Talking France

This week we’ll bring you up to date with what some of the French presidential candidates want to do with us foreigners - whether tax us more for working here or just keep us out altogether.

We’ll also hear why the grand old Parti Socialiste won’t have a candidate in next year’s election for the first time since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958.

We’ll get the latest on the high school student protests and whether the Gilets Jaunes are making a comeback on Saturday plus we’ll explain the pitfalls and even perils of moving to France to set up home with a French partner. Let’s face it , it doesn’t always work out as planned.

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We’ll try and explain a huge cyberattack on French supermarkets this week that led to millions of euros of food being chucked away and just how to pronounce big brand names in French. No, the French don’t say Ikea, LinkedIn or Uggs.

Host Ben McPartland is joined for this episode by the usual suspects from The Local France Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and politics expert John Lichfield.

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Welcome to a new episode of Talking France, a special episode it turns out, because we find ourselves in the midst of a new major protest movement in France.

This one is being led by high school students, who are fed up with the state of the education system and fear they don’t have much future ahead of them. Their movement, which has seen lycees blockaded, is supported by students, parents, teachers, unions and several political parties.

In the last week or so we’ve seen thousands of young people arrested, we’ve had hundreds of school students, education staff and police officers left injured as violence and vandalism has flared at flash points throughout the country.

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This week we’ve seen tens of thousands take to the streets in a mass demonstration as well as the president calling emergency meetings with his ministers.

This wasn’t meant to be a special episode but these student uprising has caught us by surprise and so we need to breakdown what’s going on, what’s caused it and find out where it’s heading.

To do that I’ll call on the team at The Local France Emma Pearson and Emma Albright, our French politics expert John Lichfield and as well as French education expert and author Peter Gumbel. I’m Ben McPartland your host.

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Up for discussion this week is the weather, will a town in rainy Brittany run out of water. What’s the situation like everywhere else? Will we all be forced to limit our showers to three minutes soon?

We’ll get the latest analysis on French politics from whether the government can do anything to quell anger around fuel prices or will it all feed Marine Le Pen’s populist campaign and whether shocking anti-semitism allegations directed at her number 2, Jordan Bardella could undermine her run for the Elysée in any way.

Problems with carte de séjour renewals give many foreign residents sleepless nights; We ‘ll get the latest on moves to ease the crisis and hear from several readers who have been badly impacted.

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Plus we’ll find out about where the battlegrounds are in FRance over the planned construction of controversial data centres.

And if a French person ever says sorry to you - we’ll tell you how to respond.

Host Ben McPartland is joined by Emma Albright from The Local France and our French politics expert John Lichfield, plus Katy Wright who’ll join us from Brittany.

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Among the words on everyone’s lips this week in France is - petrol, well and diesel. Yes fuel prices have reached record high levels in France. We’ll get the latest on what the government is doing, where the shortages are and whether the crisis could lead to social unrest and even the return of les Gillets Jaunes - remember them? They could be back.

We’ll also run you through the key numbers of the Pope’s historic visit to Paris this weekend, but should he be allowed to say mass on the Champs-Elysees in secular France?

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We’ve got a great interview with a civil liberties expert to hear about the potential dangers posed by Marine Le Pen and her party and we’ll look at whether competition on the rails in France will bring down the prices of train tickets - including on the eurostar.

And we’ll explain how to use capital letters in French - it’s not as obvious as you think.

I’m Ben McPartland and I’ll be joined for this episode of Talking France by the team at The Local Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and politics expert John Lichfield, plus journalist Katy Wright in Brittany and special guest, the civil liberties expert Rim Sarah Alouane

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This week we dig into one of Marine Le Pen's contentious proposals and find out whether the far right leader would actually be able to favour French citizens over foreign national residents if she became president.

We'll also find out why French schools are struggling to give students a good education and look at the strange story of a train derailment in rural Normandy that left dozens injured. Was it really sabotage and who could have caused it?

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We'll also hear about the best films France has to offer and why foreign movie lovers are drawn to them, and we'll bring you some French language tips that will come in handy in bars and restaurants.

Host Ben McPartland is joined this week by the team at The Local France - Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and politics expert John Lichfield as well as by Katy Wright in Brittany and special guest and French film expert Manon Kerjean.

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On the show this week we'll delve into the almighty squabble that ended with the Eiffel Tower closing this week after angry staff walked out.

We’ll also look at the growing split in the French far right.

Just everything was looking plain sailing for Marine Le Pen on her quest to take the Elysée Palace, could infighting and power struggles undermine her chances?

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We'll also find out why French people are up in arms about a new tipping trend and what local authorities are doing to enable people to enjoy a mosquito-free apero each day. Can a mayor's bid to ban mossies really work?

And we'll bring you the low down on the French word flipping trick known as verlan - and importantly can non-native speakers like us, actually use it?

Host Ben McPartland is joined by the team at The Local France, Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and politics expert John Lichfield.

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This week we look ahead to the 2027 presidential election which is edging closer. A new poll this week suggested there's only one winner, but could Marine Le Pen trip herself up before she gets over the line?

We'll hear about her latest effort to win voters which has been described as "vile" by some and "populist grandstanding by others".

We'll also find out whether the locals in Brittany, Normandy and other regions of France really do hate Parisians - and why might that be?

Plus we'll bring you a warning over why your French cheese could taste a little different this autumn.

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Host Ben McPartland is joined by The Local's Emma Pearson, journalist Katy Wright in Brittany and our French politics expert John Lichfield in Normandy. 

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Summer is thankfully almost over and September is upon us, which means it's time for a new series of Talking France.

Thanks to you all for tuning in to this podcast, which is produced by the team at The Local France and is a must-listen - so they say - for anyone wanting to follow French news, keep up to date with the major changes to life in France and boost their knowledge of French language and culture.

On this week's episode we'll look at the impact of France's summer from hell, which saw thousands of lives lost amid the frequent and punishing heatwaves, parts of the country left devastated by unforgiving wildfires and then there’s the ongoing drought the impact of which will soon become clear.

We'll also look at the other challenges facing France this September and explain why so many French taxpayers have been targeted by hackers and try to understand why the locals here love to correct our French mistakes - and why we shouldn't be annoyed - even if it can be really bloody annoying.

I'm Ben McPartland your host, and I'm joined for this new series by the old team from The Local France, Emma Pearson and Emma Albright.

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You are listening to a special summer episode of Talking France podcast and it's a pretty solemn episode too given France is in the midst of unprecedented heatwaves, drought and devastating wildfires.

We are recording this at the end of July to bring all you listeners up to date with what's happening in the country right now and look at what might be in store in August. Yep we are still weeks away from the end of summer.

We'll get the latest news on the fires and the heatwaves, explain the impact on travel and holiday plans and we'll find out why the country's politicians are failing miserably right now.

And for anyone in France we'll run you through some vocab that will come in handy if you are in a part of the country affected by the fires.

Host Ben McPartland is joined by The Local France's Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and our French politics expert John Lichfield.

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In this week’s episode of Talking France we’ll look ahead to the holiday season in July and August and spell out exactly what you can expect in France this summer from the weather outlook and wildfire alerts to what will happen in French politics and what to expect if you’re travelling to or within France?

Remember even though Talking France takes a break over the summer our team will still be covering all the essential news in France so make sure to visit thelocal.fr where you can sign up for our daily newsletters.

The Talking France team would like to offer listeners the last chance to join The Local using our half-price introductory offer. Just click on this link to take advantage of it. Members, feel free to pass the offer on to friends and family.

I’m Ben McPartland and I’ll be joined by The Local France’s Emma Pearson and politics expert John Lichfield.

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