Day 3135 (Wednesday) 7th January 2026

This is a stormy Grasse

and this is Peillon above Menton.

 

It was another sunny day but a chill wind was blowing. It would have been too cold on the scooter so we went down to Les Palmiers for lunch.

The Christmas decorations are still up

We shared a plate of chips and some mozzarella sticks washed down with a Schweppes Agrumes.

I found this article very interesting and positive… The Local, France

Despite a bad 2025 there are still so many reasons to love France

Storm clouds are gathering over France, but there remains much to love about the country. Photo by Thibaud MORITZ / AFP

It's been a bad year for France - its politics remain mired in seemingly endless chaos, its ex president went to jail and its biggest museum turns out to be embarrassingly easy to steal from. But editor Emma Pearson spells out the many reasons to still love the country.

Even France's best friends would concede that 2025 has not been a vintage year for the country.

Speaking shortly after the Louvre heist, French cultural commentator Stéphane Bern mourned that: "We're the laughing stock of the world."

And yes, some things have gone wrong (the national deficit is soaring, the parliamentary crisis continues and who knows whether France will have a 2026 Budget, to name but a few) - but let's concentrate on the positives.

From the silly to the serious, here are 15 reasons to love this fabulous, complicated, exasperating and weird country.

Deep dedication to the 'pont'

France is a country that believes that time spent at leisure is more important than those hours unavoidably slaving for a wage, and nowhere is this more apparent than the love of the 'pont'.

This is essentially a way of maximising time off work by clever use of public holidays. Every year, French newspapers run articles advising their readers on strategic use of annual leave to get the maximum time possible away from work and doing important things like eating, drinking and spending time with loved ones. 

 

And public holidays

Former prime minister François Bayrou (December 2024-September 2025) decided that one way to tackle that budget deficit was to scrap two of the country's 11 national public holidays.

Fury followed, 84 percent of the public said they were against the idea and Bayrou was toppled a month later. Do not mess with French holidays.

It jails its dodgy politicians

The best scenario would be for France not to have any corrupt or embezzling politicians. Second best, however, is bringing these politicians before the courts and sentencing them for their crimes, without fear or favour of their elevated positions.

This year saw far-right leader Marine Le Pen convicted of embezzlement and banned from standing for election for five years, and then former president Nicolas Sarkozy jailed after being found guilty of a conspiracy to accept campaign funding from Moamer Kadhafi's Libyan regime.

Some French people worried this would give their country a bad image abroad - but it really just shows that France still has that cornerstone of a functioning democracy; an independent judiciary. (OK, Sarkozy was out in 21 days and is now flogging his jail 'diaries' - no one said France was perfect).

Gisèle Peliot

Coming to public attention in the most horrific way possible after her husband was charged with drugging her and invited dozens of strangers to their home to rape her, Gisèle became a feminist icon thanks to her quiet dignity and her rallying cry 'the shame must change sides'.

The case sparked a national soul-searching in France, plus some concrete changes - in October 2025 France coded into its rape laws for the first time the notion of consent.

Gisèle showed the same dignity and determination when she was forced to again face one of her rapists in court after the man appealed against his sentence. The court instead decided to increase his jail term.

Cleaning skills

Twenty years ago, Paris' River Seine was filthy, polluted and bordered by two highways. These days, the river banks are pedestrianised areas that in the summer transform into some of the capital's most vibrant party spots and this year swimming opened up to the public for the first time in 100 years.

Seine swimming followed a massive clean-up operation which many said would be impossible. It showed that, despite the country's problems, some things do still work and ambitious projects are still possible.

The football window contest

Kids are kicking a football at the window of the bin room in an apartment block. Do you a) put up a sign and ban it or b) create an international sporting event?

The mayor of one Paris suburb chose option b - now 'La lucarne d’Évry' is a sporting challenge that has been undertaken by Lionel Messi and the stars of Paris-Saint-Germain, plus hundreds of French kids and has expanded to become a nationwide annual tour.

It's an example of the humour, ambition and fun that lurks within the French soul - and the surprisingly wide-ranging power of local mayors. 

Protest evolution

Look, we all know about French strikes (and we've had a few this year) but France also likes to sometimes ring the changes with its protesting - 2018/19 saw the 'yellow vests' and 2025 saw Bloquons Tout - a movement whose stated aim was very simple, to block everything.

September's 'block everything' day didn't quite bring the entire country to a standstill, but it did see quite widespread disruption. Polling afterwards found the movement was five times more popular with the general public than President Emmanuel Macron.

Insults 

French people, especially politicians, love a bitchy and elegant put-down of a rival. There's a whole branch of humour devoted to stylish insults, and a film about it which claims that the tradition was honed at the court of Louis XIV.

It remains popular today - the news that 30-year-old far-right leader Jordan Bardella had published his second book was greeted by one party colleague with the stinging 'Congratulations, Jordan has now written more books than he has read'. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo reacted to the news that her hated political rival Rachida Dati has been appointed Culture Minister by sending her "condolences to the culture sector".

Meanwhile when François Bayrou was toppled, there were 'pots de départs' (leaving drinks) organised in communes across France to celebrate his departure.

Apéro

Divided, fractured, split, argumentative - these are all words that could be quite reasonably used to describe the modern political landscape.

But there is one thing that (almost) everyone agrees on - a September poll found that 82 percent of people in France agree that the ritual of apéro (pre-dinner drinks with light snacks) is 'a vital part of the national heritage'. Santé!

Smelly cheese

It's a bit of a cliché to mention good food and drink in a list of reasons to like France, but nonetheless true. In fact (according to some frankly dubious sounding scientific research), France takes the crown for the world's smelliest cheese.

It's not just cheese - France has both UNESCO-ranked gastronomy and truly excellent produce, making every trip around France a delight as you sample the local specialities.

Most of these producers of cheese, charcuterie, sweets, drinks, pastries etc don't make a lot of money but nevertheless remain deeply committed to maintaining local products and traditional methods.

If that doesn't float your boat, there's always the varied and weird flavours of Brets crisps, including Pastis flavour.

Public courtesy

Some would say that garroting is too good for people who have their phones on speaker in public places, or play music/videos without headphones.

France doesn't quite go that far, but it did this year fine a man €150 for making a phone call on speaker in a train station. It also strictly enforces the quiet rule in TGV trains, and they are all the better for it.

Pastry wars

One part of France remains deeply committed to waging war on its neighbours through the medium of chocolate pastries. Yes, I am of course referring to the chocolatine v pain au chocolat battle between south-west France and the rest of the country.

I can't think of a more charming statement of local pride than Ici on dit chocolatine (Here, we say chocolatine) and you can now get T-shirts, tote bags, badges and even shower gel bearing this slogan. 

Taxation policy counts as a good night out

While it can be a deeply silly country, France also retains its serious side. The French economist Gabriel Zucman has become something of a household name this year, with his 'Zucman tax' that proposes a flat two percent tax on the entire net worth of the super rich.

His tax failed to make it through the French parliament, but he has embarked on a speaking tour of France and has been selling out venues, with people keen to spend their evenings listening to debates on tax fairness.

 

. . . and it could always be worse

The things that France is struggling with are shared by many of its neighbours - a fractured public discourse, online disinformation and hatred, the rise of the far right, a stagnating economy. But sometimes it's worth taking a glimpse outside of the hexagon to remind ourselves that things could always be worse.