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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Rising violence, business skills and a presidential crush

From the great debate on manners and civility in politics, via French 'attractiveness' and a bit of swearing and hugs, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 20 May 2023 07:53 CEST
Inside France: Rising violence, business skills and a presidential crush
Photo by GUILLAUME SOUVANT / 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.

Civility

This week in France we’re talking about manners and civility. Not because of the French reputation for rudeness – I’ve always found that most French people, even Parisians, are perfectly polite and in fact the politesse of greetings etc are in my opinion more observed in France than the UK.

No, this discussion is about civility in politics – and in comes as the great-nephew of Brigitte Macron was attacked and beaten in his hometown of Amiens, apparently because of his connection to the president.

It has sparked debate because attacks on elected officials are increasing – with MPs and local mayors reporting a steep increase in vandalism at their offices and even, thankfully more rare, instances of physical attacks. This all comes as a mayor in western France resigned after an arson attack at his home.

Things are, thankfully, not at the stage when elected all officials require bodyguards, but it does seem to be a worrying trend.

‘Attractive’ France

France is still the subject of lazy stereotypes about its workforce – they’re always either on strike or at lunch, apparently – but it seems that business leaders don’t agree, as France took the crown for the most new foreign direct investment in Europe for the fourth year running.

There are caveats to this of course – France was starting from a low base, and the investment doesn’t create as many jobs as in neighbouring Germany – but this ‘business friendly’ France is really down to the vision of Emmanuel Macron.

You can argue whether it’s a good thing or not, but it’s relatively unusual to see a single person change the image of country to such an extent.

OPINION: Macron has made a start, but France’s ‘reindustrialisation’ must move faster

Talking France

We talk about this in more detail – along with politics expert John Lichfield – in this week’s podcast, as well as discussing whether French drivers really deserve their terrible reputation, how priorité à droite actually works, what lies beneath the surface glamour of Cannes and some ideas for things to do this summer.

Listen here or on the link below.

Language learning tip of the week 

If you want to brush up your French swearing, simply head to the Metro on the day there is a breakdown on the line. The delayed commuter next to me as I navigated a badly disrupted Line 11 provided a free masterclass on the many different ways the French use ‘putain‘. My language horizons have been truly broadened.

Video of the week

We’re used to the famously tactile Macron creating ‘bromance’ headlines when he greets other world leaders with hugs, but in this (possibly selectively edited but still amusing) footage, it seems that the shoe was on the other foot when the president visited Iceland for the Council of Europe summit.

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: French lose the plot, sports stars speak out and Paris prices fall

From the latest on the increasingly crazy French elections to the powers of a president, the influence of sports stars and the lustre of the Olympics, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 22 June 2024 10:54 CEST
Inside France: French lose the plot, sports stars speak out and Paris prices fall

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.

Losing the plot?

Welcome to another crazy week in French politics – I’m not saying that this election is getting to me, but the other night I dreamed I was having an argument with far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. I think I need a holiday.

France might need a holiday too – the political discourse is getting increasingly wild, leading to our columnist John Lichfield to declare that the country has “taken leave of its senses”. 

Latest polling suggests that Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National party would take the biggest vote share at 33 percent, followed by the increasingly fragile leftist coalition Nouveau Front Populaire with 29 percent and then Emmanuel Macron’s centrist group with 22 percent. Those figures would give none of the blocks an overall majority, instead leading to a total parliamentary deadlock.

French election breakdown: All the latest from the campaign trail

Earlier this week ‘Article 16 of the constitution’ was trending on French Twitter; this is the one that lays out the powers afforded to the president versus the prime minister, as people tried to work out what – if any – decisions Macron would be able to take in the final three years of his mandate.

READ ALSO: What does a French prime minister actually do

The satirical magazine Le Canard Enchâiné perhaps sums it up best in its cartoon, showing a man about to shoot himself in the head with a gun labelled ‘Rassemblement National’ and saying “We never tried this before”.

The Canard Enchainé’s cartoon as posted on Instagram

Sports stars engaged

On a more positive note, it’s been nice to see France’s biggest sports stars use their platforms to encourage people to vote, and speaking out against hatred and intolerance and in favour of diversity and inclusion.

I could not disagree more with the Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon, who criticised Kylian Mbappé’s call for people to vote against the far right, saying that footballers should “leave politics to other people”.

The whole point of living in a democracy is that politics belongs to everybody. As Mbappé said: “The Euros are very important in our careers, but first and foremost we are citizens and I don’t think we can be disconnected from the world around us.”

And I admit I’m biased about this – I’ve been a fan ever since I saw him make his professional debut at the age of 18 in my then-hometown of Castres – but I was also pleased to see French rugby legend Antoine Dupont taking a stand on another social issue, appearing on the front cover of LGBTQ magazine Têtu to decry homophobia (although the cover photo did rather make him look like he had forgotten his shades and was squinting into bright sunlight).

Talking France

We of course discuss all the election latest with John Lichfield in the latest episode of the Talking France podcast – and in what was perhaps linked to my need for a holiday we’re also discussing places to visit in France this summer.

Amid warnings of over-tourism we’re taking a look at the places predicted to be most crowded this summer – and suggesting some alternatives. Listen here or on the link below.

Fun and Games

It was thought that people might avoid Paris this summer – but the combination of good deals on the Olympic ticket resale site plus travel and accommodation costs dropping back to seasonal norms has seen a flurry of people booking a last-minute trip to the Games.

Personally I always thought the ‘everyone fleeing the capital’ narrative was a little over-played, but it’s been interesting to see that attempted price-gouging has also largely failed – at the start of the year there were Airbnb listings for frankly insane prices (I saw one that was €7,000 for two weeks), while now costs are largely at the summer average.

Paris travel deals to take advantage of as prices fall ahead of Olympics

Wrestling 

If you’re a Games fan I highly recommend the temporary exhibition at Paris’ Musée de l’histoire de l’immigration (a strong contender for the capital’s best museum, in my opinion) on the history of Olympics and their politics.

It also includes this statue which we’re told depicts ‘wrestling’ at the Olympics in antiquity. If you say so . . .

Photo: The Local

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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