Dominique Strauss-Kahn to return to French politics?

 Oh no!

It's just what French politics needs.

The return of another disgraced dinosaur.

Let's hope it's just idle gossip dreamt up by some bored journalist at Le Figaro desperate to deflect attention from the potential implosion of the opposition centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire, (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP).

A piece in Tuesday's edition of Le Figaro suggests that Dominique Strauss-Kahn is preparing to make his return to politics in 2014.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn (screenshot from i>Télé interview September 2012)

DSK isn't thinking about taking to the national political stage, says Le Figaro, rather he's interested in securing the Socialist party's nomination to run for the post of mayor in the town of Sarcelles in the northern suburbs of Paris in the 2014 municipal elections.

Far-fetched?

Well it might be a bit of a stretch with the judicial problems still hanging over him, but as the weekly magazine L'Express points out, DSK has been mayor of the town before (from 1995 to 1997) and we all know a criminal record doesn't necessarily mean the end of a political career in France.

But hang about. Isn't there someone already in the job?

Of course there is - another member of the Socialist party and a close friend of DSK, François Pupponi.

He was contacted by the free daily Metro on Tuesday and and didn't mince his words when asked what he thought about a possible DSK return.

"What's this crap?" he's reported as saying in response to the piece in Le Figaro.

"I don't comment on rumours or bull***t that some journalists make up just to say something."

Oh well. That's telling it like it is...hopefully.

The problem of course with politicians in France (as well as many other countries come to that) is that you can really be certain how sincere they're being - can you?

"Suite 2806" treading the boards with DSK

Well not quite. The disgraced form head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, won't actually be taking to the stage, but his persona will be.

And it happens in a play due to open shortly at the Théâtre Daunou in the second arrondissement of the French capital.

"Any resemblance to what actually happened is purely coincidental," runs the blurb for the imaginatively entitled "Suite 2806" the scene, of course, of the infamous encounter at the Sofitel in New York between DSK and the chambermaid Nafissatou Diallos

"Suite 2806" (screenshot of poster for the play)

 Eric Debrosse and Jelle Saminnadin take on the roles of the ingeniously renamed protagonists "Daniel Weissberg" and "Evangeline" in the play written by Guillaume Landrot and directed by Philippe Hersen, who describes it as being "very elegantly and well written, focusing on power, subconcious deliberate mistakes and redemption."

Proving that it's pure "faction" the plot has...wait for it...Evangeline - who has studied modern literature - entering into "a real discussion" with the businessmen Weissberg!

Say no more.

'It examines the origins of the sexual addiction of my character without making any judgement," says Debrosse.

"And Evangeline comes across as a victim but also a strong woman."

Oh well. It'll be something to see in Paris on a cold November or December evening perhaps.

Maybe it's not surprising that the affair is being milked for all its worth - and more.

After all it at the time it made headlines not just in France but around the world and it surely changed the face of French politics, delivering a knockout blow to DSK's chances of running for president of this country.

Since then, there have been books, both fictional ones that have taken their "inspiration" from what went on in the room and "factual" biographies of Strauss-Kahn, the trial, and his long-suffering and deep-pocketed wife (from whom he's now separated) Anne Sinclair.

And what's the betting there'll be many more.

TV of course got in on the act pretty quickly with the US series "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" borrowing heavily from what reportedly happened in one of its episodes.

And let's not forget the big screen.

French director Abel Ferrara's plans to begin shooting a film inspired by DSK and his political sex scandals, starring Gérard Depardieu (a custom-made bit of casting in terms of physique?) in the main role with Isabelle Adjani as Sinclair might have been put on hold for the moment.

Lack of funding apparently.

But there is of course the x-rated version "DXK" made by Christophe Clark in 2011 which...actually you probably don't need it spelling out.

Watch the accompanying trailer if you feel so inclined, although you'll need to sign in and agree to the conditions before YouTube will allow you access.



The play "Suite 2806" opens at the Théâtre Daunou in Paris on November 21 and runs until the end of the year.

Liven up your libido with a bottle of DSK

What follows might seem like complete fiction but, believe it or not, it's absolutely true.

There's a new fizzy drink about to take France by...er...storm and it's one which its inventors say has the power to make you randy.

Yes these two Frenchman clearly think they've cornered the market in the wonderful world of entrepreneurship by coming up with what's described as a refreshment, "with alleged aphrodisiac qualities".

And the name they've given it?

Well what else but in honour of the Frenchman most famous for allegedly brandishing his "appendage" at the most inopportune and inappropriate occasions.

Yep we're talking Dominique Strauss-Kahn or DSK here.

The Drink Safran Kiwi (DSK, or Saffron Kiwi Drink) is the...er...brainchild of Stéphane Briault, who initially came up with the recipe , and  Patrice Guillard, a producer of the essential ingredient necessary for livening the libido - saffron.

"Ever since ancient times, saffron has been known to have many virtues," the master of the cocktail, Briault, explained in a radio interview with France Bleu Creuse.

"It's an antidepressant, is known to bring joy and wisdom, heal the liver, lower blood pressure, stimulate respiration, and (wait for this)  is believed to be an aphrodisiac for women."

Yes...well. Quite as the great man would presumably like to have perceived himself, don't you think?

To get the "purely natural" balance of saffron, kiwi, sugar and soda just right, Briault said he tested it out on family and friends (the mind boggles).

Launched officially on Monday, 10,000 bottles of the alcohol-free drink are ready for nightclubbers in Paris and the south of France to enjoy over the summer.

Yes. Well. Um.

Er...Cheers?

Do you think the French version of the Huffington Post will be running with this story?

Valérie Trierweiler's behind-the-scenes look at François Hollande's presidential campaign

It can't be easy being a first lady, trying to carve out a role for yourself and at the same time wanting to remain an independent working woman.

And one thing's for sure, Valérie Trierweiler isn't making life simple for herself.

First there was an apparent behind-the-scenes apology for that infamous Tweet she sent last week in which she lent her support to Olivier Falorni in his battle against Ségolène Royal.

Seggers was the Socialist party's "official" candidate for a parliamentary seat in Charente-Maritime which Falorni thought he deserved to be contesting and...oh you probably know the story by now but just in case you can read about it here.

All right, "apology' might be exaggerating a little, especially as Trierweiler's humble "I made a mistake" is reported as second hand information.

You know the sort of thing; an unnamed source and a friend of Trierweiler's to boot, telling the national daily Aujourd'hui en France - Le Parisien that she (Trierweiler), " Had miscalculated the effect her Tweet would have upon the president's authority, the Socialist party, her children and those of François Hollande."

Anyway that was last week's news and is behind us - for the moment.

But clearly, even when saying nothing, the ever-retiring Trierweiler, resolute in her decision to be a working first lady, is destined to make the headlines.

And this week it's the publication of her new book.

Actually that's a bit of a stretch too because all she has done is provide the words to go along with a photo reportage documenting something (or someone) close to her heart: François Hollande's presidential campaign.

Hollande has written the preface to pictures taken by photographer Stéphane Ruet but it's Trierweiler who steps in to provide a running commentary (in the first person) and quite frankly she reveals herself to be a lady of letters - the Mills and Boon variety with a healthy dose of venom thrown in.

Ruet's photographs capture Hollande in some very "normal" moments at different stages throughout the campaign - by himself or surrounded by members of his team.

But because they clearly can't speak for themselves, Trierweiler puts them into context in a manner befitting that of someone clearly at ease with the power of the pen.

"A private diary" (of sorts) is how Reuters describes it with the emphasis seeming to be on how Trierweiler feels at certain moments and her interpretation of Hollande's reaction to events such as Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest in New York.

Perhaps her best line though is left for the rally in Rennes; the one where Hollande, as the party's official candidate, appeared on stage for the first time with Seggers.

"There has been a lot of speculation about this over the past week and plenty of photographers have turned up," she writes.

"The question fellow journalists are asking is 'Will they kiss or shake hands'. Yes the man I love had another woman in his life before me. And it just so happens that she was also a presidential candidate," she continues.

"Je fais avec," she concludes, proving to everyone perhaps exactly the contrary.

"François Hollande président, 400 jours dans les coulisses d'une victoire" is surely a must for any coffee table.

Perhaps, given the number of photos in which Trierweiler also appears, three extra words should have been included in the title - "et Valérie Trierweiler".

Whatever - hurry out to your nearest bookstore now or order it from Amazon while stocks last!

Could Trierweiler be to literature what Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was to music and film?

Dominique Strauss-Kahn and that "interview"

So, the former head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) has "spoken" to the French in a mind-numbingly tedious and staged interview on prime time news here.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn (screenshot from TF1 interview)

The subject of course, as if you needed telling, was what really happened in room 2806 of the Sofitel in New York on May 15.

Except what viewers were treated to was anything but an insight.

Instead it was a carefully orchestrated affair with DSK claiming he had been proven innocent, admitting to a "moral failing" (so that's the new, politically correct term for any indecent behaviour) and almost terrifying poor Claire Chazal, the journalist faced with the onerous task of not asking anything that might embarrass.

Humility, sincerity and honesty were hardly at the top of DSK's agenda as he twisted the facts to suit his proclaimed "innocence".

He brandished the report of the New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance junior, claiming that it not only proved his innocence but also showed that Nafissatou Diallo had lied throughout, an inaccuracy in interpretation TF1 was quick to point out in the following night's prime time news, presented by Laurance Ferrari, a journalist who might just have given DSK more of a grilling had she been allowed the "honour" of interviewing him.

http://videos.tf1.fr/jt-20h/que-contient-au-juste-le-rapport-du-procureur-brandi-par-dsk-6716434.html

But Ferrari wasn't the one who had been chosen. Rather it was Chazal, a women with decades of experience, an anchor of TF1's lunchtime and evening news at the weekend and reportedly a friend of DSK's wife Anne Sinclair (herself a former television journalist).

The 54-year-old was clearly frustrated at the limits that had so obviously been given to her and the whole "interview" proved to be nothing more than a charade.

Diallo had lied...she was also, just like the French writer and journalist Tristane Banon, who accused DSK of trying to assault her in 2003, a troubled woman... the weekly news magazine L'Express was nothing but a tabloid....the US justice system had frightened and humiliated him even before he had been able to proclaim his innocence...and on and on it went.

Great television though - well in terms of ratings - as it pulled in around 13 million viewers.

If you want to watch the whole "performance" in its original French, then sit back, listen and "Watch with Mother" to all 23 minutes and 47 seconds worth.


Bon courage.


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L'interview de DSK au 20h : l'intégrale