Day 3063 (Monday) 27th October 2025

This is Eze

and this is Mont Boron.

 

This was Badger last night while we were trying to watch Strictly.

It was nice and sunny again this morning but it was quite cold out of the sun. There was a cruise ship in the bay so the passengers had a lovely day for a visit and town was quite busy.

As usual on a Monday here’s What’s happening in France this week. The Local France.

A "Halloween doggy walk" in northern France. (Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP)

A busy week ahead, including the start of the trial of 10 people accused of cyberbullying Brigitte Macron, Halloween, a public holiday, and the usual change of month rush

Monday

Court — The trial of 10 people accused of sexist cyberbullying of Brigitte Macron gets under way in Paris.

Sport — The first serves of tennis’s 2025 Paris Masters at La Defense Arena, which is actually in Nanterre but likes to pretend it’s in the capital.

More political drama — Discussions continue over the Budget, with prime minister Sébastien Lecornu desperately trying to find a compromise that will allow a majority of MPs to back next year's spending plans. However Parti Socialiste, which holds a swing vote, is pushing hard for a wealth tax - with PS leader Olivier Faure saying: "We need to tax the ultra-rich and mega-inheritances. If there is no progress by Monday, it will be over."

Tuesday

Monaco — A court will rule in the case of former police chiefs accused of selling Principality residence permits.

Wednesday

Court — Four people will go on trial in Paris accused of defacing the capital’s Holocaust Memorial. 

Food — Paris’s annual chocolate fair opens at the Parc Expo at the Porte de Versailles. Chocolatiers, pastry chefs, confectioners and professionals from the chocolate industry, as well as producing countries, chefs, designers and cocoa experts get together to show off their skills. 

Friday

Halloween — Halloween is not as big a deal in France as it is in the US, but it is becoming more popular here, with many families taking their young children trick-or-treating or setting out some pumpkin decor outside of their homes. But the next day also marks an important part of the French cultural calendar – the Catholic festival of Toussaint (All Saints’ Day), which has its own traditions.

Saturday

Public holiday — Toussaint (All Saints’ Day), traditionally a day that French people visit the graves of loved ones, is officially a public holiday in France.

As it falls on a Saturday this year, most French workers will miss out on the day off. Some smaller shops and venues may close, but expect major stores to remain open, though possibly with slightly adjusted operating hours.

Border checks — The Port of Dover will roll out the EU’s new Entry & Exit System to all passengers, with 72 self-registration kiosks available for car passengers. The system is already in place for coach passengers.

Winter truce – France’s annual trêve hivernale – the winter eviction truce – begins on November 1st from that date until March 31st, landlords cannot evict tenants struggling to pay their rent. Utility companies also cannot disconnect supplies because of unpaid bills.

Electricity bills — New seasonal ‘peak time’ electricity hours will be introduced from November 1st for those on certain tariffs, though bill-payers won’t notice an immediate impact, as off-peak hours remain overnight during the winter. From April, however, the cheaper off-peak rates will be during the day to take better advantage of solar-generated power.

Tobacco-free month — November 2025 marks France's 10th annual ‘No Smoking Month’, where people are challenged to give up smoking for 30 days. It is a campaign organised by French public health authorities. 

Tyres — Motorists must equip their vehicles with all-weather tyres, winter tyres or snow chains in certain mountainous areas of the country from November 1st to March 31st. 

Sunday

Final day — It’s the last day of the Toussaint holidays for millions of schoolchildren and thousands of teachers and school staff. They all head back to class on Monday.

French Expression of the Day: Jusqu’ici tout va bien

French Expression of the Day: jusqu’ici tout va bien Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash

How your French lessons may be going – with the subjunctive looming

Why do I need to know jusqu’ici tout va bien?

Because you might keep losing count of the necessary number of responses to the ça va ? question.

What does it mean?

Jusqu’ici tout va bien – roughly pronounced shooss-kee-see too va bee-en – translates as ‘up to now everything is going well’, which is something of a mouthful.

It's more usually translated into English as ‘so far, so good’, which offers an upbeat take on things, but leaves the future open to possible problems.

‘There may be trouble ahead’ is always implied with the ‘so far, so good’ response.

It’s famously used in the opening scene from acclaimed 1995 French drama La Haine, which follows 24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.

The full excerpt goes: C'est l'histoire d'un homme qui tombe d'un immeuble de 50 étages. Le mec, au fur et à mesure de sa chute, il se répète sans cesse pour se rassurer : " Jusqu'ici tout va bien... Jusqu'ici tout va bien... Jusqu'ici tout va bien. "

Mais l'important, c'est pas la chute. C'est l'atterrissage.

It roughly translates as "This is the story of a man falling from a 50-storey building. As he falls he reassures himself by saying 'so far so good, so far so good'.

But the important thing is not the fall, it's the landing."

(And if you haven't seen La Haine yet we really cannot recommend it highly enough. There's also a stage version which is coming back to Paris for a run between November 2025 and January 2026. The tagline for the stage show is Jusqu'ici rien n'a changé - so far, nothing has changed).

Use it like this

C’est nouveau pour nous deux, mais jusqu’ici tout va bien – This is new for both of us, but so far, so good.

Comment se déroulent tes leçons de conduite ? Jusqu’ici tout va bien - How are your driving lessons going? So far, so good . . .