More strange goings-on in France,but that's not new news of course! In the church in the small commune of Boulou in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, about 20 km south-west of Perpignan, the statue of Christ mysteriously went on fire during one recent night. No-one can come up with a plausible explanation.
Equally mysterious, at least to the powers-that-be in Paris, are the workings of the Bonnet Rouge in Brittany. It must be one of the world's oldest surviving protest movements, dating back to the 17th century. It's still active today and in recent months, members have been active wrecking all the gantries and cameras that were put in place to record truck movements for the government's new eco tax on road freight. This new tax has been extremely unpopular, especially in Brittany, since so many of its food processing companies depend on road freight to get their products to market. In true Breton style, all the apparatus for recording truck movements has now been largely destroyed. The big fear in Paris of course is that Brittany will spawn a movement for much greater regional independence or even separation from the highly centrist French state.
In the centre of Nantes last weekend, demonstrations turned really nasty, against the planned new airport in the north-west of Notre-Dame-des-landes. Considerable damage was done in Nantes city centre, in scenes somewhat reminiscent of what we saw in Kiev last week.
The other day saw the anniversary of an historical event that caused a massive amount of damage, the big earthquake that struck the region from Nice to Menton and also northern Italy, on February 23, 1887. A total of 2,000 people lost their lives, mostly in Italy, and among the places destroyed was the old town in Menton. Since then, there have lots of much more minor rumblings along the Cote d'Azur, but fortunately, no more big shakers.
Still, there's one piece of good news from the north-west. In 1980, the Rail link between Nantes and Chateaubriant, 64 km long, was closed down, but now, the replacement service, using a combination train/tram, is set to roll. Already, the first section of this replacement service, covering the 30km to Clisson, 30km south-west of Nantes, is open. Over in Strasbourg, a company is developing a flying car to be called the Pegasus. It's a combination of a buggy and a microlight aircraft and the first examples are due to go on sale next year, priced at €100,000 each.
Meanwhile, all the political stuff rolls on. William Massoneau, brother of Valérie Trierweiler, the deposed first lady in the Elysée Palace, has come out fighting on her behalf, in an interview with Vanity Fair. He says that the person who is brutal in this whole sorry affair is Francois Hollande. On the subject of politics, one of the most recent interviews done with Marine Le Pen of the Front National quotes her as saying that after the European elections in May, her party will be the largest political party in France. She also expects the Front National to be the government of France within the next 10 years, an unsettling prediction for many in the French political establishment.
I note, too, that another long-time symbol of France seems precariously perched. For decade after decade, three clichés helped make up the image of France, the baguette, the beret and the 2CV car. These days, baguettes are usually made industrially, so their reputation as a craft-made food item no longer really exists, while the 2CV car has long since been confined to the history books. The best part of 30 years ago, I was tempted to buy one but a test drive immediately convinced me of the folly-the car was so flimsy that it offered no protection whatsoever in the event of a crash, so that was the end of that.
Now, the traditional French beret is under much threat. The market is shrinking dramatically, while competition from China, India and the Czech Republic means that people can source them much cheaper abroad. These days, there's just one French beret maker, the firm of Laulhere, founded in the mid-18th century. Recently, it took over its one remaining French competitor, but even so, the beret maker, based in the foothills of the Pyrenees, makes most of its sales to the military. Few self-respecting French people care to wear a beret these days. France, like so many other places, is being demoted to the soulless heritage of the Internet. Incidentally, the man who is in charge of sales for the Laulhere company is an Irishman called Mark Saunders, who's lived in France for the past two decades.
People from the UK who live in France or have connections with the country, are being invited by the British embassy in Paris to send in their stories to help with the commemorations for the 200th anniversary of the British ambassador's residence in the city. The town house, on the same street as the Elysée Palace, was bought by the Duke of Wellington in 1814f rom Napoleon's sister.
With the usual plethora of festivals around France, I must mention one that caught my attention this week. It's the 140th carnival at Granville in Normandy, which runs from February 28 until March 4. It commemorates the old tradition, long gone, of the local fishing fleet departing every spring for the then rich fishing off the coast of Newfoundland. Granville itself is quite a pleasant and interesting town; we stayed there once, during another festival. Loudspeakers were strung up on all the lamp standards and raucous music poured forth all day long, which was a little offputting!
Finally, in international news, there's been all the coverage of events In Kiev. Now it looks as if the country may be divided into Russian and non-Russian parts and since there's no money in the kitty, the future looks chaotic. Whenever I hear talk of Ukraine, always think of the Ukrainian man who came to Ireland a century ago. Ivan Beshoff was a sailor on the Battleship Potemkin, one of the Russian naval ships berthed at Odessa in 1905.The sailors mutinied, because of the disgusting food they were being served and in many ways, this mutiny was the first shot in the Russian revolution 12 years later. Beshoff managed to escape, wandering the world, until he shipped up in Dublin. The story goes that he was in Dublin, waiting for a ship to Canada, but missed the sailing. He stayed in Dublin for the rest of his life and founded a very successful chain of fish and chips shops, still trading today. By the time he popped his clogs, he was 105. And as for the Battleship Potemkin, it gave its name to one of the most celebrated films ever made. It's the best part of 50 years since I saw this particular film and some sequences are stuck indelibly in my mind, especially the one with the pram on the Odessa steps.
Also on the international front, one very odd photo is doing the rounds today. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, is on a short trip to Israel. The photo shows her with Benjamin Nethanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who's pointing a finger. The shadow of his hand has fallen across Merkel's face and it makes her look as if she has Hitler's moustache.
Also on the international front, while Scotland is desperate to retain EU membership should it vote for independence in September, and Ukraine is even more desperate to join, Iceland has decided it's not worth the candle. It's withdrawing its application for EU membership, without even having a referendum on the subject, a news item that has been largely ignored in the media in this part of the world.