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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Summer drought, Macron’s lengthy chat and women’s rights

From the latest on political and health developments, via summer holiday plans and the best drinks options, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 2 July 2022 09:34 CEST
Inside France: Summer drought, Macron's lengthy chat and women's rights
Les gorges du Verdon. Photo by MICHEL GANGNE / AFP

Inside France is our weekly look at 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.

The C word

It’s the topic no-one really wanted to talk about again, but we appear to be back in the world of masks, testing and daily infection rate statistics – yes, Covid’s back.

France appears to be firmly in the grip of a seventh wave as recorded cases soar, hospitalisations rise and all of a sudden we’re again hearing from friends, family and colleagues who have tested positive.

There are no new restrictions yet, although the health ministry is preparing a contingency plan, but masks are now ‘strongly recommended’ on public transport, and if you’re travelling by train or Metro, you’re likely to hear more public announcements urging passengers to put their masks back on for the sake of all travellers.

Summer 

Although there is still another week to go before the schools break up and les grandes vacances begin in France, the country has begun to take on a distinctly ‘holiday’ vibe as people look forward to their summer break.

Summer holidays are a big deal in France, and many people take at least a month off, while the kids get seven weeks off school and cities empty out as people decamp to the beaches and the countryside.

READ ALSO Rosé, spritz and pressé – what to drink in France this summer

But the summer has got off to a very bad start for one of France’s most spectacular tourist attractions, the Gorges du Verdon in south east France.

Usually a popular venue for water sports like rafting, authorities have been forced to issue a ban on water activities and close part of the park as the water runs dry. Temporary bans have been in place before in the Gorges, but never so early in the summer – another worrying sign as forecasters warn that the climate crisis means that France will face an unusually hot and dry summer with a high risk of drought and wildfires.

Wildfires already broke out earlier this week, while fires in the south of the country are not unusual during the summer months, this was another exceptionally early event. 

We discuss all aspects of the summer ahead in our latest episode of the Talking France podcast.

Women’s rights

You might have suddenly started seeing this lady’s face everywhere in France over the past week. 

If you don’t recognise her, this is Simone Veil, the politician behind the ‘Loi Veil’ which made abortion legal in France in 1975.

Her picture has been widely circulated as people shared their shock and anger at the decision of the US Supreme Court. In addition to many politicians, including president Emmanuel Macron, condemning the US decision to bar access to abortion for many millions of women, there are also proposals to enshrine the right to abortion in France’s constitution.

Changing the constitution is a complicated process, but it’s not impossible – 24 changes have been made since France introduced its current constitution in 1958 and France has had a total of 15 constitutions since the French Revolution, reflecting the many, many changes seen in society since the days when wearing a wig made of horse-hair was the height of fashion.

But while the right to abortion may become a constitutional right, abortion laws in France are more restrictive than several other European countries, with time limits meaning many French women need to travel to other EU countries to terminate a pregnancy.

In other feminism news, France this week elected the first female president of the Assemblée nationale, a mere 78 years since women were first given the vote. 

Sports fun

And I had a great night at the Stade de France last weekend, watching the final of France’s Top 14 rugby tournament. The 2020 final was cancelled and the 2021 played before a very limited crowd, so I and the other 79,000 spectators were thrilled to be back.

Also at the match was Emmanuel Macron, who spent such a long time on his pre-game, on-pitch chat to the players that kick-off was delayed by almost 15 minutes – there’s a time and a place for lengthy gossip sessions, Manu.

The Top 14 trophy is the enormous Bouclier de Brennus, surely one of the biggest sports shields in the world, and there’s a grand tradition of the winning team taking it on tour with them, surfing on it etc. Below is Guilhem Guirado, the captain of winning team Montpellier, having a little sleep next to the trophy after what was clearly a big weekend.

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: Political farce, far-right fears and sharks under Paris

This week in France has been heavily focused on politics due to the surprise election, from the soap opera and the memes of the right-wing parties to grumpy faces among the Macronists, plus some light relief in the form of the weird stuff underneath Paris.

Published: 15 June 2024 11:41 CEST
Inside France: Political farce, far-right fears and sharks under Paris

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.

Ciotti chuckles

Anyone who says that the French have no sense of humour has clearly not spent any time on French social media this week as the jokes and memes came thick and fast in response to the ridiculous election shenanigans of the once-mighty right-wing Les Républicains party.

You can find the full details here but to cut a long story short, party leader Eric Ciotti announced an election alliance with the far-right, his fellow party bigwigs were horrified and attempted to expel him, Ciotti locked himself inside the party HQ and refused to allow anyone in, leaders held their meeting elsewhere and voted to expel him from the party, Ciotti refused to accept their verdict and posted a video of him showing up at work as normal the following day, insisting he was still in charge.

The whole thing was a gift for anyone with a Twitter account and a sense of humour. 

Sense of humour

The whole idea that ‘the French aren’t funny’ is an oddly enduring trope. I think it’s to do with the fact that French humour is often highly referential, making it hard for foreigners to get if they don’t understand the references.

READ ALSO 5 tips for understanding French humour and jokes

Far right

Funny as the whole Ciotti episode was, it didn’t quite distract from the widespread horror in France at the prospect of a far-right government, and bafflement over Emmanuel Macron’s high-stakes election gamble.

His announcement on Sunday night of a snap election took the country and the media entirely by surprise and seemed to catch plenty of his own party members off guard too.

The election is a gamble – un pari – Macron is banking on the country to reject the far-right at the polls and hand his party back an absolute majority in parliament. This could happen, or Marine Le Pen’s party could win and Macron would then go down in history as the man who handed the keys of government to the far-right. Or – and most analysts think this is the most likely scenario – no party could win an absolute majority and the parliament could be plunged into an even more messy deadlock.

READ ALSO What do the snap elections mean for France?

One of the most outspoken critics has been Gabriel Attal, the 35-year-old prime minister often described as a Macron protege. This photo of him with a face like thunder has become another meme, embodying all those who think that this election is a very bad idea. 

Talking France

We of course talk about the elections in a special episode of the Talking France podcast – listen here. During the election period we will be releasing the podcast on Mondays, and we will also be doing a bi-weekly election breakdown for anyone who wants to stay in touch with the latest – sign up here.

Sharknado

And if you want something to help you switch off from all the politics, I highly recommend the new Netflix film Sous la Seine (Under Paris). Not because it’s good – it’s not, in fact it’s terrible but it’s so bad that it’s actually hilarious. 

One thing that you might write off as dramatic licence is the idea of an enormous underground lake beneath Paris – but this is actually true. In fact, there’s a lot weird shit under Paris . . .

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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