A World Cup "dilemma" for François Hollande

All right, so "dilemma" might be a little bit of an exaggeration.

But hey. It's football (and politics). And hyperbole is pretty much par for the course in both domains.

All the same, how about "quandary"?

Yup, "François Hollande's World Cup quandary".

You see, the French president can't have helped but notice the  increasing popularity of Les Bleus during their first three games of the World Cup tournament in Brazil, especially after their convincing wins against Honduras and Switzerland (we'll forget that goalless draw with 10-man Ecuador).

The talk in the French media was about "team spirit" and "the players' pride in representing their country" with the folk back home tuning in by the millions to follow their exploits on telly.

Ah yes. Apparently the French had (and have) falllen in love with their football team once again: to such an extent that some people actually see them as being capable of winning the whole thing.

Meanwhile Hollande watches from the sidelines, or the Elysée palace - just as he did during a soirée he organised; the sumptuous setting and giant-sized screen more "gauche" than "bling bling" and rather spoilt by his constant (caught-on -camera) snacking throughout the game.

Still, "President Normal" and all that.

Anyway, that's all an aside (and a long-winded one at that).

The "quandary" for the French president is when and, indeed even, if he should make an appearance in Brazil, and how that might be interpreted.

Of course, Hollande doesn't have the same sort of PR savvy as the German chancellor Angela Merkel.

She's an "old hand", so to speak, at managing to show how "in touch" she is with what makes a footballing nation tick (during the World Cup) and could be seen in the stands during Germany's opening game, cheering on die Mannschaft as they made mincemeat of Portugal.

Angela Merkel at the World Cup (screenshot Newsloop video YouTube)

And to top it off, Merkel then had a photo op' in the dressing room with the players.

Smart lady - and smart move.

Hollande, in contrast, was last seen with the French squad in Clairefontaine as they prepared for their World Cup campaign.

There was plenty of humour, although it all looked a little awkward at times during the photoshoot with the players which left the president looking rather...er...portly and "buffoonly".

But that's perhaps being unfair as there's nothing wrong with not being quite the right shape. After all, how many of us really are?

Since then, nothing much. Well just that ostentatious "soirée". And no real sign that Hollande is about to fly to Brazil to support Les Bleus.

Yes, he has a packed agenda - most political leaders do. But he could have followed Merkel's example and "played safe" by putting in an appearance during the group stage.

After all, the tournament and the group match schedules were published months ago.

Instead Hollande now faces the risk of turning up during the knock out stage when his presence at the country's defeat (should it happen) could well be interpreted as a "jink".

Yes it's (more than) a stretch of the imagination, and there's no way that Hollande's attendance would contribute to the outcome, but that wouldn't stop the more unkindly drawing a link between the two.

Apparently the French president has pencilled in a "surprise (you have to wonder how much of one it will be) visit" should Les Bleus make it through to the quarterfinals after their next match against Nigeria.

The only problem (oh, life can be so cruel sometimes) is that if all goes true to form and planning, France's opponents in the quarterfinal match would be...Germany.

Friday's French music break - John Mamann featuring Kika, "Love Life"

Friday's French music break this week is one of those songs you're more than likely to have heard on the radio in France at some point over over the past few months

It's "Love life" by John Mamann, featuring Portuguese singer Kika, and is the first track to be released from his latest album of the same name.

John Mamann (screenshot from official video)

The song is  heavy on the feel-good factor; a catchy tune (of course) with simple lyrics (what else) sung alternately in French (Mamann) and English (Kika).

Kika (screenshot from official video)

All in all, it an instantly hummable, whistleable (there's plenty of that at both the beginning and end), singalongable (are any of those words?), la-la-la-able song with a pleasant enough mélodie...whoops, melody - and, let's face it, the simplest of refrains that even the most forgetful will not have trouble remembering.

Love life ( la la la la la... ),
Love life ( la la la la la... ),
It's you and I ( la la la la la... ),
Love life ( la la la la la... ).

Now some of you out there who've read previous Friday's French music break posts (here) might have noticed similarities between "Love life" and another duet from French television actress Élisa Tovati and a former Eurovision Song Contest entrant for Belgium (and runner-up in that country's X Factor), Tom Dice.

Back in 2011 the pair teamed up for the equally melodious and gentle-on-the ear summer hit "Il nous faut" sung in both French and English, and written by...Mamann.

In fact, although the 43-year-old is about to release his third album he's probably better known for his songwriting credentials, having composed and produced for the likes of Johnny Hallyday, Canadian singer Natasha St-Pier and Louisy Joseph after she left the all-girl band (French) Popstars winners L5 to pursue a solo career.

Plus...yes there's more...Mamann is one of the composers of the musical Robin des Bois which has recently opened in Paris and stars (yet) another former Popstars winner, Matt Pokora.

Anyway, that's probably more than enough background info.

If you would like more, you can take a look at a more comprehensive bio (in French) online at Universal Music, log on to his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter.

Mamann has just appeared as the warm-up act for Zaz in Amiens and has a few performance dates scheduled over the next couple of months, including one at Bus Palladium in Paris on December 3.

For now though, listen to the official video and be prepared perhaps get ready to break out into a few la, la, las.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

UK couple scoop EuroMillions jackpot but where's September's French winner?

A British couple were the winners of last Friday's Euromillions draw picking up a cool £101 million or €115 million.

(screenshot from EuroMillions commercial)

But in France there's still a mystery surrounding an even bigger jackpot "won" almost a month ago.

That's because nobody has stepped forward to make a claim for the €162 million for five correct numbers plus the two lucky stars in the September 13 draw.

The operator of the lottery in France, La Française des Jeux (FDJ), apparently has still had no news from the claimant and will only issue a statement once the winner has stepped forward and then "only in accordance with his or her wishes."

The winning ticket was apparently bought in the northwestern département of Calvados.

Yes the very same area known for its apple brandy, which might give a clue as to why nobody has yet made a claim.

And let's face it, the amount is hardly inconsiderable.

Should the winner eventually be identified he/she or they would have the 250th largest fortune in France.

But hey, who's counting centimes here?

It's not the first time someone has been in less than a hurry to pick up an enormous lottery cheque in France.

As Le Parisien reports, right now FDJ is waiting for the winner of €8 million in the national lottery draw from August 13 to make his or her claim.

Time is running out though as FDJ has rules about how long a jackpot can remain unclaimed and the deadline is October 12 at one minute to midnight.

As for the Euromillions winner from Calvados - well the deadline for making a claim is November 12.

EuroMillions ticket - sadly not a winner

Just for the record, those numbers for the September 13 draw in case you haven't already checked were - and still are - 9, 28, 30, 32, 49 and the two lucky stars 9 and 10 (you can check them out here)

EuroMillions is a transnational lottery incorporating national operators in nine European countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The far right pottiness of Marine Le Pen - it's all in the name

Heaven's above. The leader of France's far right Front National, Marine La Pen, really knows how to milk the media.

Marine Le Pen (Wikipedia, author Marie-Lan Nguyen)

Her latest declaration is that children born in France or those born outside of the country but who have obtained French nationality should carry a "proper" French name.

It has worked in the past and it would help those of foreign origin to integrate better according to Le Pen.

She was talking to future journalists from one of the country's top journalism schools the Centre de formation des journalistes (CFJ) in Paris on YouTube's Election 2012 channel.

It's an initiative launched jointly by the CFJ, Agence France Presse and Twitter to allow candidates in next year's French presidential election to give their vision of the world and answer questions on a range of subjects.

Ah yes, La Pen and the rest of her dangerously loony friends on the far right of French politics have well and truly been given credibility by all elements of the mass media and the French are going to have to learn to live with it during campaigning for next year's elections.

Anyway, La Pen's vision of the world à la française quite unsurprisingly includes all children in this country having proper French names and none of those nonsense foreign ones.



Admittedly the question, supplied from Hélène from Paris (thank you Hélène) and which elicited Le Pen's typical "France for the French" response, was a bit of a leading one.

But there again Le Pen doesn't really need much encouragement (if any) to take the bait.

"Are you in favour of parents choosing 'French' names for their children born in France from among those appearing on the calendar (the so-called nameday custom in which every day of the year is associated with a given name)." she was asked.

"Yes, I'm in favour," she replied.

"It was one of the elements that worked extremely well throughout the history of France and allowed foreign communities to assimilate very quickly. It was the case for the Italians, the Portuguese, the Spanish and the Polish," she said.



"It's a very effective way of assimilating which isn't the case today whereby children are given foreign-sounding names under the pretext of trying to maintain a link with the country or culture of origin," she continued.

"It think it makes life more complicated for them and it doesn't help them fit in."

Oh well, that's that said. So it must be true.

Expect more of the same and worse over the next 10 months.

France's embarrassment and anger over Strategic Airlines

Strategic Airlines - a charter company banned by France - makes a mockery of the country's civil aviation authority and takes advantage of a lack of European Union-wide regulations.

(screenshot from TF1 news)

In a special report during its prime time news on Monday, French television channel TF1 looked at how a European subsidiary of the Australian-based company Strategic Airlines had managed to flout a ban placed on it by the French civil aviation authority last September.

The charter airline simply moved its headquarters to neighbouring Luxembourg, as a "completely separate subsidiary" gained a licence from that country's aviation authority, and continued its flights from French airports to destinations in Greece and Portugal.

Strategic Airlines first gained a licence to fly in Europe in 2009 but its name soon became synonymous, as far as passengers and authorities in France were concerned, with technical problems and delays.

Complaints about waits of up to 30 hours because of technical problems and 'planes described by passengers as "flying coffins" as well as spot-checks carried out French civil aviation authority officials led to its licence being revoked in September 2010.

But just a few weeks later the company was back in business.

It had found a loophole in European Union regulations: there is no single agency within the 27-member state bloc responsible for overseeing airlines.

Perhaps the European Aviation Safety Agency would be the body most able to fulfil that function, but its role is limited as it makes clear on its website.

"The Agency works hand in hand with the national authorities which continue to carry out many operational tasks, such as certification of individual aircraft or licencing of pilots."

In other words each member state is responsible for deciding whether a licence will be issued to an airline and although a blacklist of airlines exists, it only applies to non-European companies.

And, according to Gilles Gompertz the general manager of the airline consulting business Avico, Strategic took full advantage of the inadequacy of EU-wide regulations.

"We closed the the door (to the airline) in September 2010 and one month later we opened the window," he said.

"What cannot be explained is the refusal by the company to correct faults and to return to the market after it has effectively been banned. That's shocking."

While Luxembourg's civil aviation authority is apparently "keeping a close eye" on Strategic's operations, it did little to prevent the airline once again upsetting passengers in December, this time those bound for the island of Madeira.

After a 10-hour wait, they were informed that their 'plane had been cancelled - an incident the airline put down to having been the fault of the tour operator.

Flight quarantined for two hours following false alarm

Passengers aboard a flight from the Portuguese capital Lisbon to the southwestern French city of Toulouse found themselves in quarantine when they arrived at their destination - the reason, a suspected case of cholera aboard the 'plane.

But in reality it turned out to be a false alarm caused by a misunderstanding between one of the passengers and a member of the cabin crew, and a system of "coping" with a potential crisis that took on a dynamic of its own.

A Portugalia Embraer 145 (image from Wikipedia, author - Bthebest)

It all began half an hour after take off when a passenger aboard the scheduled flight, operated by Portugal's national airline TAP, felt unwell and made his way to the loo.

Concerned for his state of health, a member of the cabin crew attempted to find out what wrong.

And that was when the problems really started.

The stewardess, who reportedly didn't speak a word of French, misunderstood what the passenger - himself a doctor - had said.

Somehow she confused his explanation of "having a simple stomach ache" as being a "suspected case of cholera" and she took the appropriate action by informing the captain.

It was, of course, a false alarm, but one which quickly took on a life of its own.

The passenger was confined to the back of the 'plane, the cabin crew donned the obligatory masks, no food was served for the duration of the flight and the authorities in Toulouse were alerted.

In the meantime another doctor aboard confirmed the passenger's self-diagnosis, but that could not prevent the 'plane being greeted on landing by the emergency services and a two-hour quarantine being place while investigations were conducted.

It was, as Françoise Souliman, the secretary general of the préfecture of the département of Haute Garonne, explained afterwards, a false alarm based on a simple misunderstanding, but one which had required appropriate action.

But that perhaps was little consolation for the passengers who were reportedly offered no explanation throughout the flight and must have been more than a little concerned when, on arrival, they saw the emergency services board the 'plane.