Inside France: Black Friday fury, strike excitement and Napoleon errors
From a political row about the US-inspired sales day to France's right to strike, via sapphire-hunting and how the French view that Napoleon film, 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.
That Friday feeling
There is reportedly an almighty row smouldering in the heart of the French government over the unlikely subject of Black Friday.
While it's definitely less of a big deal in France than it is in the US and UK (no brawling in the supermarkets over discount TVs here - we save that for the Nutella riots) the annual sales day does exist and retailers - especially online ones - offer discounts.
The day has always been slightly controversial though, with the biggest objections coming from environmentalists who say it just encourages people to buy more stuff that they don't need, with environmental consequences. It seems that the Environment Ministry agrees and its communications agency Ademe put out a video urging people not to 'over-consume' on Black Friday.
This has apparently gone down very badly with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who is focused on trying to boost France's sluggish economic growth. French media report that he told Environment Minister Christophe Béchu that the video was "connerie" - bullshit.
Although this all sounds a bit trivial, it is in microcosm the dilemma that many governments are facing - keeping economic growth on track while also working towards Net Zero commitments for 2050. The two are far from mutually exclusive of course, but sometimes require a bit of joined-up thinking from different government departments.
Striking details
After Monday's air traffic controllers' strike, sparked by a new law to limit the disruption from strikes, one MP excitedly tweeted that this was "the end of last-minute flight cancellations" during strikes.
Personally I think that's a little optimistic, but the new law probably will mean less disruption on strike days. The right to strike is, famously, included in the French constitution, but once I started reading it I was surprised by just how many caveats and qualifications apply - it's really not a blank cheque allowing everyone to down tools willy-nilly.
Explained: Who has the right to strike in France
We're talking strikes in this week's Talking France, along with sapphire-hunting in France, conversation taboos and some regional stereotypes such as southerners being friendly (true, in my experience) and lazy (unfair) - northerners are reputed to be drunk and aggressive while Marseille women wear too much make-up. Listen here or on the link below.
There's been a fairly furious debate in recent weeks over the historical accuracy of Ridley Scott's new film Napoleon. Having now seen it, I would say a much bigger problem is that the film is simply dull (with toe-curlingly awful dialogue).
It's really quite a feat to take a life as interesting (which is not the same as admirable) as Napoleon Bonaparte's and make a boring film about it. On the plus side, the film has inspired a rash of articles about the real emperor which make for very interesting reading indeed.
5 things you didn't know about Napoleon
I've also noticed that French media flagging up historical errors in the film are keen to point out that although it's a Hollywood movie, director Ridley Scott is British - the Brits were, after all, the ones who created the myths of Napoleon as a short man who was a loser with women.
Alors que le film «Napoléon» de Ridley Scott est sorti en salle, notre journaliste @ChouvelA relève cinq erreurs historiques du réalisateur britannique. Si certaines scènes sont spectaculaires, on regrette le manque de contexte qui aurait magnifié l’épopée napoléonienne. pic.twitter.com/zUn06P2nm0
— Le Figaro (@Le_Figaro) November 24, 2023
The Christmas lights are now up in most parts of Paris, cafés are offering vin chaud and it's starting to feel a bit festive. We're currently running a survey on how foreigners in France celebrate Christmas - do you stick to the traditions of your home country, go fully French or mix and match?
Personally I think one of the best perks of being an immigrant (along with having two teams to cheer on during the World Cup) if that you can just pick the best traditions of both countries and ditch the things that you don't actually like (ahem, Christmas pudding).
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.
That Friday feeling
There is reportedly an almighty row smouldering in the heart of the French government over the unlikely subject of Black Friday.
While it's definitely less of a big deal in France than it is in the US and UK (no brawling in the supermarkets over discount TVs here - we save that for the Nutella riots) the annual sales day does exist and retailers - especially online ones - offer discounts.
The day has always been slightly controversial though, with the biggest objections coming from environmentalists who say it just encourages people to buy more stuff that they don't need, with environmental consequences. It seems that the Environment Ministry agrees and its communications agency Ademe put out a video urging people not to 'over-consume' on Black Friday.
This has apparently gone down very badly with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who is focused on trying to boost France's sluggish economic growth. French media report that he told Environment Minister Christophe Béchu that the video was "connerie" - bullshit.
Although this all sounds a bit trivial, it is in microcosm the dilemma that many governments are facing - keeping economic growth on track while also working towards Net Zero commitments for 2050. The two are far from mutually exclusive of course, but sometimes require a bit of joined-up thinking from different government departments.
Striking details
After Monday's air traffic controllers' strike, sparked by a new law to limit the disruption from strikes, one MP excitedly tweeted that this was "the end of last-minute flight cancellations" during strikes.
Personally I think that's a little optimistic, but the new law probably will mean less disruption on strike days. The right to strike is, famously, included in the French constitution, but once I started reading it I was surprised by just how many caveats and qualifications apply - it's really not a blank cheque allowing everyone to down tools willy-nilly.
Explained: Who has the right to strike in France
We're talking strikes in this week's Talking France, along with sapphire-hunting in France, conversation taboos and some regional stereotypes such as southerners being friendly (true, in my experience) and lazy (unfair) - northerners are reputed to be drunk and aggressive while Marseille women wear too much make-up. Listen here or on the link below.
There's been a fairly furious debate in recent weeks over the historical accuracy of Ridley Scott's new film Napoleon. Having now seen it, I would say a much bigger problem is that the film is simply dull (with toe-curlingly awful dialogue).
It's really quite a feat to take a life as interesting (which is not the same as admirable) as Napoleon Bonaparte's and make a boring film about it. On the plus side, the film has inspired a rash of articles about the real emperor which make for very interesting reading indeed.
5 things you didn't know about Napoleon
I've also noticed that French media flagging up historical errors in the film are keen to point out that although it's a Hollywood movie, director Ridley Scott is British - the Brits were, after all, the ones who created the myths of Napoleon as a short man who was a loser with women.
Alors que le film «Napoléon» de Ridley Scott est sorti en salle, notre journaliste @ChouvelA relève cinq erreurs historiques du réalisateur britannique. Si certaines scènes sont spectaculaires, on regrette le manque de contexte qui aurait magnifié l’épopée napoléonienne. pic.twitter.com/zUn06P2nm0
— Le Figaro (@Le_Figaro) November 24, 2023
The Christmas lights are now up in most parts of Paris, cafés are offering vin chaud and it's starting to feel a bit festive. We're currently running a survey on how foreigners in France celebrate Christmas - do you stick to the traditions of your home country, go fully French or mix and match?
Personally I think one of the best perks of being an immigrant (along with having two teams to cheer on during the World Cup) if that you can just pick the best traditions of both countries and ditch the things that you don't actually like (ahem, Christmas pudding).
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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