After three weeks of mountain climbs, time trials and sprints, the 106th edition of the Tour de France bike race has finally concluded so summer must be well advanced. The first batch of French vacationers have departed, but Paris is struggling with an overabundance of tourists, record breaking heat and traffic jams provoked by a plethora of public works. The mayor wants Paris greened with city centre forests, vegetal buildings, bicycles, scooters and public transport (hopefully air conditioned).
Summer is also a privileged moment for cultural festivals outside Paris. We have “done” Avignon before, so this year was Aix-en-Provence, a delightful city just thirty minutes north of Marseille. Aix is a tourist paradise of ancient streets and shaded squares. Between regular stops on café terraces, we visited beautiful museums to see paintings by Cezanne, the local boy, and other 19th and 20th century masters. Our highlight was the Tannhauser collection on loan from New York’s Guggenheim Museum, two art collecting giants whose Jewishness is so obvious but scarcely acknowledged in the exhibition.
Evenings were musical starting with modern productions of two famous works. Verdi’s Requiem was brilliantly performed by the choir and orchestra of the “Pygmalion Ensemble”, but in an unconvincing visual setting of apocalypse and redemption. Puccini’s Tosca also suffered from staging distractions, but was rescued by the passionate tenor, Joseph Calleja, and the magnificent young black American soprano Angel Blue. We also enjoyed the “Mediterranean youth orchestra” performing original works of their own composition with a strong oriental flavour. Both sides of the Mediterranean were well represented but there was no musician or singer from Israel.
“Bio” (organic food) is now all the rage in Paris, with specialty shops and dedicated sections in supermarkets springing up especially in upmarket and hipster neighbourhoods. Menus are diversifying with more interesting vegetarian options. Television and radio programmes on health and safety are omnipresent. So the French do follow global trends, they just don’t want to be rushed.
Emmanuel Macron now has a female duo running the environment portfolio: a strong senior manager and a young graduate from LSE and Harvard. The President will do nothing radical, but he must improve his environmental image. Media focus has switched from unemployment and inequality to environment and health. And given the Green Party’s strong showing at the recent European elections, Macron has a new electorate to conquer.
The President’s approval rating is no more than one-third of the voting public but his confidence has returned, and his reform programme is back on track. Indeed, his position has greatly improved from the dismal winter period of yellow vests and widespread contestation of both his politics and his person. He is still not loved outside the hard core of his true believers, but he has no serious rivals except Marine le Pen and her extreme right party.
The European election results added new casualties to the Macron machine. The brilliant but misguided leader of the Republicans (Conservative), Laurent Wauquiez, was forced to resign, while other centre-right presidential hopefuls have created mini-parties of their own. The charismatic creator of the extreme left party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, is still clinging to leadership, but after an apologetic speech to his troops he has disappeared from public view. The Socialist party (Labour) is still hopelessly divided.
At this early stage, Macron’s prospects look good for the municipal elections due in March 2020. The main danger comes from the extreme right which continues to progress, gaining traction with disappointed voters from the extreme left and the conservative centre right.
"Reuven Levi" has been a Paris resident since 1981. He married in the United States and is father of three and grandfather of six. He is an active member of the Jewish Community
