France in focus

In 1924, French poet André Breton wrote a short text with fellow poet and compatriot Louis Aragon that was to send ripples through the world of art and literature, providing a blueprint for the avant-garde movements of the 20th century. One century later, we take a look at how the Surrealist Manifesto prompted an intellectual and artistic revolution in 1920s Paris; a statement of intent that was to have repercussions far beyond the French capital in the years that followed.

At Paris's Pompidou Centre, curator Didier Ottinger explains how the movement was, at its inception, both political and aesthetic, taking inspiration from Karl Marx and Arthur Rimbaud; he also discusses the charismatic force field that saw Breton steward the movement for four decades.

Laurent Doucet, of the Maison André Breton, expands on the role that Freudian psychoanalysis played in the development of the Surrealist Manifesto, and touches on the horrors of World War I, which prompted its authors to break with the past.

Since Surrealism's reach also extended into neighbouring Belgium, we travel to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels to hear from curator Francisca Vandepitte. The exhibition "Imagine! 100 years of International Surrealism" revisits the movement's origins in Symbolist painting, highlights René Magritte's unique take on the subconscious and includes important pieces from the women who were key contributors to the Surrealist aesthetic.

Back in Paris, we visit the studio of artist Marcus Schaefer, who explains how Surrealist principles infuse his photography, as he uses different techniques to create layered, kinetic images which aim to reveal a deeper truth about his subjects.

Exactly five years ago, the world watched in horror as Paris's Notre-Dame Cathedral was ravaged by flames. Today, carpenters and artisans are hammering away to meet a December 8 deadline for the Gothic landmark's grand reopening. Spectators attending the Paris Olympics this summer will already be able to admire the renovated structure from the outside. Meanwhile, life has resumed on the Île de la Cité, the island that's home to Notre-Dame in the historical heart of the French capital. The square in front of the cathedral and its surroundings are even set for a makeover. FRANCE 24's team went to meet local residents.

Report by Julie Chouteau, Georges Yazbeck, Sonia Baritello, Jonathan Walsh and Aurore Cloé Dupuis

Drone footage: Skunati Laurent Doumas

Editing: Gilles and Joël

Chief editor: Stéphanie Cheval

Nearly three quarters of French people eat chocolate once a week, consuming an average of 7 kilos per year. But what seems a simple indulgence has a dark side: cacao farming has resulted in massive deforestation. Reports of child labour and farmers who are often unfairly paid have tarnished the industry. Despite all this, chocolate has been considered a delicacy in France for centuries. In this show, we're focusing on an emerging new trend: ethical chocolate.

For the past few years, certain chocolate industry professionals in France have been trying to create a product that's greener and more ethical. That's the case of Les copains de Bastien, or The Friends of Bastien.

"Les copains de Bastien" is associated with "Bean to Bar", a movement born in the US which consists in the ability to produce your own chocolate, ensuring ethical processes are respected. "We work to pay the producers fairly, to make sure we don't contribute to deforestation," says chocolatier Marc Chincholle. "So, for that we work with the sourcers and directly with the producers sometimes, to assure that the process is done well and that the producers are able to get by financially and personally."

Committed Chocolatiers

Some French chocolatiers have become part of a group called the "Committed Chocolatiers' Club". Their objective is to ensure fair conditions for producers and transparency for consumers. The ultimate goal, they say, is to shake up the way things are done in the industry.

"We need to explain this approach; the key is to educate. Ninety-nine percent of farmers have never tasted a gram of chocolate, and at the same time, many chocolate users in France, Europe and around the world have never visited cocoa farms. So it was about bringing people together and allowing them to understand each other's issues," explains Daniel Mercier, the group's president.

Mercier launched the club to create a "short circuit" between chocolatiers in France and producers, allowing them to be better paid. "Creating a short circuit means that cocoa ultimately doesn't cost much more than what we paid before. We are very sensitive to prices, especially to inflation. The difference between craftsmanship and industry is that we have a significant impact of the cost of labour, which mitigates the rise in raw material costs," he says.

This approach is gaining ground in France and Europe, with more chocolatiers joining the team. "If we were to make a wish, it would be that indeed, fairly compensating farmers, knowing the origins, the cocoa plantations, meeting farmers, encouraging them to produce quality cocoa, becomes a global norm," Mercier hopes. "We need to focus precisely on these people. That’s what the Committed Chocolatiers are working on".

The race for accommodation in Paris could be an Olympic sport in itself. The number of rentals available is plummeting while prices are soaring, yet real estate agents are overwhelmed with demand. From short-term rentals to efficiency upgrades, prospective tenants are paying the price for the ongoing crisis. We take a closer look.

Léandre is 27. He's been looking for a flat in Paris for the past two months, having visited more than 15 different places. Every day, it's the same routine: sifting through all the listings, in vain. 

He is currently staying with a family member. Despite his permanent job as an events project manager with a monthly income of around €2,400, as well as two guarantors, Léandre's application hasn't been accepted. "There were two or three apartments where I was in the final stages, so to speak," he explains. "Unfortunately, each time they chose the applications with the highest income, which I can understand as it’s more reassuring for them. There are fewer and fewer offers, and inevitably, over time, I wonder whether I made the right decision to stay in this city, even if it's very attractive."

Léandre's case is far from unique. In Paris, demand for housing has exploded in recent months. The number of rentals in the French capital has fallen 74 percent in three years, according to real estate specialists. 

"Out of four available properties, three have disappeared, which is unbelievable. As a comparison, in France over the same period, we've seen a 25 percent decrease in rental supply. It's three times greater in Paris than in the rest of the country," says Barbara Castillo Rico, director of economic studies at SeLoger. "As a direct consequence, rents started to increase roughly two years ago, and they soared in the past year, in 2023. We've gone from an increase of less than 2 percent to over 3 percent."

The Parisian housing market is also feeling the pinch of rising interest rates. Over the past two years, tenants have had difficulty buying their own home. As a result, they remain tenants for longer and don't free up their accommodation. 

Energy efficiency upgrades

Another reason why affordable rentals are scarce is because some apartments are in poor condition. In Paris, 35 percent of homes are not energy efficient. Their owners won't be allowed to rent them out if upgrades haven't been made by 2025 or 2028, depending on the insulation grade. 

"Nowadays, there are many old properties with grades F and G. Landlords are wondering what to do. Some decide to sell their apartments because they cannot afford the insulation work," explains Eddy Gaphian, a real estate agent. "It cost €44,000 to renovate this flat. It's a lot, and on top of that, there's a loss of space because you have to insulate the walls. Here for example, they lost two square metres."

In a bid to ease tensions with homeowners, the French government has agreed to a new method to calculate the energy performance of small properties. It means that some homes – under 40m² – might not have to be renovated just yet. The new energy efficiency audits will start on July 1, for roughly 11 percent of small apartments.

In the midst of this rental housing crisis, one in five properties in Paris is actually vacant, according to the Urban Planning Agency. From second homes to vacation rentals, some 262,000 homes are reportedly empty or nearly empty all year round. Paris wins the gold medal when it comes to seasonal rentals. On Airbnb alone, there are at least 60,000 furnished rentals up for grabs. And with the upcoming Olympics, the number of short-term leases is booming. 

Rise in eviction notices

The local housing advice agency recently noticed a rise in eviction notices, especially for furnished apartments. "Obviously, it's going to tempt a lot of people," says Sophie Morvan, a legal expert. "They’re able to rent out their apartment for an extortionate amount of money per night whereas longer leases, with tenants who use the apartment as their main residence, are regulated. So yes, there is a risk. The only way to prove a fraud is to vacate the flat, and then return to the premises to get the neighbours' testimonies, perhaps take a photo of the mailbox to see if the name invoked in the notice matches or not. It's only then that the fraud is noticeable. The tenant can then take the matter to court to claim damages. The landlord can be fined up to €6,000."

More and more people who are desperate to find a rental now seek help from research assistants. Highly active on TikTok, they offer personalised searches for young house hunters. "The aim is for us to be available as soon as an apartment frees up," explains one of them, Cyril Bathélémy. "That way, as soon as something comes up, we call as quickly as possible and book the viewing. We're like assistants. The goal is for the person to get a viewing and everything else – booking, paperwork, sending and modifying documents – we do it."

Real estate analysts say there might be a surge in listings in September, after the Olympics. But for now, the race for a flat in Paris remains fiercely competitive.

Text, code, speech, image and even video: you can now create anything in a flash thanks to generative artificial intelligence. This world-changing innovation presents an opportunity for France, which hasn’t been a leader in tech since the dawn of the internet. The French government is currently investing 1.5 billion euros into AI, and has championed a so-called “open source” approach. FRANCE 24's Peter O’Brien explores the potential payoffs.

His life was worthy of a novel. An Armenian orphan who arrived in France as a stateless refugee and became a poet and Communist activist, Missak Manouchian was a figure of the French Resistance during World War II. Exactly 80 years to the day after his execution by the Nazis, Manouchian is taking his place in the Panthéon mausoleum alongside France's other national heroes – a symbol of all foreign Resistance fighters who died for France. FRANCE 24's Alison Sargent, Florence Gaillard, Gaëlle Fonseca and Georges Yazbeck look back at Manouchian's life and legacy.

It's an annual celebration of ruckus and revelry: carnival season has kicked off in France, bringing an explosion of colour to the grey months of winter. From the Latin "carne vale" meaning "farewell to meat", the ancient festival has evolved into a collective moment of excess ahead of the Christian period of Lent. From overseas in Guadeloupe, to down south in Nice, and even up north, France is letting loose. The France in Focus team reports.

For this edition, we visit Dunkirk, a northern French city that for many brings to mind World War II, but it's also the host of one of the country's biggest and liveliest carnivals, with events lasting for three months. Our team joined revellers in Brouckerque, just southwest of the city. We also met with local historian Olivier Vermersch.

Finally, no talk of carnival season in France would be complete without mentioning Nice and its famous float parade. The celebration on the French Riviera is the biggest in the country and just marked its 150th anniversary last year. Our team joined the preparations for this year's parade. 

Paris is preparing to hold the Olympics this summer, but did you know that the last time the French capital hosted the Games was exactly 100 years ago? Much has been forgotten about the 1924 Olympics, but records were broken, champions were made and more women athletes took part than ever before. FRANCE 24's Stéphanie Trouillard and Claire Paccalin went to see what’s left of the 1924 Olympic stadiums and find out which ones will be used again in the Games this year.

Watch moreParis Olympics 2024: A game changer for Seine-Saint-Denis?

Located in the heart of the French Caribbean, Guadeloupe is best known for its beaches, rivers and waterfalls. But beyond the postcard image, more than 70 percent of wastewater treatment plants in the island are out of order – or nearly – despite significant funding, particularly from the European Union. The result is a health and environmental catastrophe that threatens all the bathing waters in this French overseas archipelago. FRANCE 24's Karina Chabour investigated years of poor management.

It's a pastry that's synonymous with the month of January in France. At the start of every year the "galette des rois", or king cake, fills bakeries across the country and there's one to suit everyone's taste. In this show, we find out more about the origins of this French culinary tradition which, contrary to popular belief, doesn't date back to the Three Kings but to the Saturnalia feasts in ancient Rome. We also take you to the bakery that won this year's title for best galette in the greater Paris area. Yasmine Menacer, its head pastry chef, gives us some of her baking tips. 

Since the October 7 Hamas attack and Israel's crushing response in the Gaza Strip, more than 1,500 anti-Semitic acts have been recorded in France – three times as many as in the whole of 2022. For many French Jews, this outpouring of hatred has awakened a feeling of vulnerability. We went to meet Rachel Jedinak, a survivor of the World War II Vel d'Hiv' roundup; Jonas Jacquelin, a rabbi at a synagogue in Paris’s Copernic Street; Hanna Assouline, president and co-founder of the NGO Women Warriors for Peace; and Michel Wieviorka, a renowned sociologist and author whose research interests include anti-Semitism. FRANCE 24’s Natacha Vesnitch and Jonathan Walsh report.

France in Focus shines a light on how Paris went from utter darkness to the illuminated city of today. The team meets a passionate group of electricity enthusiasts to discover some of the most famous lamps that have lit up the French capital. They also speak to the granddaughter of Fernand Jacopozzi, the engineer who famously illuminated the Eiffel Tower in the 1920s. Lastly, they explore how Paris's iconic monuments stay in the limelight today.

Eiffel Tower illuminations: © SETE Tour Eiffel. Lighting designer: Pierre Bideau.

Read more'Fin d'année' festivities: Exploring France's holiday traditions

More than a fifth of the French population is disabled. But for 80 percent of them, it doesn't show. Whether to disclose it or not is a delicate choice, given that disability is the leading cause of discrimination in France. Our team went to meet teenager Marc, who has a rare disease that means he has barely any intestines. They also met Joëlle, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and several other illnesses.

The Renaissance-era Villers-Cotterêts castle, in France's Picardy region, is now home to the first cultural site in the world dedicated to the French language, a project championed by President Emmanuel Macron. It's a story conveyed with words, art and architecture to pay tribute to a language spoken by some 320 million people across the globe. But is the influence of the French language still growing? We speak to Xavier North, Hassane Kassi Kouyaté and Barbara Cassin, co-curators of the museum.

The NBA's next season is set to kick off with the "Michael Jordan" of French basketball, Victor Wembanyama. All eyes are on the 2.24-metre-tall mega talent who joined the San Antonio Spurs in June. He follows in the footsteps of Tony Parker, who was inducted into the NBA’s Hall of Fame in August. France in Focus takes a look at the players who have made it into the American league, past and present. We also head to the French mecca of sports, INSEP, to see the rigorous training French athletes follow. Lastly, we look at what it means for French clubs and France when they lose their star players to the NBA.

Wine lovers will be familiar with Bordeaux, Bourgogne and Beaujolais. These wines are all symbols of French culture, celebrated worldwide. Yet over the past 60 years, wine consumption has dropped by 70 percent in France. Reds, in particular, have been given the cold shoulder – even abroad. So why are consumers changing their habits? How can winemakers in south-western France survive? Some are even forced to tear up their vineyards and seek compensation from the French government and EU. Our team reports.

A secondary school in southern France embrace of social diversity programming a few years ago is now bearing fruit. Launched five years ago, the initiative aims to welcome students living in the the disadvantaged neighbourhoods of the city. It allows them to grow academically and socially, making a positive impact in the classroom. Noemie Roche and Aurore-Cloe Dupuis report.

It's a monument that is synonymous with France. The Eiffel Tower is more than just a wrought iron landmark, its very existence represents an architectural feat taken on by the man who gave it its name: Gustave Eiffel. This year marks 100 years since the engineer died. During his lifetime, Gustave Eiffel fought against all odds to make his dream come true, building a 300 metre high iron tower in the heart of the French capital.  

Guests:

Savin Yeatman Eiffel: Curator of the exhibition "Eiffel, higher and higher"

Valentin Delplanque: Wind tunnel test engineer

What if we worked a four-day week? In France, the idea is gaining ground. Some business owners have already made the switch. From company attractiveness to employees’ wellbeing, the formula seems to be working. We take a closer look at this new working schedule and explore which sectors are implementing it.

One year ahead of France hosting the Olympic Games, we went to meet athlete Margot Chevrier. At 23, she's a pole vaulter for the French national team. The athlete is also in her fifth year of studying medicine in Nice and is getting ready to sit her exams to become a doctor. This high-flyer aims to one day become an Olympic champion. FRANCE 24's Marion Gaudin and Peter O'Brien report.

Known as the Wonder of the West, Mont Saint-Michel looks as if it could have been plucked from a fairytale. The religious sanctuary on France's Normandy coast turns 1,000 this year. Since the first stone was laid in 1023, it has been home to monks, monarchs and prisoners; a historic pilgrimage site that welcomes 3 million visitors each year. In this edition we meet some of the people who preserve its magic.