Oops, I did it encore
By Stephen Clarke It’s that time again. Every five years, the presidential elections roll around, reminding people of one of the most unspellable words in French – quinquennat (five-year mandate). Ah,...
View ArticleA tale of two salons
By Stephen Clarke Nicolas Sarkozy survived his trip to the Salon de l’Agriculture on Saturday without getting gored by either a bull or a farmer. And he even made a new friend – he was seen to schmooze...
View ArticleOui, we can
They say this hasn’t been a very colourful election campaign, but yesterday one newspaper’s back page was brighter than anything I’ve seen for months. In a satirical version of the presidential photos...
View ArticleHot air over Paris
Last Thursday evening in Paris, as the sun went down behind the Eiffel Tower in a haze of beige smog, air pollution levels wallowed in the red, and children were being warned not to go outdoors, the...
View ArticleFrance: a glass half-full or glass half-empty place?
France is a wonderful place for the mildly depressed. As well as a generous health service that reportedly dishes out more anti-depressants than anywhere else in the world, it is overflowing with...
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