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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Political deadlock, religious clothing and odd-shaped balls

From the desperate political wrangling of Emmanuel Macron to the reasons why France is again talking about Muslim women's clothing, via some train news and the start of Rugby World Cup, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 9 September 2023 08:09 CEST
Inside France: Political deadlock, religious clothing and odd-shaped balls
Photo by FRANCK FIFE / 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.

French secularism (again)

As French schools restarted on Monday we’re back to business as usual – and in France that means another row about ‘religious’ clothing.

The latest version concerns the abaya in schools. There are very real concerns about equality and secularism, and France’s state laïcité is a policy supported by the vast majority of the population – but after a while you can’t help but notice that every single one of these secularism rows focuses on one group – Muslim women and girls.  

99 problems

Meanwhile Emmanuel Macron is facing the exact same problem that he faced this time last year – he has no overall majority in parliament and little chance of building one.

Another round of meetings with party chiefs has produced little of substance and it looks like France is set for another year of parliamentary deadlock, with the government resorting to the constitutional power known as Article 49.3 to force through crucial items like the budget. 

If we’re really in for another four years of this, it’s little wonder that within the political world, attention is already focused on 2027. 

All aboard

But before we get too gloomy about the state of the country, we did get some good train news this week – the Paris-Berlin sleeper service is coming back from December and France plans to launch a rail pass modelled on Germany’s ‘€49 ticket’.

READ ALSO Where can you get a night train from Paris?

Odd-shaped balls

As a fan, I’m obviously very excited about the start of the Rugby World Cup – but also at how much France is embracing it, even the emergency services are (apparently) practising their rugby skills.

I went to a couple of internationals in France last year which organisers were using as test events for World Cup matches and I’m going to stick my neck out and predict that fans will have a really good time. French club rugby always has a great atmosphere so I’m excited for the foreign fans who will get to experience it too.

I’m also strongly rooting for a France win – not only would it be great for Les bleus to win their first World Cup in the year that they’re hosting, but this team really does represent a golden generation of astonishing French talent. When they get it right, it’s like watching poetry in motion. 

Podcast

And we’re happy to be back with the Talking France podcast.

This week is a rentrée-special episode looking at the challenges facing the country as it goes back to work, the reasons behind that abaya ban and why property taxes are rising. Plus our French holiday tips. 

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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