French press review 13 June 2012

It would have been foolish to think that between two rounds of legislative elections, France could have gone without a little political scandal. Well fear not listeners, it wasn’t even midweek and there was already a dodgy issue of Ségolène Royale running against fellow Socialist Olivier Falorni. He has refused to stand down from his circumscription in La Rochelle to allow Royale, the Socialist party's choice, to be parachuted into the region and thus becoming a rogue Socialist candidate.

It turns out that not everyone on camp Rue de Solférino are keen on the ex-wife of President François Hollande getting the La Rochelle job. Indeed, Valérie Trierweiler, the current partner of Hollande, took to the social network Twitter yesterday to encourage voters to cast their ballot in favour of Falorni. Her face, alongside Royale's, is splashed across the front page of most daily newspapers today.

Libération headlines with "France's first gaffe," instead of France's first lady saying that her anti-Royal tweet has put Hollande in a very difficult position. Conservative Le Figaro loves the situation and has headlined, "Royal's candidacy, a political and private affair," and refers to the issue as an embarrassment for the Elysée palace.

Tabloïd Aujourd'hui en France has gone for a more dramatic title: "The story of a secret rivalry." According to the paper, Valérie Trierweiler had told a women's magazine that she had a lot of character, meaning she couldn't be reigned in and that François [Hollande] trusted her with everything, except her tweeting." No one expected her to exemplify this so quickly.

Aujourd'hui en France notes that the embarrassment also comes from the fact that this has put Hollande’s private life in the spotlight - something he hoped to avoid as his presidential predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, had overdone the private/public image.

The controversy comes at a time when the left is trying to show a united front with the prominent women of the left. Martine Aubry and Cécile Dufflot have descended on La Rochelle to show support for the 2007 presidential candidate.

Aujourd'hui en France says Trierweiler wasn't aware that a neutral statement from François Hollande saying that Royal was the official Socialist candidate was being released when she tweeted. It then looks at the tense relationship between the two women. Apparently this incident is not the first time that the partner of a French president has caused political hiccups. Danielle Mitterrand had, for example, openly not shared her husband's views on Cuba or Mexico's Zapatista rebellion.

And what does Falorni think about all this? He’s reported to have been quite surprised. He has known Trierweiler for three years, and said that her tweet was a sign of friendship - one that came at a time when he felt that he was being kicked in the teeth by other Socialists.

Time now for something a little different. We're staying with Aujourd'hui en France, who has a lovely article about how horses are making a comeback in French vineyards. Forget tractors and modern technologies, our four-legged furry friend is the crème de la crème of tools in wine cultivation. One wine grower says horses work hard, the work is more refined and, as a result, so is the wine. Furthermore, this has brought a new lease on life for ferries, leather and iron craftsmen. Perhaps a more eco-friendly and organic way of life in wine production is on the horizon.