Inside France: English skills, political spats and trampolines
From childish political spats to freak weather, via trampolines and the very cute accent of a certain ex president, 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.
When the results came in for the parliamentary elections in June - revealing that Macron's centrist alliance remained the biggest group in parliament but lost their overall majority - some optimistically predicted that this would usher in a new era of more consensual politics and lofty, platonic debates in the Assemblée nationale.
And if anyone was still in any lingering doubt, I think this week has finally killed off that notion.
In a single week we saw the government repeatedly resorting to the constitutional tool known as Article 49.3 to ram their budgets through a blocked parliament, and the various opposition groups staging no less than three no-confidence votes in a single evening. None of them passed, but the one that came the closest saw the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) joining with the leftist alliance Nupes.
In response, finance minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted this extremely grown-up response.
RN et NUPES. pic.twitter.com/2Yk56w7zF6
— Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) October 25, 2022
While Macron supporters rushed to push the 'far-left, far-right, they're all the same' line, others pointed out that Le Maire himself - along with several other members of the current government - had also voted alongside far-right MPs in a motion of no-confidence against François Hollande's government, way back in 2015.
Oh oui 😂😂😂je dirais même plus pic.twitter.com/Aj9lSLbHc9
— marco (@MARCLANDES40) October 25, 2022
Highbrow debate indeed.
Speaking skills
Taking of Hollande, I enjoyed listening to him on the podcast The Rest is Politics, hosted by the British former Labour spin doctor Alistair Campbell and former Conservative MP Rory Stewart.
Unlike many of the current cabinet, Hollande is rarely heard speaking English in public, but he's apparently been having lots of lessons since his presidency ended in 2017 and he's now taken the big step of doing a podcast in English.
It's a wide-ranging interview taking in lots of topics (including a very blunt assessment of Barack Obama), with a nice ending when Campbell (a fluent French-speaker) asked him a question in French, allowing Hollande to let his eloquence flow.
Our Talking France podcast is currently acting like a French schoolchild and having a two-week holiday, but we will be back November 10th - catch up with our back catalogue HERE.
Lovely weather?
It's been hard to get away from talking about the weather this week, as France basked in temperatures of up to 31C. Even here in Paris it got up to 24C, and although sitting typing this with the window open, wearing a T-shirt is undoubtedly very pleasant, it's hard to get away from the fact that these are not normal conditions for October.
In fact 2022 has been a record-breaking year all round in France, and definitely not in a good way as soaring temperatures mean ongoing drought (30 areas are still on tight drought restrictions) and failed crops. Global climate plans have rarely felt so urgent.
This is The Dordogne in Gironde, SW France, this morning (the end of October).
All the foreground would be underwater, normally.
Night temperatures are staying in high teens instead of single figures.
Our poor planet. pic.twitter.com/Wyj7nlJXSn
— Franglaise (@frangla) October 24, 2022
Soothing moment of the week
If you feel the need of a couple of minutes of calm, this staircase and trampoline route from the famous French dancer Yoann Bourgeois is beautiful and strangely soothing to watch.
Yoann Bourgeois, a French dancer and choreographer, performed his famous ‘staircase’ routine before a rapt audience in London on October 6.
The acrobatic performance—involving a trampoline throughout—is simultaneously thrilling, yet oddly soothing? pic.twitter.com/s1e3icJSk8
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 28, 2022
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.
Comments
See Also
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.
When the results came in for the parliamentary elections in June - revealing that Macron's centrist alliance remained the biggest group in parliament but lost their overall majority - some optimistically predicted that this would usher in a new era of more consensual politics and lofty, platonic debates in the Assemblée nationale.
And if anyone was still in any lingering doubt, I think this week has finally killed off that notion.
In a single week we saw the government repeatedly resorting to the constitutional tool known as Article 49.3 to ram their budgets through a blocked parliament, and the various opposition groups staging no less than three no-confidence votes in a single evening. None of them passed, but the one that came the closest saw the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) joining with the leftist alliance Nupes.
In response, finance minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted this extremely grown-up response.
RN et NUPES. pic.twitter.com/2Yk56w7zF6
— Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) October 25, 2022
While Macron supporters rushed to push the 'far-left, far-right, they're all the same' line, others pointed out that Le Maire himself - along with several other members of the current government - had also voted alongside far-right MPs in a motion of no-confidence against François Hollande's government, way back in 2015.
Oh oui 😂😂😂je dirais même plus pic.twitter.com/Aj9lSLbHc9
— marco (@MARCLANDES40) October 25, 2022
Highbrow debate indeed.
Speaking skills
Taking of Hollande, I enjoyed listening to him on the podcast The Rest is Politics, hosted by the British former Labour spin doctor Alistair Campbell and former Conservative MP Rory Stewart.
Unlike many of the current cabinet, Hollande is rarely heard speaking English in public, but he's apparently been having lots of lessons since his presidency ended in 2017 and he's now taken the big step of doing a podcast in English.
It's a wide-ranging interview taking in lots of topics (including a very blunt assessment of Barack Obama), with a nice ending when Campbell (a fluent French-speaker) asked him a question in French, allowing Hollande to let his eloquence flow.
Our Talking France podcast is currently acting like a French schoolchild and having a two-week holiday, but we will be back November 10th - catch up with our back catalogue HERE.
Lovely weather?
It's been hard to get away from talking about the weather this week, as France basked in temperatures of up to 31C. Even here in Paris it got up to 24C, and although sitting typing this with the window open, wearing a T-shirt is undoubtedly very pleasant, it's hard to get away from the fact that these are not normal conditions for October.
In fact 2022 has been a record-breaking year all round in France, and definitely not in a good way as soaring temperatures mean ongoing drought (30 areas are still on tight drought restrictions) and failed crops. Global climate plans have rarely felt so urgent.
This is The Dordogne in Gironde, SW France, this morning (the end of October).
— Franglaise (@frangla) October 24, 2022
All the foreground would be underwater, normally.
Night temperatures are staying in high teens instead of single figures.
Our poor planet. pic.twitter.com/Wyj7nlJXSn
Soothing moment of the week
If you feel the need of a couple of minutes of calm, this staircase and trampoline route from the famous French dancer Yoann Bourgeois is beautiful and strangely soothing to watch.
Yoann Bourgeois, a French dancer and choreographer, performed his famous ‘staircase’ routine before a rapt audience in London on October 6.
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 28, 2022
The acrobatic performance—involving a trampoline throughout—is simultaneously thrilling, yet oddly soothing? pic.twitter.com/s1e3icJSk8
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.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.