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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Politicians on the beach, rain dances and chorizo

From a political success to a weather crisis, via Macron in a kayak and a misfiring joke about chorizo, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 6 August 2022 09:01 CEST
Inside France: Politicians on the beach, rain dances and chorizo
It's August so France is largely on the beach. Photo by Valentine CHAPUIS / 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.

The French parliament has officially broken up for the summer and the MPs are on holiday after an unprecedented week of work in – gasp – August.

Some important bills have been passed, including a package of measures to help French residents deal with the rising cost of living, and now French MPs head off on holiday.

President Emmanuel Macron departed at the beginning of the week, he’s down in the official presidential holiday home on the Riviera, but he’d like us to know that it’s not a holiday, he’s having a pause estival studieuse (studious summer break) – so we can assume his beach reading won’t include many bonkbusters. 

He’s also been spotted doing a bit of sea kayaking, leading to many jokes that he’s ‘studying’ eco-friendly transport forms.

Some politicians will still be working, however, as a ‘crisis task force’ has been set up to help deal with the country’s worst drought in decades.

We’re not entirely sure what the taskforce will do, but if all else fails this ‘sing to make it rain’ event might do the trick.

Water restrictions are now in place throughout the country and some villages have been left entirely without tap water as local supplies fail.

It’s another grim reminder of the climate crisis, along with the ever-increasing danger of avalanches in the Alps.

The mountain of Mont Blanc “is angry”, according to the local mayor, who wants to charge climbers a deposit of €15,000 in order, he says, to pay for rescue and funeral costs. 

As the heatwave continues, this week French sleep experts tackled the important question – why sleeping naked actually won’t keep you cool.

But if you’re in Paris and it’s too hot – try going underground. The city has a number of surprises lurking below ground, from skulls to breweries, underground lakes to mushroom farms and Resistance command posts.

And if anyone ever doubted that the French are pretty funny, this astronomer managed to make worldwide headlines with a picture of a slice of chorizo.

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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