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PODCAST: Macron's big battles, France's best coastline and are the French the world's top strikers?

The Local France
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PODCAST: Macron's big battles, France's best coastline and are the French the world's top strikers?

The Local's podcast Talking France is back - this week tackling the looming French parliamentary crisis, trouble over the World Cup, whether France's reputation as champion strikers is really justified and waving a fond farewell to the little cardboard tickets for the Paris Metro.

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Host Ben McPartland is joined by The Local editor Emma Pearson, journalist Gen Mansfield and political columnist John Lichfield to review the battles already raging in France and those to come - including an epic parliamentary showdown on Emmanuel Macron's proposed reforms of both the pension and unemployment systems. 

John said: "I think Macron has decided to play hardball, after some weeks or months of apparent drift as he tried to decide what to do having lost his majority.

You can find the podcast on Apple, Spotify or Google podcasts, you can download it HERE or listen on the link below.

"A lot of Macron's reforms in his first term were not actually completed, partly because of the Covid pandemic, so he's looking at the possibility of having served two terms as president without having achieved a lot of what he set out to do.

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"But to be constantly having to use his constitutional powers to push legislation through parliament without the agreement of MPs is not a good look, I think, it looks anti-democratic."

We're also looking at a more immediate problem for the government - the two senior figures who are likely to be facing criminal charges - and taking an overview of the biggest scandals of the Macron government, from lobster dinners to fake police officers. 

We'll be examining whether the French reputation as the world's top strikers is really justified, why French mayors are boycotting the football World Cup, taking a fond look at the little cardboard Paris Metro tickets and discussing the results of our listener poll - which area of France has the best beaches?

Finally, we're recommending some films, TV series and websites that will help listeners find out a bit more about France, French culture and daily life here.

Are there are any topics you would like to see covered in Talking France? You can take our survey HERE to leave feedback or make suggestions for future episodes.

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