Inside France: Romance, cheese and Paris conspiracy theories
From proving our knowledge and love of France to cheese, romantic gestures and the surprising new conspiracy theory centring on Paris, 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.
Parisian dystopia
Here in Paris we live "in the new Hunger Games" - banned from going outside our 'zones', limited to 100 journeys a year with strict rules on who we can socialise with.
Yes, that came as a surprise to me too . . . but Paris has since 2020 been a strong proponent of the '15 minute city' and, according to right-wing conspiracy theories, that means we're banned from travelling more than 15 minutes from our homes.
Goodness knows how this fairly mundane theory of city planning became the focus of a new culture war in the Anglophone world, but what the 15-minute city actually means is increased focus on neighbourhood amenities and footpaths and cycle lanes. It's really rather pleasant, in fact.
Speaking of conspiracies - the excellent @AFPFactcheck is always worth a follow if you want to check any of the more outlandish-sounding stories coming out of France.
The hand strikes again🖖: these photos allegedly shot at a French protest rally yesterday look almost real - if it weren't for the officer's six-fingered glove #disinformation #AI pic.twitter.com/qzi6DxMdOx
— Nina Lamparski (@ninaism) February 8, 2023
Citizenship
In this week's Talking France podcast we're looking at citizenship. France has introduced a slightly streamlined process for applying for French citizenship, but it's still far from straightforward.
EXPLAINED: The 6 steps to becoming French
There's also the much-feared citizenship interview where you are quizzed on your knowledge of - and love for - France. Listen to Europe editor Ben McPartland taking the citizenship quiz HERE or on the link below.
Cheese wars
And surely I must get extra citizenship points for being outraged on France's behalf that not one of its cheeses made it into the top 10 here?
🧀🇫🇷 FLASH - La France est absente du top 10 des meilleurs #fromages au monde. (Taste Atlas) pic.twitter.com/HMXyqKxUeS
— Mediavenir (@Mediavenir) February 16, 2023
No disrespect to Italy, but the undoubted best cheese in the world is Roquefort - it tastes amazing, it has a romantic/sex pest origin story, you can go and visit it being made in its special caves and it heals wounds (apparently).
Roquefort: The 600-year-old cheese that heals wounds
Weird video of the week
Valentine's Day is much less of a big thing in France than it is in the US, but some couples do celebrate and so, it seems, does the Paris police motorcycle unit. L'amour c'est l'amour !
💙❤️ Il n'y a pas d'amour il n'y a que des preuves d'amour !
Les agents de la @prefpolice, et notamment les motocyclistes, vous souhaitent une très bonne #SaintValentin ! 🥰 pic.twitter.com/p8qXgpKwVc
— Préfecture de Police (@prefpolice) February 14, 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.
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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.
Parisian dystopia
Here in Paris we live "in the new Hunger Games" - banned from going outside our 'zones', limited to 100 journeys a year with strict rules on who we can socialise with.
Yes, that came as a surprise to me too . . . but Paris has since 2020 been a strong proponent of the '15 minute city' and, according to right-wing conspiracy theories, that means we're banned from travelling more than 15 minutes from our homes.
Goodness knows how this fairly mundane theory of city planning became the focus of a new culture war in the Anglophone world, but what the 15-minute city actually means is increased focus on neighbourhood amenities and footpaths and cycle lanes. It's really rather pleasant, in fact.
Speaking of conspiracies - the excellent @AFPFactcheck is always worth a follow if you want to check any of the more outlandish-sounding stories coming out of France.
The hand strikes again🖖: these photos allegedly shot at a French protest rally yesterday look almost real - if it weren't for the officer's six-fingered glove #disinformation #AI pic.twitter.com/qzi6DxMdOx
— Nina Lamparski (@ninaism) February 8, 2023
Citizenship
In this week's Talking France podcast we're looking at citizenship. France has introduced a slightly streamlined process for applying for French citizenship, but it's still far from straightforward.
EXPLAINED: The 6 steps to becoming French
There's also the much-feared citizenship interview where you are quizzed on your knowledge of - and love for - France. Listen to Europe editor Ben McPartland taking the citizenship quiz HERE or on the link below.
Cheese wars
And surely I must get extra citizenship points for being outraged on France's behalf that not one of its cheeses made it into the top 10 here?
🧀🇫🇷 FLASH - La France est absente du top 10 des meilleurs #fromages au monde. (Taste Atlas) pic.twitter.com/HMXyqKxUeS
— Mediavenir (@Mediavenir) February 16, 2023
No disrespect to Italy, but the undoubted best cheese in the world is Roquefort - it tastes amazing, it has a romantic/sex pest origin story, you can go and visit it being made in its special caves and it heals wounds (apparently).
Roquefort: The 600-year-old cheese that heals wounds
Weird video of the week
Valentine's Day is much less of a big thing in France than it is in the US, but some couples do celebrate and so, it seems, does the Paris police motorcycle unit. L'amour c'est l'amour !
💙❤️ Il n'y a pas d'amour il n'y a que des preuves d'amour !
— Préfecture de Police (@prefpolice) February 14, 2023
Les agents de la @prefpolice, et notamment les motocyclistes, vous souhaitent une très bonne #SaintValentin ! 🥰 pic.twitter.com/p8qXgpKwVc
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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