history for its infamy, the attack on the twin towers in New York and as long as history itself survives, the many theories about the attack will continue, drawing lovers of conspiracy theories everywhere.
This day also marks another anniversary, in France. September 11th, 1968, was the day that an Air France Caravelle en route from Corsica to Nice crashed into the sea off Nice with the loss of all 95 people on board. I was reminded of the tragedy by an In Memoriam notice in this morning’s Irish Times. An Irishman, Arthur J. O’Connor, was on board and his death, 45 years later, is marked by a memorial notice from his family who say in the notice that his loss still runs deep.
The Caravelle was quite an advanced passenger jet of its time, unique because passengers boarded from the rear, underneath the plane. But inside the plane was perfectly comfortable and I can testify to that having been on several Caravelle flights. But the reason for that 1968 crash has long remained shrouded in mystery. Then in 2007, the BBC’s Radio 4 broadcast a programme about it, theorising that the crash had been caused by either a missile or a bomb and that subsequent French governments had suppressed the true cause of the crash. In May, 2011, a former high ranking official in the French military, Michel Laty, confirmed these theories. He said in a programme on the TF1 television channel in France that the plane had been hit by a missile that had been wrongly fired during a test by the French army.
A contemporary piece of news about France, released over the past couple of days, is equally damning about the current state of France. Le Figaro, the newspaper and website, used figures from the interior ministry to produce a chart showing how aggression and attacks by delinquents had increased dramatically in the 12 months from August, 2012 to July, 2013, on a département by
département basis. The worst département was La Vienne, where the number of attacks was up by 32.4 per cent. Many other parts of France have produced figures that are almost as bad. Les Hautes-Alpes are up by 17.7 per cent, for instance, but the figures for Les Cotes d’Armor in Brittany (+14.7 per cent) and La Manche (+14.4 per cent) show comparatively modest increases.
All the while, the hapless Hollande, the underfire French president, has come under even more attack for his promise that France will support the US in any military attack on Syria. Polls show that close on two-thirds of the French people are opposed to any such attack and Hollande has been attacked for being a mere lackey of the USA satirical programme on French television the other day went even further.
It showed President Hollande visiting a school in the company of US President Obama. Hollande was
depicted asking Obama: "S’il vous plait, monsieur le président, veulez-vous m’excuser. Je veux faire pipi”. In other words, Hollande was asking permission to take a leak and the French public obviously lapped up the biting satire. I can’t see Hollande behaving like the admirable new Pope, who seems totally down-to-earth, determined to place the Roman Catholic church on the side of the people, rather than any elites. The latest news has him pictured driving around the Vatican in a modest 20 year old car that was donated to him by an Italian priest.
But talking of presidents reminds me of another shameful episode in French life. Before Francois Mitterand died in 1996, he had his last meal with a group of close friends. He was eating a traditional French songbird, the ortolan, which is especially popular in south-west France. The bird is cooked in Armagnac and when people eat them, they do so with a napkin over their heads so that they can savour all the aromas from the bird. It’s also said that this hides their shame from God. I always thought Mitterand was an exceedingly politically astute president, who left a fine legacy, including the new national library in Paris, but when I heard about his last act, eating ortolans, I was absolutely disgusted. Maybe a lot of French people feel differently, but to me it totally degraded his legacy.
The ortolans are under serious threat and the German-run Committee against Bird Slaughter now alleges that the French authorities are colluding with poachers by not imposing the conservation rules and regulations designed to protect this seriously endangered species.
I felt much more positive about a property story from Devon that I read the other day. A couple who have a large house on a substantial estate in the Teign Valley near Exeter are selling up, because they are moving to France. But on the estate, every variety of animal that can be found in Devon lives on the estate, fallow deer, badgers, dormice, cats, pheasants, you name it, they are all there and all
incredibly tame. The deer often come up to the windows and the badgers have races on the patio. That sounds my kind of place and if I had the odd million or so euro to spare, I’d be tempted to purchase!
But at least one traditional season is fast coming up, which presents joyous occasions for
people, including tourists, to savour one of the great traditions of France, its wine making. Wine fairs will be taking place over the next few weeks in all the wine regions of France to celebrate what is admittedly a very mediocre harvest this year. One of the most interesting celebrations will be coming up in the Montmartre district of Paris which has its own vinous enclave. Another long standing tradition in France is already under way, the 39th American film festival at Deauville. All the stars will be appearing, so there’ll be all the usual publicity. But I must admit: I’ve never warmed to Deauville. It’s so chic, so upmarket, and so fashionable that the atmosphere is icy. By contrast, its twin town of Trouville, with its fish market and Les Vapeurs seafood restaurant, is so warm and down to earth that it’s an absolute delight. We well remember our time in Trouville and the small hotel we stayed in. The owner had a great love of cats, so there were plenty of them around. We often had breakfast sharing our table with a selection of cats; not very hygienic, I’m sure, but great fun!
Meanwhile, I see that a member of the journalistic profession has disgraced himself in Lugano, in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, to my mind, the most attractive part of Switzerland. It’s the most
easy going, with all the positive elements of Italian living combined with Swiss efficiency (you don’t go to Italy itself in search of any kind of efficiency!). Anyway, the other evening, at the Meno Uno gallery in Lugano, one of those invited was a reporter from Radio Switzerland International, who was
getting fired up on all the cocktails. He reached over for a canapé and in the process sent a priceless sculpture flying. It was a famous work done by the Italian sculptor Lucciana Fabro in 1962-64, designed as an impression of planet earth. When the reporter accidentally knocked it to the floor, it smashed into thousands of pieces. The sculpture was said to represent the longevity of the
earth, so if you want, you can read something deeply symbolic into what happened.
Back in France, as is so often the case, there and everywhere else, when the media should be reporting lots of serious stuff, it concentrates on the trifling. Online news websites tend to push the boat out more than the traditional news media, so in that respect they are good. Ireland has such an excellent website, journal.ie, which has lots of news that the main newspapers often don’t bother with. France has something similar, planet.fr, but from time to time it goes seriously astray looking for fluffy news.
Within the last few days, it has run big stories on which male stars have small zizis and which female stars have managed to show their knickers in public, all very elevated if you’re interested in that sort of story! It also ran a story about the model Zahia, who was previously famous for allegedly having under-age sex with some French football stars. Not long ago, she opened her own lingerie and cake shop in Paris and now she’s had to deny an onslaught of rumours that she has had her breasts surgically augmented. Now she has gone public on Twitter, citing a letter from a surgeon who specialises in
such matters to say that her breasts are 100 per cent natural.
Talking about the media reminds me of a big feature the other day in the New York Times all about the cultural attractions of Marseille. The article was very comprehensive and stated quite rightly that the city has an outstanding array of old and new art centres, museums and other places devoted to the arts and culture generally. Down near the end of the article was a small paragraph saying “oh by the way, Marseilles does have a crime problem”. That was an understatement to say the least; crime and Marseille are synonymous and in a recent attack, the son of the sport director of Olympique de Marseille football club was gunned down. The 30 year old Adrien Anigo was running a brasserie in the city but had been questioned by police over a series of jewellery store robberies. He was shot dead in broad daylight as he drove his rented car. Marseilles may be full of cultural glitter, but more
than 20 per cent of its residents live below the poverty line and some estates have over 40 per cent youth unemployment.
This particular article highlights a perceived failing in the New York Times; it’s often seen as
too pro-establishment, too complacent with the status quo and too often missing the real questions. Its new CEO is one Mark Thompson, a former director-general of the BBC, whom many believe to have been tainted by the numerous scandals in recent years at the BBC. In contrast, the Washington Post is much more sceptical in its approach and has solid news reporting. Ironically, it was taken over by Jeff Bezos the online entrepreneur, the man behind Amazon, and his takeover might actually be good for the newspaper! A lot of people swear that the New York Times is the best paper in the US, but I actually prefer the Washington Post because it’s far sharper.
The process of debunking myths continues, however, in certain quarters. A new book has just been
published all about Edith Piaf, which says that she came into the world in a hospital in the 20th arrondissement, not on the streets, as per the common myth; neither was she weaned on red wine!The author of Piaf, a French Myth, is Robert Belleret, a former journalist with Le Monde, so his credentials are good. He also points that one of Piaf’s great talents was spotting talent and she started the careers of such international stars as Charlez Aznavour, Yves Montand and Georges Moustaki. It’s also well worth going to see the small private museum about Piaf in the Ménilmontant district of the 20th, close to the Pere Lachaise cemetery where she’s buried.
This in fact is the only museum dedicated to the great chanteuse and it consists of two rooms in
the fourth floor flat of Bernard Marchois, a long time Piaf fan. Entrance is free but donations are appreciated. The tiny museum is only open from Mondays to Wednesdays, from 1pm to 6pm and you have to phone in advance (4355 5272) to gain admittance.