PARIS BRIEFING March 2005

News this month

Olympic battle

To welcome the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on March 9th, city monuments are plastered with “Paris 2012” logos and Olympic colours grace the lights of bridges along the Seine. For four days, the IOC's 13 members will appraise the city's venues and infrastructure. But as luck would have it, the visit coincides with demonstrations by the main unions to defend the 35-hour work week. Metro and train lines will be particularly disrupted; the IOC may be spared some of this distress since they will take buses.

Bertrand Delanoë, Paris's mayor, seemed unbowed by the potential for gridlock and embarrassment, saying, “social democracy could not be put on hold for seven years just because of the 2012 Olympics”. Jean-Claude Killy, the French IOC member, was blunt: “One of the weaknesses in our bid is precisely France's capacity to go on strike easily, to react on the spur of the moment.” But the city remains the apparent favourite, having reportedly gained support from over a third of the IOC delegates. The decision will be announced in Singapore on July 6th 2005.

Doubters remain

Before France can vote on whether to ratify the European Constitution on May 29th, the country's own constitution had to be changed to allow the referendum. That amendment came on February 28th, at a special session held at Versailles, and saw 730 votes in favour, with 66 against. There were 96 abstentions—a relatively high number, made up mostly of opponents of globalisation. The château was the only official venue that could accommodate over 900 lawmakers.

President Jacques Chirac's ruling conservative UMP party and the opposition socialists support the EU constitution. But some key figures are stirring up debate. Laurent Fabius, the Socialist Party number two, is firmly against, as is José Bové, an anti-globalisation campaigner, Olivier Besancenot of the far-left Revolutionary Communist League (LCR), and Jean-Marie Le Pen of the far-right National Front. The referendum outcome is expected to be closer than first expected.

Living like a king

Jealousy, lying, and the Paris property market make for a heady mix, and Hervé Gaymard, the finance minister, has paid a hefty price. He replaced Nicolas Sarkozy as economics and finance minister on November 29th, only to resign on February 25th after a housing scandal.

He opted for a government-paid flat in the 8th arrondissement near the Champs Elysées, but that plan was wrecked when the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchainé revealed that the rent came to €14,140 a month for 600 square-metres. A father of eight, Gaymard clearly needs a large flat; but he hardly helped himself by pleading poverty, claiming to be the humble son of a cobbler without the means to pay for his own accommodation. It soon emerged he owns a 235-square-metre flat on the Boulevard Saint Michel, plus four other properties. France's new finance minister is Thierry Breton, formerly head of France Telecom.

One for everyone

Though hardly anyone seemed to notice because of the Gaymard scandal (above), Jean-Louis Borloo, the so-called Social Cohesion Minister, announced a plan to increase French home ownership. That agenda is now a key plank in the government's platform. The aim is to move people away from grim and crime-ridden state housing in the suburbs and into houses they own. The new houses, which will be 70-90 square-metres, will each cost about €100,000. The land they sit on will go to the residents under a long-term lease. As a programme pilot, 200 will be built this year.

The measure follows another populist move, the “Driving Licence for a Euro” initiative, and taps a raw nerve—just 57% of French people own their own home. But not everyone is pleased: a Socialist Party spokeswoman, Annick Lepetit, said the government announcement was more of “an ad in a hypermarket than a coherent project to house people”. Real-estate professionals said the project could work for certain French towns where more land is available, but not in the Paris suburbs.

Star struck

The Michelin Guide 2005 came out in France on March 1st, but the “Little Red Book” may have lost some of its cachet. The high-mindedness of the guide was deflated two years ago by the suicide of a three-star chef, Bernard Loiseau, just days before the guide's publication. He was set to be demoted a star, which would have been a catastrophe for his business.

Now chefs more openly question the guide's judgements. One of France's leading restaurateurs, Joël Robuchon, told Le Parisien, Paris' main city paper, that he is “no longer certain of the Guide's impartiality,” and that, “other guides seem more serious.” Another chef, Réné Berges, who runs Le Relais Saint-Victoire in the south of France, has even gone as far as asking for his star to be taken away, saying that he “couldn't stand the stress anymore.” But the biggest blow of all came last year, when Pascal Remy, who had been a Michelin judge, published a book alleging that the ratings system was corrupt and fickle.

Catch if you can

March 2005

Dionysiac

Until May 9th 2005

This exhibit of works from 14 contemporary artists mostly aims to shock. Its flavour can be sampled just outside the Pompidou, where there is an installation of plastic bears relieving themselves (pictured). Expect more boundary-pushing inside, such as Kendell Geers' huge black-and-white images of a woman masturbating (note the smashed wine bottle on the floor), and a few coprophilic pieces by Paul McCarthy and Jason Rhoades. Apparently the show's inspiration is “the Apollonian-Dionysian duality”, where the Apollonian is preoccupied with form and stasis, while the Dionysian craves riotous change. Incongruously, a jukebox with selections by the artists is surprisingly approachable, with tracks from Jimi Hendrix and Aretha Franklin.

Pompidou Centre (Galerie Sud, Level 1), 19 rue Beaubourg, 4th arrondissement. Tel: +33 (0) 1 44.78.12.33. Métro: Rambuteau, Hôtel-de-Ville, Châtelet-Les-Halles. Open: Wed-Mon 11am-9pm. Tickets: €7. For more information, visit the museum's website.

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