Emma Pearson
@emmapearson.bsky.social
Editor of The Local France, co-host of Talking France podcast. Paris resident, Yorkshire born, Castres Olympique 🏉 fan - emma.pearson@thelocal.com
The Pays Basque is excellent. 10/10, no notes
November 6, 2025 at 6:51 PM
The Pays Basque is excellent. 10/10, no notes
Next level south-west France!
November 4, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Next level south-west France!
The Basque Country - tolerable, I suppose 😎
November 3, 2025 at 11:01 AM
The Basque Country - tolerable, I suppose 😎
One of the best things about 🇫🇷 rugby is the atmosphere at Top 14 games and Bayonne is my new favourite for ambience/ crazy fans/ excellent songs 🏉 (too busy drinking and singing to take photos)
November 1, 2025 at 6:19 PM
One of the best things about 🇫🇷 rugby is the atmosphere at Top 14 games and Bayonne is my new favourite for ambience/ crazy fans/ excellent songs 🏉 (too busy drinking and singing to take photos)
The bill is mainly symbolic but this is still a very significant moment. Not only is it the 1st time the 🇫🇷 parliament has passed a bill proposed by the far-right, but the centre-right and centrist MPs either backed it or abstained. Cordon sanitaire around the far-right is well and truly breached 😱
Far-right win 'historic' victory in French parliament
Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National party is celebrating after the French parliament passed, for the first time, a bill proposed by the far-right.
www.thelocal.fr
October 31, 2025 at 8:42 AM
The bill is mainly symbolic but this is still a very significant moment. Not only is it the 1st time the 🇫🇷 parliament has passed a bill proposed by the far-right, but the centre-right and centrist MPs either backed it or abstained. Cordon sanitaire around the far-right is well and truly breached 😱
Reposted by Emma Pearson
Let's have a look into the #CrossChannelRail 🔮 and see where all this is heading after today's news Virgin Trains will have access to Temple Mills depot
This thread is speculative - please forgive that - but somehow I am left with a kind of impression we're missing some parts of the jigsaw still
This thread is speculative - please forgive that - but somehow I am left with a kind of impression we're missing some parts of the jigsaw still
October 30, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Let's have a look into the #CrossChannelRail 🔮 and see where all this is heading after today's news Virgin Trains will have access to Temple Mills depot
This thread is speculative - please forgive that - but somehow I am left with a kind of impression we're missing some parts of the jigsaw still
This thread is speculative - please forgive that - but somehow I am left with a kind of impression we're missing some parts of the jigsaw still
Used this Forbes list as an excuse to write about Albi, one of the best towns in France. It has;
🇫🇷 a deeply sinister cathedral
🇫🇷 the world's best collection of Toulouse-Lautrec paintings
🇫🇷 great wine, lots of 🦆 (it's in SW France, of course there is duck)
🇫🇷 a deeply sinister cathedral
🇫🇷 the world's best collection of Toulouse-Lautrec paintings
🇫🇷 great wine, lots of 🦆 (it's in SW France, of course there is duck)
The below-the-radar French town named on European cultural heritage list
The Forbes of list of the 10 European towns with the best cultural heritage contains some well-known names like Florence, Dubrovnik and Bruges - plus one small town in south-west France that often fli...
www.thelocal.fr
October 28, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Used this Forbes list as an excuse to write about Albi, one of the best towns in France. It has;
🇫🇷 a deeply sinister cathedral
🇫🇷 the world's best collection of Toulouse-Lautrec paintings
🇫🇷 great wine, lots of 🦆 (it's in SW France, of course there is duck)
🇫🇷 a deeply sinister cathedral
🇫🇷 the world's best collection of Toulouse-Lautrec paintings
🇫🇷 great wine, lots of 🦆 (it's in SW France, of course there is duck)
The sentiment I have heard frequently in France over the past few months is fear that the country is now an international laughing stock - I don't think it's quite that bad, mes chers Frenchies
OPINION: Relax France, the world isn't laughing at you (not much, anyway)
Is the whole world really laughing at France over its endless government dramas, jailed ex president and that Louvre heist? Perhaps, a bit. But it's not as bad as a lot of French people seem to fear, ...
www.thelocal.fr
October 27, 2025 at 3:58 PM
The sentiment I have heard frequently in France over the past few months is fear that the country is now an international laughing stock - I don't think it's quite that bad, mes chers Frenchies
Fascinating. Terrifying
Reporting this story, the same details kept appearing in police investigations around Europe: the perpetrators turned out to have been recruited and offered cash over Telegram.
European authorities are increasingly open in saying who is responsible: Russia.
www.irishtimes.com/world/europe...
European authorities are increasingly open in saying who is responsible: Russia.
www.irishtimes.com/world/europe...
From pigs’ heads to arson plots: how Russia’s hybrid war is sowing chaos across Europe
The trail from a Normandy pig farm has helped expose Russia’s campaign of sabotage across Europe aimed at inflaming division, spreading fear and weakeing support for Ukraine
www.irishtimes.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Fascinating. Terrifying
New podcast
🇫🇷 What the Louvre heist reveals about France
🇫🇷 Nicolas Sarkozy's prison reading material
🇫🇷 Do Paris cyclists need to learn the rules of the road, or are pedestrians the worst?
🇫🇷 What the Louvre heist reveals about France
🇫🇷 Nicolas Sarkozy's prison reading material
🇫🇷 Do Paris cyclists need to learn the rules of the road, or are pedestrians the worst?
Talking France: What the Louvre heist reveals about France and new civics test unveiled
We simply cannot not discuss the 88 million euro jewellery heist at France's most famous museum The Louvre in this week's episode. How could it happen? Some blame lax security, others blame funding...
pod.fo
October 23, 2025 at 8:15 AM
New podcast
🇫🇷 What the Louvre heist reveals about France
🇫🇷 Nicolas Sarkozy's prison reading material
🇫🇷 Do Paris cyclists need to learn the rules of the road, or are pedestrians the worst?
🇫🇷 What the Louvre heist reveals about France
🇫🇷 Nicolas Sarkozy's prison reading material
🇫🇷 Do Paris cyclists need to learn the rules of the road, or are pedestrians the worst?
Reposted by Emma Pearson
PODCAST: What the Louvre heist reveals about France and new civics test unveiled
PODCAST: What the Louvre heist reveals about France and new civics test unveiled
The Talking France podcast is back with the latest on the French government, the new requirement for a civics test, cycle wars on the streets of France and of course that €88 million heist at the Louvre.
www.thelocal.fr
October 23, 2025 at 6:05 AM
PODCAST: What the Louvre heist reveals about France and new civics test unveiled
Reposted by Emma Pearson
This is the couple who sang that beautiful song in front of the balloon at the closing ceremony of the Paris Paralympics last year. I had no idea that he had died
‘At night, his guitar comes into my mind’: Amadou and Mariam’s surviving singer on life after losing her husband and musical partner
As Amadou and Mariam, the blind couple tenaciously carved out a career as one of Africa’s biggest global acts. Now, after Amadou’s death this year, his wife tells the story of their first posthumous a...
www.theguardian.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:17 PM
This is the couple who sang that beautiful song in front of the balloon at the closing ceremony of the Paris Paralympics last year. I had no idea that he had died
It's deeply worrying how few politicians, all around Europe, are willing to be like Ed and make the case for legal migrants
People who have come to the United Kingdom legally, played by the rules and made it their home do not need to “go home”. This is their home.
I've written to Kemi Badenoch to give her the chance to reject these divisive calls from her frontbencher Katie Lam.
I've written to Kemi Badenoch to give her the chance to reject these divisive calls from her frontbencher Katie Lam.
October 22, 2025 at 8:39 AM
It's deeply worrying how few politicians, all around Europe, are willing to be like Ed and make the case for legal migrants
Reposted by Emma Pearson
I like this take on the Louvre heist!
www.thelocal.com/20251021/opi...
www.thelocal.com/20251021/opi...
OPINION: Louvre jewel theft shows that France is simply too rich
As politicians decry the 'national humiliation' of the theft of the crown jewels from the Louvre, John Lichfield ponders whether France has simply too many treasures to protect them all properly.
www.thelocal.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I like this take on the Louvre heist!
www.thelocal.com/20251021/opi...
www.thelocal.com/20251021/opi...
Hands up, I am one of those people who didn't realise until the theft on Sunday that a) the French crown jewels were in the Louvre and b) that France even had crown jewels
OPINION: Louvre jewel theft shows that France is simply too rich
As politicians decry the 'national humiliation' of the theft of the crown jewels from the Louvre, John Lichfield ponders whether France has simply too many treasures to protect them all properly.
www.thelocal.fr
October 21, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Hands up, I am one of those people who didn't realise until the theft on Sunday that a) the French crown jewels were in the Louvre and b) that France even had crown jewels
I believe we have this year's Halloween costume . . .
on a retrouvé les bijoux piqués au Louvre !!
(je sais pas qui a fait ce montage je l'ai reçu d'une pote qui l'avait reçu d'un pote, bref, si vous savez dites le moi et je rajouterai en dessous!)
(je sais pas qui a fait ce montage je l'ai reçu d'une pote qui l'avait reçu d'un pote, bref, si vous savez dites le moi et je rajouterai en dessous!)
October 20, 2025 at 5:22 PM
I believe we have this year's Halloween costume . . .
Well I agree that one of these things gives a deplorable image of France . . .
October 20, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Well I agree that one of these things gives a deplorable image of France . . .
If you missed Lupin the first time around and have therefore spent the weekend being baffled by the references to Arsène Lupin as the Louvre jewel thief . . .
October 20, 2025 at 7:29 AM
If you missed Lupin the first time around and have therefore spent the weekend being baffled by the references to Arsène Lupin as the Louvre jewel thief . . .
Fantastic 🧵, especially the 1900 newspaper photos of people in Paris climbing the side of the building to listen to philosophy lectures through the window!
1 like = 1 interesting, possibly little-known, fact about French philosopher Henri Bergson
October 18, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Fantastic 🧵, especially the 1900 newspaper photos of people in Paris climbing the side of the building to listen to philosophy lectures through the window!
Reposted by Emma Pearson
Here's a video of the Bayeux Tapestry being carefully removed from its case and packed away. I had my heart in my mouth while watching. And yes, I do have nightmares about it crossing the channel! I had my heart in my mouth just watching this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ys...
Extraction de la TAPISSERIE DE BAYEUX - 18 09 2025
YouTube video by Bayeux Museum
www.youtube.com
October 18, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Here's a video of the Bayeux Tapestry being carefully removed from its case and packed away. I had my heart in my mouth while watching. And yes, I do have nightmares about it crossing the channel! I had my heart in my mouth just watching this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ys...
2 courts have now ruled against Marine Le Pen, she has 2 to go;
🇫🇷 An appeal against her criminal conviction for embezzlement (due 2026)
🇫🇷 A question to the Conseil Constitutionnel on whether an election ban is constitutional for someone who has been convicted of a crime, but has ongoing appeals
🇫🇷 An appeal against her criminal conviction for embezzlement (due 2026)
🇫🇷 A question to the Conseil Constitutionnel on whether an election ban is constitutional for someone who has been convicted of a crime, but has ongoing appeals
Le Pen appeal dismissed in latest round of her legal battle over politics ban
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has lost the latest round of her legal battle to overturn the ban on standing elections that was handed down after her conviction for embezzlement.
www.thelocal.fr
October 16, 2025 at 10:11 AM
2 courts have now ruled against Marine Le Pen, she has 2 to go;
🇫🇷 An appeal against her criminal conviction for embezzlement (due 2026)
🇫🇷 A question to the Conseil Constitutionnel on whether an election ban is constitutional for someone who has been convicted of a crime, but has ongoing appeals
🇫🇷 An appeal against her criminal conviction for embezzlement (due 2026)
🇫🇷 A question to the Conseil Constitutionnel on whether an election ban is constitutional for someone who has been convicted of a crime, but has ongoing appeals
New podcast!
🇫🇷 Will the current French political crisis lead to the creation of the 6th Republic (and what happened to republics 1-5)?
🇫🇷 The world's only street art theme park and why it's in a village in central France
🇫🇷 Hot news on Camembert and croissants
🇫🇷 Will the current French political crisis lead to the creation of the 6th Republic (and what happened to republics 1-5)?
🇫🇷 The world's only street art theme park and why it's in a village in central France
🇫🇷 Hot news on Camembert and croissants
Talking France: France presses the self-destruct button and Paris prepares for 'flood of the century'
You'll be glad to know things have become just a little clearer since last week when it comes to what is going on in France. Just a little.We have a new government, we kind of have a new prime mini...
pod.fo
October 15, 2025 at 3:35 PM
New podcast!
🇫🇷 Will the current French political crisis lead to the creation of the 6th Republic (and what happened to republics 1-5)?
🇫🇷 The world's only street art theme park and why it's in a village in central France
🇫🇷 Hot news on Camembert and croissants
🇫🇷 Will the current French political crisis lead to the creation of the 6th Republic (and what happened to republics 1-5)?
🇫🇷 The world's only street art theme park and why it's in a village in central France
🇫🇷 Hot news on Camembert and croissants
Cars account for just 4.3% of journeys in Paris. So motorists may be 'living in fear' (although that sounds unlikely) but the vast majority of Parisians, far from seeing red, are pretty happy with expanded space for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users
Paris sees red as mayor drives cars off the road
Motorists in the French capital live in fear of the tow truck and sky-high parking fines
Motorists in the French capital live in fear of the tow truck and sky-high parking fines
Paris sees red as mayor drives cars off the road
Paris sees red as mayor drives cars off the road
www.thetimes.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Cars account for just 4.3% of journeys in Paris. So motorists may be 'living in fear' (although that sounds unlikely) but the vast majority of Parisians, far from seeing red, are pretty happy with expanded space for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users
The 🇫🇷 pension argument makes me feel very foreign. I still, after 6 years of these various reform debates, cannot understand the level of fury at the idea of raising the pension age to 64 (which would still be the lowest in Europe) in a country with an ageing population 🤷♀️
OPINION: Macron has slammed France into reverse gear with pension surrender
Emmanuel Macron has performed a humiliating U-turn and agreed to suspend his pension reform in order to avoid another collapsed government - his surrender will ultimately harm France, says John Lichfi...
www.thelocal.fr
October 15, 2025 at 8:27 AM
The 🇫🇷 pension argument makes me feel very foreign. I still, after 6 years of these various reform debates, cannot understand the level of fury at the idea of raising the pension age to 64 (which would still be the lowest in Europe) in a country with an ageing population 🤷♀️