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There’s no doubt about it. This week’s choice for Friday’s French music break is a heartfelt piece of social and political commentary (and that’s not hyperbolising) with a haunting melody and powerful lyrics that would leave only the most insensitive, indifferent.
Inspired by Stéphane Brizé’s award-winning 2015 drama “La Loi du marché” (“The Measure of a Man”) for which Vincent Lindon (deservedly) won Best Actor at last year’s Cannes film festival and a César (the French equivalent of the Oscar) in 2016, Cyril Mokaïesh’s song of the same name sees him pair up with another politically engaged artist, albeit from another generation, Bernard Lavilliers.
And the combination of Mokaïesh (31) and Lavilliers (69) is a stroke of genius.
As is the clip which accompanies the song, directed by none other than Brizé, the man who made the film.
Cyril Mokaïesh (screenshot from official video of “La loi du marché”)
Bernard Lavilliers (screenshot from official video of “La loi du marché”)
“ ‘La Loi du marché’ (the film) marks a moment in our history,” Mokaïesh said in an interview with Le Huffington Post.
“It’s about the difficulty of contemporary existence , the fierce world of work and its injustices.”
So moved was he by the “poetic nature” of the film that Mokaïesh wanted to “make his own contribution”, and in particular express the,“difficult lived of migrants and the way in which society had become dysfunctional” without neglecting structural and social issues in France of course.
You see, a world and-a-half removed from what many other artists have to offer.
“There is no song that can change the course of events,” he said. “But there is a chance that it (a song) can reveal feelings and unite forces.”
The (overwhelmingly positive) reaction to the song on Mokaïesh’s Facebook page might well be from those who have already been converted to his music and his message. But there’s a strength in both the lyrics and performance that’s undeniable. And Brize’s video clip complements it perfectly.
Maybe there is hope that Mokaïesh’s sentiments, as idealistic as they most definitely are, might be heard by some who are not necessarily natural listeners of his music.
Anyway, here’s a triple recommendation for you.
Firstly, if you haven’t already, try to see Brizé’s film (the first clip below is the trailer): it’s touching and troubling and, needless to say, Lindon is just magnificent.
Secondly, take a listen to (and a look at) Mokaïesh and Lavilliers’ joint “contribution” (the second clip below).
And finally, read the lyrics (in French). “Real” poetry.
"Is there a ‘rising tide’ of anti-Semitism in the West?" asked the BBC on its site back in August 2014.
While the figures the Beeb presented in its piece seemed to question newspaper headlines suggesting a significant increase, it admitted that anti-Semitism clearly remained a problem.
And this clip from a recent edition of France 2's investigative news magazine "Complément d'enquête" will surely only fuel the debate here in France.
The TV crew revisited Sarcelles, "a multi-religious suburb north of Paris with a vibrant Jewish community", the scene of attacks on Jewish-owned businesses and a synagogue during a banned demonstration in July again the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
It was to "take the temperature" among those living in the town, two months after the events, and one young man they interviewed had no qualms expressing sentiments which, to say the least, were shocking.
So much so that the mayor of Sarcelles, François Pupponi, condemned the "calls of hatred and murder" expressed during the interview and said on his Facebook page that he would ask the justice minister, Christine Taubira, to "begin proceedings" against the individuals interviewed.
The clip is in French, of course, and you can judge for yourselves whether the interviewee was fully aware of what he was saying or whether it was a more a case of a puffed-up few minutes of (hateful) television "fame".
Former french president, Nicolas Sarkozy has announced he's returning to politics and running for the leadership of the centre-right Union pour un mouvement populaire (Union for a popular movement, UMP).
Nicolas Sarkozy (screenshot from Europe 1/TF1 interview, July 2014
In what has to be one of the worst kept secrets after months - no, make that years - of conjecture, Sarkozy took to social media - Facebook, what else - to deliver his rallying call.
"I am a candidate for the presidency of my political family," he wrote.
"I propose turning the party upside down to create within three months the conditions for a vast new movement that will address itself to all French people regardless of their political persuasion."
Ah. that familiar call of unity and appealing to the broadest possible electoral base.
Still, love him or hate him, French politics is about to get a whole lot more interesting and the chances are this is just the first step in his campaign to run in the French presidential election in 2017.
But wait.
Remember back during the 2012 election campaign when asked by Jean-Jacques Bourdin on BFM TV whether he would continue in politics should he lose?
Sarkozy categorically said "No" and that he would "find something else to do.
Ah well. How does that famous quote (often attributed to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Napoleon's - how appropriate - chief diplomatic aide) go?
"Only fools never change their mind".
Or in political speak - don't believe a word I'm saying right now because sometime in the future I'll do and/or say the opposite.
Friday's French music break this week remains in the realms of...well music.
Now there's a novelty given some of the recent offerings.
But there's also a proverbial "twist in the tale" as will soon become clearer.
First up the song.
It's "Papier mâché" from an EP released in 2001 by the Toulouse-based indie group "Bubblies".
No, the name of the group probably isn't that well known, after all they're not the sort of band that regularly rocks the airwaves.
And the track is possibly just as unfamiliar as it was neither a commercial success, nor did it feature on any national radio playlist at the time of its release.
Still the four-piece group have been around for quite a few years - since 1991 to be exact - making music and building up a loyal if small(ish) following.
But their very existence was threatened by King, the creators of the online game "Candy Crush Saga" (can anyone out there explain the rules? On second thoughts, don't bother).
In June last year, King claimed that the group's name somehow "overshadowed" that of another game the company released in 2012 and wanted to relaunch in April 2014 as "Bubble Witch Saga 2".
And with big bucks on their side, King threatened to begin legal proceedings against the band, claiming trademark infringement.
The group had everything to lose, including the video games they create on their official site (probably the real reason for King's move in the first place) and called on their fans via their website and Facebook for support.
"We need your help to prevent a large multinational from 'wiping its feet' on a small rock group," the band wrote.
And the message was heard.
Not just by fans as they mobilised on both Facebook and Twitter, and the media as it picked up on what appeared to be a musical "David" pitted against an online "Goliath".
But also by King itself which abandoned its demand for the group to find another name or face a court battle.
All right, the music might not be...um...the very best of French rock (whatever that might be) has to offer, but it's good to see the "little guy" win occasionally isn't it?
And reason enough to make "Papier mâché" this week's Friday's French music break.
She might well be a seasoned politician, well-used to sparring with the best and worst of them, but the French minister of justice, Christiane Taubira, has had to face some pretty (perhaps not the best choice of words) odious comments over the past couple of weeks.
And, although opponents might claim otherwise, those comments have had nothing to do with her competence in fulfilling her ministerial portfolio and everything to do with her skin colour and origins.
First up there was the infamous photo montage posted on the Facebook page of Anne-Sophie Leclere.
She's a candidate (or at least, she was) for the far-right Front National in next year's municipal elections and decided a touch of racism (although heavily in denial over such a definitiion when asked about it during a report on France 2's "Envoyé Spéciale") wouldn't go amiss.
Leclere posted a photograph on Facebook of a baby monkey alongside one of Taubira with the accompanying titles "18 months" and "Now".
"It's not racist," insisted the 33-year-old. 'The monkey in the photo remains an animal, the black [woman] is a human being," she said.
"I have friends who are black and that's not a reason to tell them that they are monkeys,' she continued in true FN fudge fashion, reiterating that she was not a racist but would "rather see Taubira on a tree among the branches than in the government."
The photo was eventually taken down. The FN suspended Leclere and dropped her as a candidate.
In the meantime Taubira, not exactly known for being one to mince her words, had reacted.
"We know what the FN thinks: the blacks in the branches of trees, Arabs in the sea, homosexuals in the Seine, Jews in the ovens and so on," Taubira said, describing the party's policies as "deadly and murderous".
It was a response which immediately drew the wrath of the FN with a call for Taubira to resign and the threat of legal action because, "Nothing justifies such an expression of hate against an entire party and its millions of voters?"
Sound the bell for the end of round one in the category racial slurs.
Where the FN left off, those other mild-mannered democrats - the ones still opposed to same-sex marriage - continued.
Last Friday Taubira was on a visit to the western French town of Angers as part of her Tour de France, if you will, to explain how the reforms she wants to introduce next year will make the country's judicial system more accessible for everyone.
It was an opportunity also for a hundred or so members of "La manif pour tous", the movement which had opposed same-sex marriage to express their unhappiness with the minister who had steered the legislation through parliament.
Yes, even though it's the law, they remain quite within their rights to demonstrate their disaccord.
But the manner in which they did so was what the local online news site Angers Mag Info suitably summed up as "pitiful".
They were there to greet her when she arrived at the town's Palais du Justice, and they brought their children along because, let's face it, they defend family values.
And they did that by chanting original and charming slogans such as "Taubira, casse-toi" (you may translate) or "Taubira, resign!"
Unruffled - well, over the months she must have become well used to such a reception - Taubira reportedly blew the demonstrators a kiss at the door of the building before she went inside.
But they were far from satisfied, changing position and upping the decibels somewhat as they continued shouting their "objections" and allowing the children to join in.
And that's really where any dignity their demonstration might have had, disappeared as the protest took a distinctly racist slant.
Because alongside "casse-toi" and "resign" the well-meaning parents taking part also allowed their children to fire off phrases through the megaphone such as "Taubira, you smell. Your days are numbered" with one 12-year-old brandishing a banana skin while shouting, "A banana for the monkey."
Apparently even some of those hardened chaps from the riot police were taken aback by the vitriolic nature of the language with one of them heard to comment that it "could be grounds for arrest as it constituted insulting a government minister.
The episode didn't go unnoticed by French parliamentarians though with both a former agriculture minister, Jean Glavany, and the prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault paying tribute to Taubira and denouncing all forms of racism.
"When we, the country's elected representatives, hear racist comments being made, we must not remain silent," said Glavany.
You know how sometimes you hear a song that you initially start out disliking but gradually discover has grown on you?
Well sadly that's not the case with this week's Friday's French music break.
It's "Si tu me voyais" from Grégoire (Boissenot, to give him his full name) and frankly, it makes the task of convincing sceptics that the French music scene actually has something worth listening to harder than it is at the best of times.
Grégoire (screenshot from the official video for "Si tu me voyais"
The single is the first to be released from Grégoire's latest album "Les roses de mon silence" and is a strange choice because it's far from being pleasant on the ear.
Ah fans - and there are plenty of them around as Grégoire was the first act to achieve his breakthrough thanks to My Major Company, the label which gives subscribers the possibility to become music producers by investing in up-and-coming artists - will be up in arms no doubt.
But take a listen to some of the other songs on the album, and you'll perhaps wonder why "Si tu me voyais" was chosen as the first single... or even a single at all.
There's the title track for example - much more in the tradition of a French ballad, complete with piano, voice and accordion.
Or "L'enfance", which is full of emotion and musicality (and a violin)
Still, someone at the record label must know what they're up to and "Si tu me voyais" it is.
All of the comments on Grégoire"s Facebook page are suitable adoring - as you would expect. But there's the odd voice of dissent over at YouTube .
Without doubt the song will please those same fans who first discovered Grégoire with his debut hit "Toi + Moi" in 2008, but it might leave those who float in an out of his music wondering what the heck and why?
Talent, the 34-year-old has - in abundance - and a voice that distinguishes him (in a positive way) from many other French singers around at the moment.
But this song is simply not his best - far from it.
It begins inoffensively enough; gently upbeat, leading you to believe that it's going to be just another one of those French songs that's pleasant enough to listen to and nothing more.
And then halfway through Grégoire squawks into action, his voice belting out the lyrics in what becomes an assault on the ears (it can't be good for his vocal cords either).
Still, take a listen for yourself - and maybe turn the volume down at a touch at 1 minute and 52 seconds.
Some people shouldn't be allowed anywhere near Twitter.
Or there again perhaps they should be encouraged as it shows just how insensitive and out of touch they can be.
Take the case of Christine Boutin for example.
Boutin was housing minister (for a while, until being unceremoniously fired) under Nicolas Sarkozy.
But she's perhaps better known for being the leader of centre-right Parti chrétien-démocrate (Christian democratic party, PCD) and a fervent opponent of same-sex marriage just as she was of the bill to allow civil union, the Pacte civil de solidarité or PACS, between two adults regardless of their sex when it was making its way through parliament in 1999).
Remember her "malaise" and indignation after she was one of the protesters sprayed with tear gas at a "Manif our tous" demonstration in Paris back in March?
Well as usual Boutin has been tweeting this week but one in particular has surely revealed her for what she truly is... Choose whatever word you wish to describe her.
Boutin's tweet came in a response to an article in Le Nouvel Observateur's Le Plus. about Angelina Jolie's Op-Ed "My Medical Choice" in the New York Times in which the actress wrote about her double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer.
Le Plus tweeted its piece saying Jolie was sending out "a message of hope for women."
Unfortunately Boutin didn't quite seem to think along the same lines - or at least hadn't bothered to read either Le Plus or Jolie's original Op-Ed because she responded, clearly without engaging her brain.
And in a manner which displayed her real compassion and sensitivity Boutin wrote, "Pour ressembler aux hommes ? Rire ! Si ce n'était triste à pleurer".
screenshot Twitter
Bravo Madame Boutin. Congratulations on your "sense of humour".
Boutin deleted the tweet, but not before a fair number of Internet users had responded both on Twitter and her Facebook page, the latter becoming the target of a "poop" attack with appropriately-shaped smileys being left after every new post.
Friday's French music break this week comes from a group with the (um) glorious name of Lilly Wood and the Prick.
Great name for a band don't you think?
Er. Pass.
Lilly Wood and the Prick: screenshot from "Where I Want To Be (California)" official video
"Middle of the night" is the first single to have been released from their latest album "The fight", a fine follow-up to their debut "Invincible friends"
Online information about Lilly Wood and the Prick is a bit thin on the ground.
That fount of all knowledge, both correct and incorrect, otherwise known as Wikipedia, doesn't have a great deal on them. In fact their English entry is - well sparse to say the very least - which means you have to go a-huntin elsewhere.
Their website is a little disappointing although is has links to their Myspace account and the inevitable Facebook page complete with upcoming dates.
So who are they?
Well, they're a duo: singer Nili Hadida and guitarist Benjamin Cotto.
The pair write all their own material.
Their sound is distinctive and categorised - always a bit of a danger when trying to pigeon hole artists whose music defies labels - as folk Electronic / Folk / Pop.
One thing's for sure - they cannot be mistaken for any other French act - in fact you would have a hard time knowing they were French - more on that in a moment.
Hadida and Cotto were apparently introduced to each other back in 2006 by friends in a bar in Paris and began working together within 48 hours.
"We barely each other at the beginning," Hadida told Nagui, the presenter of France 2's music show Taratata.
"But through music we've had a chance to get closer and really understand how the other person ticks."
Hmmm. Great story isn't it? And the two seem pretty sincere. There again, who cares whether it's entirely true as their music ain't half bad.
Their big break - in terms of wider recognition came at the 2011 Victoires de la Musique awards (the French equivalent of the Grammys) when the pair walked away with the prize of Best Newcomer (le groupe ou l'artiste révélation du public) ahead of Ben l'Oncle Soul, Camélia Jordana and Zaz.
Now don't worry if your French isn't very good. The group sings exclusively in English - probably down to Hadida's international upbringing and influences (she was born in Israel, raised in Paris and has lived in London and California).
There's definitely a commercial appeal to their music and unlike some other "foreign groups" writing and singing in English, their lyrics actually make sense.
Hadida's voice is distinctive, and what's more the pair can perform live.
There's no playback or flashy gimmicks necessary as witnessed by this appearance on Le Figaro's music show "Le Live".
Their music is simple without any pretensions although Hadida admits that some of the songs, much like the group's name, are meant to provoke.
Ah yes.
About that name...
"Nili isn't necessarily Lilly and nor am I the Prick. In fact it could be the opposite," Cotto said with a degree of humour in an interview with By the Way blog.
"Seriously though the name is more about a group of words which (to us) sound good together and it's in keeping with how we want to progress: the magical aspect reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland mixed with something a little more down to earth."
Yes. Well.
Maybe they'll think about changing their name should they ever become successful outside of France.
One thing's for sure, whatever they're called, the pair produce some excellent music.
Here's the official clip of "Middle of the night".
Proving there really is life after television talent shows, Amandine Bourgeois has been chosen to represent France at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in the Swedish city of Malmö in May.
Bourgeois won the sixth edition of Nouvelle Star - France's version of Pop Idol - in 2008.
The show, which was cancelled by M6 a couple of years ago, is currently undergoing something of a renaissance on D8.
And that's perhaps what Bourgeois is hoping for by taking part in the annnual Europe-wide musical jamboree, because since winning Nouvelle Star, her career has hardly been...well er...decidedly rocky (although not in the musical sense of the word).
It all started off reasonably enough, with her debut album "20 m2" in 2009 being pretty well received by music critics and the public alike.
It reached a high of number five in the French charts and went gold. The first track released as a single, "L'homme de la situation" was a catchy little number which received plenty of airplay and reasonable chart success.
Amandine Bourgeois (screenshot from "L'homme de la situation" official clip)
There were two follow-up singles both taken from the album - "Tant de moi" and "Du temps" - which helped keep Bourgeois in the public eye, her album in the charts and bolster tickets sales for her tour of generally small to medium-sized venues around the country.
Bourgeois' second album in 2012 "Sans amour Mon amour" apparently "inspired by the retro 60's R&B of Amy Winehouse" and the two singles "Sans amour and "Envie d'un manque de problèmes", although well-written and produced, pretty much failed to register on the all-important commercial rader.
The result? Well Bourgeois was forced to cancel her tour after selling only 4,000 copies of the album and admitting how upset she was.
"I'm very sad and sorry, but it's really difficult to fill venues when my album simply isn't selling well and the songs aren't played on the radio," she said on her Facebook page, making a promise that she would "work and pray hard to continue living her passion".
And the way apparently to "live her passion" is to represent France in Malmö!
Amandine Bourgeois (screenshot from "L'homme de la situation" YouTube clip)
A France Télévisions committee designated Bourgeois as this country's representative - yes that's the way things are done in France: no leaving it up to the public to decide.
And the song chosen for the 33-year-old to sing in front of millions will be "L'enfer et moi"
Here's wishing Bourgeois all the best in Malmö.
She'll certainly need it if the recent past form of French participants is anything to go by.
Last year Indonesian-born singer Anggun only managed to finish 22nd out of 26 in the final and the previous year, the man with the big voice and dodgy "hairdon't" Amaury Vassili, only managed a self-described 15th placed "shitty finish".
In fact you have to go all the way back to the hey days of the competition for France's last win.
As the French media keeps reminding everyone each time Eurovision comes around, the last "triumph" for the country was in 1977 when Marie Myriam captured the hearts (and ears) of those watching with "L'oiseau et l'enfant".
"It's an honour for me to represent France," Bourgeois says on her Facebook page.
"I'm a little frightened but I also have the ability to transform that into a something positive," she told the weekly television programming magazine Télé 7 Jours.
"Whatever happens, Eurovision should open doors for me and boost my career."
There's no video of "L'enfer et moi" available yet, but here's a reminder of how she sounded back in her Nouvelle Star-winning days.
You can tell it's August - and not just by the weather.
Paris is full...of tourists and it ain't so difficult to park.
Trash television in the form of Secret Story is back on the small screen - actually it has been for a while now.
And although are some very serious news stories around (what's happening in Syria for example) the media is doing its very best to ignore them as much as it can and hoist upon viewers a heap of lighter, more palatable fare.
Don't want to ruin the holidays after all.
Turtle hot air balloon (from Wikipedia - author: Tommaso.gavioli)
Yes it's the silly season - in terms of what's making the headlines at least - and not wanting to buck the trend or break with such a fine tradition, that brings us nicely to this week's factional tale - political as it happens.
Just for your delectation - or otherwise - here's a totally unfounded story revealing some of the behind-the-scenes manœuvring as the race to become president of the opposition centre-right Union pour un mouvement populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) splutters into...er...(in)action.
Actually that's probably something of an exaggeration because right now it's merely a question of preparing the foundations and each of the candidates working out how they're going to gather the 8,000 signatures from party members necessary to stand.
At stake is the presidency of the UMP - to be decided in November - effectively making the winner the party's leader and providing him or her with a potential launching pad to become its official candidate in the next French presidential elections in 2017.
But that's looking way too far ahead.
Right now the contenders - declared or otherwise - are trying to work out the best way of meeting and greeting and pressing the flesh with the party faithful.
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (NKM) for example has decided to go strictly normal, plumping for the good old tried and trusted minibus.
She has already begun her Tour de France apparently, so look out for the NKM circus coming to a town near you shortly.
François Fillon shouldn't have too many difficulties getting the necessary support. After all he was prime minister for all five of those very long years under Nicolas Sarkozy, is a familiar face and not disliked...too much.
And that's probably just as well because he still needs to take it easy after coming a cropper on his scooter while on his hols in Italy recently.
Fillon is still nursing his injuries and reports say that his Welsh wife Penelope, who has made him sit in front of the telly for the past couple of weeks watching Team GB's performance at the Olympics, has put a stop to any notion he might have had about conducting his campaign for signatures on a motorbike with her along for the ride in a sidecar.
Finally of course there's the self-styled front runner who hasn't yet officially declared himself, Jean-François Copé.
All the signs are there that he's more than tempted though.
There's already a support committee complete with Facebook page.
Copé also probably won't have much difficulty in collecting those 8,000 signatures but that hasn't stopped the unfounded rumour circulating that he has been in touch with François Hollande's successful presidential election campaign team.
You see, while Hollande banged on about wanting to appear "normal" there was also apparently a Bling Bling strategy in place should everything have gone pear-shaped: a hot air balloon to take the then-prospective candidate to every corner of La Belle France and beyond if necessary.
Very Jules Verne, don't you think.
As it turned out of course, Hollande was able to take the train but there's still the small matter of what to do with the balloon.
It's apparently currently stored in the basement of the Parisian apartment he shared with his partner Valérie Trierweiler before being called to serve his country and the space it's taking up is beginning to annoy his former neigbours.
And that's where the Copé's support committee comes in.
One member, who wanted to remain anonymous, has revealed that the two men have in fact been on a trial flight - together - but Copé is still hesitating.
"He (Copé) is certainly up for it as he thinks it's and original idea and a way of blending the country's past with its future," said the source.
"The only thing that could perhaps scupper plans to use the hot air balloon - apart from the weather of course - is the design choice Hollande made when commissioning it," he continued.
"What might have worked for Hollande wouldn't necessarily be appropriate for Jean-François Copé."
And there's no denying the truth in that because some bright spark at Hollande campaign HQ came up with the idea of a turtle shaped hot air balloon.
Sigh.
All this wannabe normality and amateurish Bling Bling.
It almost makes you yearn for the return of the good old, bad old days.
Mind you, that doesn't mean it's any more comprehensible as the lyrics of "My name is Stain" aren't particularly inspiring or complicated at first glance and run along the lines of...
"The guy next door, is such a whore
the food I eat is poison or
I eat no food cause I can't find a store"
But heck, how often have you heard and liked a song that seems to say little or nothing?
Founded in Paris at the beginning of the last decade, SHK PNK as they're apparently often referred to - take a look at the official website - by friends, family and fans are at heart a six-piece band (seven if you count the virtual monkey who appears with them on stage and in videos) comprising François Charon or Frah, CC, Mandris Steve and since 2010 the Anglo-Egyptian singer Samaha Sam.
Their music is a blend of electro-rock, funk, hip hop and punk (where was the kitchen sink?) and on their official Facebook page Shaka Ponk - sorry it's hard to stick with the vernacular - SHK PNK is - wait for this, "a mutant rock band that explores the virtual to have better roots in reality."
Huh?
Work it out for yourself if you can - or must.
Several years and three albums down the line the group has found commercial success with a series of sold out dates in France and of course TV appearances such as the one recently on France 2's music show Taratata.
And they'll be back at Olympia in Paris in November.
Their latest album, "The Geeks And The Jerkin' Socks" released in June 2011 has so far spent 30 weeks in the charts and the single "My name is Stain" peaked at number seven for three weeks and is still receiving plenty of airplay.
That's enough with the statistics already.
Here's the song whose lyrics do apparently have a sense behind them (listen to the beginning of the interview with Nagui on Taratata if you're keen to discover more) even if they are pretty obscure and contrived.
It actually doesn't matter one iota though as the melody is irresistible and that's usually what sticks in the head.
So the first round in the presidential elections is over with French voters unsurprisingly choosing the Socialist Party's François Hollande to go head-to-head with the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on May 6
The media is now in post first round overdrive with analysis and interpretation of Sunday's results and speculation over the outcome in a fortnight's time.
As such, one of the invited guests on Monday morning's edition of La Matinale on Canal + was none other than Rachida Dati.
Rachida Dati (screenshot from Canal + La Matinale)
You remember her - the woman brought in to Sarkozy's government as justice minister at a time when diversity - both ethnic and gender - was his buzzword, and then when the honeymoon was long over, dispatched to the country's version of sending someone to Coventry (apologies to that UK city, but it is an expression) and made to stand in the European elections.
Having "served her time" without creating too much of a media stir in France, Dati was brought back into the fold as Sarkozy's official campaigning got underway.
And in spite of herself perhaps she has been something of a non-contraversial star in so far as she didn't draw too much attention to herself for off-the-cuff and misplaced remarks.
Well, let's face it, Sarkozy had Nadine Morano for that.
But the day after the night before - and things look to have gone a little wrong for Dati - at least in the vestimentary department.
On Monday she appeared on La Matinale, the breakfast show on Canal +, to put the inevitable positive spin on Sunday's results.
And as she was talking, answering questions put to her by journalist Caroline Roux, the camera kept showing her from the back.
Why?
Well emblazoned on the back of her top was a pattern which looked for all the world to be that of a giant cannabis plant leaf.
La Matinale's presenter, Maïtena Biraben, couldn't resist asking Dati about it at the end of the interview and the least that can be said is that the former justice minister floundered.
"There have been several messages on our Facebook page wondering whether your top is smoking," said Biraben to a non-plussed Dati.
"So what is the design on the back of your top - Cannabis?"
Looking rather uncomfortable and probably realising how this could play out later in the day, Dati denied that it was a cannabis plant leaf.
"Hemp?" suggested Biraben with a smile.
"No, not that either," replied Dati. "It's something else."
"Eucalyptus," said Biraben in a pretend Euruka! moment.
"Exactly," affirmed Dati, followed by some insincere laughter.
"But you can smoke eucalyptus too," chirped Biraben
"Yes...er...no, perhaps but eucalyptus makes you calmer," was Dati's final response...er - this obviously wasn't going the way she had planned.
Neither Biraben nor the viewers were prepared to leave it there though and later in the programme the production team provided a picture of a cannabis plant leaf side by side to one of the pattern on the back of Dati's top.
Rachida Dati (screenshot from Canal + La Matinale)
Draw your own conclusions but as one viewer wrote, "If it's not cannabis, what have I been smoking for the past 20 years?"
Friday's French music break this week is in Franglais.
Inna Modja's "French Cancan" uses a simple combination of instantly recognisable French words that everyone will know in an essentially English language song.
It's a little like telling someone you speak Italian and then stringing together "Spaghetti, ravioli, mamma mia, mozzarella di bufala, Giorgio Armani."
It's a fun and simple technique but a very effective.
And it's helped by mixing in a catchy tune that definitely has something of a 60s feel to it, a video with some extremely big hair, and voilà - guaranteed airplay and a song that has been a hit in France for the best part of the summer.
Originally from Bamako in Mali, Modja now lives in Paris.
The name "Modja" (she was born Inna Bocoum) meaning "naughty girl" Pulaar is, according to her Facebook page, "A nickname my mother gave me when I was being a nuisance."
Modja says she began singing in a choir when she was six years old and her earliest influences were singers her parents listened to such as Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Otis Redding or Sarah Vaughan.
Those were followed by music her older brothers and sisters listened to - Punk, Trash, Heavy Metal, Soul and Funk...well just about anything and everything.
"Today my music is the result of all that mix and when I compose, I do so instinctively," she said in an interview on TV5 Monde after the release of her debut album "Everyday Is a New World" last year and the success of the single "Mister H".
"There are a lot of artists I listen to that I like. I wouldn't say it had a direct influence on the album - but certainly on me."
Friday's French music break this week is Zaza Fournier's "Vodka fraise".
Zaza Fournier (screenshot from "Vodka Fraise" official video)
It's actually a recommendation from one of France Today's most faithful readers, Debbie from Dordogne.
In a recent email Debbie said of Fournier, "She's the best thing to have happened to French music since Lilicub." For those not in the know, they're a group formed in the early 90s and whose biggest hit to date has been "Voyage en Italie".
Well, who could ignore such unbridled enthusiasm? So a quick search on YouTube for Zaza Fournier produced her latest single, "Vodka fraise."
Actually there's not much else available, as the least that can be said about Fournier is that she is far from being prolific.
Since 2008, the 26-year-old has produced precisely two albums and the same number of singles.
"Vodka fraise" was released in March and is the first (and if the trend continues, potentially the only) single from her album "Regarde moi" which appeared in May.
In a 2009 interview with the magazine Ici Londres, for those French living and working in the British capital, Fournier spoke about her beginnings busking in Paris and how she had almost "fallen into music" before realising the importance it had become in her life.
"I started playing in the streets in Paris and at the time I had no ambition. I simply found it more interesting trying to sell sandwiches to pay for my studies," she said.
"The more I sang, the more I understood I needed to continue doing it and gradually I was invited to play in bars and small venues for about 18 months."
There then followed the self-titled first album, described by the French weekly news magazine L'Express as that of a young woman who "combined rock and multimedia" and whose songs had a "fluorescent retro taste."
Huh?
It gets better for the second because she apparently manages to "alternate smooth, swaying sounds with those of a twisting dashing pop music."
So much for music critics who sometimes sound as though they're writing from where the sun don't shine.
That's a sentiment with which Fournier might perhaps agree as, again in that 2009 interview, she responded to parallels that one French magazine had made between her and Edith Piaf.
Presumably the journalist had been trying to linger on that "singing in the street" start.
"Piaf is part of my musical memories and I've listened to her music time and time again," said Fournier.
"I'm fascinated by her voice, her body, her stage presence and force but nobody can be compared to Piaf, and although I find it flattering it's also absurd."
You tell 'em girl.
The truth of the matter is that Fournier is an artist who clearly doesn't fit neatly into any particular mould and it would be useless to try.
Her character is one she has created but which is also apparently "spontaneous and instinctive", but there's also no getting away from the fact that her persona and her music are highly stylised.
As far as her influences go, well they're as wide ranging as you would expect them to be from someone who is so singularly distinctive from anyone else around on the French music scene and include - as she says herself, Barbara, Jacques Brel, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Rockabilly, Brigitte Fontaine, Christophe...there are a lot."
Sometimes you just have to admit that it's a mad, bad world in which those at the top of the heap are in charge and make the rules and those at the bottom - well they just have to like it and lump it.
But sometimes - especially when the regulations are enforced and the outcome is just so barmy, the cause of the so-called "little man" can be helped by the support of those around him and justice can be done.
Such is surely the case of Kader, a 59-year-old employee of the French supermarket chain Monoprix in the southern city of Marseille.
Last Monday he was sent home from his job and threatened with being sacked.
His crime?
He had supposedly "stolen" six melons and two lettuces.
Except there's a very good reason for the inverted commas.
As the regional daily La Provencereported, Kader had simply retrieved them from a bin at the back of the store where, as out-of-date products, they were waiting to be collected and taken to the nearest landfill.
It appeared that such behaviour was tantamount to "misconduct" and as far as Monoprix rules were concerned employees weren't allowed to take home food even if it were destined for landfill; it said as much in the work contract Kader had signed.
"I didn't know," the shelf-filler who had been working for the store for the past eight years told the newspaper.
"I'm so ashamed. I've never, ever stolen anything in all my years of working," he continued.
"I told my manager, 'If I've stolen something, call the police'. I'm not a thief and I've never taken a thing in my life."
Management at the store remained stumm, refusing to talk to the local media.
But the story soon spread and was reported nationally.
Kader repeated what he had told La Provence on national radio Europe 1.
"When I passed the rubbish bin I saw the melons and lettuce ready to be thrown away," he said
"I thought they were in a reasonable state so I decided to take them home - just to eat," said the father of six.
The unions were soon on the case, pointing out that Monoprix's main shareholder, Casino , had just reported record profits but according to company rules, "appeared ready to fire a man for taking home food that was going to be thrown away."
A demonstration was held outside the shop. Kader's colleagues were interviewed and expressed how "pathetic" they found management's decision.
Monoprix's official Facebook page started receiving complaints and there were calls from some Internauts for a boycott of the store.
And an online petition was started, calling for Kader to be reinstated.
So much bad publicity and on such a scale for a management stance that was surely both as untenable as it was ridiculous.
The Powers that Be at the store finally caved in on Friday, seeing sense and reducing Kader's penalty to a simple one-day reprimand for having failed to follow company regulations.
Regulations which the national daily France Soirsays the company had hidden behind in an attempt to explain its (over)reaction and which officially aimed, "To protect human health by avoiding the consumption of spoiled products."
Kader spoke to the local commercial television station, LCM, after he had received news that he was being reinstated.
"I was moved by the reaction of the media, my colleagues and the unions," he said.
"I would just like to thank everyone for the support they've given me."
If you're one of those people who casts doubts on whether Facebook "friends" can ever exist outside of the virtual world, then a French family is surely set to make you think again.
In July Frédéric and Estelle Colas, along with their eight-year-old daughter Héloïse, will leave Paris to set off on a round-the-world trip with a difference.
They'll be staying with Facebook friends in every country they visit.
Yes that's right; people they don't necessarily know and perhaps have never met but who have become "friends' in that Social Network definition of the word.
But this isn't just a gimmick or a publicity stunt and it's not a trip dedicated purely to pleasure - although there is obviously some of that involved too - as Frédéric Colas explained to journalist David Abiker on Europe 1 radio on Sunday.
There's also a purpose behind it.
"Every time one of our Facebook friends puts us up for the night, we'll donate the money we would otherwise have spent on a hotel to a fund aimed at building a girls' school in Burkina Faso together with the association La voix de l'enfant," he said.
The couple, both in their early forties and professionals in communications and advertising see the project as being a combination of making a dream come true, taking a break and allowing their daughter to discover the world.
And at the some time, they'll be doing something much more important, as Fréderic writes on We like the world's website.
"It is the time to ask myself important questions about what I want to do about my life while keeping my feet on the ground," he writes.
"It is a year when I want to 'be' but also to 'achieve' something. As in any project, I anticipate having constraints and some form of pressure, because I want to see the school built thanks to all the people who are interested in our project."
If you would like to become a friend of the project, offer the family accommodation overnight at some point during their trip o simply follow their progress, then check out the Facebook page for We like the world.
Views are split as to whether it could soon be curtains for France's man in Tunisia, Boris Bouillon.
Even though rumours just won't go away that the man dubbed "Sarkoboy" by some in the French media could soon be on his way home, he's still in the job.
And that could be down to Jean-David Levitte, a high-ranking French diplomat and sherpa, or the civil servant who undertakes the preparatory political work prior to summits, to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Speculation that Boillon would be returning to France surfaced at the beginning of April with a report in France Soir that a replacement had been found for the 41-year-old.
Yves Marek, a career diplomat and "native son" would soon be taking over, the paper assured its readers.
According to the French weekly news magazine Nouvel Observateur, Marek was an "astute choice" to succeed Boillon who had come in for plenty of criticism - not least from those in his new host country - for making as much of a mess of his start to his new post as the French had in their mishandling of Tunisia's "Jasmine revolution".
But as the end of April nears, Boillon is still in his job and, as far as Nouvel Observateur is concerned, that's largely down to the support of Levitte.
Boillon made a mess of things almost immediately after touching down in Tunisia.
During his very first press conference, he appeared dismissive and aggressive towards one journalist and a video of the encounter soon made its way on to the Net.
Not surprisingly it didn't go down well with Tunisians and even though Boillon appeared on national television a day later to apologise, many wanted him out.
Remember, this is in a country which used social networking tools so effectively to rally support during the revolution.
Not great news then for Boillon and he rather kept his head down during the visit of two members of the French government, the finance minister, Christine Lagarde, and the European affairs minister, Laurent Wauquiez, a couple of weeks later.
Marek's name began circulating as the most likely successor. The 44-year-old's diplomatic credentials were impeccable and he was seen by many Tunisian Internauts as a child of the country's resistance to the former leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
But that was also his undoing, according to Nouvel Observateur, because he was suspected of having been too much in favour of regime change during the Jasmine revolution, and besides, Levitte wanted to protect Boillon - his protégé.
The one person who perhaps could have given Tunisians what they seemed to want more than anything - Boillon out and Marek in - suggested Nouvel Observateur, was the French foreign minister Alain Juppé.
Just before Easter he was on official business in Tunisia to announce €350 million in aid to help, as TF1 reported, "rebuild a relationship undermined by the France's diplomatic faux pas and mishandling of the events during Tunisia's 'Jasmine revolution'."
It could also have been a golden opportunity to announce a change at the embassy, but it didn't happen.
As far as Nouvel Observateur is concerned that's partly because Juppé has inherited staff and advisors from his predecessor in office, Michèle Alliot-Marie, and he is also being "held hostage by a diplomatic service" unwilling to admit it misjudged the Jasmine revolution in the first place and as a consequence unable to come to terms with its mistakes.
So Boillon is to stay and Marek's services will be deployed elsewhere?
Well all is not lost for those in Tunisia who would like to see Sarkoboy sent home.
On Monday BFM TV ran a report once again suggesting France considered his continued presence in Tunisia could be too much of an embarrassment.
It's barely a week since Nadine Morano, the minister in charge of apprenticeships and professional training, made a complete fool of herself during an interview on an early morning television programme.
Her classic confusion of "Renaud", a French singer-songwriter with a distinctive "broken voice", with "Renault", the car manufacturer at the centre of the non-existent industrial espionage story, became an instant Internet hit and the object of plenty of ridicule.
Now though, an Internaut has come to her rescue - sort of.
Jérôme Niel aka La Ferme Jérôme (screenshot from video)
Jérôme Niel has written a song whose title uses the exact words in the question that so confused Morano, "Tous coupables sauf Carlos Ghosn" and performing it as - who else - but Renaud.
Just to refresh your memory, Morano was asked what she thought of the case of Renault in which everyone seemed to be guilty except its CEO Carlos Ghosn.
"J'aime, j'aime pas 'Tous coupables sauf Carlos Ghosn'," was what Morano was asked on an edition last week of La Matinale on Canal +.
And those words, as far as Niel were concerned, were at the nub of the minister's befuddlement.
"I watched the mistake Nadine Morano made and if you listen to the way the journalist (Caroline Roux) poses the question you can hear that it sounds like the title of a song 'Tous coupable sauf Carlos Ghosn'," he said.
"I thought why not simply use that as a starting point and I put it online and it has aroused a great deal of interest both on the Net and among the media."
Looking - sort of - and sounding - more so - like Renaud, Niel lets Morano of the hook in a manner of speaking, because her blunder is no longer as silly as it seemed!
Well that's if you can get over the fact of a politician being so ill-informed on what was the major domestic news story of the day.
Of course it's all a spoof and not the first time the web humorist has composed and performed such a parody.
Sadly Karim, as he may now be called in all official documentation and for administrative purposes, didn't feel quite the same; to such an extent that he said it had made it the object of ridicule and teasing from his during his childhood, and something he wanted to be rid of when a teenager.
You can hear the poor fellah in a clip from an interview he gave Europe 1 radio in Marcj.
Layre had his initial request to try get his name changed turned down because he had not supplied "sufficient grounds or documentation to support his application."
That's officialese speak for "get the proper evidence together and we'll consider it."
That's exactly what Layre did, providing sworn declarations from family and friends that he has always been known as Karim - well at least for the past 10 years.
Shucks he even had the backing of his sister Edith, who was on hand after Monday's ruling to tell journalists how much her brother had suffered.
"He hasn't been able to stand his name since he was 14 or 15," she said.
"All his friends called him 'Karim' - even those on Facebook,' she added.
Oh well that's it. The mention of "Facebook" must have swung it second-time-around with the court.
Although the media interest in Layre's case might have surprised both him and his family there is, of course, a more serious side to all of this, as lawyer Joackim Fain, who specialises in handling name changes explained to Europe 1 radio.
"At the moment there's an explosion in the number of people applying to change their names," he said.
"There are a number of reasons; from wanting to integrate better and changing a foreign name by 'Frenchifying' it to religious considerations or simply those cases where people feel the name they've been given makes them the object of ridicule."
But as Karim's lawyer was keen to point out, the court's decision would not "open the flood gates" and it was in no way meant to "stigmatise" other Johnnys of this world (that's a relief).
"These decisions are made on a case by case basis, depending on the situation and experiences of those involved," said Camille Lacaze.
"The testimonies my client's relatives provided have indeed confirmed that he had suffered under his first name," she added.
"The court's decision is excellent news and it'll allow Monsieur Layre to begin a new life."
Off to Dhaulagiri
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The time of year has come and I am heading out on expedition again. Since
having summited Cho Oyu in autumn 2016, I have not attempted an 8,000m
peak, and ...
Slumming it in paradise
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Every seasonnaire in the Alps, past or present, has a horror story or two
about grotty accommodation. Old chalets so run down that the most
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Summer update
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Here is a summer update. The weather has been quite rainy but the clouds
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12 (“Une douzaine”) restaurant tips . . .
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*on how to blend in and*
*not to appear too much like a touristin a Paris restaurant . . .(or at
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L'hexagone dans le Triangle
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It's been a while since I have posted to Polly-Vous Francais! I am happy
to report that I am now in the "Triangle" area of North Carolina, where
there is ...
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