"In France, we do not ask women to erase themselves. No dogma, no religion is above the laws of the Republic."

Wrote Aurore Bergé, France’s minister for gender equality. And "hard-right" presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said France would "never accept that women’s presence be 'limited.'"

Quoted in "Strike at Eiffel Tower after female staff ‘told to be out of sight’/Women workers at the Paris landmark were allegedly told to make themselves scarce for a visit by representatives of a Hindu religious ­organisation" (London Times).

The Hindu group is BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, which, we are told, "is close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling conservative Hindu nationalist party."

Who owns and operates the Eiffel Tower? You might wonder: Isn't it the French government? It is the government of the City of Paris, operating through a public company called the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel. The Hindu group asked the Society of Exploitation to limit its interaction with women, and the Society told its female employees to make themselves invisible.

ADDED: Here's a gift link to the NYT article on this story. Excerpt:

Pyrocumulonimbus — a thundercloud caused by fire.

I'm reading "Firefighters in France Encounter a 'Fire Cloud'/A pyrocumulonimbus — a thundercloud created by intense heat — is a phenomenon that can spark new blazes and is 'unprecedented in France,' officials said" (NYT gift link).

These large, fire-fueled thunderstorms, also known as pyroCbs, are created by intense heat from large blazes or volcanic eruptions. They produce lightning and burning embers that can spark more fires, and they generate high and unpredictable winds that fan the flames and spread the embers. But they rarely bring rain....

"La la la la."

That's the call from the press as Trump arrives at Versailles Palace. 

Is that how reporters try to get a leader's attention in France? I don't think so. I think they would normally use "Mr. President." So is "La la la la" like shouting "Hey!"? No, I don't think that's the case either. I'm understanding "La la la la" as a more random filler sound. I consulted Grok: "'La la la la' functions more like rhythmic, attention-grabbing noise or an extension of the French interjection "Oh là là!" (often elongated for emphasis)."

"A love of dogs is somewhat of a tradition for French leaders: the past six presidents all owned at least one black Labrador."

"The two owned by Nicolas Sarkozy, and a chihuahua, reportedly caused damage totalling tens of thousands of euros at the Élysée Palace by chewing on 200-year-old furniture in the Silver Salon. President Macron’s dog, Nemo, was once filmed urinating on an ornamental fireplace in a presidential meeting, and Valéry Giscard d’Estaing’s was a gift from the late Queen and nicknamed Sandringham Samba...."

From "Can the French love of dogs be transformed into election success? Doggy food banks and shared human-dog drinking fountains are among the promises on offer as candidates for the local elections try to win over voters" (London Times).

Check the reaction that's closest to yours.

What good is culture if you can't piss on it?

Why black Labs? Is it racist? Samba... really?

I want political promises for America's dogs!

It's all about love. Love is the answer.

 

pollcode.com free polls

A historian weighs in The chief executive of Ish Entertainment uses the work of a historian to comment on the similarity between the U.S. today and France just before the Revolution.

An excerpt from "The Billionaires Have Gone Full Louis XV" by Michael Hirschorn in the NYT. 

The historian Robert Darnton described an uncannily similar moment in “The Revolutionary Temper: Paris 1748-1789,” his brilliant 2023 account of the decades leading up to the French Revolution. The preconditions were all there: suffocating top-down control of the media, rapid technological change, let-them-eat-cake behavior among the courtier class, weaponized religious bigotry, mansions with hideously de trop ballrooms. OK, Marjorie Taylor Greene is not quite Voltaire. But there was a pedophilia scandal involving Louis XV: Public obsession with the king’s many mistresses helped give rise to so-called libelles, cheaply printed, semi-factual pamphlets that speculated on, among other matters, the king’s supposed never-ending supply of teenage girls. It would have fit right in on TikTok. Reverence turned to mockery; mockery begot contempt; and then. …

Libelles ≈ social media. 

REVISION: The original headline was "A historian weighs in on the similarity between the U.S. today and France just before the Revolution," but the historian didn't comment on the similarity. The author of the article Michael Hirschorn, identified at the link as "the chief executive of Ish Entertainment," is the one who picked things out of the history and made the comparison. Thanks to commenter Narr for drawing attention to this.

"I saw people who were downcast, who can take no more, who are at the end of their tether. Even a revolt is beyond them."

Said Joël Boueilh, chairman of the winemaking co-operative federation, commenting on protesters who want the French government to help the wine industry.

Quoted in "French wine industry is withering on the vine as drinkers go dry/A collapse in demand — particularly for the heavy reds produced across southern France — coupled with climate change means the end of a way of life for many" (London Times).

Boueilh adds: "France was the land of the good life where people spent a lot of time drinking and eating. But today society is changing. People may have a drink in a bar but they don’t open a bottle of wine when they sit down to eat at the table."

Is it necessarily a loss in devotion to "the good life" or did people change their conception of the good? But he didn't say "good," did he? He would have said "douceur": "« La France était le pays de la douceur de vivre, celui où l’on prenait son temps pour manger et boire ensemble autour d’une table. »

There might be other ways of being "good," but are there other ways of being "sweet"? And more important, there is a tradition of experiencing the sweetness in a particular way, with a bottle of wine on the table at meals. 

Ah! That's for France to decide! Boueilh represents the wine industry. Of course, he's going to dramatize the centrality of wine. If I buy into that, I'm just an American accepting the most easily available stereotype.

That is, it's the stuff that belongs in the new Dictionary of Received Ideas: The French: They think the good life is sitting around drinking wine all day. 

ADDED: I wanted more depth of meaning for the word "douceur," and got excellent help from Grok. 

Come on fathers don't hesitate/Send your sons off before it's too late.

I'm reading "Army Chief Ignites Uproar After Saying France Must ‘Accept Losing Our Children’/The furor erupted as President Emmanuel Macron is expected to present a plan for paid, voluntary military service to bolster the armed forces against the threat from Russia" (NYT):

The army chief, Gen. Fabien Mandon, who took over as chief of staff in September, told mayors gathered in Paris from across France last week that they must become the messengers of a new French resolve on an unstable European continent.

What is needed, he said, is “the spirit that accepts that we will have to suffer to protect what we are.” If France “wavers because we are not ready to accept losing our children,” then “we are, indeed, at risk,” he told the mayors, evoking the growing threat from Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Made me think of this:

"Ahead of the verdict... most of them pleaded that they had a right to humor, satire, and impertinence, while others outright evoked the 'Charlie Hebdo spirit.'"

I'm reading "10 French Trolls Are Tried for Cyberbullying Brigitte Macron—and They’re Mostly Not Sorry/'I don’t think I’m part of any harassment,' said one defendant, who had called the first lady a 'degenerate pedo-satanist slut' and a 'shitty tranny'" (Vanity Fair).

The defendants’ tweets compared [Brigitte] Macron to an “old tranny” and “a first lady boy” “who wears size 47 shoes.” Jérôme A., for his part, wrote: “An ultra minority of weirdos have taken power in Paris. Who doubts Brigitte’s cock?”

“I’m accused of nine tweets spaced over four months,” he pointed out, as if surprised to find himself in court for so little. Why, in the flood of vulgar, insulting comments on the internet, did the law take an interest in him? “I wonder what I’m doing here,” he complained. “Today, you can send people to police custody for a few harmless tweets, end up in cells that smell of piss, be summoned for several days in Paris. It’s frightening.”

Vanity Fair shows close to no concern about censorship and government abuse of power. Notice the language: "as if surprised to find himself in court for so little," "he complained."

The author, Hugo Wintrebert, appears to be French. But France has a brilliant tradition of satirizing government officials that goes back to the Middle Ages, and there's plenty of sexual imagery to be found.

"This was a demise foretold. Fatalistic in the face of a parliamentary impasse, Mr. Bayrou had, even before the debate began, invited his entourage to a 'convivial moment'..."

"... or farewell soirée, this evening. With four prime ministers in the past 20 months, and a fifth likely to be appointed now, the fall of French governments, once unusual, has become close to mundane.... 'Domination by military force, or domination by our creditors as a result of debts that drown us, produces the same result: The loss of our liberty,' Mr. Bayrou said, to opposition cries of 'It’s not the same thing!' His appeal fell on deaf ears. The far right of Marine Le Pen and a group of left and far-left parties, holding a clear majority between them, rejected the freezing of welfare payments, cutting two national holidays and other austerity measures proposed by Mr. Bayrou. Ms. Le Pen, true to her National Rally party’s doctrine, suggested cutting spending on immigrants instead...."

From "French Government Collapses, Again, Deepening Paralysis/Prime Minister François Bayrou failed a confidence vote aimed at breaking an impasse over the budget, adding more pressure on President Emmanuel Macron" (NYT).

"More fundamental... is an underlying national malaise that can seem inexplicable to outsiders but which has undoubtedly gathered pace..."

"Call it the 'French Paradox.' For the more than 100 million people or so who visit France each year — more than any other place on the planet — the country has long been synonymous with glorious weather and scenery, good food and wine, and the best high-speed rail network in Europe.... Many of the French themselves appear to see their country differently, however, with a traditional national grumpiness giving way to what one recent poll described as 'a collective depression.'... It could be... a 'feeling of lost identity.' Such national gloom explains the rapid spread of the discontent expressed by those behind the protests planned for Wednesday, largely on TikTok, Facebook and other social media platforms, many of them from Paris and other big cities in what has been dubbed la France périphérique...."

From "Let’s block everything: protesters plan to ‘pull the brake’ on France/National malaise under President Macron is moving towards a general strike — campaigners who want to abolish political parties have planned a day of disruption" (London Times).

So, apparently, a country is having a mental breakdown.

"La France périphérique" means "Peripheral France." I can see that there was a 2014 book titled — and translated — "Peripheral France: How the Working Classes Have Been Sacrificed" — which Grok says "analyzes the marginalization of France's working classes—often described as 'French of native stock' or 'petits Blancs' (little whites)—who have been displaced from urban centers due to globalization and economic shifts." 

"They said the film ['Barbie'] promoted homosexuality and insulted the image of women."

Said the mayor of Noisy-le-Sec, France, quoted in "Muslim youths shut down Barbie screening for ‘promoting homosexuality’/The incident in a Paris suburb plays into anxiety about cultural conflict in France, whose government says Islamists may be trying to undermine society." 

This article is in the London Times, which I subscribe to and would like to trust to report the relevant facts, but I can't figure out what the "Muslim youths" did that shut down the Barbie screening. We're told there was an "incident" but not what it was and why it was enough to shut down what was to have been a free outdoor screening. The article quickly moves to the topic of "widespread anxiety" about Muslims "impos[ing] their traditions on French life."

The mayor is quoted saying "An incident at Noisy has been taken over by the far-right fringe to stigmatise a neighbourhood." If the "far-right" is spinning the incident, tell us what is the left-wing or moderate spin? Is not detailing what happened the best you can do? As for the mayor, he made a point of saying that "he had not mentioned the religion of the youths."

With 2 great search terms — Noisy-le-Sec and Barbie — I easily found an article in the Brussels Signal – which some sources identify as right wing — "French mayor cancels Barbie film screening due to threats of 'disruption.'" Here, we find more details, but word "Muslim" does not even appear:

French police "charged into the water with knives to slash a rigid inflatable boat (rib), which migrants were scrambling to board."

I'm reading "French police use knives to puncture migrant dinghies in the sea/The tactic, used for the first time, is a ‘precursor’ to a change of French maritime law that will allow officers greater powers to prevent Channel crossings" (London Times).

"They just keep going. They don’t care about anyone.... They’re all French. The French mentality is that even if something is banned, you still do it and it doesn’t matter."

Said Chantal, 73, from the French city Nancy, quoted in "Why Parisians have declared war on reckless cyclists/Efforts to turn the French capital into a two-wheeled paradise are running into opposition from those who think riders are a 'symbol of aggression'" (London Times).

Closer to home, the London Times also has this, about bikes in Britain: "My day on the super e-bikes fuelling the phone-snatching epidemic/Small, speedy and silent, electric off-roaders are the criminals’ vehicle of choice and helping power an urban crime wave."

"So this goes back to 2017 when President Trump was in Paris and watched France's Bastille Day military parade. There were tanks..."

"... there were troops, and they're marching down Champs d'Elysee. There were war planes, there were fighter jets. And he watched this with President Emmanuel Macron of France, and he loved it. So he came back and announced to the Pentagon that he wanted his own military parade. And the response he got from the Pentagon during his first term was: We don't do this, Sir. Jim Mattis, who was then his defense secretary, said he'd rather swallow acid. In a meeting in the Pentagon, Paul Selva, who was the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Mr. Trump that Mr. President, he said, dictatorships do that. Democracies do not..... [D]ictators need to frighten their population... with this show of ostentatious military might. And they want to frighten their adversaries too and make them think that they're very strong. I don't really get the France part because France is a democracy...."

I'm listening to the new episode of the NYT "Daily" podcast, an interview with Helene Cooper about tomorrow's military parade. Audio and transcript at Podscribe, here. (I do listen to the audio and tweak the transcript. Otherwise, instead of of "Champs d'Elysee," you'd be seeing "Sean.")

I loved the line "I don't really get the France part because France is a democracy."

And by the way, Cooper goes on to describe the many military parades we've had in the United States over the years.

Maybe reexamine the premise:

"Now, we love France, right? But I think we did a little more to win the war than France. Do we agree?"

"You know, I don’t want to be a wise guy, but when Hitler made his speech at the Eiffel Tower, I would say that wasn’t exactly exactly ideal. And I called up the president, Macron, good guy by the way, 'Donald, we are celebrating our victory over the Germans.' 'Oh, that’s wonderful.' No, we don’t take credit for what we do. And I said, what the hell every country I’ve spoken to in the last week is celebrating the war but us. Isn’t that terrible? So we’re gonna be doing holidays. But I said it has to be working holiday because you know you can only do so many of them. We have a lot of holidays. I’m not so sure we should have them, and you don’t have to go to work. Our country has to go to work. So we’re gonna have a working holiday for each one of those two dates and we’re gonna be celebrating too because we should celebrate more than anybody else...."

Said Donald Trump, quoted in a New York Magazine article, where they seem able to mind-read, "Trump Mocks France Because He’s Jealous of World War II Celebrations" (New York Magazine).

"The actor said he was not the 'vulgar, rude, trashy person who makes fun of people' that he had been portrayed as in the media."

"I respect people. I like to help people,' he told the court in March. But he also said he was from a different generation and that his flamboyant, bombastic and unapologetic personality was ill suited for the current era...."

From "Gérard Depardieu Convicted of Sexual Assault/The French actor was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on the set of a movie in which he starred in 2021. He was given a suspended sentence of 18 months" (NYT).

How long ago was that other era when men could be flamboyant, bombastic and unapologetic? Depardieu is 76.

"At one point, Le Pen whispered: 'Incredible.' She then abruptly left without warning, before her sentence had been handed down."

From "Marine Le Pen barred from running for French presidency in 2027/Far-right leader found guilty of embezzlement of European funds and immediately barred from running for office" (The Guardian).

What kind of "embezzlement" was this? Is it anything like what Elon Musk and DOGE are finding in the United States?

"Liberal French women dress up as Nazis to protest against the so called ‘Fascist Epidemic’ during Women’s Day."

Weird photo, but since I don't want to suddenly thrust naked breasts in your face, I'll send you over to X to see it: here.

"A no-confidence vote in the French parliament on Wednesday has triggered the collapse of the government, plunging the country into political chaos..."

"... and stoking anxiety about the euro zone’s second biggest economy. Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s administration becomes the shortest-serving government in the modern French republic and the first in six decades to be toppled by a no-confidence vote. Although the motion was put forward by a leftwing alliance, the swing votes of Marine Le Pen and her far-right lawmakers, wielding unprecedented influence, were key to its passage.... In a fiery address during Wednesday’s debate, she said her decision to back a no-confidence vote was about stopping a budget that 'takes the French hostage, and particularly the most vulnerable, low-income pensioners, sick people, poor workers, the French considered too rich to be helped but not poor enough to escape the tax bludgeoning.'"

From "No-confidence vote topples French government, plunges country into chaos/The support of Marine Le Pen’s far-right lawmakers was key to the motion, which made this the shortest-serving administration in the modern French republic" (WaPo).

"The French Revolution looms large in the philosophy of crowds because it was the first time that a 'mob' or what looked like one..."

"... was responsible for a decisive turn in the history of humankind. The Roman Republic was always an upper-class affair, with the mob a mere chorus, and even the American Revolution was... very much a legislative revolution, made by the manor, with the crowds much smaller than they are remembered to have been. The Boston Tea Party was more a publicity stunt than a significant popular protest.... Americans celebrate a group of merchants and planters signing a document on July 4th; the French celebrate a crowd of citizens storming the monarchical prison called the Bastille on July 14th. There is a difference.... When you are 'taking democracy into your own hands,' what you have in your hands is not democracy, because democracy begins with the recognition that other people have hands, too....  Can we speak of the wisdom of crowds? Sometimes. The madness of mobs? Sometimes, too. Perhaps, within the winningly minute range of terms that Bobrycki captures, vulgus and populus and the rest, lies a truth that resonates through centuries, even millennia. We see the shifting varieties of human assembly and search to give them meaning, when the meaning lies exactly in the mutability.... A crowd can become a mob; a crowd can even become an army. To turn a crowd into a community? Ah, that’s the hard work."

Writes Adam Gopnik, in "What’s the Difference Between a Rampaging Mob and a Righteous Protest? From the French Revolution to January 6th, crowds have been heroized and vilified. Now they’re a field of study" (The New Yorker).

Bobrycki = Shane Bobrycki, author of "The Crowd in the Early Middle Ages."