Gavin Mortimer

Gavin Mortimer

Gavin Mortimer is a British author who lives in Burgundy after many years in Paris. He writes about French politics, terrorism and sport.

Why does Britain have to shut down for Christmas?

Christmas in Britain means misery not merriment. It’s why I prefer France, which doesn’t shut down lock, stock and bauble. This year I’ll be in Aveyron, as profonde as La France profonde can be, and the highlight will be the Quine – that’s Bingo to Brits – which starts at 4pm on Christmas Day in the

The link between the gilet jaunes and the Strasbourg attack

There are conspiracy theories doing the rounds in France among some gilets jaunes that Tuesday’s Islamist attack in Strasbourg was somehow fabricated by the government. It was cooked up, so the social media conspirators say, to deter demonstrators from launching a fifth weekend of protests. The various theories are all very far-fetched. The alleged gunman,

Has Macron done enough to stop the yellow vest protests?

Emmanuel Macron spoke to the French people for thirteen minutes on Monday evening. It was an uncharacteristically sombre address from the president, one in which he admitted he had to take his ‘share of responsibility’ for the anger that provoked the yellow vest movement. As well as conceding he ‘might have hurt people with my

How the Gilets jaunes movement could spread across Europe

The eminent historian Emmanuel Todd was on the radio in France last week. He had much to say, none of which would have made for easy listening at the Élysée Palace, particularly his warning that Emmanuel Macron is facing a coup d’etat that has been fomenting for years. Todd believes that fundamental to the rise

My Saturday with the Gilets jaunes in Paris

Not quite a ghost town, but when I emerged from the metro at Saint-Germain-des-Prés at midday central Paris was eerily calm for a Saturday in the festive season. I once lived in this district and December was always a nightmare for shoppers and tourists. Not today. Louis Vuitton was shut and boarded, so, too, Swarovski

Emmanuel Macron’s next fight could be his toughest yet

In normal circumstances, Emmanuel Macron would welcome a trip to Marrakech in December as an opportunity to escape cold Paris and enjoy some North African hospitality. But his date in the Moroccan city next week could not have come at a worse time. France is burning and Macron’s presence on Monday at the United Nations intergovernmental

Gavin Mortimer

Yellow fever

I met a friend for lunch in Paris last Sunday. He and his wife had come up from the countryside for a weekend’s shopping. As we sat down, their nerves were still frayed from the previous day. It was, they told me, the most terrifying few hours of their lives. Trapped between the rioters and

What’s the truth about the Gilets jaunes?

Marine Le Pen spent last Saturday commenting on the scenes from the Champs-Elysées as the latest Gilets Jaunes demonstration turned violent. She also had the opportunity to respond to Christophe Castaner, the interior minister who, as cobbles rained down on the heads of the riot police, accused Le Pen of inciting the far-right to go

The chaos is closer to home than Macron thinks

Out and about in Paris on Saturday I passed scores of protestors on their way to the Champs-Élysées to vent their fury against Emmanuel Macron. Wearing their gilet jaunes (yellow vests), they were angry, determined and overwhelmingly white and middle-aged. The nationwide protest that pulled in nearly 300,000 demonstrators has been billed as a pushback

Macron and Trump’s doomed bromance is good news for Le Pen

Emmanuel Macron’s hosting of sixty world leaders in Paris last weekend to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice has turned into a public relations disaster. The president of the Republic not only infuriated Donald Trump, but he also put the Serbian president’s nose out of joint. According to reports, Aleksandar Vucic was not amused with

The cultural appropriation of the first world war

Last week I was in the Somme, visiting the first world war battlefields before the great and the good descend on the region this week to mark the centenary of the Armistice. In one cemetery I found propped against the headstone of Captain Frank Morkill a plastic folder, left two months earlier by a relative.

Eclipse of the Sun King

Emmanuel Macron was elated when France won the World Cup in July. The photograph of him leaping out of his seat at the Moscow stadium showed a leader at the peak of his power. Or so he thought. Ever since then, he has been bumping back to earth. Last week, the French President took the

France is fracturing but Macron remains in denial

As chalices go, few are as poisoned as the one Emmanuel Macron has just handed Christophe Castaner. Minister of the interior is one of the most challenging posts in government. The former Socialist MP has cultivated an image over the years of a political tough guy, in contrast to his predecessor, the diminutive Gérard Collomb.

Gavin Mortimer

Grosse negligence

A decade ago a book called French Women Don’t Get Fat took the Anglophone world by storm. It was a bestseller in Britain and America because, as the blurb explained, the French author ‘unlocks the simple secrets’ of why her people aren’t fat. So here is my sequel: Why French Kids Don’t Get Fat. Admittedly,

Why Emmanuel Macron should fear a no-deal Brexit

Last month I made my annual pilgrimage to the battlefields of the Somme, something I’ve been doing for 27 years. In that time, the area has changed dramatically: Albert, the small, sleepy town in the heart of the world war one battlefields has been transformed from a decaying backwater into a bustling place with cafes,

Fan Bingbing and the tyranny of Twitter

My first reaction when I read Fan Bingbing’s apology for tax evasion was to laugh. Who wouldn’t? It was so wonderfully OTT in that unmistakably communist way. ‘I have failed my nurturing country,’ declared China’s highest-earning actress, who resurfaced this week after disappearing from sight over the summer. ‘I have failed society’s trust, and I

Why is Canada letting Isis fighters off lightly?

What is the difference between the SS and Isis? A big one, it seems, in the eyes of Canada, where this week a federal court refused to review a decision to strip the Canadian citizenship of Helmut Oberlander, a Ukrainian immigrant with alleged ties to a Nazi killing squad in World War II. According to

Why Britain’s Jews look to France with fear

The Jewish New Year begins on Sunday and to mark the festival of Rosh Hashanah, Emmanuel Macron visited the Grand Synagogue in Paris on Tuesday. It was the first time that a president of France has attended and although he didn’t give an address (that would breach the laïcité protocol) Macron’s gesture was appreciated by