Same-sex marriage legal in France unless...your partner is the "wrong" nationality.

So you're French and either gay or lesbian, and you want to marry your partner.

Well, as you probably know, given all the media coverage there was both domestically and internationally, now you can - in France at least.

Since May 18, just a day after the "wise men" of the Conseil Constitutionnel (Consitutional Council) approved the bill that had made its way through both the National Assembly and the Senate, and the president, François Hollande, had formerly declared it law, France became the 14th country to recognise same-sex marriage.

Less than a fortnight later Vincent Autin and Bruno Boileau exchanged vows and rings in front of the  mayor, of Montpellier Hélène Mandroux, and a global audience to become the first same-sex couple to marry officially in France.

Progress indeed.

Montpellier's mayor Hélène Mandroux with Vincent Autin (right) and Bruno Boileau (screenshot AFPTV)

Except the so-called "Mariage pour tous" isn't quite what it's cracked up to be.

Ah yes. You knew there had to be an anomaly didn't you.?

Because if you're French and your partner and prospective spouse happens to come from one of any 11 countries then it's tough, because you won't be able to marry them in France.

A circular from the ministry of justice and signed by the minister who so energetically and eloquently guided the same-sex marriage legislation through parliament, Christine Taubira, says as much.

And the French website StreetPress managed to get its hands on the document and publish it in its entirety (available to download as a pdf file).

The countries concerned - in no particular order other than the one given in the circular - are Poland, Morocco, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, Slovenia, Cambodia, Laos, Tunisia and Algeria.

Yes a heap of countries with which France has historically had (and continues to have) very close links and a couple (Poland and Slovenia) who are fellow members of the European Union.

None of that matters though because, as far as the ministry of justice is concerned, when couples of the same sex wish to marry and "one of the spouses is a national of one of these countries, the state registrar shall not solemnise the marriage."

On Rue89, another French website, 25-year-old "Lise" (that's the name she chose to use in the interview) who currently lives in Berlin with her partner "Agnieszka" explains how she discovered the couple wouldn't be able to marry in France in spite of the new law because she had made 'the mistake of falling in love with a Polish woman."

It's all apparently to do with individual bilateral agreements between France and each of the 11 countries on the application of the Marriage Act and, for the ministry of justice, it's now up to the foreign ministry to find a solution and "revise the agreements" as necessary.

Nothing like passing the buck.

Hallelujah.

After heated parliamentary and media debate and sometimes violent street protests which only served to fuel the decidedly homophobic views of a very verbal minority, the government still couldn't get the legislation right.

It drafted and passed a bill which, in its detail, could never truly completely deliver on what it had promised - and that's "Mariage pour tous".

Dominique Berger - France's last natural latex inflatable doll maker

France has a reputation for producing expensive high-quality products from foie gras to champagne, jewellery, perfume, fashion and so the list continues.

But a little-known area in which one particular man is struggling to keep the Tricolore flying is in the manufacture of high-calibre inflatable dolls.

Dominique Berger and "Kelly" (screenshot from France 3 report)

It really is summer in France - even though the weather in many parts of the country and the rest of Europe come to that, might indicate otherwise.

But that's another story.

Proof of which season we're in is provided by the seemingly traditional attempt by the media, in all its guises, to scrabble around for just about anything to fill the column inches, airwaves, bulletins or whatever.

You know the sort of thing; the normally "And finally" stories that might appear at the end of TV news bulletins throughout the year but which seem to be the bread and butter of journalists during the slower summer months.

As the weekly New Yorker magazine wrote in an article last year, in the summer journalists "Fall back on old standbys like animals, folk heroes, strange crimes, the gruesome quirks of the elderly, overly obsessive coverage of celebrity weddings, and, of course, mass hysteria of a non-life-threatening nature."

The more off-the-wall the better, and if there's a smidgeon of sex involved...well, bingo!

And that's exactly what television viewers in France were treated to during the evening news on France 3 television on Tuesday with an item looking at one man's struggle to manufacture a top-quality product in the face of cheaper, lower-grade competition, primarily from China.

Inflatable dolls.

Yes, according to the report, the international market for the modern-day "dame de voyage" as they were apparently known in the 17th century, is dominated by the Chinese (did you know that?)

But a former baker from the north of France is reportedly putting up a valiant struggle.

Dominique Berger gave up kneading the dough to pursue a career in inflatable dolls eight years ago.

As the French website Rue89 reports, Berger used his savings to buy out a company that had closed its doors because of falling orders and decided to aim for the high-end of the market with his all-latex "Kelly".

"Kelly" in production (screenshot from France 3 report)

And he's apparently the only person left in Europe, let alone France, manufacturing Domax inflatable dolls made of natural latex.

"If you look closely you can see there are no seams," Berger proudly told France 3.

"Dolls made in Asia on the other hand have seams on the side and are made of plastic," he continued.

"And that means it resembles more a woman than it does a plastic buoy (yes, he really said that)."

At between €250 and €690 depending on the model, Berger's dolls aren't exactly cheap when compared to the apparently average-priced €40 of the Chinese-made competitor.

And while business isn't exactly booming with 80-90 latex dolls produced each month, Berger, who works alone and prefers it that way, says he can make a living and he believes in his product.

"I could double production by working twice as hard, but I prefer not to," he said.

"I'm self financing and work to order."

So there you have it. Not the first, and certainly not the last, in a long line of silly summer stories.

French "help" for Ben Ali stuck at Paris airport

Equipment to "maintain law and order" including police uniforms and tear gas, destined to be delivered to Tunisia before the fall of its former president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has been stuck at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport since last Friday.

But there are conflicting explanations as to why it was never dispatched.

On Wednesday the French government's official spokesman, François Baroin, confirmed that an order, placed by the former Tunisian president with a private company in France, had been prevented from leaving Paris shortly before his fall from power.

"Ben Ali placed an order directly with the company supplying the equipment," he said.

"Customs officials did their job correctly and it never left," he added without, as the weekly news magazine Nouvel Observateur pointed out, wanting to elaborate on what role (if any) the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, had played in the decision.

As far as the French website Rue89 is concerned the load, containing as much as seven tonnes of tear gas, was held up because of "technical rather than political" problems.

Tear gas for Tunisia (screenshot from Rue89 video)

Customs officials authorised the export of the equipment, it says, but red tape and in particular the "need for it to be inspected" got in the way.

The journalist Jean-Dominique Merchet, who specialises in military and defence topics, offers up a different explanation though.

On his blog for the magazine Marianne, Merchet wrote that the 'plane carrying the cargo was due to leave late on Friday morning but customs officials "suddenly became very picky."

Soon afterwards, according to Merchet, the head of Sofexi, the group supplying the equipment, received a call from the "highest authority at the Elysée informing him that delivery was out of the question."

Such contradictory explanations are perhaps only to be expected from a country which the BBC described as having been "in a fluster over the Tunisian crisis"; a reaction that still seems to prevail perhaps as illustrated by Rue89's unsuccessful attempts to discover what will now happen to the equipment held at Roissy.

When it contacted the ministry of defence it was referred to the interior ministry, which then referred it to the Elysée which in turn referred it to the ministry of foreign affairs, from which it is still waiting for a reply...



Du gaz lacrymogène bloqué à Roissy
envoyé par rue89. - L'info video en direct.

Marion Bogaert is Miss Ronde France, 2011

Measuring just 1.70 metres and weighing 95 kilogrammes, Marion Bogaert might not be everyone's idea of a beauty queen.

But at the weekend the 19-year-old became just that, as she beat 21 other candidates to lift the title of Miss Ronde France 2011.

Proving big can be beautiful, as Marion Bogaert becomes Miss Ronde France, 2011 (screenshot from BFM TV)

"I'm very proud to be representing larger girls today," she said after scooping first place in the finals held in the northern French city of Calais.

"It's a great honour for me and I really hope to live up to the expectations that go with winning this title."

Coming just a week after the election of that more traditional beauty pageant, Miss France, and its rival Miss Nationale (a long story about which you can find out more here if you're really interested) the contest to find Miss Ronde France 2011 is more than just a title to raise a smile.

As the name suggests contestants are far from being skinny.

The competition in France started life as an online contest back in 2005 when its founder, Thierry Frézard, decided to organise a pageant slightly different from what was the accepted norm.

Frézard is a psychotherapist who has over the years seen a number of women who didn't feel at ease with the fact that they were overweight.

Marion Bogaert (screenshot from BFM TV)

Last Friday's final was the first time it had been held in front of an audience and several television channels, including BFM TV and TF1, sent along teams to report on the outcome .

Proof, as far as Frézard, was concerned, that the initial reasons for its existence - namely to give women who aren't thin a chance to show they're comfortable with their weight and don't have to conform to the dictates of fashion - were bearing fruit and public perceptions of what is acceptable might just be changing.

"The media is more and more interested in this competition," he said.

"And it's probably because as a whole there are more overweight French and people are gradually realising that there's nothing wrong or 'sick' about carrying a few extra pounds."

As the French website Rue89 says in its report of the final perhaps attitudes about what constitutes beauty are changing and the media has a role to play in that.

"Maybe one day, by dint of being publicized, the title of Miss Ronde will no longer raise a smile," it says.

"And that's certainly what we would wish future participants."

Also see

Miss Plump Univesenet 2011 and Miss Ronde blog (French)

French bank reveals Santa doesn't exist!

The French bank Crédit Mutuel is in hot water with parents after a commercial it aired revealed that Father Christmas doesn't exist.

The spot only lasts 20 seconds, but it has been the subject of controversy for the best part of a week.

It features a father offering up his adult son some "sound" financial advice, insisting that banks touch a commission whenever they carry out transactions on behalf of their clients.

"I have some bad news for you," the father says to his son right at the beginning of the commercial.

"Father Christmas doesn't really exist."

Crédit Mutuel; "Father Christmas doesn't really exist" (snapshot from commercial)

All right, all right. So nothing too controversial in that. After all he doesn't really exist that is in any tangible sense (apologies to those of you who've just had a myth destroyed).

He is of course a figure used by parents to...well an explanation isn't really necessary, surely.

The problem, apparently as far as many parents in France are concerned, comes not with the commercial or its message so much as with its placement; as it was broadcast immediately before the animated Walt Disney film "Ratatouille" aired on TF1 a week last Sunday.

It is of course a movie aimed primarily at children, and plenty of them were reportedly in front of the box eagerly awaiting the start when their illusions were shattered.

And even though some might think parents were overreacting, a psychologist insisted that finding out in such a way that Santa doesn't really exist could have a detrimental effect on young children.

"Being told so suddenly that Father Christmas is imaginary could be viewed (by children) as a punishment or a lie," children's psychologist Sonia Ouali told the French website Rue89.

"Denying this imaginary figure (in such a manner) is like taking away part of childhood."

Crédit Mutuel's initial reaction was to try to play down the growing storm of protest.

"It would be a mistake to withdraw the commercial," its communications director, Bernard Sadoun, told Rue89.

"The whole controversy has been taken totally out of context."

But in an effort to diffuse mounting criticism, including a Facebook group protesting the commercial, it subsequently contributed to the debate by posting its own message in threads in which it promised it would "only air the spot after 8;30pm to reduce its impact on young children."

Pub Scandale : Le père Noël n'existe pas Vidéo jeanmarcmorandini sélectionnée dans Pub

Want to know how much your colleagues earn?

Are you interested in knowing how much other people working alongside you are making without asking them directly or in discovering what your earning potential might be elsewhere?

Well here in France you can - thanks to a site launched at the end of March.

JobFact is the brainchild of its founder Julien Recoing who, according to the French website Rue89, said that its goal was to provide human resources information on two levels - for both employees and companies.

"We started out with the premise that when someone's looking for a job they want to know more about what the company has to offer," he said.

"What we ask is that our members provide a balanced view of the company they work for; the positive and negative aspects."

Where JobFact differs from two other sites in France that have been operational for a year now, Notetonentreprise.com and Cotetaboite.com, is that it allows users to go a step further in "rating" the company they work for - namely by revealing how much they earn.

The principle is simple and as with the other sites its all done "anonymously".

It's free to sign up, which is what you'll have to do if you want to have anything more than a very general overview of what others are earning.

And when you register, you're required either to reveal your salary or leave an evaluation of the company you work for.

The site already has 1,600 members

But as Rue89 points out there's something of an inbuilt contradiction in what the site is setting out to do and the tools it currently has available.

And that is to give reliable information while guaranteeing the anonymity of those providing it; anonymity which makes checking the authenticity of potentially exaggerated claims difficult.

It's something that Recoing says is being addressed with editors able to pinpoint discrepancies that they feel might appear in submissions made.

Perhaps it's an idea that'll catch on, even if openly discussing take-home pay is something of a taboo here in France, where on the whole work colleagues don't talk about how much they earn.

It's not really the "done thing" and smacks of the somewhat vulgar as if mentioning how much you make is tantamount to bragging.

But with figures released on Wednesday by the Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (French national institute for Statistics and Economic studies, INSEE) revealing that around 50 per cent of households live on less than €2,260 each month, maybe there'll be fair few out there "interested" in finding out just how their salaries compare with others within their own companies or doing a similar job elsewhere.

Or maybe not.