Economist.com Cities Guide: Paris Briefing - June 2006

News this month

Drowning in the Clearstream

The Clearstream affair, named after a Luxembourg clearing house, has created political paralysis and led to disgust on Paris's streets. At issue is a list linking certain politicians, well-known business executives and administrators, including Nicolas Sarkozy, the UMP's leader and government's interior minister, to offshore bank accounts. The list turned out to be phoney, leading to suspicions of a smear campaign and an investigation into the identity of the anonymous compiler, or corbeau (crow). Mr Sarkozy’s rival, the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, is in trouble for having ordered an investigation into the affair—perhaps with support from President Jacques Chirac—without revealing the falsity of the list. Mr Sarkozy's camp has accused Mr de Villepin of “an attempted political murder”.

Mr de Villepin has denied any wrongdoing and, against the odds, remains in power. But few expect him to be prime minister for long. The government fought off a vote of no-confidence in early May, and the popularity of the Socialist presidential frontrunner, Ségolène Royal, continues to rise. Still, some say the matter will blow over if the government avoids imploding until the World Cup, when the public will have more interesting games to watch.

Learning curve

One of France's most prestigious high schools has announced a programme to help disadvantaged students. Henri IV, situated next to the Panthéon and Sorbonne in the Latin Quarter, will begin accepting 30 underprivileged high-school graduates to a year-long course next term. The students—who will each have a private tutor, free housing, a laptop computer and tickets to cultural events—will not pay tuition fees. Top performers will secure a spot in the ultra-selective preparatory classes that will groom them for the entrance exams of France’s elite grandes écoles.

This programme at Henry IV, which is also being launched in two suburban schools, comes amid great debate on how to resolve France's class divide. Thousands of underprivileged youths, while technically eligible to enter programmes such as those at Henri IV, are mired in ghettos with bad schools and few opportunities. But these well-intentioned gestures have been blasted by critics, including Le Monde, which complained that it was a typical French move to champion “the eminence of a few instead of betterment of all”. Yves Durand, an opposition Socialist politician, argued that instead of bringing children to the Latin Quarter, it would be better to “deliver excellence to their rough neighbourhoods”.

Ring around the city

A disused railway ringing the city may finally get a makeover after years of neglect. Built in the mid-19th century, the petite ceinture, or little ring, was shut down in 1934 as its passengers turned to cars and buses. In May the city council arranged a deal with the railway’s owner, Réseaux Ferrés de France, for a renewable five-year lease on the space. Ideas for the ring include turning it into parkland for greenery-starved Parisians, with a “tourist train” along part of the remaining tracks.

In two northern districts gardens have already been planted, and a concert venue, the Flêche d’Or, has been set up in one of the old stations in the north-east. But in most parts the line is run-down and has been a wasteland for decades. Jean-Pierre Caffet, who is in charge of the city’s urban planning, has said that renovations will probably begin within two years.

Saying thanks to the Yanks

A small group of philosophers, academics, journalists and other sympathisers has undertaken the defence of what has become, among Parisian intelligentsia, nearly indefensible: America. Florence Taubman, the pastor of the L’Oratoire Protestant church, and Michel, her journalist husband, began gathering like-minded friends on the eve of the Iraq war in March 2003, when they felt that popular opposition to the conflict had smothered debate.

The “Cercle de l’Oratoire” has grown to encompass philosophers such as André Glucksmann and Pierre-André Taguieff and guests such as Bernard Kouchner, the founder of Médecins Sans Frontières, and Nicolas Baverez, a historian. Participants are mostly from various left-leaning camps, and generally share a belief in a strong American international presence and a dread of radical Islam. The group recently published its first collection, Le Meilleur des mondes (“The Best of All Worlds”), with articles critiquing American neo-conservatives, the French anti-Israeli camp and suburban rioters.

Catch if you can

June 2006

Water lilies at the Musée de l’Orangerie

From May 17th 2006

These are Monet’s water lilies as you’ve never seen them before. This monumental series of nymphéas languished for decades in a gloomy netherworld in the Orangerie after a botched museum renovation in the 1960s. However, a major revamp of the museum, which reopened on May 17th after eight years, has changed all that. The oppressive concrete ceiling has been removed, flooding the water-lily rooms with light and bringing out the murals’ forgotten splendour.

The eight works, painted between 1914 and 1926, were donated by the artist and hung at the Orangerie in 1927, a year after his death. Impressive in size—each is two metres high; and one is 17 metres long—the paintings help illustrate Monet's influence on nudging art towards abstraction. Some even capture the mysterious sunset light at Giverny, an effect that could woo even jaded anti-Impressionists. The museum also houses the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist works by Cézanne, Renoir, Soutine, Picasso, Modigliani and others.

Musée de l’Orangerie, Jardin des Tuileries. Tel: +33 (0)1 44 77 80 07. Métro: Concorde. Open: Weds-Mon, 12.30pm-7pm (until 9pm on Fridays). See the website.

More from the Paris cultural calendar