Inside France: Knitwear, beaches and why the French are preparing for a 'social battle'
From predictions of a troubled autumn on the street to central heating, bad French puns and the reason that France's finance minister sparked a wave of knitwear-related mockery, 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. 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.
It's all been about knitwear in France this week, and not because it's Paris Fashion Week.
Finance minister Bruno Le Maire kicked things off by announcing in a radio interview that he would be wearing un col roulé (a rollneck sweater) in the office this winter and then tweeting a picture of himself in a black turtleneck.
— Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) September 27, 2022
Prime minister Elisabeth Borne then showed up for a meeting wearing some kind of padded cardigan.
The reason for this sudden sweater enthusiasm? Sobriété enérgetique - the government's long-awaited energy saving plan will be revealed in full next week but we already know one part of it; turning the heating down to 19C.
This is compulsory for public buildings like Le Maire and Borne's offices, but voluntary for households - although recommended if France is to hit its target of cutting energy usage by 10 percent this winter.
It's a shame we can't heat the country through laughter and memes on social media, because the two politicians certainly inspired plenty of those.
Winter is coming.#CroisonsLes pic.twitter.com/YJGkka18Wo
— GuillaumeTC (@GuillaumeTC) September 28, 2022
All eyes on next Wednesday's Ministers Council meeting . . .
L’arrivée des ministres au conseil du mercredi. pic.twitter.com/9OZVG0LdX2
— Samuel Goldschmidt (@rtlgrandest) September 29, 2022
Beaches
I'm now back in Paris after a week on the west coast taking in the delights of La Vendée - beautiful long, sandy beaches and marshland nature reserves, foraging in rock pools for seafood and eating local oysters and drinking white wine.
It's a truly beautiful part of France - in my opinion the best bit of the French coastline, although my colleague Gen Mansfield also makes a strong case for Brittany. You can vote for your favourite French beaches HERE.
Podcast
Arguing about beaches is just one section of this week's Talking France podcast, available to listen HERE.
We're also talking in French pension reforms, the problems on the Eurostar, mushroom foraging, Paris wine festivals and out favourite French vocab.
Pensions
Ah yes, pension reform. Many people will remember the massive strikes in the winter of 2019/20 over pension reform.
Well in a case of déjà vu all over again, this autumn Emmanuel Macron is vowing to reform the French pension system and unions are vowing to fight him every step of the way.
'The start of a social battle' - what you need to know about France's controversial pension reforms
Terrible French pun of the week
If for any reason you need a 🇫🇷 pun this morning, @POLITICOEurope’s Paris Playbook describes the latest goings-on at Westminster as “les montagnes Truss”.
A “montagne russe” is a rollercoaster 🎢 pic.twitter.com/UX1v8rTULw
— Tom Hourigan (@TomHourigan) September 30, 2022
In French montage russe (Russian mountain) means rollercoaster and just as in English it can be used literally or metaphorically. So what do Russians call rollercoasters? American mountains.
Listening tip
And if you're looking for something (apart from the Talking France podcast of course) to listen to over the weekend, I was at the recording of this BBC comedy show (available on catch-up) in Paris a couple of weeks ago, and I think foreigners in France will find plenty to laugh at.
Mark Steele did a version of the show in English and one in French, which takes quite some balls and I happen to know that at least one member of the audience was inspired to accept an invitation for her first public-speaking event in French afterwards - sometimes it's just a question of having the courage to do it!
Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. 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. 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.
It's all been about knitwear in France this week, and not because it's Paris Fashion Week.
Finance minister Bruno Le Maire kicked things off by announcing in a radio interview that he would be wearing un col roulé (a rollneck sweater) in the office this winter and then tweeting a picture of himself in a black turtleneck.
— Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) September 27, 2022
Prime minister Elisabeth Borne then showed up for a meeting wearing some kind of padded cardigan.
The reason for this sudden sweater enthusiasm? Sobriété enérgetique - the government's long-awaited energy saving plan will be revealed in full next week but we already know one part of it; turning the heating down to 19C.
This is compulsory for public buildings like Le Maire and Borne's offices, but voluntary for households - although recommended if France is to hit its target of cutting energy usage by 10 percent this winter.
It's a shame we can't heat the country through laughter and memes on social media, because the two politicians certainly inspired plenty of those.
Winter is coming.#CroisonsLes pic.twitter.com/YJGkka18Wo
— GuillaumeTC (@GuillaumeTC) September 28, 2022
All eyes on next Wednesday's Ministers Council meeting . . .
L’arrivée des ministres au conseil du mercredi. pic.twitter.com/9OZVG0LdX2
— Samuel Goldschmidt (@rtlgrandest) September 29, 2022
Beaches
I'm now back in Paris after a week on the west coast taking in the delights of La Vendée - beautiful long, sandy beaches and marshland nature reserves, foraging in rock pools for seafood and eating local oysters and drinking white wine.
It's a truly beautiful part of France - in my opinion the best bit of the French coastline, although my colleague Gen Mansfield also makes a strong case for Brittany. You can vote for your favourite French beaches HERE.
Podcast
Arguing about beaches is just one section of this week's Talking France podcast, available to listen HERE.
We're also talking in French pension reforms, the problems on the Eurostar, mushroom foraging, Paris wine festivals and out favourite French vocab.
Pensions
Ah yes, pension reform. Many people will remember the massive strikes in the winter of 2019/20 over pension reform.
Well in a case of déjà vu all over again, this autumn Emmanuel Macron is vowing to reform the French pension system and unions are vowing to fight him every step of the way.
'The start of a social battle' - what you need to know about France's controversial pension reforms
Terrible French pun of the week
If for any reason you need a 🇫🇷 pun this morning, @POLITICOEurope’s Paris Playbook describes the latest goings-on at Westminster as “les montagnes Truss”.
— Tom Hourigan (@TomHourigan) September 30, 2022
A “montagne russe” is a rollercoaster 🎢 pic.twitter.com/UX1v8rTULw
In French montage russe (Russian mountain) means rollercoaster and just as in English it can be used literally or metaphorically. So what do Russians call rollercoasters? American mountains.
Listening tip
And if you're looking for something (apart from the Talking France podcast of course) to listen to over the weekend, I was at the recording of this BBC comedy show (available on catch-up) in Paris a couple of weeks ago, and I think foreigners in France will find plenty to laugh at.
Mark Steele did a version of the show in English and one in French, which takes quite some balls and I happen to know that at least one member of the audience was inspired to accept an invitation for her first public-speaking event in French afterwards - sometimes it's just a question of having the courage to do it!
Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. 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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