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.

Rhetorical fire

You might have noticed that we’ve had a lull in strikes for the last two weeks – coinciding with the school holidays – but things are set to ramp up next week, with unions including those representing rail workers, waste collectors and Paris public transport staff declaring ‘rolling’ strikes.

Others – including air traffic controllers – will take part in a one-day strike on March 7th, and unions are promising to ‘bring the country to a halt’.

Trains, planes and deliveries: What to expect from March 7th strikes

It’s honestly hard to predict how disruptive these strikes will be, but one thing I have noticed in recent weeks during conversations with French people is that a few have brought up, unprompted, the fact that France has the lowest retirement age in Europe.

I’m not sure that the outrage at being asked to work until the age of 64 (still lower than the EU average) is quite as widespread as unions would have us believe, although obviously there are big differences between demographics and professions.

Tough love

I hit an important milestone in my French life this week – it’s four years since I sat sobbing in the departure lounge of Charles de Gaulle airport after an extremely unsuccessful day apartment-hunting in Paris, just two weeks before I was due to start my new job at The Local.

Obviously it all worked out in the end (and I’ve written some tips for finding a place to live in Paris) but it’s a reminder that while moving countries is wonderful and fun and life-enriching, it’s also not an easy thing to do. In fact, I would go further and say that most new arrivals in France have been reduced to tears at one point – whether it’s by an incomprehensible admin task, the difficulties of learning the language or one of the thousand-and-one other challenges of settling in. 

La belle France doesn’t make it easy, but perhaps that’s why we love her.

Take a break

The Talking France podcast is taking a break this week, but you can catch up on our back catalogue here.

If you’ve already listened to every episode, firstly thank you for your support! And secondly I can recommend (for French-speakers) a podcast called Coming Out, in which French people talk about their experiences of growing up gay. This week’s guest is Transport minister Clément Beaune and his episode is fascinating. 

And yes, the French use the phrase faire son coming out to describe telling people that you are LGBTQ+, although language watchdog Academie française is trying to replace it with the frankly weird sounding avoir un jour de courage (to have a day of courage). 

Giggles of the week

It’s not nice to make fun of other countries’ problems, but I couldn’t help but laugh at this very topical announcement from the always-fun onboard team of the Eurostar.

🍅 pic.twitter.com/3YelJcQM5c

— Justin on eurostar (@EurostarJustinp) February 24, 2023

While here is our old friend ‘franglais’ making a statement that this student halls of residence perhaps did not intend . . .

I bet the male students in this Paris hall of residence are keen to tell people their address 😂#franglais pic.twitter.com/qpQNbG56GE

— Emma Pearson (@LocalFR_Emma) March 2, 2023

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.