Once Upon A Time In France: Lupin, Supermarkets, And Macron's Sparkling Blue Eyes
Meet Bruno Le Maire. Finance minister. Author of erotic novels.
Following a rather grim, scandal-plagued start to the year, France got to enjoy a more joyful moment thanks to the snowfall that swept through the country’s northern regions.
It even blanketed Paris, a rare event that had residents wandering the streets to enjoy the white wintery sensation they normally only get when visiting the Alps. With ski stations still shut amid the pandemic, this may be all the snow most see this season.
The French were also giddy over another piece of unexpected good news. Netflix’s new series Lupin had soared to No. 1 after debuting this month. It’s the first French series to reach that mark on Netflix in the U.S. or on a global basis. How popular is this series? Even my mother in Kansas said she watched and loved it, and was annoyed there were only 5 episodes and now she has to wait until the next season.
Lupin stars Omar Sy as a master thief who uses his skills to get revenge for his father’s death. Sy is a big star in France, notably appearing in the 2011 film Intouchables which was one of the biggest box-office hits in this nation’s history and one of the most viewed French films globally. (There is a lesser U.S. remake called The Upside with Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart. But skip that one and watch the original.)
The success of Lupin is noteworthy for several reasons. First, France remains a nation of cinephiles, but its best films don’t get the same visibility as they did a couple of years ago as independent art houses have slowly vanished. Then there is the issue that television doesn’t get nearly the same respect here as movies. That has slowly started to shift, but attitudes remain at least a decade behind the U.S. where critics have been crowing about TV’s golden age for quite a while.
Finally, there is the issue of streaming which has been contentious since Netflix first launched here in September 2014. The French feared streaming would wreck a carefully calibrated system that generates state funding for content. But more recently, producers in France have embraced Netflix as a source of funding and a chance to get instant worldwide distribution. (You can read more on this from me here.) Even French TV stations formed an extraordinary partnership to last year launch their own streaming service.
So a big hit like Lupin is an interesting mile marker indicating how things here are changing. Plus, hopefully, it will help the French forget Netflix’s embarrassing, cliché-riddled Emily in Paris which so many in this country hate-watched in amusement and disgust.
Side note: The show is also generating buzz for the French composer of the soundtrack, Mathieu Lamboley. Lupin’s music blends classical and hip-hop with distinct themes for each character. You can listen to a sample here:
Postscript: If you’re looking for other French content on Netflix, consider two documentaries.
The first is Room 2806: The Accusation, which recounts the downfall of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a man many expected to become president, following accusations that he sexually assaulted a hotel employee who had come to clean his room. Just be prepared for some pretty shocking post-MeToo attitudes.
The second is Who Killed Little Gregory? The unsolved murder of this 4-year-old boy in 1984 has captivated France ever since. In part, that’s because it involves twisted family drama that saw Gregory’s father killing a cousin who had been falsely implicated in the murder. The case has been re-opened in recent months after police said they had new information based on writing samples from ransom notes at the time.
The Supermarket Shuffle…
When you think of the romance of France, one doesn’t tend to think about malls or Costco-like supermarkets. But in fact, France was for many decades considered one of the world’s most innovative retail markets. That includes supermarket chain Carrefour which is France’s largest private employer and is credited with popularizing the “hyper-marché” concept.
In 1963, Carrefour opened a store where you could buy food AND stuff that was not food. And so our lives were revolutionized.
This is all to say that Carrefour holds a special status in France. So it was big news last week when Canadian convenience store chain Couche-Tard revealed it had made a bid to acquire Carrefour. Mostly, I was just amused to learn there was a company called Couche-Tard, which means “sleep late.” What was that branding meeting like? How far down the list of proposed names did they get before someone said “Couche-Tard” and everyone in the room went, “Ding, ding, ding!” By the way, even if you’ve never heard of them, there’s still a good chance you’ve stopped at one of their Circle Ks.
So anyway, this quickly became a political hot potato between France and Canada. French economy minister Bruno Le Maire declared that he was against the sale of Carrefour to a bunch of those foreigners. Even if some of those foreigners speak French and their company has a French name. Le Maire declared that Carrefour is an “essential link in the food security and sovereignty of the French."
The Canadians protested. But that pretty much killed any potential deal because the French government has a number of legal levers to block such sales. Still, the episode must have been a real ego boost to Carrefour to know that the French government ranks their grocery stores among the nation’s most precious economic and cultural assets. Keep that in mind when planning your next tour of historic sites in France.
Baby’s Got Blue Eyes…
Politicians everywhere write books. But politicians in the U.S. tend to “write books.” In France, they actually write them.
And so you have Mr. Le Maire. When he’s not busy crushing the global supermarket domination dreams of Canadians, he apparently writes books. And now, amid the pandemic that brought France’s economy to its knees, he found time to pen L’Ange et la Bête: Mémoires provisoires (The Angel and the Beast: Provisional Memoires).
The first thing to know about Le Maire is that the man is apparently a writing machine. According to The Local:
This isn't Le Maire's first foray into literature or even his first book since he became Finance Minister - since his arrival at Bercy in May 2017 he has authored three books. He has also previously written an erotic novel under a pseudonym.
Erotic. Novel.
Some of Le Maire’s sensual side appeared to spill into this new book. What got tongues wagging and the book trending on Twitter was Le Maire’s description of his boss, President Emmanuel Macron:
According to Le Maire, the president's eyes have “a blue gaze tinted by metallic sparkles, like a lake burdened with sunshine whose surface it would have been impossible, under the scintillating reflections, to pierce.”
Rollover Molière. Tell Victor Hugo the news.
Dreaming Of France
All that snow got me thinking about the Pyrénées. It’s still unclear whether we’ll be able to get up there this year. But I’ve been thinking about an amazing week we spent in the Pyrénées in March 2019 that included a hike along the Pont d’Espagne.
Located at about 1,493 meters up, the Pont d’Espagne was once upon a time a trading route between France and Spain. Located in the Pyrénées National Park in the Hautes Pyrénées Departement, the valley now is a pastoral wonderland in the summer that leads to Lake Gaube. But in the winter, it’s another world where people hike, snowshoe, and cross-country ski.
Great Reads
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, a member of the Socialist Party who was re-elected last summer with help from the Green Pary, gave the thumbs up to an ambitious plan to turn the Champs-Élysées into an 'extraordinary garden.’ Hidalgo has already started making plans to run for president in 2022, but her Socialist Party was obliterated by Macron in 2017. So to have any chance, she’s likely going to need those Green Party members to lend some support.
Meanwhile, the Seine has become a popular fishing spot for Paris’ hipster set. From The New York Times:
Many of the younger anglers were first drawn to the Seine by the promise of other adventures. The city’s quays offer some of the city’s prime skateboarding territory, and for graffiti artists, it provides areas with little traffic so they can discreetly spray their tags during the night.
While fishing’s more sedate pleasures might seem to lack the same thrill, that’s not the case, said Manuel Obadia-Wills, 40, a former graffiti artist and skateboarder — and now a fisherman during his free time.
Finally, we have the story of a teenager from Guinea, Laye Fode Traore, who was an apprentice at a boulangerie in Besancon. When he turned 18, he was told he must leave the country due to his age and work status. So his boss, baker Stephane Ravacley, went on a week-long hunger strike to protest and demand that he be allowed to stay.
It worked. After other local officials wrote letters of support, the government relented and Traore was allowed to stay. “It’s a great moment, a victory and now we will fight for the others (in the same situation),” the baker told AFP.
Chris O’Brien
Toulouse, France
If you’re enjoying the newsletter, please share with your social networks or with friends who have an interest in all things French and travel in France. You can also comment on the post or reply to this email with thoughts or rants or just whatever.