François Hollande

[bednobs]

i don't get what all the fuss is about - isn't it the law in france for men to have a mistress?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1307204.html

[Jomlett]

It's the law in France for the press to keep quiet about men having a mistress.

[rowanwitch]

I think it is just a ploy to garner more votes....

[Connemmara]

sorry nothing to do hollande - but bednobs how do you do circumflex under c. Thanks

[jno]

it is, yes. The problem is having two; citizens of the Republic wonder which one they should be paying for.

[jno]

Connemara, it's a cedilla and if you want one in a hurry, why not cut and paste the one in the headline?

[ichkeria]

The issues are really twofold:
Firstly, every one loves a sex story involving attractive ladies and politicians, even if they won't admit it. And second, as one commentator in yesterday's press memorably put it: the debate is also about whether M Hollande also is doing to the French economy what he is presumably doing to his mistress.
Even as a supporter of the Parti Socialiste I still find that quite funny ...

[jno]

ichkeria, you'll find Woody Allen making a similar joke in (I think) Annie Hall - about Eisenhower.

It was probably first used about Ramses II.

[FredPuli43]

French gossip is very dull. The culture is such that nobody talks about the sex life of anyone; there is no "That woman at number 46 is no better than she should be" or anything like that. The conventional view is that a man who is cuckolded is a figure of fun, not sympathy, and a woman whose husband strays has only herself to blame; it's not his fault. And nobody wonders at the President straying, if that emerges. They think that any powerful and successful man is bound to attract women. If he is tempted to respond, well the law of averages suggests that he will. After all, the woman is one of hundreds or thousands, so the percentage is very low.

The privacy law is toothless, but symbolic. A paper which, or a person who, contravenes it only gets fined a small amount. The thinking is that the ignominy is such that the penalty need only be tiny.

[emmie]

no, but they like to think their wives forgive their peccadilloes, they don't, more and more marriages are breaking up because of this laxity on the part of the menfolk to keep the trouser snake under control.

[Peter Pedant]

bn: i don't get what all the fuss is about - isn't it the law in france for men to have a mistress?

yeah ugh and bidets as well

really dairty these froggies - when can I go ?

[Khandro]

connemara; for ç hold down alt and type in 135 from your numbers (right of keyboard). For uppercase Ç use 128

[emmie]

you would get the deal if it was your partner, and they consistently cheated on you, this isn't about having a mistress, but about a person who doesn't care for you enough not to stray, or have endless affairs.

[brionon]

I remember when it was said that the French are so sophisticated that they don't have such scandals.