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| Changing of the guard |
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| Tuesday, 09 October 2007 | |
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Gone are the familiar tones and dry humour of Caroline Wyatt. The voice of
the Beeb in Paris is now Emma Jane Kirby’s. Nick Rowswell asks both
correspondents what they love and hate most about Paris and life in France.
For Ray Davies of the
Kinks “As long as I gaze
on Waterloo sunset I am
in paradise,” but Emma Jane
Kirby’s paradise is made of
Parisian sunsets: “Every day,
as I walk home across the
Seine, no matter what kind of
day I’ve had, I just feel my
heart surge. I absolutely love
France, I always have done.”
As fate would have it, she was
walking across Waterloo
Bridge when she heard the
BBC was sending her to Paris. Emma Jane arrives in France at a decisive and worrying time for many French people. “We are going through a massive change in France at the moment. I think a lot of people have thought that 12 years of Jacques Chirac have been pretty much 12 years of inertia. People elected Sarkozy because they wanted change, and what a fantastic time to be in France to see some of those changes come through, or to see if they don’t come through. How much change the French people can stomach at once remains to be seen. It really is a new chapter under a very new president that we are still getting to know.”  Will Sarkozy revolutionise France? He has already set about reforming the nation’s vast public sector. With his slogan ‘Travailler plus pour gagner plus’ (work more to earn more), his policies on immigration and ideas on union reform, our new president could be accused of taking a leaf out of Mrs Thatcher’s book. “I know Sarkozy is compared a lot to Mrs Thatcher in the British press, but I don’t think that’s true. I think though that France is getting more of a short, sharp shock than it has had before.” However, much Sarkozy tries to reform France, he’ll have a hard job with the ‘France attitude’: the long lunch breaks, real family meals around a table and the strange notion of service. “I was down reporting on the elections in a small town in the Massif Central. It was lunchtime, there were five restaurants and they were all shut for lunch. Everybody shuts for lunch, and I know that frustrates people, but at the same time, it is rather wonderful that between one and three nothing happens. Perhaps some ex-pats would feel that life had changed if, all of a sudden, in their villages and towns, everything remained open, there was Sunday opening and Starbucks moved in. Especially in provincial France, there is this stronger sense of family: the weekend is family time. French families probably do spend more time together than the traditional British family. It would be a terrible shame if that family time were lost. It would be a shame if France became like Britain or America. France is France.” Parting thoughts from Caroline Wyatt What I’ll miss most about France • Its sheer beauty – Paris itself, or the gentle hills of the Charente or the parched rawness of the south. • The way the French believe beauty is the be-all and endall, and wrap even bunches of flowers with such exquisite care that it seems a shame to open them. • Quality of life: you can lead a comfortable life in France on a relatively small salary, and bring up a family in peace and safety in most places, with the certainty of good medical care and education, at least to secondary level. • Wonderful TGVs and a métro that works • The food, the wine and the champagne. What I won’t miss at all • The way you are judged on appearances, especially as a woman. Go out wearing trainers and see the disapproving glares from other women. I don’t want to have to put on lipstick and high heels to put out my rubbish. • The Parisian ‘no can do’ attitude, from bureaucrats, shop assistants or lippy plumbers: ‘Mais ce n’était pas prévu’ or ‘Ça ne sera pas possible’. • The obnoxious Paris cab. The best memories • My travels around France, meeting farmers, wine-growers, fishermen and also the British who’ve started new lives over here. Worst memories • The random violence during the riots in Paris and their aftermath, when so much was destroyed, mainly in those areas where people could afford it least. What most surprised me • My doorstep in Paris always stinks of urine • The number of tramps sleeping rough in Paris (three on my doorstep alone) • The beautifully kept facades of the buildings all seem to hide rotting pipes, useless sanitation and murderous boilers. Even the BBC office has just sprung its 12th leak, which is currently dripping daintily into a bucket in the middle of the room. What I have learned • Most of the clichés are founded, in fact: the French and the British really do think in different ways. • Why we envy so much about each other’s countries: Britain may have created wealth, which some in France envy, while the French economy may be stumbling... but I know whose people are better off in terms of way of life. • To be steely in approaching officialdom. I used to smile at French officals at first before a French friend hissed: “Stop smiling! They’ll think you’re too ingratiating or a soft touch. Glare at them first!” And weirdly, she was right. It helped me a lot. Kirby soundbites French pessimism: I don’t see the French as depressive, miserable complaining people at all. People complain all over. I think there is a more maudlin sense amongst the French perhaps because they are forced to read so much philosophy at school. Wine: Any Bordeaux, but I can’t stand cold red wine.” Food: I’m a vegetarian, so I survive on omelettes. I go to lots of places where they do pasta. I’m very fond of Italian food. The French are much better with vegetarian food than they used to be. You used to get given a tin of green beans or maybe some carrots. Nowadays if they do offer you a plate of vegetables, at least they will be fresh. Restaurants are getting more creative. Literature: Pagnol is my absolute favourite French author. Forget the Peter Mayall and read Pagnol to get into the way of Provence and that area. Music: This is where I really let myself down. I am a big Francis Cabrel fan. I have been for 20 years, knowing that it isn’t trendy. Parisian taxis: I do get furious about taxis. There never seem to be any, particularly when it rains. I called up the other day for a taxi at three in the afternoon, which is not a busy time, and I was told that there would be no taxis until nine o’clock at night because it was raining heavily. If you really need a taxi, order it the day before. |
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