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.
Shuffle bored
This week in France the news has been dominated by fevered speculation about a government reshuffle – which in the end turned out to be a very minor affair with almost all the big-name ministers remaining in place.
There was a definite shift towards more Macronist loyalists and fewer outside experts in ministries, but other than that the reshuffle was mainly notable for its timidity.
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One of the new appointments has an interesting backstory however – Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, the new minister for urban affairs, was a TV producer before entering politics and worked on Marseille, Netflix’s fabulously trashy political drama set around a fictional mayor of the Mediterranean port city.
The series is packed with sex, corruption, political scheming and back-stabbing – I wonder if she will be bringing this vibe to Emmanuel Macron’s frankly rather dull government?
Raise the roof
The heatwave that has been frying much of southern Europe has thankfully not extended to most of France, although the Riviera has seen some scorching days.
But I notice that international attention has picked up on the capital’s ‘Paris at 50C’ plan, based on the fascinating work of engineer Frank Lirzin, who has written a book on how city architecture can be adapted for ever-rising temperatures.
In Paris this is going to require big changes to some of the most iconic things about the city – particularly the grey zinc roofs and those wide, exposed Haussmann boulevards.
This is doubtless going to upset a lot of traditionalists – but what’s the point of having a beautiful city if its unlivable for half the year?
Making history fun
If you fancy a French political history lesson with a fun twist, the satirical magazine Le Canard Enchaîné is running a summer series on its ‘best customers’ – ie the people it has done the most exposés on – over the years.
The reels are released on Instagram and Twitter each Monday. So far we have had far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, and ex president Jacques Chirac, who always seems to me to get an easy ride from history despite being really very corrupt indeed.
(The ‘roi des casseroles‘ title doesn’t mean that Chirac was a great cook, it’s a reference to the phrase avoir des casseroles, which is roughly equivalent to someone having ‘skeletons in the closet’ or being tainted by scandal).
Foreign accents
The British-born singer and actress Jane Birkin received a great send off after her death was announced last weekend, with blanket coverage in the French media and an outpouring of affection.
If you’re ever seen her films or interviews, you will know that although her French was fluent, her British accent remained very strong even after more than 50 years here – and in fact it was affectionately mentioned by many French commentators after her death.
A reminder that we are probably more embarrassed than we need to be about our own accents and pronunciation fails.
Jane Birkin gets pretty much blanket coverage in French media today. Great singer and actress, and as a 🇫🇷 language learner, it's comforting to know that you can definitely make it in France with a strong British accent! I'll be re-watching La Piscine this evening pic.twitter.com/wDFA7ZPuGo
— Emma Pearson (@LocalFR_Emma) July 17, 2023
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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