Say Hi to Sarko!
The big news today on the radio is that President Sarkozy is vacationing in the United States. My greatest surprise, however, was that he and his family are in New Hampshire! This is very exciting for me as many of my conversations this year have been along these lines:
Other: "Which state are you from?"
Me: "New Hampshire"
Other (with a happy look of recognition): "New York!"
Me: "No, New Hampshire. It's a small state between Boston and Quebec."
Disappointment or disinterest
End of conversation
Thank you to the Sarkozys for putting New Hampshire on the map.
I went to my French school today to say goodbye, and I suggested to the teachers that they should follow Sarko's lead and visit us in New Hampshire. One of the teachers (who will remain anonymous due to the nature of her comment) asked me if we had any terrorists to take care of him while he was there. Needless to say, he is not very popular among my French teachers.
I’ve noticed that Sarkozy is much more positively portrayed by the American press than by my French teachers. I think American journalists like his candor, and they don’t seem to mind that, as Minister of the Interior, he sent police to schools where there were children of illegal immigrants in order to use the students to capture and deport the parents. My French teachers, and many other French people, found his methods rather distasteful. They, obviously, were the minority during election day.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Sarkozy family, Cécilia, his wife, is a somewhat enigmatic figure. She apparently had an office next to him when he was Minister of the Interior and helped manage his professional life. She is also known to have left him a couple of times for affairs in the U.S. Most inconveniently, she was reportedly in the U.S. with her lover during much of the campaign. She didn’t show up to be by his side until about 8:30 pm on the night of the election and reportedly didn’t vote in the second and final round. I have to admit that I felt bad for Sarko when I saw him in his car alone with his wife’s two kids and the one child they share together, being driven to wherever his supporters were waiting the night of the election. The absence of his wife was painfully evident. My French teachers scoff at any display of softness towards Sarko.
My impression during the election was that while the French were aware of Mrs. Sarkozy philandering in foreign places, it was not sensationalized as it would have been in the U.S. There were no dramatic headlines, no paparazzi photos, no endless discussions (as far as I could tell within my linguistic fog). Apparently Mrs. Sarko’s comportment didn’t appear to affect the election results either, as Sarkozy’s victory was considered resounding. While the results are perhaps not surprising given that the French are famous for both accepting the vagaries of the heart and valuing privacy, even for public figures, I appreciated that the issue wasn’t allowed to take over the election and detract from the more pressing issues facing the country. People knew it and could respond to it in the voting booth if they so chose, but the business of the country attracted the most attention, more than the salacious lives of its leaders.
I read some articles in the British press criticizing the French press for being too soft on Sarko and not pursuing the story of the absent wife as much as it should. They also suggested that Sarko has too much influence with the folks that own the media in France and therefore, indirectly, had some control over the extent of the coverage. Sound familiar?
Speaking of salacious, Nicolas Sarkozy met Cecilia when he, as mayor of a ritzy Paris suburb, performed the marriage ceremony for her first marriage. He reportedly fell in love with her during this encounter and spent subsequent years trying to convince her to leave her husband. (In this case, a priest may have been a wiser choice for a wedding celebrant.) One story I’ve heard repeated is that of a skiing vacation when the first and currently ex-Mrs. Sarkozy went looking for Nicolas and found his footprints in the snow leading to Cecilia’s window.
There was some speculation on the radio that the Sarkozy family chose New Hampshire as a vacation location because of its proximity to the Bush's summer residence in Kennebunkport. We natives all know it’s because they wanted the no sales tax experience. Since France's sales tax is ~19% and my impression is that the income tax is equally astounding, perhaps they had to see a sales tax and income tax-free state for themselves. Of course in the discussion of tax burdens one also has to recognize that the French have what is arguably the best universal health care system in the world (according to the World Health Organization), virtually free universities for all and a guaranteed minimum income for any French citizen. Unlike Americans, the French expect the government to provide security to its citizens; in this case, of course, we mean not just security from terrorists.
Sarkozy's last vacation, which he took immediately after the election, was very much criticized because he hung out on a yacht in the Mediterranean with some billionaire. The French were outraged by this blatant display of rubbing shoulders with the rich. I was a bit surprised by the hubbub. My impression, which I shared with my friend Ghislaine, who didn’t approve of Sarko’s hobnobbing with the wealthy, is that Americans wouldn't care that much about such shenanigans; we're used to politicians rubbing shoulders with the rich. Actually, we're used to politicians being “the rich.”
Well I should go and resume preparations for our voyage home. If any of you should see Sarko, please say “Salut!” for me.
Other: "Which state are you from?"
Me: "New Hampshire"
Other (with a happy look of recognition): "New York!"
Me: "No, New Hampshire. It's a small state between Boston and Quebec."
Disappointment or disinterest
End of conversation
Thank you to the Sarkozys for putting New Hampshire on the map.
I went to my French school today to say goodbye, and I suggested to the teachers that they should follow Sarko's lead and visit us in New Hampshire. One of the teachers (who will remain anonymous due to the nature of her comment) asked me if we had any terrorists to take care of him while he was there. Needless to say, he is not very popular among my French teachers.
I’ve noticed that Sarkozy is much more positively portrayed by the American press than by my French teachers. I think American journalists like his candor, and they don’t seem to mind that, as Minister of the Interior, he sent police to schools where there were children of illegal immigrants in order to use the students to capture and deport the parents. My French teachers, and many other French people, found his methods rather distasteful. They, obviously, were the minority during election day.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Sarkozy family, Cécilia, his wife, is a somewhat enigmatic figure. She apparently had an office next to him when he was Minister of the Interior and helped manage his professional life. She is also known to have left him a couple of times for affairs in the U.S. Most inconveniently, she was reportedly in the U.S. with her lover during much of the campaign. She didn’t show up to be by his side until about 8:30 pm on the night of the election and reportedly didn’t vote in the second and final round. I have to admit that I felt bad for Sarko when I saw him in his car alone with his wife’s two kids and the one child they share together, being driven to wherever his supporters were waiting the night of the election. The absence of his wife was painfully evident. My French teachers scoff at any display of softness towards Sarko.
My impression during the election was that while the French were aware of Mrs. Sarkozy philandering in foreign places, it was not sensationalized as it would have been in the U.S. There were no dramatic headlines, no paparazzi photos, no endless discussions (as far as I could tell within my linguistic fog). Apparently Mrs. Sarko’s comportment didn’t appear to affect the election results either, as Sarkozy’s victory was considered resounding. While the results are perhaps not surprising given that the French are famous for both accepting the vagaries of the heart and valuing privacy, even for public figures, I appreciated that the issue wasn’t allowed to take over the election and detract from the more pressing issues facing the country. People knew it and could respond to it in the voting booth if they so chose, but the business of the country attracted the most attention, more than the salacious lives of its leaders.
I read some articles in the British press criticizing the French press for being too soft on Sarko and not pursuing the story of the absent wife as much as it should. They also suggested that Sarko has too much influence with the folks that own the media in France and therefore, indirectly, had some control over the extent of the coverage. Sound familiar?
Speaking of salacious, Nicolas Sarkozy met Cecilia when he, as mayor of a ritzy Paris suburb, performed the marriage ceremony for her first marriage. He reportedly fell in love with her during this encounter and spent subsequent years trying to convince her to leave her husband. (In this case, a priest may have been a wiser choice for a wedding celebrant.) One story I’ve heard repeated is that of a skiing vacation when the first and currently ex-Mrs. Sarkozy went looking for Nicolas and found his footprints in the snow leading to Cecilia’s window.
There was some speculation on the radio that the Sarkozy family chose New Hampshire as a vacation location because of its proximity to the Bush's summer residence in Kennebunkport. We natives all know it’s because they wanted the no sales tax experience. Since France's sales tax is ~19% and my impression is that the income tax is equally astounding, perhaps they had to see a sales tax and income tax-free state for themselves. Of course in the discussion of tax burdens one also has to recognize that the French have what is arguably the best universal health care system in the world (according to the World Health Organization), virtually free universities for all and a guaranteed minimum income for any French citizen. Unlike Americans, the French expect the government to provide security to its citizens; in this case, of course, we mean not just security from terrorists.
Sarkozy's last vacation, which he took immediately after the election, was very much criticized because he hung out on a yacht in the Mediterranean with some billionaire. The French were outraged by this blatant display of rubbing shoulders with the rich. I was a bit surprised by the hubbub. My impression, which I shared with my friend Ghislaine, who didn’t approve of Sarko’s hobnobbing with the wealthy, is that Americans wouldn't care that much about such shenanigans; we're used to politicians rubbing shoulders with the rich. Actually, we're used to politicians being “the rich.”
Well I should go and resume preparations for our voyage home. If any of you should see Sarko, please say “Salut!” for me.
posted by Nancy at 1:24 AM
4 Comments:
I'm so glad that you wrote this when you did because I'm leaving for NH this afternoon. I'll certainly be on the lookout for Sarko and will give him your regards when I see him. Perhaps he'll be attempting a water sport on Northwood Lake. Or maybe he'll be at the Pittsfield Balloon Festival. Either way, I'll be watching out for him.
He's short (à la Napoleon) so you may have to look hard.
Can you compare and contrast the apparent distaste for America and Sarkozy and his overwhelming election victory. It seems a contradiction. Is it just the Intelligencia that hates all things American or Capitalist or are the majority of the French just confused right now, as in Bush bad, Hitler so-so, Amadenijad good,?
Hi Friend of Dave’s. I don’t pretend to be an expert on French politics, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt. Perhaps the most insight I can offer regarding the election is that Ségolène Royal was widely considered to be a very weak candidate. Almost everyone I knew supported the left, and none was enthusiastic about voting for Royal. In fact one woman I knew told me that she didn’t vote in the final round because she couldn’t bring herself to vote for Royal, even though she considered herself sympathetic to the left.
Sarkozy’s victory may have been less definitive if François Bayrou, the centrist candidate, had beat Royal in the first round. I was told that more people would have supported Bayrou in the first round, but they were too worried that it would have split the left and LePen would have made it to the final round, as he did in 2002. People who wanted to vote for Bayrou, voted for Royal in order to avoid having to choose between LePen and Sarkozy in the final round, a nightmare for the political left.
I don’t think that it is appropriate to interpret Sarkozy’s victory within a pro or anti-American framework. People concerned about issues such as France’s stagnant economy and illegal immigration supported Sarkozy. I have a friend in Nice, a politically conservative region of France, who told me that he was likely to vote for Sarkozy because he felt that he paid too much in taxes and there were too many people free-loading off of the French social system. My guess is that the French right share many of the same concerns as American conservatives, if you exclude the influence of the Christian right. (Abortion is widely accepted and is not a political issue in France.)
Obviously not all the French find Sarkozy distasteful. We lived in an area that was strongly left, so just about everyone I encountered in Toulouse disliked and distrusted him. I would guess that he is much more popular in more conservative regions of the country, but I had little exposure to people from those areas.
I wouldn’t dwell too much on anti-American sentiment. I think it largely reflects the extreme distaste that the French (and many Americans) had for the war in Iraq and a wariness of globalization and the increasing Americanization of the world. My impression is that the French don’t want to live like Americans, and they are wary of forces that push them in that direction. Again, my impressions are largely derived from speaking with people who would consider themselves on the left of the political divide.
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