French Cafe » Charles Bremmer

French babies go retro

admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:20:07 +0000

Say au revoir to Léo and Océane. Say bonjour to Louis and Camille. The first two names have fallen from favour, dropping out of the top 20 given to French babies over the past year. Louis and Camille, names that…
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We’ve moved

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:20:06 +0000

Just a reminder that the blog is now available on our new site, www.thetimes.co.uk. Posting continues there….
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French football in toxic pit

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:20:03 +0000

This post can now be viewed on our new site here. You need to register — see last post.
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Paris and the new Times

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:20:20 +0000

I promised an update about the blog and our transition to the new Times site. We’ve already had some discussion here on the touchy matter of paying for access. I’ll get to that, but first the practical stuff. The Paris…
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Villepin plays de Gaulle against Sarkozy

admin — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:20:04 +0000

After the deluge of Gaulliana this week, France today hears a call from a new would-be saviour. Dominique de Villepin, a former Prime Minister and arch rival of Nicolas Sarkozy, is launching a brand new Gaullist party. His dream is…
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Football anger in France

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:20:05 +0000

This picture says it all about France’s abysmal performance in last night’s World Cup match against Mexico. The 2-0 loss, which is almost certain to eliminate France, has unleashed a torrent of contempt in the press for the hapless team…
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Let them smoke cigars

admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:20:05 +0000

The timing of Nicolas Sarkozy’s latest embarrassment is rather tasty. On the day that he has asked the French to work two more years before retirement, one of his ministers has been caught spending 12,000 euros a year of tax-payers’…
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Sarkozy wants a friendly Monde

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:20:05 +0000

Nicolas Sarkozy wants to become master of le Monde. That is the fear among journalists on France’s most august newspaper after the President flexed his muscles over its imminent acquisition by outside investors. This is not just about another media…
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The French village that wants to forget

admin — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:20:04 +0000

Sixty-five years on from the Nazi occupation of France, memories are still too painful for some to make peace with the Germans. I’ve just come across an example in a little village near the western town of Châtellerault. A German…
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In court with Jérôme Kerviel, the man who lost five billion

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:20:04 +0000

Watching the trial of Jérôme Kerviel, the rogue trader, I have been struck once again by the informal atmosphere of French criminal courts. There is plenty of majesty in the Palais de Justice, on the site of the old royal…
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