La Belle Vie: The secret to the French love of strikes, comics and sexy accents
From the French love affair with comic books to why strikes happen on certain days and unpacking the myth of a sexy French accent, this week's La Belle Vie newsletter offers you an essential starting point for eating, talking, drinking and living like a French person.
La Belle Vie is our regular look at the real culture of France – from language to cuisine, manners to films. This newsletter is published weekly and you can receive it directly to your inbox, by going to your newsletter preferences in “My account”.
People across France - both young and old - are gearing up for the 50th edition of the Angoulême International Comics festival - the third biggest comic book festival in the world.
To honour the occasion, I got in touch with a few experts in bande dessinée (French for comic books) to understand why French people love comics so much.
Bande dessinée: Why do the French love comic books so much?
This year for Christmas, I was gifted three bandes dessinées, and so far I have read one - the French, graphic novel version of Brave New World. Each year, I resolve to read more books in French, but when it comes down to it I either fall asleep or end up getting about halfway through before giving up and picking up a reliable English-language read.
Oddly enough, I have found that bandes dessinées are a great way to read in French without the pressure of having to make it through dense, complex French literature. The pictures along the way help you to understand if you miss a word or two, and it feels more relaxing.
Six French ‘bandes dessinées’ to start with
The other big topic in l'Hexagone lately has been the government's controversial pension reform plans, and the strikes to go along with them. Strikes are commonplace in France, so much so that our "Strikes" page on The Local France's website is one of our most active tabs. (So if you find yourself in France during a strike, it might be worth bookmarking that link.)
But there is some science behind when these strikes occur. For instance, you may have noticed that they tend to fall on weekdays, and more specifically - Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is no coincidence.
Reader question: Why do French strikes always seem to be on Tuesdays and Thursdays?
If you have spent any time in France - either as a tourist or living here full-time - you have probably also found yourself in front of the Google search bar typing out the simple question "Why are the French rioting/on strike?"
The Local decided to allow Google to autofill some commonly asked questions about France, and we found that people have been pondering questions from "Why is France called France?" to "Why are the French always surrendering?" So in response, we have taken some time to dive into the FAQs about France.
Sex, strikes and surrender: The most commonly asked questions about France and the French
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a commonly Googled question - one people have been curious about for over 150 years - was "Why are the French so romantic?"
However, BBC Journalist Hélène Daouphars found herself asking a different question altogether: "Is France the home of romance or a place of rampant sexual harassment?" Daouphars made a documentary about sexual harassment in France, taking a look back at how #MeToo played out in the land of the Gauls.
In an article for The Local, Daouphars explained why she chose this topic:
Is France the home of romance or a place of rampant sexual harassment?
In addition to France having a reputation for being the home of romance and love, the French language is also regularly named as the 'sexiest' accent for men, women and even cartoon skunks.
But according to linguists, there probably is not anything intrinsically attractive about the French accent, and perhaps it's really all in our imagination.
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La Belle Vie is our regular look at the real culture of France – from language to cuisine, manners to films. This newsletter is published weekly and you can receive it directly to your inbox, by going to your newsletter preferences in “My account”.
People across France - both young and old - are gearing up for the 50th edition of the Angoulême International Comics festival - the third biggest comic book festival in the world.
To honour the occasion, I got in touch with a few experts in bande dessinée (French for comic books) to understand why French people love comics so much.
Bande dessinée: Why do the French love comic books so much?
This year for Christmas, I was gifted three bandes dessinées, and so far I have read one - the French, graphic novel version of Brave New World. Each year, I resolve to read more books in French, but when it comes down to it I either fall asleep or end up getting about halfway through before giving up and picking up a reliable English-language read.
Oddly enough, I have found that bandes dessinées are a great way to read in French without the pressure of having to make it through dense, complex French literature. The pictures along the way help you to understand if you miss a word or two, and it feels more relaxing.
Six French ‘bandes dessinées’ to start with
The other big topic in l'Hexagone lately has been the government's controversial pension reform plans, and the strikes to go along with them. Strikes are commonplace in France, so much so that our "Strikes" page on The Local France's website is one of our most active tabs. (So if you find yourself in France during a strike, it might be worth bookmarking that link.)
But there is some science behind when these strikes occur. For instance, you may have noticed that they tend to fall on weekdays, and more specifically - Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is no coincidence.
Reader question: Why do French strikes always seem to be on Tuesdays and Thursdays?
If you have spent any time in France - either as a tourist or living here full-time - you have probably also found yourself in front of the Google search bar typing out the simple question "Why are the French rioting/on strike?"
The Local decided to allow Google to autofill some commonly asked questions about France, and we found that people have been pondering questions from "Why is France called France?" to "Why are the French always surrendering?" So in response, we have taken some time to dive into the FAQs about France.
Sex, strikes and surrender: The most commonly asked questions about France and the French
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a commonly Googled question - one people have been curious about for over 150 years - was "Why are the French so romantic?"
However, BBC Journalist Hélène Daouphars found herself asking a different question altogether: "Is France the home of romance or a place of rampant sexual harassment?" Daouphars made a documentary about sexual harassment in France, taking a look back at how #MeToo played out in the land of the Gauls.
In an article for The Local, Daouphars explained why she chose this topic:
Is France the home of romance or a place of rampant sexual harassment?
In addition to France having a reputation for being the home of romance and love, the French language is also regularly named as the 'sexiest' accent for men, women and even cartoon skunks.
But according to linguists, there probably is not anything intrinsically attractive about the French accent, and perhaps it's really all in our imagination.
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