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.