{"id":31837,"date":"2020-02-18T05:30:36","date_gmt":"2020-02-18T04:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=31837"},"modified":"2020-02-17T15:59:20","modified_gmt":"2020-02-17T14:59:20","slug":"french-news-a-la-une","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-news-a-la-une\/","title":{"rendered":"French News – A la une"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bienvenue<\/strong> (welcome<\/em>) to another round up of the latest news from France! In areas as diverse as la politique<\/strong> (politics)<\/em>, la m\u00e9t\u00e9o<\/strong><\/a> (the weather<\/em>), la musique<\/strong> (music<\/em>), and l’urbanisme<\/strong> (urban planning), <\/em>a lot has been going in France.<\/p>\n

Le temps s’am\u00e9liore<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last week’s song by Saint Andr\u00e9<\/a> featured a weather term that was also very much in the news in France and other parts of western Europe last week. Over the past few weeks, a number of temp\u00eates<\/strong> (storms<\/em>)<\/a> have battered the country bringing des rafales1<\/a><\/sup>While it is common to find the English term ‘binge watching’ in French, the word ‘rafale’ also shows up in a French version of the expression: ‘visionnage en rafale’<\/span> de vent<\/strong> (wind gusts\/strong winds<\/em>), des ras de mar\u00e9es le long des c\u00f4tes<\/strong> (tidal surges along the coasts<\/em>), de fortes pluies<\/strong> (heavy rains<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Fortunately later this week, apr\u00e8s une derni\u00e8re temp\u00eate<\/strong><\/a>, le temps devrait s’am\u00e9liorer sur l’ensemble du pays<\/strong> (the weather should be improving across the country<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Ailleurs \u00e0 la une \/\u00a0<\/strong>In other news<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

La politique<\/strong><\/p>\n

Les gr\u00e8ves contre la r\u00e9forme des retraites <\/b><\/a>(Strikes against the planned retirement changes)<\/em> continue across France, but with differing results. While the leading syndicats<\/strong> (unions) <\/em>called for une journ\u00e9e noire <\/strong>(a ‘black day’<\/em>) the Monday February 17 across the major transports<\/strong> (public transport),\u00a0<\/em>les ouvriers <\/strong>(the workers)<\/em> don’t seem to have listened. M\u00e9tro service across la r\u00e9gion parisienne <\/strong>(the area in and around Paris)<\/em> was only moderately perturb\u00e9 <\/strong>(disrupted<\/em>)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

L’urbanisme<\/strong><\/p>\n

Le dimanche 16 f\u00e9vrier, le Pavillon de l’Arsenal<\/strong> hosted a public exposition and ‘vote’ on a new\u00a0projet d’am\u00e9nagement\u00a0<\/strong>(design project<\/em>) for the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es and the Place de la Concorde that would make them\u00a0“plus verts et avec moins de voitures”\u00a0<\/strong>(greener and with less cars).<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Nothing much can happen until after the next \u00e9lections municipales <\/strong>(municipal elections<\/em>) and the selection of Paris’s next mayor<\/a>, but it looks like a potentially major update to one of the world’s most famous avenues.<\/p>\n

\n

Et pour finir … une chanson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also on dimanche<\/strong><\/a>, this time sur France2<\/strong> (on the French tv station France2<\/em>), the new French song for this year’s Eurovision song contest was unveiled. The\u00a0chanson mi-fran\u00e7ais mi-anglais<\/strong> (half French, half English song),\u00a0<\/em>The Best in Me<\/span><\/a>, was co-written by the French singer Amir, who himself represented France in the contest in 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Could it be a winner? We won’t know until after the finals in Rotterdam, the Netherlands in May<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Photo by\u00a0Elizaveta Kozorezova<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a0Pexels<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n