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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: France’s dark political waters and Kylian Mbappé’s mask

From the latest developments on the elections and just why they're making so many people very scared indeed, to a failed attempt at 'French bashing' and a certain masked crusader, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 29 June 2024 09:08 CEST
Inside France: France's dark political waters and Kylian Mbappé's mask
A France supporter wearing a mask in tribute to France's Kylian Mbappe's protective mask. Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

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.

Ridiculous to terrifying, no sublime

The French election campaign that began with farce just three weeks ago (remember Eric Ciotti locking himself in his office?) is now veering into very dark waters indeed.

The polls show the far-right Rassemblement National steadily extending its lead, while the party itself has rolled out some horrifying policies, including legalised discrimination against non-French citizens and the creation of a second-class citizen status for dual nationals.

How would ‘French preference’ hurt foreigners in France? 

Several of the most likely outcomes to the election have never happened under France’s Fifth Republic, and the French are now reduced to picking over obscure points of the constitution to try and figure out what happens after July 7th.

A true low point came on Thursday when a row broke out over who really controls the French armed forces – the president or the prime minister. France, let’s not forget, is a nuclear power and one of the leading military forces in Europe.

Talking France

We’re looking at the election latest, and the uncharted waters that France is heading into, in the latest episode of the Talking France podcast – as well as deconstructing a proposed crackdown on second homes. Listen here or on the link below.

Breaking news

‘Interesting’ political times mean no rest for the wicked, or for journalists – we will of course be covering all the latest on Sunday evening.

How to follow all the election latest this weekend

Going French

Popping over to the other side of the Channel for a moment – please do enjoy this absolutely deranged attempt at a campaign advert from the Conservative party, claiming lthat Labour’s Angela Rayner would ‘make the UK like France’ . . . followed by hundreds of comments saying “that sounds great, let’s do this”. I don’t think that’s quite what they intended. 

And it’s true, French workers do have it pretty good.

The perks and benefits that workers in France enjoy

Man in the mask

The other big story in France this week is of course Kylian Mbappé’s mask (worn to protect his broken nose sustained in an earlier Euro 2024 match) which has provoked much comment and many jokes. 

Here’s a spoof version of the sports paper L’Equipe wondering what else he might be getting up to in that mask (rugby fans may have to look away from the blurb at the top of the page).

France next take on Belgium, so expect many jokes since the Belgians are the people that the French most love to mock.

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Michel Denisot (@mdenisot)

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

Inside France: French lose the plot, sports stars speak out and Paris prices fall

From the latest on the increasingly crazy French elections to the powers of a president, the influence of sports stars and the lustre of the Olympics, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 22 June 2024 10:54 CEST
Inside France: French lose the plot, sports stars speak out and Paris prices fall

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.

Losing the plot?

Welcome to another crazy week in French politics – I’m not saying that this election is getting to me, but the other night I dreamed I was having an argument with far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. I think I need a holiday.

France might need a holiday too – the political discourse is getting increasingly wild, leading to our columnist John Lichfield to declare that the country has “taken leave of its senses”. 

Latest polling suggests that Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National party would take the biggest vote share at 33 percent, followed by the increasingly fragile leftist coalition Nouveau Front Populaire with 29 percent and then Emmanuel Macron’s centrist group with 22 percent. Those figures would give none of the blocks an overall majority, instead leading to a total parliamentary deadlock.

French election breakdown: All the latest from the campaign trail

Earlier this week ‘Article 16 of the constitution’ was trending on French Twitter; this is the one that lays out the powers afforded to the president versus the prime minister, as people tried to work out what – if any – decisions Macron would be able to take in the final three years of his mandate.

READ ALSO: What does a French prime minister actually do

The satirical magazine Le Canard Enchâiné perhaps sums it up best in its cartoon, showing a man about to shoot himself in the head with a gun labelled ‘Rassemblement National’ and saying “We never tried this before”.

The Canard Enchainé’s cartoon as posted on Instagram

Sports stars engaged

On a more positive note, it’s been nice to see France’s biggest sports stars use their platforms to encourage people to vote, and speaking out against hatred and intolerance and in favour of diversity and inclusion.

I could not disagree more with the Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon, who criticised Kylian Mbappé’s call for people to vote against the far right, saying that footballers should “leave politics to other people”.

The whole point of living in a democracy is that politics belongs to everybody. As Mbappé said: “The Euros are very important in our careers, but first and foremost we are citizens and I don’t think we can be disconnected from the world around us.”

And I admit I’m biased about this – I’ve been a fan ever since I saw him make his professional debut at the age of 18 in my then-hometown of Castres – but I was also pleased to see French rugby legend Antoine Dupont taking a stand on another social issue, appearing on the front cover of LGBTQ magazine Têtu to decry homophobia (although the cover photo did rather make him look like he had forgotten his shades and was squinting into bright sunlight).

Talking France

We of course discuss all the election latest with John Lichfield in the latest episode of the Talking France podcast – and in what was perhaps linked to my need for a holiday we’re also discussing places to visit in France this summer.

Amid warnings of over-tourism we’re taking a look at the places predicted to be most crowded this summer – and suggesting some alternatives. Listen here or on the link below.

Fun and Games

It was thought that people might avoid Paris this summer – but the combination of good deals on the Olympic ticket resale site plus travel and accommodation costs dropping back to seasonal norms has seen a flurry of people booking a last-minute trip to the Games.

Personally I always thought the ‘everyone fleeing the capital’ narrative was a little over-played, but it’s been interesting to see that attempted price-gouging has also largely failed – at the start of the year there were Airbnb listings for frankly insane prices (I saw one that was €7,000 for two weeks), while now costs are largely at the summer average.

Paris travel deals to take advantage of as prices fall ahead of Olympics

Wrestling 

If you’re a Games fan I highly recommend the temporary exhibition at Paris’ Musée de l’histoire de l’immigration (a strong contender for the capital’s best museum, in my opinion) on the history of Olympics and their politics.

It also includes this statue which we’re told depicts ‘wrestling’ at the Olympics in antiquity. If you say so . . .

Photo: The Local

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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