France's sports minister, Valérie Fourneyron makes an Olympic gaffe

Oh happy days.

Finally a minister has shown that she's every bit as "normal" as her predecessors from the previous government by proving that she too can come up with the appropriate howler when needed.

It's the sports minister Valérie Fourneyron, whose portfolio has known some of the very best - or worst, depending on how you view these things - slip ups from those clearly not at ease in the job such as the pink croc-wearing Roselyne Bachelot and her much-loved (although not by Bachelot) sidekick Rama Yade to the former judoka and expert neologist David Douillet.

Valérie Fourneyron (screenshot France 2 television)

And that's quite a decent segue into how Fourneyron made a complete ass of herself in front of millions of TV viewers early Monday morning.

She was appearing on France 2 television outlining what the programme would be for her and her big boss, the French president François Hollande, who would be joining her for the day at the London 2012 games.

"We'll want to be able to see all sorts of different sports," she said, no doubt surprising viewers that the Olympics provided such an opportunity.

"It could be boxing or it could be judo to see Laura Flessel, our country's flag bearer at the opening ceremony who'll be appearing in her fifth games," she continued.

"Perhaps we'll get a chance to see the French women's basketball team in action, a handball game, boxing (do you think she maybe has a thing about boxing?)...it'll be a programme full of sport," she finished with a flourish.

Er.

Wait a moment.

Do you spot the error.

Just a teensy-weensy one mind you.

Laura Flessel, a double gold medallist in Atlanta back in 1996, who also competed in Sydney, Athens and Beijing collecting a further three medals along the way, now 40 years old and appearing at her fifth and final Olympics as Fourneyron correctly said.

Except Flessel is not a judoka.

Nope. The sport for which Flessel, the spokesperson for the French team during London 2O12, the five-time Olympic medallist and 12-time World Championship medallist, is famous is... fencing.

Oh well. How was Fourneyron, whose background is rich in sports medicine, supposed to know.

It's such a simple mistake to make after all and one which the minister put down later to, "An early morning slip of the tongue."

"I know Laura Flessel well. I spent a good part of the Friday with her," she said.

Presumably grappling on the tatami.

Next!

Incomplete film faction - the "Intouchable" Nicolas Sarkozy

It hasn't taken long has it?

Hollywood is reportedly casting for its own version of last year's runaway French cinema success, "Intouchables".

And the bookies' favourite to play the role of one of the lead characters is British actor Colin Firth.

He's also the choice apparently of the original film's directors Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano.

François Cluzet as Philippe in "Intouchables" (screenshot from official trailer)

But it can now be revealed that Firth has competition.

Because, while the US brothers, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, who've bought the rights to produce the remake might also be in favour of the "touch of class" Firth could bring to the film, Hollywood insiders say there are other names circulating and among them apparently, is none other than the former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

"The feeling in Hollywood is that the French film industry is on a roll after this year's Oscars and casting a Frenchman in one of the lead roles is seen as something of a masterstroke," an unnamed studio executive says.

"And the name on everyone's lips is that of Nicolas Sarkozy who doesn't have much to do at the moment apart from making frequent trips to Morocco and the occasional session of the Constitutional Council."

Sarkozy is said to be mulling over the idea and will apparently talk it over with his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, an accomplished and experienced actress in her own right.

"That could swing things in Sarkozy's favour even though he doesn't really have a grasp of English yet," the insider continues.

"Carla would make an excellent coach both in terms of acting and learning the language. And as far as the film is concerned, just think what sort of media coup it would be to have a former French president playing one of the leads.

"It would be a tremendous box office draw around the world."

Sarkozy's name was mentioned after reports that the current French president, François Hollande, had turned down the role because, "He was too busy and it would represent a conflict of interests."

Just a reminder for those of you who might have forgotten or haven't yet seen the film, the role for which Sarkozy is being considered and Hollande has turned down is the one played by François Cluzet.

In the film Cluzet is Philippe, a rich tetraplegic living in a luxury Paris apartment is in need of a 24/7 live-in carer.



In case you were wondering, there is a slight embellishment of the truth in this piece: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is far from being an accomplished actress.

Friday's French music break - Jennifer Lopez ft Pitbull, "On the floor" (Air France flash mob)

Friday's French music break this week is just a little different.

As you can see from the title it's a recent single from one of the world's biggest stars, US singer Jennifer Lopez with a little help from rapper Pitbull (Armando Christian Pérez).

Not much French about that, you could be thinking.

Well that might be the case, except that Air France employees decided to use it as the music for a recent flash mob at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

Not the greatest dancers, but who cares (screenshot Air France flash mob)

 It might not be a good time for either the company with over 5,000 jobs on the line, or its passengers in a few weeks time when staff are threatening to take industrial action (hooray - that'll make a change) to protest the cuts.

But let's not get too serious about that four-letter word that is the "news" for a moment and have a bit of fun courtesy of Air France cabin crew and ground staff.

Flash mobs of course have been around for several years, and perhaps the most famous is the one performed on Oprah Winfrey by the Black Eyed Peas and 21,000 of her fans in Chicago back in 2009.

You haven't seen it? Take a look.

The Air France flash mob might seem a bit pale (to put it politely) in terms of performance and certainly numbers, but the element of surprise for passengers waiting in Roissy's somewhat soulless modern monstrosity that is Terminal E, was clearly still present.

It all begins, just as flash mobs always do, innocently enough, this time with an announcement coming over the public address system paging Lopez.

There's little reaction when it's made in French, but when repeated in English, you can see that some passengers really think J. Lo is "in the house" - so to speak.

And then the music kicks in, the "performers" take their places and "strike their poses".

All right, so it's not the best choreographed routine perhaps (no, definitely) - and some of the participants look as though they've put in less than five minutes training.

But who gives a stuff?

The waiting passengers appreciated it and heck, it's not a bad way to spend your time before you take your flight, is it? at the airport.

In fact if those threatened strikes occur, it could be the only means of whiling away the time.

So enjoy, and here's hoping it brings a smile to your face ahead of the weekend.

And as always, have a good one.