, swam the entire length of the Seine from its source near Dijon to Le Havre in 2021.

Will she be joined by Emmanuel Macron? Maybe. He has promised to swim in the river ‘soon’ – although the two don’t exactly see eye-to-eye politically and there’s only one thing more awkward than having to make polite chat with a bitter rival, and that’s having to do it in swimwear. 

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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