Caroline Bartoli, a more than reluctant politician running for mayor

With the first round of voting in local elections in France just over a month away, things are becoming interesting.

All right. Let's not exaggerate.

Most people probably aren't that captivated by the possible outcome.

Anyway, one thing that's certainly receiving its fair share of media coverage is the race to become mayor of Paris.

It's politics at its most professional - that doesn't necessarily mean at its best - likely to go to a second round slugfest between the Socialist party's Anne Hildalgo, the "heiress apparent to the current mayor Bertrand Delanoë,  and the centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (NKM).

Those two make the headlines often enough - so let's not spend too much time singing their praises or analysing their chances.

Just to say that opinion polls put Hildalgo in the lead at the moment

But that might begin changing now that NKM - who according to genealogists is a descendant of Lucrezia Borgia (and no, that has nothing at all to do with this piece, just an interesting titbit to throw into the conversation at dinner parties perhaps) has the official backing of one of the country's political heavyweights.

Yep, the former president (and president-in-waiting?) Nicolas Sarkozy showed up at NKM's most recent rally in Paris on Monday evening to liven up an event as only he can.

"I'm here because Nathalie is a friend," he told reporters.

"She was a courageous and intelligent spokesperson during my (presidential) campaign and the least I can do is to show my gratitude for that."


Nicolas Sarkozy présent au meeting de NKM "par... par BFMTV

From the pomp and professionalism of politicians with greater aspirations, how about looking at the other end of the spectrum.

Someone who's standing albeit reluctantly.

How about someone few French had ever heard of...until her appearance on France 3 last week.

Caroline Bartoli is the candidate of the wonderfully-named Divers gauche (DVG), or Miscellaneous left in the race to become mayor of Propriano, a town in the south of Corsica.

Caroline Bartoli (screenshot France 3 Corse)

And Bartoli only seems to have one campaign policy - to keep the seat warm for her husband, Paul-Marie Bartoli.

You see, he (Paul-Marie) is the current mayor, but for legal reasons, is ineligible to stand - some problem with previous campaign funds apparently.

That "disentitlement" (grabbing around for a synonym here) will be lifted in May - sadly, for Bartoli (Paul-Marie), two months after the elections.

What to do?

That's where Caroline steps in to show her mettle, putting in a Q&A performance on France 3 Corse last Thursday of which any aspiring politician would be...er...proud.

When her candidature was announced in January, Bartoli (Caroline) declared she had "no desire to start a political career" and true to her "promise" the interview on France 3 showed exactly that.

Bartoli was convincing in her lack of political nous, resorting to reading answers that bore little relation to the questions asked.

Take a listen to the interview. It's only five minutes long. You might learn something in the art of how not to answer any of the questions posed by a journalist.

Bartoli's response at around two minutes 30 when asked about how she would deal with building permits and the problem of too many holiday homes pretty much sums it up.

She consults her notes...can't find the right answer...and so replies, "I'll continue my husband's policy" seemingly unclear as to what it was or is.


MUNICIPALES - En Corse, Propriano c'est une... par France3CorseViaStella

Lance Armstrong says it's impossible to win the Tour de France without drugs - he should know!

Isn't it just what the world needed - and in particular that of cycling?

On the day before the 100th Tour de France begins, Le Monde has published an interview with the race's biggest cheat (well the most publicised one at least) and liar (ditto).

The man in question of course is Lance Armstrong.

(screenshot from Disney film)

There's no need to go into the history of the man, his seven now-tainted wins of the Tour, the constant denials of drug taking and eventual admission or his deserved stripping of the titles he had "won".

That's all well-chronicled elsewhere.

But proving surely that Armstrong somehow believes none of the blame lies with him, here are some of the things Armstrong says in the interview, about the race.

"I didn’t invent doping," he told the paper.

"And it didn't end with me. I just participated in a system that already existed."

Yeah well.

He might be right.

But those are not exactly the words of contrition you would expect from a man who brought disgrace to the sport in the manner in which he constantly avoided telling the truth.

But there's more in his exercise of "justifying" his behaviour or lack of guilt.

“It’s impossible to win the Tour de France without doping because the Tour is an endurance test in which oxygen is a deciding factor," Armstrong said, adding that EPO was decisive for the race just as it was for long distance running.

Way to go! Now let's do a little deflection, shall we? And while we're about it, let's tarnish the reputation of other sportsmen and women based on your in depth knowledge of what it takes to "win".

Bravo M. Armstrong.

On former French rider Laurent Jalabert who had to step down as France 2 television and radio pundit for this year's Tour after doping allegations emerged earlier this week, Armstrong has some "comforting" words.

"Ah, Jaja. With all the respect I have for him, he's in the process of lying."

Congratulations M. Armstrong. You are an expert on the practice.

And finally on the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy (huh?), Armstrong said, "I really appreciate Sarko as a man. When I say this, it's not a political statement. It's just a personal opinion. He has always been cool to me."

No, it's not really clear what relevance that particular comment has to anything, but it was included in the interview.

If you want to read excerpts (in French) or the whole interview, then click here and here (for subscribers) respectively.

But there again, maybe you've far better things to do...

The 100th edition of the Tour de France will get underway on Saturday on  Corsica - a fitting tribute as it'll be the first time in its history that it has visited the French Mediterranean island.

France nul points-bound for Eurovision?

If you thought the tale of the French entry at this year's annual "musical" (the term has to be used lightly) jamboree that is the Eurovision Song Contest was over - think again.

After deciding who would represent the country a couple of months ago, the choice of song has now been made.

Amaury Vassili (screenshot from YouTube video)

Back in February the Powers that Be at France Television decided who would sing the French entry at this year's bash.

None of that namby-pamby, letting-the-public-choose nonsense in France.

TV execs "wield the stick" and they plumped for 21-year-old Amaury Vassili, a singer with a "fine lyric tenor voice" (and lots of hair).

You know the sort of thing: not quite classical and certainly ill-suited for opera, but pleasant enough to listen to - if you're into that sort of tra-la-la-ing.

When the choice was announced, the promise was made that the song would be especially written for him and would be sung in the Corsican dialect*, which makes a great deal of sense for someone born in the northeast of the country.

Whatever.

That commitment has been honoured and Vassili will be singing his lungs out next month with...wait for it...this.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!



Yes. France - one of the stalwarts of the competition has done itself...er...proud.

Dramatic - overly so - camp and tedious are three words that spring to mind.

And even though that might describe what Eurovision has become (and perhaps always was), with such an - ahem - "unusual" entry, does the France really stand any chance of lifting a title it hasn't won since 1977?

Maybe.

Over the years stranger songs have been entered and even won.

Who will ever forget Norway's 1995-winning ethereal nonsense "Nocturne" by Secret Garden or Finland's laughable head banging "Hard rock hallelujah" from Lordi 11 years later.

A rhetorical question.

So perhaps there's some hope for this year's Gallic entry.

Just don't put too much money on it winning.

You'll be able to find out for yourself on May 14 when the final will be broadcast live to millions from the German city of Düsseldorf.

* If English-speakers out there thought that they would have problems understanding France's entry, spare a thought for the French.

Not even the official Eurovision site has come up with a translation into French, although it has helpfully provided the original Corsican and English

So now you can sing along too!

"Sognu di ste labbre
Di sta voce chjara è pura
Mai spentu ricordu di tè
Quella notte cui cun tè

I dream of those lips
The voice, clear and pure
I still think of you
That night, there with you"

France's Rolex-wearing "Ferrari priest" is a free man

Antoine Videau was a bad man; a very, very bad man. But he won't be returning to prison.

Antoine Videau (screenshot from video on Corse Matin report)

As the regional daily Corse Matin reports, the 64-year-old, who was convicted last year of embezzlement, had his sentence reduced on Wednesday by an appeals court and is now effectively a "free man".

In place of the original three years with one year suspended, the man who has been variously dubbed the "Ferrari priest" or the "Rolex priest" in the French media has now been given two years with 16 months suspended.

As he has already served eight months, he will not be returning behind bars.

But the court also ruled that he still had to pay €1.3 million in compensation and put him on probation for three years.

For over 20 years the former priest on the island of Corsica had embezzled more than two million euros and, as the national daily France Soir writes, obviously believed that, "Charity begins with oneself."

Videau had been responsible for managing church property, and when he appeared in court last year, it became evident of just how well he had been doing his job - for his own benefit.

He had cashed in cheques from parishioners, pocketed revenue from a convent on the island which had been converted into a Chambre d'hôtes (bed and breakfast) and diverted funds from the will of an archbishop who died in 1998 and for whom he was the executor into the 28 bank accounts he held on the island nicknamed the Île de Beauté and the Côte d’Azur.

As well as proudly wearing a Rolex, he wasn't averse to turning up at Mass driving a (different) sports car and perhaps most famously organised a "cultural trip" to Las Vegas.

Speaking after Wednesday's ruling Videau's lawyer said the gap between the two decisions had given the courts time to "take measure more accurately the allegations made against his client."

"After the commotion that accompanied the original trial, this hearing was much calmer," Jean-Michel Marriagi told reporters.

"But the civil claims (for compensation) are excessive and don't respect certain rules so there will most certainly be an appeal in the court of cassation."

Hmmmn.