LES INFOS ❘ NEWS LES INFOS


The essential France Today round-up of the latest faits divers, news and views from around the Hexagon


News in brief SMOKING BAN


A roaring fire is surely a must for an Alpine chalet in winter, where a


long day’s skiing means all you want to do is cosy up by the fire with a warming drink. But not for much


longer. In a bid to reduce pollution levels, authorities in Haute-Savoie have banned the use of open


fireplaces in the Arve Valley, which is thought to be the most polluted


valley in France. The ban, which will come into effect in January 2022, will affect 41 towns.


Yes, we herd you!


It’s official: cattle can meuh, cockerels can cocorico and cowpats can, well, pong – France has declared the sounds and smells of the countryside part of its “rural sensory heritage”. The new law means the regions of l’Hexagone will be able to list their characteristic sounds and smells, such as the singing of cicadas in Provence or the smell of cow dung in Limousin, thereby protecting them from litigious objectors. MP Pierre Morel-À-L’Huissier, who proposed the law, said it would put an end to the


raft of legal disputes over animal smells, church bells, tractor engines and the like, because now “sound or smell pollution that refers to emissions inscribed on the rural sensory heritage (list) cannot be deemed abnormal neighbourly disturbances”. Recent court cases have included the ducks in Soustons, Landes, who landed their


farmer in trouble when a neighbour complained they were quacking too loudly, and a herd of cows in Occoches, Somme, whose smell, residents said, would put paid to barbecues in summer. Meanwhile, in Colmar, Haut-Rhin, the mayor came under the cosh from locals who wanted him to muffle the sound of the church bells on Sundays. But the most high-profile legal showdown centred on Maurice, a cockerel with a very


healthy set of lungs who lives on the Île d’Oléron. A couple from Limoges, who have a holiday home on the island, claimed his crowing was disturbing their sleep. Some 160,000 people signed petitions in support of Maurice’s right to express himself and, happily, the judge ruled in his favour. M L’Huissier said that without the new law France’s rural heritage was at risk of dying out.


DRONING ON


SMALL BUT MIGHTY Spare a thought for the 11 councillors of Saint-Germain-de-Pasquier in Eure, who (alongside the town clerk) have to squeeze into a tiny 2.6m by 3m mairie (which is a wedding venue and polling station to boot). It has just won a spot in the Guinness Book of Records as the teeniest in all of France.


8 ❘ FRANCE TODAY Apr/May 2020


La Poste is using drones to deliver parcels to remote Alpine villages, where snowfall can make regular deliveries impossible. The postie


parks in the small village of Fontanil- Cornillon and flies the drone up


the mountain. Don’t order anything heavy though – the drone can only manage parcels up to 2kg.


A judge has ruled that Maurice the cockerel is allowed to crow as much as he likes


G’DAY, BOY! Forget the French bulldog and


the French poodle (sorry, chaps) – for the third year running, les


Français have named the Australian Shepherd the nation’s favourite


pooch, pipping the Belgian Shepherd and the English Staffordshire Bull Terrier to the podium. C’est qui le bon chienchien?


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