Emma Pearson

Sorry, hopefully this is not a spoiler! I wasn't really blown away by the series but it does have a cracking soundtrack. Really hope these unsolicited translations are not a sign of things to come

Screenshot from the English-language Netflix show House of Guinness, in which an election poster has been automatically translated into French to read 'rassemblement électoral, midi 4 août', instead of its original 'election hustings, 12 noon, August 4'

I've recently been watching an English-language Netflix show, in English with the subtitles turned off - but because I am in France, Netflix has decided to 'helpfully' translate all the posters and notices that appear in the show into French.
Has anyone else noticed this? It's really annoying!

He may have, ahem, one or two issues on the domestic front - but on this topic Macron is 100% correct

I usually find Simon Calder pretty accurate, but this does seem to over-complicate massively. I think part of the problem is that media cannot come straight out and say 'just lie and tick yes to everything, no-one is ever going to check', even if that's what they're clearly implying

What EES changes for second-home owners in France The EU's new EES passport checks come into force in October - if you are a second-home owner in France, here's what it means for you.

In case anyone is curious about what EES really means for second-home owners

Totally. Also, lovely use of 'cursèd' - we don't see that often enough these days

Completely ridiculous headline - the 90-day rule has applied to Brits since 2021 (due to Brexit). Second-home owners who want to stay longer have the option of applying for a short-stay visitor visa

Talking France: What the f**k is going on in France and where have all the eggs gone? Talking France is back with a new episode, slightly earlier than planned because France has another meltdown. Forgive us for the title, but listen to the episode and you'll understand why we chose ...

New podcast episode - What the fuck is going on in 🇫🇷?
(I'm aware that it's sort of my job to know the answer to that question, but I really don't know and - more worryingly - it doesn't seem like anyone else does either)
Plus;
Why is there a French egg shortage?
Is it OK to be late in France?

Headline - French PM under pressure to put together cabinet

France's new PM resigns hours after cabinet unveiled

French PM in final effort to salvage cabinet

Amusing myself by imagining that all these headlines relate to France's prime minister being berated by his wife for not assembling the Ikea flatpack

Beautiful red dawn breaking over Paris

Red sky in the morning, er . . . French resigned prime minister's warning?

L'Humanité on point as ever - roughly translated '🇫🇷 shits the bed'

Headline reads 'Macron asks outgoing French PM for 'stability' plan by Wednesday

While you're at it, I would also like a 'become rich' plan by Thursday

Analysis: Why Parisians have abandoned the Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Elysées is among the world's most famous streets, and it even has a song named after it - but these days it is increasingly being shunned by Parisians.

Well over 30% of homes in the area are empty & the Paris Urban Planning Agency found that over half of the residential property owners along the Champs-Élysées owned five or more homes.
Meanwhile Paris suffers from an acute housing crisis and its population falls by around 12,000 people per year

😂 Brenda from Bordeaux?

But on a longer-term view, this kind of chaos barely even registers since 🇫🇷 is - to use a technical term - a messy bitch that loves the drama when it comes to politics

Aux armes, citoyens!

What next for France as PM resigns after less than a month in the job? Calm and stable it isn't. France has now lost its fifth government in two years after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned after less than a month in the job. So what happens next?

So what next for France, as it increasingly seems like there are no good options to get out of this mess . . .

The last month in 🇫🇷 politics;
Sept 8 - PM François Bayrou resigns after losing a confidence vote that he called
Sept 9 - Macron announces Sébastien Lecornu as new PM
Evening, Oct 5 - Lecornu announces new govt
Morning, Oct 6 - Lecornu resigns

(plus a bunch of strikes & 500,000 people demonstrating)

👇

Breaking: France's prime minister resigns, hours after new government revealed Just 12 hours after naming his new government, French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned.

Hahaha - what the fuck, France??

Latest: France unveils new government French President Emmanuel Macron named a new government on Sunday, putting together a team under Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who risks being toppled in a deeply divided parliament.

Following on from 'meetings that could have been an email', here's an announcement that definitely could have been made during normal working hours . .
TLDR - Meet the new government, hell of a lot like the old government

French air traffic controllers cancel three-day strike French air traffic controllers have called off a three-day strike that threatened to disrupt European skies next week, a top union said on Saturday.

Next week's strike called off

Inside France: From sleazy Sarko to France's 100-year-old activist heroine It was the best of times, it was the worst of times - or at least the best and worst of France, with the death of an extraordinary 100-year-old woman who dedicated her life to activism, and an ex-president who seems to have devoted himself to collecting criminal convictions. This, via some cave art and French grammar pedantry, is what we have been talking about in France this week.

Inside France: From sleazy Sarko to France's 100-year-old activist heroine

Very into this philosophy, but - fun fact! - cows kill more people per year in France than any other animal, so entrecote is back on the menu . . .

Earlier this year I decided to stop colouring my hair and am now 100% 'silver' (grey) and I've noticed that at security checkpoints I no longer get searched or have my bags checked . . . So if anyone wants to hire me to commit crimes, my rates are very reasonable!

Frenchwoman who escaped Nazi massacre dies aged 100 Camille Senon, a feminist and union activist who narrowly escaped the Nazi massacre in her French village of Oradour-sur-Glane died on Thursday aged 100, the mayor’s office said.

“It’s important to remind young people not to compromise their values and to remain optimistic, whatever the circumstances.
Because even if the world we are facing is worrying, life has shown me that it is never time to despair.”

An incredible woman, an incredible life . . .

Advert with the slogan 'every runner is unique, our plans too', someone hs crossed out the English word 'runner' and replaced it with the French 'coureuse'

I see the Academie française have been out with a marker pen . . .

Looks dreadful. Solidarité!

At the building site opposite my apartment is a security guard with the usual big dog. He's obviously bored because he's brought along a football, and the dog can dribble the ball like a soccer player the entire length of the site. It's really quite impressive!
(Fine, OK, I'll get back to work)

Cave with paintings on the walls, these show huge cows in outline, painted on the ceiling

Cave painting of three deer, with delicately drawn antlers

Just a few of the roughly 600 prehistoric cave paintings in Lascaux, south-west France. I was not prepared for how exquisitely beautiful these 22,000-year-old paintings are.

More info on this week's podcast
pod.fo/e/335031

Talking France: France shamed by Sarko and is the Champs-Élysées now the worst street in Paris? A former French president is set to spend some time behind bars in prison, quite a bit of time actually. Yes Nicolas Sarkozy, remember him, he’s been up to no good. Again. We'll hear about France...

New podcast episode;
🇫🇷 Dodgy Sarko going to jail and why France's right-wingers are so crooked
🇫🇷 Whatever happened to the Champs-Elysées?
🇫🇷 And why the Lascaux caves in south-west France are so very, very special