Day 2860 (Monday) 7th April 2025

This is Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat

and this is Menton.

As always on a Monday here’s What's happening in France this week (the Local France.)

Runners take part in the Paris Marathon in front of the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysees avenue, on April 7, 2024. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

From a law meant to simplify French bureaucracy to the Paris marathon and more expensive 'ETA' visa waivers, here's what is happening in France this week.

Tuesday

French MPs to consider 'Simplification' law - France's Assemblée Nationale will begin debating the 'simplification' bill intended to decrease regulation, including cutting down on the many 'Cerfa' forms required for French admin and decreasing bureaucratic requirements for very small businesses. MPs also added an amendment that could lead to France's ZFEs (low-emissions zones) being scrapped.

New exhibit at Musée d'Orsay - The iconic Paris museum will launch a new exhibition on Tuesday called 'Lucas Arruda. Qu'importe le paysage', with works by the Brazilian artist.

Wednesday

Champions League quarter final - Paris Saint-Germain will play against Aston Villa at the Parc de Princes stadium at 9pm. 

ETA to become more expensive - The visa-free waiver now required of all arrivals into the UK (with the exception of people travelling on a British or Irish passport, of those with residency in the UK) will increase in price from £10 to £16. The waiver lasts two years once awarded, and it allows multiple entries. 

Thursday

Income tax declarations - From April 10th, anyone who has to submit a French income tax declaration for the 2024 year will be able to do so. The service will go live on the Impots.gouv.fr website. Those filing on paper should receive their documents around the same date (in early April).

Ham festival in Bayonne - The Basque city will host its annual Foire au Jambon starting on April 10th. It will run until April 13th. 

Friday

School holidays - Pupils living in Corsica and Zone C, which includes Paris, Toulouse and Montpellier, will begin their spring holidays on Friday, April 11th. The break will run until April 28th. 

Saturday

Passover - The Jewish festival of Passover will begin on Saturday April 12th and it will end after nightfall on April 20th.

Anniversary of Josephine Baker's death - Saturday will mark 50 years since the death of the US-born French singer, danger, and civil rights activist.

International Kite Festival - Starting on April 12th, Berck-sur-Mer (in northern France) will host its annual international kite festival. It will run until April 21st. 

Sunday

Paris Marathon - The 48th edition of the Paris Marathon will be held on Sunday April 13th. Once again, the runners will cross the capital, passing through some of the most beautiful places in Paris. 

Here is the rest of the slang…

11 – “Ce bouffon, il est trop chelou”

“This loser is so weird”

“Le bouffon” is a very ancient word for the king’s jester (or the one that makes everyone laugh by doing silly things). It is now very commonly used in modern French slang to describe a loser or a someone you do not respect at all.

“Chelou” is the verlan of “louche” or something/someone who is weird or not normal (“la louche” is also the word for ‘ladle’ but that’s not what this refers to in this context)

12 – “C’est craignos de chez craignos”

‘This or it sucks way beyond words’

This expression is kind of a strange combination of a relatively new but popular French saying and transformed older slang words.

In French slang speak, to emphasise a particular concept, we’ll use the phrase structure “c’est [adjective] de chez [adjective], for example “C’est bon de chez bon” meaning it’s really good or “c’est chaud de chez chaud” meaning that it’s really hot…

You can pretty much insert any adjective in that expression to emphasise any concept you are trying to put across.

The word “Craignos” comes from the argot expression “ça craint” meaning that the situation is dodgy, dangerous or really bad depending on the concept. In order to apply it as an adjective, the word gets transformed into “il est craignos” which can mean a range of things like a low life, someone bizarre or someone dangerous.

So combining these 2 concepts gives you the full expression of a situation that is really dodgy.

13 – “Tu captes vraiment rien !”

‘You really don’t understand anything!’

“Capter” is to receive a broadcast using some sort of antenna like a radio or satellite dish, we say “je capte pas NRJ à la maison” (‘I can’t tune into the NRJ radio station from home’) but in this case, it has been applied to someone to describe them as not able to understand anything.

14 – “Elle lui a péta son iPhone”

‘She stole his iPhone‘

Here again, we find a word that is the inversion of an existing older slang word… “péta” is the verlan of “tapé” which in itself is argot (slang) for stealing like “il m’a tapé ma clop” (‘he stole my cigarette’). 

Not to be mistaken with another slang word, “péter” which is to break. So “Elle lui a pété son iPhone” means “she broke his iPhone”.

15 – “Être au taquet”

To be on Fire

“Un taquet” is a piece of wood that you use to hold/block a door. So, if you are blocked, you build up a lot of energy. Then, you are ready to explode. And that’s when you use this expression.

Au début de l’épreuve, les candidats étaient au taquet, et ils se sont défoncés.
At the beginning of the contest, the candidates were on fire, and they gave it all.

We also use “être à fond” or “être chaud” – to be 100%.

16 – “J’ai la gnac”

I’m super motivated

Believe it or not, this expression comes from a dialect of Occitan traditionally spoken in Gascony called Gascon. 

How it became a current slang word is a mystery to me, but it is very used nowadays. It means to be very motivated, and can be spelled lots of ways: “niaque”, “gnaque”…

J’ai la gnac, je vais tout faire péter !
I’m super motivated, I’m going to explode it all.

17 – “Faut que tu te bouges. Point barre.”

You need to step-it-up. Full stop.

The entire French expression is “se bouger les fesses” (or more vulgar, “se bouger le cul”), meaning to move your butt.

“Bouge”, or “Bouge de là” means “move out of the way”, so it’s the idea of moving to the side. But when you use the reflexive “se bouger”, the meaning is different.

“Point barre” means full full stop and a slash. So it means it’s the only thing you have to do, no need to comment or say more about it, end of conversation.

Allez, ne te dégonfle pas. Rien n’est perdu : il faut que tu te bouges, point barre.
C’mon, don’t give up. It’s not lost yet: you have to step-it-up. Period.

18 – “Faut pas que je me loupe”

I can’t screw up.

The French slang verb “louper” is not particularly modern. It’s been around for some time now, and is slang for “rater”, “échouer”, “manquer””.

J’ai loupé mon train = j’ai raté mon train = j’ai manqué mon train = I missed my train.

J’ai loupé mon exam = j’ai raté mon exam = j’ai échoué à mon exam = I failed my test/exam.

What is really new about it is the reflexive use: “se louper”. Used for a single person, it means to mess up. Used for several people, it means to miss each other as in to fail to meet up.

On avait rendez-vous dans une gare, et on s’est loupés : j’étais d’un côté de la gare, et elle de l’autre.
We were meeting up in a train station, and we missed each others: I was in one end of the station, and she was at the other end. 

We also use: “se planter”. This expression was already around when I was young, it’s very used in French.

Note how the “il ne” of the “il ne faut pas” dropped. This is modern French for you…

Putain! C’est chaud là… Faut pas que je loupe.
(Not translatable… sort of “f**k” but less strong). It’s really difficult. I can’t screw up.

19 – “Je suis grillé”

‘I’m toast’ in modern French slang

This French slang expression has exactly the same meaning as in English: “je suis grillé” means “I’m toast”, done, finished. You can also say “c’est grillé”, or “c’est foutu”, both slang for it’s over.

C’est la fin de l’épreuve, et j’ai tout foiré. Je suis grillé.
It’s the end of the test, and I screwed up. I’m toast.

We have 2 fun “traditional” idiomatic expressions for say the same thing:

Les carottes sont cuites – the carrots are cooked

C’est la fin des haricots – it’s the end of the beans.

Both mean that it’s all over, and there is no more hope.

These expressions should be used only by young people, they evolve very fast and can be obsolete after only a couple of years.

Many of them come from the streets, and would be frowned upon when used in the wrong context.

You need to understand them, because you’ll hear them in French movies, songs… and maybe in the streets of France.