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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Beer, George Clooney and France on the barricades

This week in France conversation has been dominated by the highly controversial decision of president Emmanuel Macron regarding pension reform, and the reaction that followed, but we've also found time for beer, street art and celebrities in our weekly newsletter Inside France.

Inside France: Beer, George Clooney and France on the barricades
Mural La fille des remparts (the daughter of the ramparts) in Angouleme. Photo by JOEL SAGET / 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.

To the barricades

A tumultuous week in France – a last-minute decision from Emmanuel Macron to ram through his highly controversial pension reform without giving MPs a vote, followed by predictable outrage and street protests.

Macron’s view is that he won re-election in 2022 on a platform that includes pension reform, which gives him a mandate to do this. The view of almost everyone else in France is that putting through a measure as controversial as this without allowing parliament to vote on it is deeply undemocratic.

It will definitely have an effect that reaches far beyond this bill, and even beyond the inevitable strikes and protests in the days to come, affecting the whole of Macron’s second term as president. One thing we can always say about France is that it’s rarely dull . . .

OPINION Macron, the government and France itself all lose from the pensions debacle

Street art

Also this week, I’ve been in the south west, visiting the town of Angoulême. Picture-postcard pretty (it’s used as the backdrop for the Wes Anderson film The French Dispatch) it’s also a cool town, hosting major festivals of film and comic books (bande dessinée) and boasting some seriously impressive street art.

It also has some good bars, including several serving beers from the Nantes brewery Little Atlantique. Although north-east France remains the beer heartland, the west coast and Paris both have a rapidly growing number of microbreweries providing some lovely brews for beer fans to taste. 

I’m a fan of the beers from Brasserie Melusine near Cholet and Gallia, Paname and La Parisienne – all based in the northern Paris suburb of Pantin. 

Celeb tie-in of the week

Hollywood star George Clooney and his wife Amal are reportedly funding an organic fruit and vegetable farm in the southern département of Var, which will be used to provide ingredients for local school lunches.

The Clooneys own property in Var and, according to the local mayor, are “very involved” in the community. If you want to subscribe to The Local’s newsletter for second-home owners George, just drop me a line . . .

Podcast 

This week’s Talking France of course discusses the latest political turmoil, as well as free chickens, swimming in the Seine, hijab rules and France’s ‘backwards language’ of verlan. Listen here or 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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INSIDE FRANCE

Inside France: Champagne, spritzes and why French admin always wins

From proposed new rules on healthcare for foreigners to (more) strikes, Champagne wars and why there are no loopholes when it comes to French admin, our weekly newsletter Inside France looks at what we have been talking about in France this week.

Inside France: Champagne, spritzes and why French admin always wins

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.

There are no loopholes

UK media have this week been publishing articles on ‘loopholes’ to the 90-day rule – but when you actually read them, you can’t help but notice that these so-called loopholes all involve either leaving the Schengen zone after 90 days, getting a visitor visa or moving to the EU full time. So the exact opposite of a loophole and in fact just following the rules.

At the last count the European Commission employed 32,000 staff, a significant proportion of whom are trained lawyers, so it’s probably unlikely that a travel influencer will find a loophole that they have missed.

Of the readers who contact The Local after experiencing problems with French admin, the most common cause is that people believe they have found a loophole to rules around tax, residency or inheritance law and then find out that this so-called loophole is causing them problems with a different section of French admin.

My advice? French bureaucracy always wins. Just accept it . . .    

Champagne wars

This week’s Talking France delves in to one of my favourite topics – Champagne wars, and why the Champagne industry’s lawyers are feared around the world.

Plus the increasing worry in France over the rise of the far right, strengthening of Franco-Irish ties, why France has so many second homes and things to do in June. Sadly my slightly NSFW joke about American beer did not survive the edit. Listen here or on the link below.

Forgetting foreigners

It’s not received much attention in the French media, but for foreigners in France the announcement that you may need a French ID card (only available to French citizens) in order to use a carte vitale (the crucial card that entitles you to state-funded healthcare) is a deeply worrying one. As is often the case, there was barely any detail given in this announcement.

Personally I think this was a case of yet another minister (in this case social security minister Gabriel Attal) forgetting that there are foreigners legally resident in France who won’t have access to a French ID card. It’s not unusual or surprising that politicians direct their announcements towards French citizens, but it does create unnecessary worry for foreigners living here.

We have asked the finance ministry what the option will be for foreigners with no French ID card, so I guess we’ll see . . .

Spritz season

And now it’s June, we’re definitely into the summer – my local swimming pool has its roof open during the day so it must be official – and in France that means rosé and spritzes. Santé !

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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