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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Holidays, puns and Irish-flavoured French

From seasonal closures to Franco-American vacation jokes - via a very special speech from an Irishman-in-France - our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 12 August 2023 09:11 CEST
Inside France: Holidays, puns and Irish-flavoured French
Ronan O'Gara - rugby coach, French learner and author of a very special speech. Photo by GAIZKA IROZ / 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.

One video has been setting social media alight in France in recent days – the team talk given by France-based rugby coach Ronan O’Gara, who has delighted many with his distinctly Irish-flavoured French.

His habit of liberally scattering the English ‘fucking’ into his French produced gems such as Je m’en fucking fous (I don’t fucking care) and c’est fucking énorme (this is fucking huge).

On a serious note, you’ll notice that his team are hanging on his every word and not laughing at all – and they went on to win the game and have a stunning season, which just goes to show that language is far more about sincere communication than it is about a perfect accent or faultless grammar.

I know that I spend a lot of time worrying about my imperfect French, but in my experience it’s rare for French people to judge or scorn your efforts if you’re doing your best. 

Summer chill

Here in Paris we’re firmly into the August season, which in my case means walking an extra 200 metres to get my baguette as my neighbourhood boulangerie is closed for the month while the family who run it take a very well-earned break.

The August seasonal staple on social media is various variations of this joke – comparing attitudes to holidays in Europe and the USA. 

The ‘should I stay or should I go’ conversation is an annual staple among the residents of France’s cities – should you stay in the city in August and enjoy the peace or head to the beach/mountains along with everyone else?

READ ALSO 5 reasons to spend August in Paris (and 5 to stay away)

Personally I’m in the ‘stay’ camp, I enjoy seeing a slightly different face to the city as it empties out (apart from the tourist areas) and the shop and bar closures force you to get out of your usual routine and try new places.

Whichever camp you fall into, it’s likely that you will spend the final week in July having farewell drinks with your friends before they all go on holiday, followed by the ‘welcome back’ drinks in la rentrée when they all return. Frankly, you need a holiday after that.

Policing

With the politicians all on holiday too, the news agenda tends to slow down in August – but this week much attention has been focused on Marseille when three officers were charged over the death of a man during the riots in early July.

This comes after four other Marseille officers were charged with assault of a man who was so badly injured that surgeons had to remove a large part of his skull. 

As an outsider, it does seem to me that France will sooner or later have to have some kind of reckoning about its police – not just the actions of individual officers but the culture in which senior officers and police unions refuse to even use the word ‘police violence’, never mind discuss whether there might be structural or organisation issues. 

But my French friends say this is very unlikely to ever happen. 

Boulangerie of the week 

Shops in French cities seem increasingly keen on a franglais pun for their name – and this week’s winner is Marseille’s ‘House of Pain’. Pas mal. 

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 political discourse, tax loopholes and sharks in the Seine

From political sharks to sharks in the Seine, via tax loopholes (which really aren't loopholes) and European elections, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 1 June 2024 08:17 CEST
Inside France: French political discourse, tax loopholes and sharks in the Seine

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.

Dumbing down?

I started a new French course this week (my battle with the subjunctive continues) and in the section on honing your debating skills I was amused to note that the textbook described debate as the “veritable sport national en France“.

It’s certainly true that political debates in France are of a higher calibre than in many other countries – in the run-up to elections it’s not uncommon for primetime TV to show a two-hour debate between candidates, and during these debates the politicians are really expected to be across the details of a wide variety of policy areas and to display impressive debating skills.

But do these actually make any difference to voters? Last week’s debate between prime minister Gabriel Attal and far-right party candidate Jordan Bardella was widely agreed by independent observers to have been ‘won’ by Attal who succeeded in exposing some of the gaping holes and contradictions in Bardella’s party policy.

However several viewer polls reported that Bardella made a better impression and came over as more sympathetic to voters despite – or perhaps because – of his stumbles, mistakes and evasions. Attal may have won the debate, but does that matter if voters think he is an unsympathetic clever-dick Parisian (I’m paraphrasing, but only slightly)?

I hope this doesn’t herald the dumbing down of politics in the ways seen in the UK and the US where people with genuine expertise are dismissed in favour of those with ‘good vibes’. One of the things that has always impressed me about French politicians of all stripes is that they are intelligent people usually having real discussions about real issues.

It would be a shame if the French became – in the perhaps slightly inflammatory words of Attal himself – like “the British, who cried after Brexit”.

Talking France

We’re talking more about the European elections in this week’s Talking France podcast, plus the changes to addresses in rural France, new wildfire regulations for property owners and the mysterious ‘Paris Syndrome’ that afflicts some visitors and new arrivals to the city. Listen here or on the link below.

In-Seine ideas

I couldn’t agree more with British actor and writer Simon Pegg’s comment on the tremendous missed opportunity for a film named ‘Shark de Triomphe’.

The Netflix flick (Sous la Seine in French) is due out this summer – and I note from the trailer that it features swimming competitions in the Seine.

So at least the filmmakers are optimistic about the City of Paris’ plans to make the Seine clean enough for swimming (currently on track for the Olympics) – even if they then suggest that swimmers will have bigger creatures to worry about than e-Coli bacteria.

To clarify – there are no sharks in the Seine. Although there is a rumour that a crocodile lives in the Canal Ourcq in northern Paris. 

Tax troubles

We’re fully into the swing of tax season now and as usual The Local is getting lots of queries from readers who are struggling with the rather complicated forms – you can find our Tax Guides here.

READ ALSO The bumper 2024 French tax guide

One thing I have noticed is that among the people who are truly having major problems with the system, almost all of them have set up complicated arrangements (often on the advice of accountants) to try and minimise their tax bill – for example setting up a limited company to own a holiday home or paying themselves as CEO of a nominal company.

While these things are not illegal they almost always create extra complications with your tax affairs – especially if you declare yourself as a business as that takes you out of the system for individuals (designed so that you can do your own tax declaration) and into the considerably more complicated world of business taxation and reporting.

There really are very few genuine loopholes in the French tax system and while some workarounds may save you some cash on your tax bill, setting up a complicated system virtually guarantees that you will need to pay an accountant to do your taxes every year (which might even negate the savings on your tax bill).

Reeling

And if you like your news in a more visual format, check out the reels that my colleague Genevieve has been making for The Local France’s Instagram account – and have your say of her latest poll of overrated French tourist attractions.

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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