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.

Apocalypse maintenant

As France returns from its summer break, president Emmanuel Macron got la rentrée off to a cheery start by appearing to predict the apocalypse.

In his opening remarks to the first cabinet meeting – which, unusually, were televised – Macron predicted “the end of abundance, the end of insouciance, the end of assumptions – it’s ultimately a tipping point that we are going through”.

And in case anyone was nurturing the delusion that this was merely a tough winter that we face due to energy shortages after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Macron added that this was a long-term trend which is also linked to climate change.

OPINION: Macron’s Churchillian rhetoric provides a vital clue to events in France

It was left to his government spokesman Olivier Véran to attempt to reassure the French that Macron was merely laying out the challenges facing the country in a transparent fashion and that we won’t be living through a live-action version of Mad Max in the months to come (to slightly paraphrase his press conference). 

Le Président de la République a appelé à l'unité de la Nation, dans une période marquée par de nombreuses crises internationales.
Un discours lucide, pour dire les choses et les nommer, avec clarté et sans catastrophisme. pic.twitter.com/BY7QvwBmqp

— Olivier Véran (@olivierveran) August 24, 2022

Here Véran also slips in a revival of the Covid-era slogan tenir ensemble (pull together).

Climate crisis

The Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is due next week to set out the government’s long-awaited “energy transition”, and she has quite the challenge on her hands – coming up with a plan that will drastically cut France’s energy usage and finally take real action on climate change, while also maintaining the standard of living for the majority of the population.

She may be helped, however, by recent polls that show that climate change is now the number 2 concern of French voters, fractionally behind inflation but way ahead of immigration, crime or terrorism.

Incredible. Climate change now No 2 concern of French, following a sweltering summer. Beats out crime, immigration, covid, you name it.
via @mathieugallard pic.twitter.com/eO2ZdSmXDA

— Stanley Pignal (@spignal) August 25, 2022

It seems that for many people the summer of sweltering temperatures, huge wildfires, storms and the worst drought in 60 years has really brought home the reality of the climate crisis on a visceral level.  

Bronzage 

There was one other aspect of Macron’s speech that caught many people’s eye – his distinctly bronzed appearance.

Even allowing for the fact that he’s been down on the French Riviera for the last few weeks, the president appeared to be unusually deeply tanned.

baby girl forgot to diligently reapply his SPF every few hours

— Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian) August 24, 2022

Private jets and swimming pools

One French proposal that really hit the international headlines this week was a proposal to ban or at least regulate private jets, in response to the climate crisis.

Digging closer into this, and it seems it was really nothing more than some remarks from the Transport minister Clément Beaune.

“Without resorting to demagogy or launching ad hominem attacks, there are some behaviours that are no longer acceptable,” Beaune, who is close to president Emmanuel Macron, told Le Parisien. “I think we should act to regulate flights by private jets.” https://t.co/6gbPQjR4wj

— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) August 23, 2022

We’re nowhere near a government policy on this, and Beaune later added that he wanted to work on it on an EU level, so it seems that any action would be years away.

Interestingly, though, the idea seems to have been very popular in France, the country with the highest rate of private jet activity in Europe (according to 2019 figures).

A suggestion by a Green party MP that private swimming pools should be banned because of droughts, however, has been instantly shot down. Perhaps because France also has the highest level of private pool ownership in Europe.

End of summer

Although the government is back (with a bang), schools don’t return until next week, so this is the weekend that many French people will be reluctantly dragging themselves off the beach, packing away flip-flops and contemplating the return to work.

La rentrée really is a national mood in France, even for those who remained at work in August.

Pharmacy fever

And if you’re suffering from post-holiday blues, I can highly recommend heading over to Tik Tok to watch some of these lovely videos of French pharmacy signs set to music.

You may have noticed that the graphics on the distinctive green crosses outside pharmacies are getting more and more sophisticated – from just a simple time and temperature, some of them have become little pieces of entertainment in their own right.

I hope these raise a smile. 

La trend Tik Tok de filmer des animations de pharmacie FR avec de la techno est vraiment mon truc préféré du moment pic.twitter.com/rfgc6Qp2bF

— Victor Grimoin 🏝 (@victor_grimoin) August 19, 2022

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.