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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Communist cooking tips, scheming politicians and famous pharmacies

From ambitious politicians to unsung town planners, via some very excited Americans in French pharmacies, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 19 August 2023 10:28 CEST
Inside France: Communist cooking tips, scheming politicians and famous pharmacies
Photo by RODGER BOSCH / 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.

Manoeuvres en vacances 

Most of France’s politicians are now on holiday, and many of them are posting ‘holiday snaps’ on their social media intended to reinforce their political image. My favourite is Communist leader Fabien Roussel posting cooking videos from his camping holiday.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Fabien Roussel (@fabien_roussel)

But one politician who appears not to need a break is Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who used the quiet period to give an interview to Le Figaro that many saw as declaring his intention to stand for president in 2027.

The question of who will be the centrist candidate at the next presidential election – since Emmanuel Macron cannot stand again – is increasingly preoccupying the political classes, especially the question of picking someone who can defeat Marine Le Pen.

A hardliner who is definitely to the right of Macron’s party, Darmanin is increasingly trying to play Le Pen at her own game on topics such as immigration and crime. He’s also secured the backing of interior-minister-turned-president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Profile: France’s tough-talking interior minister with an eye on the top job

Town planning

As an out-and-proud francophile, I always enjoy watching visitors fall in love with France, but one trend that has become apparent in recent years is tourists (especially Brits and Americans) discovering how much nicer cities are when cars are not allowed to take over.

Traffic management and town planning are not sexy subjects, but they make an enormous difference to the everyday lives of visitors and locals alike – as witnessed by Paris’ bike revolution and excited predictions that it is ‘the new Amsterdam’ (not quite, but it’s moving in that direction).

The other thing that visitors to France apparently love is pharmacies, if the latest TikTok craze is anything to go by. There are some truly adorable videos of Americans getting very excited by the range on offer in pharmacies in Paris.

@elizabethvictoriaclark come to the iconic french pharmacy CityPharma in Paris with me – aka heaven on earth. Will do a haul next. #frenchpharmacy #a313 #biafine #frenchbeauty ♬ Shooting Stars – Bag Raiders

I’ve found myself spending a lot more time browsing in pharmacies since moving to France – although I just assumed that was because I’m now middle-aged!

A vos marques, prêt . . .

Water quality monitoring is also not a sexy subject – but thanks to the work of some of these unsung heroes, Paris hosted its first open-water swimming event in the Seine on Thursday.

The race was part of the test events in the river ahead of next year’s Olympics when the plan is to hold the open-water swimming events in the city-centre parts of the Seine. After that, river swimming will be opened up to the general public for the first time in more than 100 years.

Swimming in the river has been banned since 1923 because the levels of pollution made it unsafe.

Quiz of the week 

In most countries if you want to become a citizen, you need to take a written test on the history, geography and politics of the country.

France, however, eschews a written test in favour of an in-person interview at your local préfecture in which you are grilled about France and its values.

READ ALSO Cheese to philosophy: What you are likely to be asked in the French citizenship interview

That doesn’t stop news organisations from putting together ‘citizenship quizzes’ based on what interviewers are likely to ask – this week there’s a new (and hard) one from French newspaper Le Parisien, which obviously is in French. The Local has its own version in English 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: 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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