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.

Shuffle play

It only took a month and two political crises, but France now has a new government. Although the new prime minister and the main ministerial roles were appointed on January 9th, the reshuffle was only actually finished late on February 8th when the junior ministerial roles were all filled.

READ ALSO:Who’s who in France’s new government

Although the announcement of roles like the ministers for fishing, military veterans and ‘territorial cohesion’ don’t sound like they would provoke a lot of drama (or even interest) the finalising of the list of ministers was the source of a crisis after the leader of Macron’s major centrist allies MoDem flounced out of negotiations after apparently not being offered the role he wanted.

François Bayrou – described by The Local’s columnist John Lichfield as “irritating but important” – did eventually agree to remain on coalition with Macron’s party, despite not getting a ministerial role but the cracks are definitely starting to show among the supposed buddies in the centre.

On a side note, there were reportedly three ministers who behind the scenes expressed strong reservations about the controversial immigration bill, passed just before Christmas. Those three – Olivier Véran, Clément Beaune and Olivier Dussopt – are all now out of government, although they remain on the back-benches in parliament.

Talking France

The reshuffle happened too late to make it into this week’s Talking France, but instead we’re talking about Paris’ new SUV charges, whether the Eurostar is doomed, those new French language test rules and France’s idea of romance. Listen here or on the link below. 

Incidentally those Paris SUV charges – up to €18 per hour to park heavy vehicles like SUVs and 4x4s in the city – seem to be a lot more controversial abroad than they are in France. In Paris they provoked barely a passing interest, with 95 percent of the electorate not caring enough either way to vote in the referendum on the topic.

Citizenship

I know that the proper arty types are unimpressed with it, but I like Paris’ Ateliers des Lumières, and as it’s close to home it’s a favourite place for a wet Sunday afternoon. 

The recent Chagall exhibition was as beautiful as you would expect, but one thing I had not realised was that the Belarus-born Marc Chagall was stripped of his French citizenship during World War II.

He was in fact one of 15,000 naturalised Frenchmen and women – 7,000 of them Jews – who were stripped of their citizenship by the Vichy government. Chagall was lucky enough to make it to the USA and he survived the war, but many others did not. 

And it turns out that there is no constitutional protection to prevent such a thing happening again under a future government, although at present there are very strict conditions to fulfil before dual nationals can have their citizenship revoked, and those who have been French from birth can never be stripped of citizenship.

Surreal

And talking of culture, if you’re looking for a film that is hilarious and also weird enough to truly represent its subject, then the new French film Daaaaali ! is exactly what you need.

On the subject of the surrealist painter Salvador Dali, the appropriately bonkers film includes an endless corridor, a murderous cowboy, a donkey and a priest’s endless story, told over a dinner table that no-one can escape from. It reminded me of certain work meetings I have sat through.  

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.