French Elections & Travel
 

I wonder if the French elections coming up will effect the travel experience for tourists. I have traveled but once during a national election of a country not my own- Italy's in April 1996- and found that, but for an occasional poster plastered on a wall, you wouldn't have known an election was being contested. Still the case?

Yes. Travelplans will not be effected by elections.

On election night, if the right wins people will flock to Concorde. If the left wins, people will flock to Bastille.

And where do we go if it's Bayrou?

Hi George W, I don't know about France but I can tell you I have experienced no taxis on Election Day in Florence..it was not a good day..a long story that I won't bore you with.

>.And where do we go if it's Bayrou?<<

Round and round in circles?

Half of the people to Concorde, the other half to Bastille!

And if Le Pen wins second place to get into the runoff as he did last time or time before i believe... where do they gather - in the northern suburbs?

Bayrou's party will be right in between the Concorde and Bastille - half way

If Le Pen is in second place, once again, few will admit that they voted for him. That is one of the most disgusting aspects of French politics -- the refusal to admit one's opinions.

Kerouac,

The refusal (presumably because xenophobia and racism is not acceptable) to admit voting for Le Pen is in line with this old maxim:

<i>L'hypocrisie est un hommage que le vice rend &agrave; la vertu.</i>

Remember that the vote on April 22 is only the first round. The winner won't be decided until the 2nd round on May 6. Unless of course Jean-Marie LePen gets into the runoff as he did last time ... in that case the race will effectively be over on April 22, because whoever runs against LePen will win in a landslide ...but that's an unlikely scenario.

Jack svp - when i was in France in February it seemed that Le Pen had not garnered enough of the required number of mayors endorsements to get on the ballot or some such thing even though in the polls he was fairly high

I assume he is on the ballot now?

Merci

Yup, he's on the ballot, along with Jose Bove, who didn't know until they actually counted and checked his submission whether he'd got the 5000 signatures or not. So now there are 12.

Let' see if i have this correct:

Suburban youths rampage at Gare du Nord and are justly condemned...

Bove bulldozes down a McDonalds and becomes a folk hero to agrarian and other xenophobic interests and runs for President.

We have 3 Trotskyist candidates (only in France!), a hunter, a communist, an ecologist, a socialist, a fascist, a &quot;centrist&quot;, a degenerate aristocrat, a pure right winger and an ecolo-left wing peasant who grew up in Berkeley.

Jack - you mean this time around there is no Royalist candidate, to restore the monarchy, heaven forbid.

There might be fewer French people taking holidays around May 1-May 8, since the 2nd round of the elections falls on May 6. If this hadn't been the case, you might have expected congested airports, train stations and roads as the French took a long holiday from Friday April 28 through Tuesday May 8 (since there are 2 statutory holidays, on Tuesdays, in that period). Opportunistic labour unions might have decided that this was a good time to strike, so that they could snarl up plans and make everyone miserable.

Those who lived in France longer than I have might be able to advise as to whether the risk of labour disruptions will be lower (not because they wouldn't like to protest but because the government wouldn't let them get away with on or just before an election day).

Strikes are quite rare when elections are imminent, except for the most desperate cases, when the strikers have absolutely nothing left to lose.

There won't be many strikes until September. In any case, France has the lowest percentage of unionized workers of any industrialized country, and we haven't had any good strikes for ten years...

GIVE A HAND TO LE PEN for his remark at the Elle forum recently where he defended his opposition to giving condoms to high school students, saying:
&quot;For those who are fixated on it, I recommend 'manu militari,' this is the simplest method&quot;

'manu militari' is a tongue-in-cheek reference to masturbation (NYT 4-11-07)

It also say Le Pen is currently fourth in the polls and 'seems to revel in making headline-grabbing statements'

Let's give a hand to Le Pen!

He can't have mine, sorry.

One of Le Pen's &quot;headline grabbing statements&quot; was that the Holocaust was just a minor detail of history. No one has forgotten that one.

Oops poor phrasing on my part - i wouldn't either to that one-eyed monster. Guess he lost one eye in a street brawl in Marseille or some place.

TRIVIA ABOUT FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

this year the official campaign season runs from April 9 thru the 21st

to guarantee candidates all get equal treatment the Conseil superieur de l'audiovisuel ensures all candidates recieve an equal amount of time on each radio and TV channel.

And no political advertising is allowed on commercial broadcasts four months before the official campaign opens

In weeks preceding the election each voter receives an electoral envelope containing all the candidates statements and manifestos - this is done, according to the French Embassy, to diminish the influence of opinion polls.

And French law prohibits findings and statistics from public opinion polls (sondages?_ from being published a week before the first ballot

French nationals outside of France can vote- for details: www.consulfrance-washington.org

But when my French son living in the U.S. called the Embassy they told him he had to go in person on a set day about 100 miles away to be interviewed in person by a Consulate official so, if true, it may not be easy for many to vote.

The above taken from the French Embassy stuff.

The internet killed the opinion poll rule. The Belgian and Swiss press absolutely love French politics (they all say it is so much more interesting than in their own countries), so they pay for opinion polls up to the last minute -- and it's all available on the internet. In fact, I think that the rule about opinion polls has been officially cancelled in France for this reason. No point in banning something that you can't control.

We are currently being subjected to the &quot;official&quot; campaign on channels 2, 3 and 5 which are operated by France T&eacute;l&eacute;vision. (Private channels don't have to show these clips, but they do have to abide by the rule of giving equal time to every single candidate in the final 2 weeks.) The 90 second clips are fascinating and appalling. They're probably available on You Tube or on the French You Tube &quot;Daily Motion&quot; if anybody is interested.

Here's some UK commentary on the elections. If your French is up to it, it also has some links to those online tests that tell you which candidate most matches your opinions:

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/blog/franceprofonde/

The main thing that has people boiling with curiosity today is the rumor that C&eacute;cilia Sarkozy has not only left her husband for the second time, but in addition she filed a police report for domestic violence. But the French media protection of private lives is so ingrained that nobody wants to be the first to spill the beans. However, since part of the information is already on the CNN site, it will probably come out before Sunday. &quot;A qui profite le crime?&quot; as they say...