Aujourd'hui: What's happening in France on Thursday

Today is another of France's evening TV lockdown announcements. This one is the two-week review that president Emmanuel Macron promised when he locked the country down again on October 30th.

Prime Minister Jean Castex and a team of ministers will broadcast the latest health news and whether any restrictions can be relaxed.

 

These are some of the areas that we can expect to be addressed - and we will also be covering the press conference live here from 6pm French time.

Someone who doesn't sound like he's in the mood to relax anything is France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who has called for extra police patrols and fines after reports that not enough people are following the lockdown rules.

Vaccine latest

A Covid-19 vaccine has long been hailed as the ‘silver bullet’ that will allow lockdown to be lifted once and for all, but despite the promising news from the Pfizer/BioNTech collaboration, the head of the EU’s health agency has sounded a note of caution.

We look when and how the vaccine is likely to be available in France, and whether it will be compulsory.

 

Compulsory vaccines are being discussed because of France's historically high rate of vaccine scepticism - we look at some of the reasons behind that.

Deck the halls

The possibility of not seeing loved ones over Christmas has seen a surge already in the number of parcels La Poste is handling - the French postal service has doubled the number of seasonal workers, and is now hiring if anyone is looking for a temporary job.

And did you know that any child in France who writes a letter to Father Christmas and posts it before December 17th will get a reply, thanks to La Poste's Sécretariat du Père Noël?

Language learning

Our French word of the day sounds a bit like a duck quacking, but is more likely to be used in politics.

And on that note - ever wondered what sounds animals make in France? Here's a small selection;

Cockerel/rooster - the symbol of France proudly crows cocorico ! in the morning

Pig - groin

Duck - coin, coin

Donkey - hi han

Cow - meuh

Property

We've also been speaking to a French real estate agent about the boom in demand for properties in northern France, mainly driven by British people looking for lockdown retreats.

This follows the trend in the French property market that has seen a strong interest in leaving the city and moving to the more rural corners of France.

And if you're considering moving to France, you can sign up to our handy Moving to France guide.

This is a new feature that we're trying out for our members, so let us know what you think - is it helpful? Is there anything you would like to see more/less of? Send your feedback to [email protected]