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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Sexy films, protest blues and a British bromance

From a Frenchman's right to protest to rekindling the flame of the Franco-British relationship, via singing, birthdays and dodgy film titles, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 11 March 2023 14:43 CET
Inside France: Sexy films, protest blues and a British bromance
This week we're all about rekindling romances when it comes to international relations. Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / 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.

British bromance

There were a lot of serious topics discussed at the meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Rishi Sunak on Friday, but for much of the French media this was about a chance to go back to normal relations between neighbours and historic allies after the chaotic and tense relationship during the Boris Johnson years and the Liz Truss weeks.

I particularly enjoyed the front page of leftwing daily Libération ahead of the visit. My gran had some very similar souvenir mugs from the weddings of Prince Charles and Diana and Prince Andrew and Sarah back in the 1980s – I hope that’s not a bad omen for the Macron-Sunak relationship

Protest

I’m afraid I had to laugh this week when a Parisian told me, with a completely straight face, that: “Since Macron, no-one can protest in France any more or you will be shot in the back. It’s unfortunate but that’s the way it is.”

On Tuesday an estimated 1.2 million people protested against the pension reform, so I think that statement is not quite true (although there is certainly a serious conversation to be had about police violence in France).

The pension reform bill continues to make its way through the parliamentary process, coming back to the Assemblée nationale next week ahead of a final vote on March 26th. It’s widely expected that strikes will reach a crescendo over the next two weeks with official actions such as walk-outs on the railways and unofficial ones like the rogue Edf workers cutting off the power to towns that elected ministers who back the reforms. 

Song of the week

As the country of my birth takes on the country of my residence this weekend in the Six Nations rugby match known as Le Crunch, I’ll have the opportunity to hear La Marseillaise as it should be sung – bellowed by slightly drunk sports fans.

The French anthem is undoubtedly a cracking tune, so much so that I also heard it sung by groups of distinctly convivial farmers in the wine tent at the closing at France’s biggest farm show last weekend. Can’t quite imagine that happening with God Save the King . . .

Thread of the week

We’ve written about this before at The Local, but French versions of English-language film titles are often a bit . . . weird. Especially when it comes to sex, as the below thread demonstrates.

Although the urban myth that The Matrix films appeared in France as Les jeunes qui traversent des dimensions en portant des lunettes de soleil (young people who travel in dimensions while wearing sunglasses) is sadly not true. In France it was simply Matrix, while in Quebec it was La Matrice.

Puns, sex and urban legends: How French film titles are translated into English

Birthday cake

And the Talking France podcast is back with a special first birthday edition.

Yes, it’s one year since we said ‘Let’s launch a podcast to cover the presidential elections, we’ll probably just do it for a couple of months’. We’ve branched out since then from politics to cover all aspects of French news and life in France – this week’s episode covers; strikes (of course), drought, Olympics tickets, France’s privacy laws and 3 French islands you really should visit.

Listen here or on the link below.

And if you want to hear even more of me talking, this week I am a guest on the Navigating the French podcast, discussing perhaps the most French word of them all – la grève (strikes).

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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