Salut!

Let's get to Le Point: are the French lazy? Part two

If you have been in France this month, and have kept an eye on current affairs, you'll know three subjects have dominated: the rotten weather, the anti-gay marriage lobby's curious mix of traditional values idealism and old-fashioned fascism ... and the large numbers of May public holidays France awards itself.

The National* was interested in seeing what I made of that jolly French singalong "Here We Go Gathering Days Off In May". This is the second part of my coverage - what Bill Taylor has called a strikingly labour-intensive study of supposed French laziness - of a debate triggered by the news magazine Le Point.


The first part is at this link: http://www.francesalut.com/2013/05/are-the-french-lazy.html...

Let's get to Le Point: are the French lazy? Part one

By Jake

It depends, of course, who you ask. The Simon Heffer sort of answer would be Yes and he'd then stretch it to 1,000 words of polemic denouncing the French as muddled, mollycoddled and grasping dreamers led by incompetent Stalinists or crooks but pausing, perhaps, to praise some teenagers he overheard on a beach in the Vendée discussing philosophy while chainsmoking but without booze in sight.

The truth lies elsewhere as my own long examination of the question, frequently raised in France this month, shows.

It is in The National today* and amounts to one of those classic French oui mais answers to any troubling question.

I know plenty who are decidedly not lazy: Georges the fishmonger, for example, who did Dublin and back in an awayday to watch "Sir" Jonnny help Toulon to Heineken Cup victory and still be back to open up next morning, a Sunday (and thanks to Céline, his wife, for the superb salmon carpaccio, crowned by Mme Salut's delicious marinade). Henriette, who still runs the knickers shop - no impertinent comments, thank you - well into her 70s, is another unlazy individual. The newsagents, Marie-Noëlle and Patrick, put in shifts even Heffer would admire.

And then there are people, notably in public services, who do their best to live up to the stereotype ... read on if you have the energy:

Joyeux centenaire, Le Lavandou

So 100 years ago, this little town on the Varois coast, midway between And God Created Saint-Tropez and Jonny-recreated-Toulon, gained its freedom. Le Lavandou became an independent commune, liberated from the acquisitve Bormes (acquisitive to the extent of acquiring -les-Mimosas as a suffix because Bormes-les-Mimosas was thought more likely to appeal to tourists).

PSG and Beckham, Paris and la racaille

The hard-of-thinking riffraff were out again in Paris the other evening, marring the appearance of Paris Saint-Germain's moneybags team to celebrate winning the French league title. Newcastle has its horse-thumpers, Italian football its racist scum, Millwall a peculiar species of low life ... and Paris its voyous et casseurs

Springtime in Paris. Any place in the world that combines season and city to better effect would have to be very special indeed.

Spring in Venice - and I swear I bought my vaporetto tickets

Waste not, want not. Wherever I travel, I look out for ideas for articles that may interest the various publications to which I contribute (Salut! naturally turns me down flat most of the time). Here is the result of a long weekend in gorgeous, overcrowded, seriously overpriced Venice**. The photos are from that break ...

Salut!'s guide to the Cannes do of international film

Credit: thegreatgatsby.warnerbros.com/

I am in Cannes every so often. Whether I go during the imminent film festival will depend on the invitations (family members have always been better placed in that regard). Here's a preview written for the business section of The National ...

As directors, producers and stars from world cinema prepare to gather on the French Riviera for the 66th enduringly glitzy Cannes Film Festival, enormous attention will focus on the opening night movie, the latest remake of F Scott Fitzgerald's Roaring Twenties classic, The Great Gatsby.

Audrey Tautou, the French actress who won international acclaim for her role in the 2001 film Amelie, will host both the opening and closing nights, and the US director Steven Spielberg heads the jury.

It is a recipe to ensure a festival with no shortage of star quality.

The Globe and Mail: a world view of Bangladesh building collpase

Please, if you live in Canada or have seen the paper, tell me ....

* this, from the very top of Google news this morning, was not the main headline chosen by the Globe and Mail of Canada for its coverage of a disaster in which at least 159 people (update: 228) died ...

Canada's Joe Fresh among brands made in collapsed Bangladesh building

It comes straight out of of "Thousands dead in earthquake - local man safe" school of headline writing for far away but parochial audiences.

There seems to be an issue with posting comments, but this was received from Bill Taylor and goes a little way towards restoring faith ...

"Canada's Joe Fresh among brands made in collapsed Bangladesh building" is current headline on the Globe's on-line story which, if this is any defence, would be advancing the news of the disaster and providing new information. The headline in the paper itself is: "Dozens dead in building collapse," subhead: "Thousands injured in plant that housed garment factories, including suppliers to Loblaws cos, Joe Fresh."

The Joe Fresh angle is getting a lot of play, especially on radio, here today because of the exploited-workers angle. We have a huge south Asian population and this has been a sore point for some time - the production of cheap fashions on the back of even cheaper labour.

Champagne, caviar and smokescreens on the French left

No sooner had I given Rachida Dati generous space to discuss her Paris mayoral ambitions than she withdraws from the race, claiming the "system and the media" had already set their hearts on Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet as the centre-right UMP candidate for City Hall. But the left has been having its problems, too; François Hollande has approval from only a quarter of the electorate and a steep ministerial fall from grace has made a mockery of his promise of a république exemplaire. Here is my account for The National* ...

Romance or repose on a Provençal afternoon

One of the aims of Martine Aubry, architect of France's 35-hour week in 2000, was to enhance the quality of life of ordinary people by giving them more personal time.

She was undoubtedly more successful in that ambition than with the primary objective of persuading employers to take on more staff, which manifestly has not happened.

Photos du Jour: the big and small of Saint-Tropez

An inconsequential glimpse at life in the south of France ...

Introducing the star of the Parking du Port:

This is my other motor: