French government takes a break

You know summer is well and truly in full swing when the country's politicians pack up their bags and head off on their hols.

This year the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has given government ministers a three-week break.

Set aside the weather, disregard perhaps that it's the silly season for television and in particular for news, with so-called lighter stories dominating the bulletins.

Don't even think about the traffic chaos predicted for this weekend as juilletists (those who traditionally take their break in July) pack their bags and head home to be replaced by aoutiens (August holidaymakers) searching for sun: the two clogging motorway lanes, filling the airports to bursting point and battling for position at the major railway stations in the annual "crossover".

No, the real point of interest is how the country will manage for a couple of weeks as government ministers go on vacation.

Have no fears, this isn't a list of ALL 39 ministers and their chosen destinations. Instead it's a brief and less-than-serious look at where some of them are planning to spend the next few weeks, remembering all the time that a reported 51 per cent of French cannot afford to go away on holiday this year.

First up (of course) is the one person who isn't strictly speaking a minister; Sarkozy.

After his recent "malaise" - or "nerve attack" as it was first reported by some media outlets - he'll probably find it a little easier than might otherwise have been the case to follow doctors' advice and scale down his activities.

He'll be spending a quiet couple of weeks with his wife, Carla, at his parents-in-law's little pad in Cap Nègre in the south of France.

Not among his list of visitors presumably will be Jacques Laisné, the former prefect of the department of Var, where the Bruni-Tedeschi house is located.

Laisné lost his job a couple of months ago in the "septic tank" affair, in which he reportedly reneged on a promise to Sarkozy sort out a dispute over whether to replace the existing system of septic tanks with mains drainage and sewage system.

You can read more about that here.

Perhaps the minister who faces the toughest job come September when there'll be La Rentrée (the time when everyone gets back to work and schools reopen after the summer break) is the health minister, Roselyne Bachelot.

Without specifying exactly where she'll be passing her time, Bachelot has promised to remain "a maximum of one hour" from her ministry, ready to tackle any threat there might be from the expected H1N1 outbreak.

Another couple of government members for whom you could well spare a thought perhaps are the minister of finance, Christine Lagarde, and the minister of employment, Xavier Darcos.

They'll both be reportedly taking along work with them.

Ah such is the life for those in office.

And then there's the minister of industry, Christian Estrosi, who has recently faced a number of ongoing disputes, most notably the threat of of workers at the bankrupt New Fabris car factory in Chatellerault, southwest of Paris, to blow up the factory.

He says he'll only be taking long weekends because anything else would "be unreasonable".

Some though can apparently afford time for a proper holiday, and a couple of them could even bump into each other.

Both Eric Woerth, minister of budget, and the newly-appointed junior minister of housing, Benoist Apparu, will both be spending their time in the same place; Corsica in the Mediterranean.

And if they're very lucky they could enjoy a tête-à-tête-à-tete with the general secretary of their party ( Union pour un Mouvement Populaire, Union for a Popular Movement,UMP), Xavier Bertrand, who is also scheduled to be staying on “L'île de Beauté” or the island of beauty.

Sarkozy, along with many of his ministers look set to be following the French habit of tending not to travel abroad (90 per cent of them holiday in France). But there is an exception.

The prime minister, François Fillon, will once again travel south to Tuscany in Italy.

Oh well, there's always one, isn't there?

More Trash TV hits French screens

French television viewers love reality TV programmes.

Uh hang about a moment, perhaps that should read that French television channels think that those tuning in are fans of the genre.

At least that's what could be concluded from the number of "variations on the same theme" and amount of airtime given over to them in the scheduling.

No sooner is one about to come to an end, and another is happily entertaining audiences daily, than a third makes its reappearance on the small screen.

The latest addition to the ranks is "Mon Incroyable Fiancé 2", on TF1, the country's largest private channel. It's is a gay variant of the first series from four years ago, "Mon Incroyable Fiancé" based on the US show "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance".

Meanwhile over on the other main private channel, M6, "L'amour est dans le pré" ("Farmer wants a wife") is coming to the climax of its fourth season.

And currently running of course on TF1, is Secret Story 3 (for more on that gem click here), which is in fine fettle, midway through its planned summer-long run.

Yep France has been awash with reality shows for several years now and there seems to be no end in sight.

You might have noticed that the main providers of such cultural delights are the country's two main national private terrestrial channels, TF1 and M6.

Public television in the shape of France 2 so far seems to have avoided producing such shows.

It all started back in 2001 with "Loft Story" (M6), which ran for two seasons and made instant stars of its contestants, most of whom enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame and then slipped back into everyday life.

There followed a slew of shows, most notoriously perhaps seven seasons of the admirable "L'isle de la tentation" (TF1), before it was cancelled, where couples' fidelity was put to the test against the flirting onslaught of a bevvy of buxom beauties and handsome hunks.

The same reality TV formula was used in the talent show "Star Academy" (TF1), which is threatening a return for a ninth year in the autumn.

It, of course, has given France and the world a handful of "stars" (to be counted on the fingers of one hand) and a whole heap of non-entities who presumably returned whence they came, or at the very least succeeded only in disappearing from the public eye once eliminated or after the show was over.

"Pékin Express" on M6 and TF1's "Koh Lanta" ("Survivor") have both attracted viewers by combining reality TV with a game show, and so-called personalities have also been dragged in to the act with a host of minor stars taking part in "Je suis une célébrité, sortez-moi de là!" ("I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here!") and "La ferme célébrités", both on TF1. The latter is due for a return to screen in the autumn after a gap of four years.

The list could go on of course, as France hasn't escaped what seems to have become a worldwide trend in relatively inexpensive-to-produce Trash TV.

But for the moment, back to "Mon Incroyable Fiancé 2".

Just as the first edition of the show four years ago, it's full of clichés as it tries apparently to entertain viewers with "humour".

The overweight and overloud actor who played the role of the intended in the last series has been replaced by one pretending to be gay.

Back in 2005, the "contestant" Adeline, was trying to fool her family into believing that she was marrying a vulgar oaf, played by Laurent Ournac. What she didn't know was that Ournac, and his equally objectionable family, were all actors.

Similarly the new series has heterosexual Christopher trying to convince his family that he has suddenly found love with another man, Emeric Dumont, and the two are planning to tie the knot in Spain, where same-sex couples may marry.

What Christopher doesn't know of course is that Emeric and the rest of the Dumont family are once again actors who have been coached, even though he must surely have been aware of the "concept" of the show (yes there is such a thing apparently) when it first aired in 2005.

Or perhaps he didn't have a television.

At stake is €100,000 worth of prize money.

Ah well, never mind that the programme relies on, and reinforces stereotypes.

It's all in the name of entertainment...and money of course.

Happy viewing.

Divisions in France of over dangers of H1N1 virus

There are two quite different perspectives that have appeared in France over the past couple of days on the same story: perhaps reflecting the attitude held by many people here and elsewhere over the real dangers associated with "swine flu" - or "grippe A" (influenza A) as it's called in France.

In Sunday's edition of le Journal du Dimanche there was an interview with one of this country's most well-known doctors and a member of parliament for the centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) professor Bernard Debré.

He played down the dangers of the (H1N1) virus and accused the government of over-reacting and responding to media pressure.

The following day there was a reply from fellow UMP member and minister of health, Roselyne Bachelot, who insisted in an interview with the national daily, le Figaro, that the government's response was measured and appropriate.

The crux of the matter as far as Debré is concerned is that the current strain is no more dangerous than seasonal flu and in fact could be less threatening.

Part of the problem, he insists, is the reaction there has been to the latest outbreak in light of the so-called bird flu which he describes as "Being very dangerous to human beings with a mortality rate of 60 to 65 per cent but at the same time less contagious because it's difficult to cross from species to species."

"This (H1N1) flu isn't dangerous. We've even realised that it could be less threatening than seasonal flu," he said.

"At the moment there have been around 800 deaths worldwide and the southern hemisphere has undoubtedly reached its peak of contamination," he added.

"Of course the virus could become more virulent, but that's not the opinion that has been expressed by a majority of virologists."

Debré says that the reaction from the French government has to an extent only served to increase fear among the general public. But at the same time he admits that governments around the world have had their hands forced somewhat.

"From the moment the World Health Organisation started issuing daily reports and holding press conferences, governments really didn't have an option but to follow that lead," he told le Journal du Dimanche.

"It's my contention that the French government has come under pressure because of the political over-dramatisation within the media of the risks the virus presents."

The flip side of the argument of course comes from Bachelot, who told le Figaro that as far as she was concerned the government's reaction to the threat had been the right one.

"I treat this pandemic very seriously and I don't base my approach on the opinion of politicians or try to make a media splash," she said.

"From the beginning I've consulted the most renowned and respected experts - French and European - and if we look at what they have had to say in the media about the government's response to this health crisis, they point to it having been in proportion and correct."

In answering Debré's assertion that the virus isn't dangerous and is no more harmful than the possible effects of seasonal flu, Bachelot perhaps not surprisingly, is more cautious.

She admits that the virus might not be particularly harmful at the moment, but its ability to spread quickly requires that governments have a system in place that can cope with a wider outbreak.

And for Bachelot, the threat lies in the potential rate of infection based on statistics for those who catch seasonal flu.

"On average seasonal flu kills around 2,500 people in France - among 2,5 million people who catch it," she says.

"Some experts say that this virus could lead to around 20 million people becoming ill and that presents a potentially serious problem to public health even if the virus remains relatively harmless in many cases."

The number of cases of "grippe A" reported here in France so far has been 483, of which none has been deadly.