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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Learning about Lucie and Paris’ cliché-busting Olympics

From busting Paris clichés to the possibility of an Olympic truth and finding out who Lucie Castets is, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 27 July 2024 10:39 CEST
Inside France: Learning about Lucie and Paris' cliché-busting Olympics
Paris prepares for the Olympics. Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / 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.

Learning about Lucie

A week ago there were probably only a handful of people in France who even knew her name, now it seems that half the country has a passionately held view on whether Lucie Castets should be France’s new prime minister.

Her name emerged as the eventually agreed-upon candidate for the leftist alliance – she is an economist currently working for Paris city hall. And it’s probably this very obscurity that secured her the nomination after a string of better known candidates had been rejected by the various factions of the Nouveau Front Populaire alliance.

Of course there is no particular barrier to an unknown becoming prime minister in France, since the role is by appointment rather than being directly elected. Nor is it especially unusual – when Jean Castex was appointed PM in 2020 he was so unknown that news outlets struggled to find a picture of him, and some were reduced to using a photo of an empty chair with his name badge in front of it.

Sporting truce?

What can knock the ongoing fiasco of France’s (lack of a) government off the front pages? The world’s largest sporting event, of course.

John Lichfield in his excellent column this week says that: “Macron said that nothing could begin while the Paris Olympics were in progress. You could not expect the French people, or French politicians, to pay any attention to politics while they were distracted by synchronised swimming and Greco-Roman wrestling.”

His point is a sarcastic one, naturally, but frankly I’m not against the idea of a break from this endless political wrangling in order to spend a few weeks pretending that we understand the rules of fencing or what the hell is going on in the melee of open-water swimming.

Bienvenue

And this is a great welcome video put together by Paris city hall, notable for being unmistakably Paris and yet also not containing any of the landmarks that tourists might most associate with the city.

My main hope for these Games is of course that everything goes smoothly with no major problems or security threats – especially after Friday’s sabotage attack on the French rail network.

But beyond that, I really hope that the world gets to see beyond the old clichés to Paris as I experience it – vibrant, diverse, creative, noisy, smart, infuriating, funny, woke, welcoming, grumpy, sexy and fascinating.

The Games

We of course have all the latest news in our Olympics section HERE, plus practical information for visitors in our Paris Olympics Guides.

If you either hate sport or are looking for something to do in between events we’ve also put together a list of more off-the-beaten track museums and galleries that are well away from Games venues and security zones.

The lesser-known Paris museums to visit this summer

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: Mascots, memories and minister’s love song

From politicians' love songs to the latest on the French government crisis, via the lingering memories of a golden summer of sport, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Published: 14 September 2024 10:52 CEST
Inside France: Mascots, memories and minister's love song

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 every 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.

99 problems

Well this is brutal – France has gone from a golden summer of sport to being plunged right back into a political crisis (and maybe a financial crisis too) and top it all off the temperature has plummeted so that it feels like late October already. 

The Paris Paralympics closed on Sunday with a beautiful ceremony at Stade de France – and the French took the opportunity to remind president Emmanuel Macron that he can’t hide from his political problems for ever by booing and whistling at him.

5 of the biggest problems that France (and Macron) face in September

By Monday, France was plunged right back into its political crisis, with newly appointed prime minister Michel Barnier beginning the long and difficult process of trying to put together a government. That will happen by next week – maybe. 

The above meme showing Barnier considering picking Darth Vader for his cabinet (or Dark Vador as he is known to the French) is a reminder that, while many leftist Brits have a lingering fondness for Barnier as the man who stood up to Boris Johnson and his Brexiteers, on domestic issues he is pretty far to the right of the political spectrum.

L’amour and Le Maire

One person we know won’t be in the new government is Bruno Le Maire – the man who has served as Macron’s finance minister ever since 2017. He announced his departure by quoting singer Michel Sardou and saying Je vous aime, mais je pars (I love you but I’m leaving).

I don’t really feel qualified to judge his economic record, but I can say that I have enjoyed his Instagram posts (almost all close-ups of himself either jogging or drinking coffee) and I’m still trying to forget the passage that I read from one of his erotic novels. As a politician who appears to have a healthy ego, I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen the last of him.

Talking France

Back after its extended summer break is the Talking France podcast where we try, with the help of John Lichfield, to make sense of all this, look ahead to the legacy of the Paris Olympics and things to do in France in September.

As this is the first podcast we have done since the Games started we couldn’t resist a little chat about our favourite memories (plus some things to moan about) and I also got the opportunity to talk about my stint as a Volunteer during the Paralympics.

This was an incredible experience – I spent three weeks working at the Athletes’ Village and can honestly say it’s one of the best things I have ever done.

Farewell to the most incredible temporary workplace – the last 3 weeks as a volunteer in the Athletes’ Village for the Paris 2024 Paralympics have been amazing, wonderful, unforgettable

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— Emma Pearson (@emmapearson.bsky.social) September 8, 2024 at 9:28 AM

You can download the episode here or listen on the link below.

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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