Inside France: Macron's garden, France's national day and the flying sports superstar
From searing temperatures to national celebrations and glimpse into the presidential gardens, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.
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.
National celebrations
It's been the Frenchest week of the year in France - the country's Fête nationale.
After two years of curtailed celebrations on July 14th, the traditional ceremonies, parties and fireworks were back this week, with the added bonus that France's national holiday fell on a Thursday, giving many the opportunity to take a long weekend off.
The traditional military parade on the Champs Elysée paid homage to the international situation by inviting servicemen and women from nine eastern European nations to march at the head of the parade, indicating European solidarity against Russian aggression in Ukraine.
But there were also plenty of French troops, plus a contingent of Olympians and Paralympians, as Paris prepares to host the 2024 Games.
And just for fun, France's national rugby captain Antoine Dupont got to fly with the aerial display team Patrouille de France.
🇫🇷#14Juillet - Les coulisses
👉🔴 C'est #inédit et c'est pour @TF1 : pour la 1ère fois, le Capitaine du XV de France, Antoine Dupont (@Dupont9A) survolera les Champs-Élysées à bord d’un #Alphajet aux côtés de la @PAFofficiel
👉Il se confie avant le défilé
📺Sur @TF1 pic.twitter.com/kHANvHZaN4
— TF1Info (@TF1Info) July 14, 2022
In the garden with Macron
July 14th also saw Emmanuel Macron give the traditional Presidential interview.
Macron seemed to disappear slightly from public view after the April elections and there was much speculation that he was ill or just exhausted from years of constant crisis, but in the televised Thursday interview - filmed in a shady spot in the beautiful gardens of the Elysée - he appeared back to his old self: focused, energetic and with some illusions to classical mythology.
Pour vous, pour toutes les Françaises et tous les Français, voici mon cap : pic.twitter.com/3rMG7vOad5
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 14, 2022
And if you like the look of the presidential gardens, you can visit the Elysée as part of the Journée du patrimonie in September.
Energy 'sobriety'
His assessment of the months to come did not make particularly cheerful viewing, however, since he warned of "very tough" summer and autumn in the context of the war in Ukraine, adding that for Europe this means learning to do without Russian gas.
He declared that France would need sobriété énergétique (energy sobriety) in the months to come, with both businesses and individuals regulating their consumption.
A more detailed plan is apparently coming in the next few weeks.
Energy sobriety: What does Macron's plan to cut energy use really mean?
Scorchio
It's hard to get away from the fact that it's currently ridiculously hot in France, as the climate crisis intensifies and country swelters under another heatwave.
These are the kind of temperatures that can kill, and local authorities across France have activated their heatwave plans to keep the elderly and vulnerable safe.
Ever since the canicule (heatwave) of 2003 that killed 15,000 people, all local authorities have been required to have a plan and activate it once heatwave warnings are in place - since 2003 there have been several longer and more intense heatwave (such as 2019 when all-time temperature records across France were broken) but a lower death toll.
While undoubtedly taking the dangers of hot weather seriously, people have also been finding something to joke about, including the below Twitter-user describing the blast of hot air when you open your car window to pay at the toll booth on the autoroute.
Quand t'ouvres la fenêtre pour le péage pendant la #canicule pic.twitter.com/HCpAiRga6j
— Miss Augine (@MissAugine) July 13, 2022
Podcast
Although the Talking France podcast is on its summer break, don't forget that you can listen to all previous episodes 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 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.
National celebrations
It's been the Frenchest week of the year in France - the country's Fête nationale.
After two years of curtailed celebrations on July 14th, the traditional ceremonies, parties and fireworks were back this week, with the added bonus that France's national holiday fell on a Thursday, giving many the opportunity to take a long weekend off.
The traditional military parade on the Champs Elysée paid homage to the international situation by inviting servicemen and women from nine eastern European nations to march at the head of the parade, indicating European solidarity against Russian aggression in Ukraine.
But there were also plenty of French troops, plus a contingent of Olympians and Paralympians, as Paris prepares to host the 2024 Games.
And just for fun, France's national rugby captain Antoine Dupont got to fly with the aerial display team Patrouille de France.
🇫🇷#14Juillet - Les coulisses
— TF1Info (@TF1Info) July 14, 2022
👉🔴 C'est #inédit et c'est pour @TF1 : pour la 1ère fois, le Capitaine du XV de France, Antoine Dupont (@Dupont9A) survolera les Champs-Élysées à bord d’un #Alphajet aux côtés de la @PAFofficiel
👉Il se confie avant le défilé
📺Sur @TF1 pic.twitter.com/kHANvHZaN4
In the garden with Macron
July 14th also saw Emmanuel Macron give the traditional Presidential interview.
Macron seemed to disappear slightly from public view after the April elections and there was much speculation that he was ill or just exhausted from years of constant crisis, but in the televised Thursday interview - filmed in a shady spot in the beautiful gardens of the Elysée - he appeared back to his old self: focused, energetic and with some illusions to classical mythology.
Pour vous, pour toutes les Françaises et tous les Français, voici mon cap : pic.twitter.com/3rMG7vOad5
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 14, 2022
And if you like the look of the presidential gardens, you can visit the Elysée as part of the Journée du patrimonie in September.
Energy 'sobriety'
His assessment of the months to come did not make particularly cheerful viewing, however, since he warned of "very tough" summer and autumn in the context of the war in Ukraine, adding that for Europe this means learning to do without Russian gas.
He declared that France would need sobriété énergétique (energy sobriety) in the months to come, with both businesses and individuals regulating their consumption.
A more detailed plan is apparently coming in the next few weeks.
Energy sobriety: What does Macron's plan to cut energy use really mean?
Scorchio
It's hard to get away from the fact that it's currently ridiculously hot in France, as the climate crisis intensifies and country swelters under another heatwave.
These are the kind of temperatures that can kill, and local authorities across France have activated their heatwave plans to keep the elderly and vulnerable safe.
Ever since the canicule (heatwave) of 2003 that killed 15,000 people, all local authorities have been required to have a plan and activate it once heatwave warnings are in place - since 2003 there have been several longer and more intense heatwave (such as 2019 when all-time temperature records across France were broken) but a lower death toll.
While undoubtedly taking the dangers of hot weather seriously, people have also been finding something to joke about, including the below Twitter-user describing the blast of hot air when you open your car window to pay at the toll booth on the autoroute.
Quand t'ouvres la fenêtre pour le péage pendant la #canicule pic.twitter.com/HCpAiRga6j
— Miss Augine (@MissAugine) July 13, 2022
Podcast
Although the Talking France podcast is on its summer break, don't forget that you can listen to all previous episodes 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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