A 2 : This stands for “France 2”
www.france2.fr, which is one of the public TV channels (with FR3, ARTE, LA CINQUIEME).
AGRICULTURE : Nearly two thirds of the surface area of France is devoted to farming
(33 million hectares). Agriculture accounts for 8% of the working population and only 10%
of GNP, as this sector is less competitive in France than in neighbouring countries. The
variety of production is great, however: cereals in the wide plains of the north, fruit
and market-garden produce in the south, milk and meat in central regions, Brittany and
Normandy (total cattle stock is about 20 million). Vineyards are to be found south of the
Loire river and in Alsace, Bourgogne, Bordelais, ... ARRONDISSEMENT : Paris, Lyons and Marseilles are divided up into districts known as
arrondissements. There are 20 in Paris, 9 in Lyons and 16 in Marseilles. ASSEMBLEE NATIONALE : In Paris, on the left bank of the Seine. It is a monumental
structure which resembles a Greek temple and this is where the elected representatives
(députés) of the French people conduct the political affairs of the country and vote on
legislation. They can also vote the government out of office. On the other hand the
Assembly may be dissolved by the President of the Republic. Not too complicated, is it? AUTOMOBILE : Citroen, Peugeot and Renault are the big names in the French car
industry.
B
BLEU-BLANC-ROUGE : The three colours of the French flag since the French
Revolution in 1789. Blue and red are for the city of Paris, and white for Royalty. BEAUBOURG: This curious building, all pipes and steel frame, stands in a Paris
street with the same name. The full title of this most unusual museum (100,000 m2 of floor
space) is Le Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, and it was named after
the President who decided to create the Centre originally. Beaubourg seems to be Paris's
favourite museum, with 8 million visitors a year.
C
CHANSON (FRANCAISE ) : France has many excellent singers such as Léo Ferré,
Renaud, Jacques Higelin and Charles Trenet. All good and all different. Like camembert,
singing is a French speciality, even if you hear mostly English songs on the radio... CHIRAC (JACQUES) :Now President of the Republic since May 1995. Former mayor of
Paris (1977-1995). He has been also Prime Minister of Valery Giscard d'Estaing and Prime
Minister of Francois Mitterrand. CINEMA : François Truffaut died much too prematurely and the film industry is
suffering from the small-audience syndrome. It's really sad. And yet Jean-Pierre Mocky,
Eric Rohmer, Jean-Jacques Beinex, Jean-Jacques Annaud and other film directors keep us
dreaming with those 24 frames a second. And thank goodness for the Cannes Film Festival,
where all the international film personalities meet every year - all is not lost! CLIMAT : France's climate is neither too hot nor too cold and is to all intents and
purposes a temperate one (despite a few historic records such as 44oC at Toulouse in
August 1923 and -35oC in the Doubs area in January 1971) and can be regarded as pleasant
over all. The country is divided up into four weather zones. There is a wet oceanic
climate the whole year round with cool summers west of a line from Bayonne to Lille, and a
semi-continental climate with long, harsh winters and hot summers in Alsace, Lorraine and
along the Rhone corridor and in mountainous areas (the Alps and the Massif Central). The
North, the Parisian region and central regions have a climate which falls somewhere
between the two and combines their characteristics. Finally the Provence-Cìte d'Azur and
Languedoc-Roussillon regions enjoy a mediterranean climate with mild winters and hot
summers. COMMUNE : This is red tape parlance for a town or village. It is the smallest
administrative unit, governed by a mayor and town council. There are 36,433 communes in
France. COQ : The rooster, strong and full of life with its red coxcomb and strong beak is
the emblem of France. The Latin word gallus means both cock and gaul. French roosters of
course speak French and that glorious cry of cock-a-doodle-do is Co-co-ri-co as far as
they are concerned.
D
DECENTRALISATION : In 1982, after centuries of Paris-dominated centralisation,
local representatives began to administer regional affairs. DEMOGRAPHIE : Demographically speaking, France is ageing. It needs 160,000
additional children each year. For one generation to replace the last, the birthrate
should be 2.1 children per woman but it is only 1.8 in France. Life expectancy for men is
70 years on average, and 79 for women. DEPUTES : These members of parliament are elected to the National Assembly for
their constituency (each département administrative area is divided up into several
constituencies), by universal suffrage. The majority is now RPR and UDF (right and centre)
and the deputies are elected for five years.
F
FRANC : The French Franc has been the monetary unit in France since 1789 (see
“Your Money” section). FR3 : France Région 3, the third TV channel, is a state-run service which, in
addition to national programmes, offers viewers local information about what's going on in
their region. FROMAGE : France is of course the land of cheese. There's camembert, blue cheese
from Bresse, cancoillotte and dozens of other varieties. Tuck in! It's full of calcium!
G
GASTRONOMIE : The art of eating to perfection, a specialty which is 100 per
cent French. The greatest chefs are true artists. Their names are Paul Bocuse, Guérard,
Chapel and Troisgros. Their specialities range from the more traditional veal and beef
dishes such as Tête de Veau Sauce Ravigote and Bœuf Mironton to brilliant,
mouth-watering inventions such as Truffle Ravioli served with Morel and Meadow Mushroom
Cream Sauce. De GAULLE (CHARLES) : He was a General, and the hero of the Free French Forces. In
1940, when his country was under Nazi occupation, he refused to surrender and went to
London, where he made his famous “Call of June 18th”. He came to power for a
couple of years in 1944 when France was liberated, and in 1958 came back to head the
government after a long period in the wilderness called his traversée du désert by
French people. He was disappointed in his results at the 1969 referendum and chose to
withdraw from public life. He died in 1970 but, more than twenty years afterwards, the
name of De Gaulle is still greatly revered in France. GOUVERNEMENT : The head of the government is now Alain Juppé, and his ministers
are responsible for different areas of state business.
I
IMMIGRATION : The population includes 18 million second, third or fourth
generation French citizens. The percentage of foreigners is the same today as in 1931: 7%. INDUSTRIE : The manufacturing sector is the major activity in France, representing
50% of GNP and employing 33% of the working population. The main feature of it is the wide
range of manufacturing activities. However, some industries, such as iron and steel, are
in real decline and diversification and redeployment are becoming a way of life.
J
JEUNES : 8.270.000 young people where between 16 and 25 years old in 1994. One
out of four people under 25 is unemployed . This is one of the priorities for all the
goverments. Many programmes have been set up to help young people : CES, CEC, CIE, APEJ,
SIFE ... All explanations can be obtained at : Missions locales, PAIO or Youth Infromation
Centres (CIJs).
L
LA CINQUIEME : French television channel specializing in education, training
and employment.Jean-Marie Cavada is its president. LA CINQUIEME shares the channel
with ARTE. LANGUE : The official language is French but regional languages (Alsatian, Basque,
Breton, Catalan, Corsican and Provençal French) are still spoken. LITTERATURE : Boris Vian, Bernanos, Proust, Céline, Simone de Beauvoir, Camus,
Hugo and all the others... The French publishers' catalogue containing 220,000 titles is
amongst the most extensive in the world. Contrary to what you often hear, the French are
interested in books. One million books are sold each day on average but it must be
admitted that, as in other countries, 26% of the French never read at all!
M
MARSEILLAISE : “Allons enfants de la patrie, le jour de gloire est
arrivé...” This is how the French national anthem starts. The music and words were
written in 1792 by a captain named Rouget de Lisle. The reason it is called “La
Marseillaise” is because the original marching song was first sung by soldiers from
Marseilles. MARIANNE : No French town hall is without its figurative representation of the
Republic in the form of Marianne, a woman in a Phrygian cap. Her name is derived from a
secret society which aimed to topple the Second Empire. MITTERRAND (FRANCOIS) : The Socialist Party leader who, in May 1981, became
President of the Republic. He became the only President of the Fifth Republic to be
elected for two terms (19881-1995) in succession by universal suffrage. He died in 1995. MIDI : As soon as you leave Lyons behind to the east and Angoulême to the west,
the landscape changes. The sun shines almost all the year round and people speak with a
different accent, a lilt which is rather pleasant. This is the Midi, the mediterranean
part of France. It is very different from the north of the country. MODE : Paris is of course the capital of fashion and haute couture attracting both
proven designers such as Chanel, Dior, Cardin, Yves-Saint-Laurent and
“revolutionaries” like Jean-Paul Gaultier who'll stop at nothing: he dresses men
in skirts and straps women into bras that are worn on the outside.
P
PARIS/PROVINCE : Nine million French people live in the Paris region. As far as
they are concerned the rest of the country, even the suburbs of Paris, are provincial.
When you hear the words “provinces” (meaning everywhere outside Paris) and
“provincial” spoken by a Parisian the tone may be slightly derogatory. People
from Brest consider themselves to be Breton, and those from Carpentras will tell you they
come from the Midi. Up to the 1960s and 70s, “provincials” flocked to Paris to
get jobs, but this is changing. In fact, people now prefer to live in their native region.
The trend may well be the other way: nearly two million Paris area residents have recently
gone to live outside the city.
Q
14 JUILLET : This is the national holiday (Fête Nationale) commemorating the
fall of the Bastille in 1789 and the French Revolution. It is celebrated with a big
military parade down the Champs-Elysées and dancing for young and old at “bals
populaires” in every town.
R
RADIO-FRANCE : State-run radio stations include France-Inter (same idea as
Radio 4), France-Culture (for all the culture vultures) covering a wide range of
specialist interests, France-Musique (for music lovers), France-Info (news, and still more
news for those who like to know everything going on in the planet), and a whole host of
local radio stations. REPUBLIQUE : The present Fifth Republic was established in 1958, when General De
Gaulle had “his” constitution voted in. The French political regime is a
parliamentary one of the presidential type, in which many very important powers are vested
in the executive.
S
SENAT : Senators are elected for 9-year terms by the deputies, mayors and
council members etc. entitled to vote in elections for the French senate (they are called
the “grands électeurs”). The senate votes through laws together with the
National Assembly. The President of the Senate serves as Acting President in the event of
a vacancy. SPORT : The French have become increasingly physically active since the early
1980s. It is estimated that 52% of all men and 40% of women run, swim, kick a ball about,
ski on snow or water, jump or take to a bicycle. And the French don't lag behind other
countries in staying glued to the box if the French football team is on TV.
T
TF1 : It's now more than ten years since Monsieur Bouygues, the boss of the
most prestigious building and civil engineering contractors, took over TF1, which had been
a state-run channel till then. Lots of commercials, American series, games which bump up
the ratings.
V
VACANCES : The “wily bison” (Bison Futé) traffic control system to
stop traffic jams takes off on 1st August each year. The French roads are saturated with
holiday traffic. Heading for sun and sand, almost half of all holidaymakers are making for
the beaches. But people are taking shorter holidays now and remaining closer to home than
they used to so as to make a smaller hole in the family budget. And 45% of the population
don't go anywhere special on holiday. LA VILLETTE : Previously, La Villette was the name of a slaughterhouse. Today it is
France's most fantastic science and technology museum. It is in Paris (Porte de Pantin
metro station). There is always something going on and it's definitely worth a visit. You
feel as though you are living in the 21st Century already!
Design by : Marc ELOY - Em@ze
InfoSystems
Last update : 01/12/96