Has calm returned to the streets of France? Can shopkeepers and store owners remove the wooden barricades and metal shutters? What further protests are planned? Will high school students peacefully return to the classrooms next week as the government and the president desperately hope?

Or are we heading for weeks of unrest up until Christmas?

We’ll try to answer these questions in this week’s episode.

Be ready for what's next in France: Listeners can join The Local France for €29.99 / year - introductory offer.

And if any members can help us further and would like to make a donation, you can get more information here - just scroll to the bottom.

And we’ll look at why France’s newest motorway has taken so long to open and why motorists in the south west are vowing not to use it.

And we’ll look at the fine tradition of Halloween in France and some of the spooky and not so spooky things you can do this year.

Host Ben McPartland is joined by The Local’s own team of sorcerers Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and John Lichfield.

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In recent days the country has been hit by widespread looting, violent clashes between rioters and police, street protests and just scenes of chaos and conflict.

And the fear is there’s more to come. Not just this weekend, but in the months ahead as we get closer to the presidential election next spring.

Be ready for what's next in France: Listeners can join The Local France for €29.99 / year - introductory offer.

And if any members can help us further and would like to make a donation, you can get more information here - just scroll to the bottom.

We’ll unravel what happened, look ahead to what could still happen yet and explain some of the French protest slogans that have emerged in recent weeks.

And as well as the demonstrations and disorder on the streets France is also embroiled in a crisis of debt, the combination of which, experts say is unprecedented.

We’ll try and explain just how bad things are.

But despite all that, most of life in France is going on as normal this autumn, including some fantastic food festivals all over the country. We’ll give you a taste of the best ones.

Host Ben McPartland is joined by the team at The Local France Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and French politics expert John Lichfield.

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This week we’ll bring you up to date with what some of the French presidential candidates want to do with us foreigners - whether tax us more for working here or just keep us out altogether.

We’ll also hear why the grand old Parti Socialiste won’t have a candidate in next year’s election for the first time since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958.

We’ll get the latest on the high school student protests and whether the Gilets Jaunes are making a comeback on Saturday plus we’ll explain the pitfalls and even perils of moving to France to set up home with a French partner. Let’s face it , it doesn’t always work out as planned.

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We’ll try and explain a huge cyberattack on French supermarkets this week that led to millions of euros of food being chucked away and just how to pronounce big brand names in French. No, the French don’t say Ikea, LinkedIn or Uggs.

Host Ben McPartland is joined for this episode by the usual suspects from The Local France Emma Pearson, Emma Albright and politics expert John Lichfield.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.