Monthly Archives: October 2006

When Nicolas Sarkozy introduced the new ‘selective immigration’ policy – it was done in the name of protecting French jobs. If jobs were the issue then students should have been exempt from any restrictions. However there is a stark contrast this year in Strasbourg compared with last. At Université Populaire student numbers have fallen significantly; [...]

With next year’s presidential elections pending, newspaper editorials have been pontificating over the Chirac years. Most seem to be in agreement: that Jacques has achieved little of note in his two tenures as president of the Republic. The only thing they seem to universally thank him for is not involving France in the Iraq conflict. [...]

That’s the literal translation of ‘haute couture’ – which is a French term that we Anglophones use to refer to dead posh fashion design. The French too like to steal the odd bit of English to spice up their fashion lines. Here’s a few I have spotted around Strasbourg: Narkotic Wear – for when you [...]

While on British television the hand-held microphone might be considered a thing of the distant past – the French seem to have a perpetual obsession with it. These somewhat phallic (yet colourful) objects feature most prominently during the coverage of live sporting events. Not just on the field of play though; if the coverage takes [...]

As much as we complain in the UK that the quality of television programming has declined beyond all recognition; in France the situation is far worse. Given that it is the only country in which French-speaking programmes are made – the channels have very little choice in what they air. So there is a heavy [...]

What makes acronyms even more confusing is the French’s habit of referring to every internationally recognised acronym by it’s French equivalent. [EG - in France the killer disease is not 'AIDS' - it's 'SIDA'.] So when referring to the European Union you have to remember to swap the letters around to UE for L’Union Européen; [...]

While setting myself up in France I’ve had to deal with many things, one of which I am still getting to grips with: acronyms. Not only have I had to inform INSEE, CIPAV and URSSAF of my business practice, but also RSI and CAF for insurance and family allowance. I’ve now have SIRET, SIREN, TVA [...]

I’ve noticed that you get a better class of vandal in France. While, I grant you that, most of the graffiti you’ll see around Strasbourg is just mindless tagging, occassionally you see something that goes beyond simple defacement. “This is the death of art” – was one I saw recently, written by a narked art [...]

I’ve finally cracked how to ask for ‘une baguette’ without getting any comeback from the girl behind the counter. Okay it’s taken me about six months to work it out – but building up confidence in your first foreign language takes time! The first lesson was that it’s ‘une’ not ‘un’, and on the back [...]

I have theory which my local francophile compatriots may not appreciate. It concerns the naming of ‘Petite France’, the popular touristy area of Strasbourg. The guidebooks tell you that this beautiful quartier of sixteenth-century, wooden-framed, former tanning mills was named ‘Little France’ because it was remeniscient of France-in-a-nutshell. But to be frank there isn’t a [...]