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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Communist cooking tips, scheming politicians and famous pharmacies

From ambitious politicians to unsung town planners, via some very excited Americans in French pharmacies, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 19 August 2023 10:28 CEST
Inside France: Communist cooking tips, scheming politicians and famous pharmacies
Photo by RODGER BOSCH / 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.

Manoeuvres en vacances 

Most of France’s politicians are now on holiday, and many of them are posting ‘holiday snaps’ on their social media intended to reinforce their political image. My favourite is Communist leader Fabien Roussel posting cooking videos from his camping holiday.

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Fabien Roussel (@fabien_roussel)

But one politician who appears not to need a break is Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who used the quiet period to give an interview to Le Figaro that many saw as declaring his intention to stand for president in 2027.

The question of who will be the centrist candidate at the next presidential election – since Emmanuel Macron cannot stand again – is increasingly preoccupying the political classes, especially the question of picking someone who can defeat Marine Le Pen.

A hardliner who is definitely to the right of Macron’s party, Darmanin is increasingly trying to play Le Pen at her own game on topics such as immigration and crime. He’s also secured the backing of interior-minister-turned-president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Profile: France’s tough-talking interior minister with an eye on the top job

Town planning

As an out-and-proud francophile, I always enjoy watching visitors fall in love with France, but one trend that has become apparent in recent years is tourists (especially Brits and Americans) discovering how much nicer cities are when cars are not allowed to take over.

Traffic management and town planning are not sexy subjects, but they make an enormous difference to the everyday lives of visitors and locals alike – as witnessed by Paris’ bike revolution and excited predictions that it is ‘the new Amsterdam’ (not quite, but it’s moving in that direction).

The other thing that visitors to France apparently love is pharmacies, if the latest TikTok craze is anything to go by. There are some truly adorable videos of Americans getting very excited by the range on offer in pharmacies in Paris.

@elizabethvictoriaclark come to the iconic french pharmacy CityPharma in Paris with me – aka heaven on earth. Will do a haul next. #frenchpharmacy #a313 #biafine #frenchbeauty ♬ Shooting Stars – Bag Raiders

I’ve found myself spending a lot more time browsing in pharmacies since moving to France – although I just assumed that was because I’m now middle-aged!

A vos marques, prêt . . .

Water quality monitoring is also not a sexy subject – but thanks to the work of some of these unsung heroes, Paris hosted its first open-water swimming event in the Seine on Thursday.

The race was part of the test events in the river ahead of next year’s Olympics when the plan is to hold the open-water swimming events in the city-centre parts of the Seine. After that, river swimming will be opened up to the general public for the first time in more than 100 years.

Swimming in the river has been banned since 1923 because the levels of pollution made it unsafe.

Quiz of the week 

In most countries if you want to become a citizen, you need to take a written test on the history, geography and politics of the country.

France, however, eschews a written test in favour of an in-person interview at your local préfecture in which you are grilled about France and its values.

READ ALSO Cheese to philosophy: What you are likely to be asked in the French citizenship interview

That doesn’t stop news organisations from putting together ‘citizenship quizzes’ based on what interviewers are likely to ask – this week there’s a new (and hard) one from French newspaper Le Parisien, which obviously is in French. The Local has its own version in English here. 

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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