Parisians this evening at Place de la République laying flowers and candles in memory of the victims of the November 13th attacks, 10 years ago

The Advent Calendars are in the shops and now the strike discussion has begun - it truly is Christmas in France. Ho ho ho 🧑‍🎄

How do you know that a) it's nearly Christmas and b) you're in France? The Nutella advent calendars have arrived! 🌲🎅

The Pays Basque is excellent. 10/10, no notes

Next level south-west France!

The Basque Country - tolerable, I suppose 😎

One of the best things about 🇫🇷 rugby is the atmosphere at Top 14 games and Bayonne is my new favourite for ambience/ crazy fans/ excellent songs 🏉 (too busy drinking and singing to take photos)

The bill is mainly symbolic but this is still a very significant moment. Not only is it the 1st time the 🇫🇷 parliament has passed a bill proposed by the far-right, but the centre-right and centrist MPs either backed it or abstained. Cordon sanitaire around the far-right is well and truly breached 😱

Let's have a look into the #CrossChannelRail 🔮 and see where all this is heading after today's news Virgin Trains will have access to Temple Mills depot This thread is speculative - please forgive that - but somehow I am left with a kind of impression we're missing some parts of the jigsaw still

Used this Forbes list as an excuse to write about Albi, one of the best towns in France. It has; 🇫🇷 a deeply sinister cathedral 🇫🇷 the world's best collection of Toulouse-Lautrec paintings 🇫🇷 great wine, lots of 🦆 (it's in SW France, of course there is duck)

The sentiment I have heard frequently in France over the past few months is fear that the country is now an international laughing stock - I don't think it's quite that bad, mes chers Frenchies

Fascinating. Terrifying

New podcast 🇫🇷 What the Louvre heist reveals about France 🇫🇷 Nicolas Sarkozy's prison reading material 🇫🇷 Do Paris cyclists need to learn the rules of the road, or are pedestrians the worst?

PODCAST: What the Louvre heist reveals about France and new civics test unveiled

Ok for US version (copyright thing): www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVgd...

This is the couple who sang that beautiful song in front of the balloon at the closing ceremony of the Paris Paralympics last year. I had no idea that he had died

It's deeply worrying how few politicians, all around Europe, are willing to be like Ed and make the case for legal migrants

I like this take on the Louvre heist! www.thelocal.com/20251021/opi...

Hands up, I am one of those people who didn't realise until the theft on Sunday that a) the French crown jewels were in the Louvre and b) that France even had crown jewels

I believe we have this year's Halloween costume . . .

Well I agree that one of these things gives a deplorable image of France . . .

If you missed Lupin the first time around and have therefore spent the weekend being baffled by the references to Arsène Lupin as the Louvre jewel thief . . .

Fantastic 🧵, especially the 1900 newspaper photos of people in Paris climbing the side of the building to listen to philosophy lectures through the window!

Here's a video of the Bayeux Tapestry being carefully removed from its case and packed away. I had my heart in my mouth while watching. And yes, I do have nightmares about it crossing the channel! I had my heart in my mouth just watching this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ys...

2 courts have now ruled against Marine Le Pen, she has 2 to go; 🇫🇷 An appeal against her criminal conviction for embezzlement (due 2026) 🇫🇷 A question to the Conseil Constitutionnel on whether an election ban is constitutional for someone who has been convicted of a crime, but has ongoing appeals

New podcast! 🇫🇷 Will the current French political crisis lead to the creation of the 6th Republic (and what happened to republics 1-5)? 🇫🇷 The world's only street art theme park and why it's in a village in central France 🇫🇷 Hot news on Camembert and croissants

Cars account for just 4.3% of journeys in Paris. So motorists may be 'living in fear' (although that sounds unlikely) but the vast majority of Parisians, far from seeing red, are pretty happy with expanded space for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users

The 🇫🇷 pension argument makes me feel very foreign. I still, after 6 years of these various reform debates, cannot understand the level of fury at the idea of raising the pension age to 64 (which would still be the lowest in Europe) in a country with an ageing population 🤷‍♀️

The street artists of Paris 19eme have a suggestion for 🇫🇷 ongoing political drama . . .

Went old school for tonight's entertainment - ZouZou (1934). One of Jean Gabin's earliest talking roles but starring the incredible Josephine Baker, such a gifted physical comedian (and singer/dancer obviously)

Really recommend the truly fascinating Gens de Paris 1926-1936 expo at Musée Carnavalet. A treasure trove of fascinating detail on the lives of Parisians, based on census data

In 🇫🇷 the Covid vaccine is free, flu vaccine free to high-risk groups, around €10 for everyone else. This year's campaign starts on Wednesday Details- www.thelocal.fr/20250912/sta...

My column this week, trying to make sense of what is happening in France 🤣

Well that was worth the wait

That's still one hour after I should reasonably be allowed to open the wine on a Friday evening . . .

Uh, sure - but you will also be opting out of entering the EU/Schengen zone 💁‍♀️

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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)

👇

Hahaha - what the fuck, France??

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

Next week's strike called off