Latest news with #FrenchCulture
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Call to ban ‘intolerant' child-free resorts and hotels in France
Child-free resorts and adult-only hotels are discriminatory, risk creating a society of intolerance and should be banned, a French senator has said, amid a growing debate in France on whether it is inhumane to exclude children from holidays. 'We can't organise society by separating children off from ourselves in the same way some establishments don't take dogs,' said Socialist senator and former French families minister Laurence Rossignol. 'Children aren't troublesome pets.' Last month, the French government's high commissioner for childhood, Sarah El Haïry – who has warned that adult-only holiday resorts were 'not part of [French] culture, not our philosophy and not what we want to see as the norm in our country' – launched a Family Choice award as part of what she called a 'fight against the new no kids trend'. El Haïry called for French parents to vote for their favourite child-friendly locations as a way to 'put children back at the heart of public space' and stand up to the adults-only sector. 'No way can we let it take hold in our society that children aren't welcome on a restaurant terrace,' she told Parents magazine. But Rossignol said the government must go further, and called for a parliamentary debate on her proposal to make it illegal to ban children from venues in France. Rossignol said child-free spaces amounted to 'organising society around people's intolerance of others' and served to 'institutionalise and legitimise intolerance'. Rossignol said these resorts 'allow people to say: 'I don't like children and I don't want to see them.' And that is not acceptable, because to not like children is to not like humanity itself.' Child-free resorts and hotels – often advertised with images of relaxed adults on sun-loungers undisturbed by kids shouting or dive-bombing in the pool – have expanded across the world in recent years, and businesses say demand has risen since the Covid lockdowns. For decades, hotels reserved for adults have been popular in locations such as Mexico and Central America, Thailand and Greece, attracting many northern European tourists, including Germans and Britons. South Korea has also seen a rise in child-free cafes and restaurants. But France – traditionally family-focused and with one of the highest birthrates in Europe – has instead prided itself on its family-friendly holiday attractions, from towering hotel waterslides to campsites with kids' clubs. France has relatively few adult-only hotels and resorts, estimated to account for 3–5% of overall tourism, far less than neighbouring Spain, a market leader. As the French birthrate declines and the president, Emmanuel Macron, calls for a 'demographic rearmament' of pro-child policies, there is renewed debate over children's shrinking place in society. An expert report last year on reducing French children's screen-time said children must be given more alternatives to phones and take up their 'rightful place' in society, including 'their right to be noisy'. Véronique Siegel, the president of the hotel section of the UMIH trade union, said child-free hotels were 'extremely rare' in France compared with the total number of tourism businesses. She said there was a targeted market and hotels were simply meeting clients' demands. She added: 'For people seeking adult destinations, if there are none left in France because we're told it's illegal, would they go to neighbouring European countries, or further afield?' Vincent Lagarde, an associate professor of entrepreneurship and business at the University of Limoges, who studies the business model of child-free resorts, said the top reason holidaymakers chose them was not because they hated children, but because they needed a rest. Lagarde said: 'There is a kind of physical and mental exhaustion in French society right now, a need to switch off from professional and family burdens. It's much more complex than simply not liking children, because my research showed that around one-third or more of these holidaymakers were exhausted parents who needed a break from their family. It wasn't that they didn't like children, they just needed a pause from the rhythm of the rest of the year. And I also observed teachers, or people who work with children. These aren't people who don't like kids, but people who need a bit of time without them.' Lagarde found the second reason people chose child-free resorts was for special time as a couple or with friends – a 2014 poll in France found that 56% of parents had gone on holiday without their children, mostly for romantic mini-breaks. Finally, there was what Lagarde called a 'perception of luxury' associated with adults-only locations. These hotels could charge higher prices simply because there were no children making noise. Lagarde said that while French anti-discrimination and trade laws were open to interpretation on the issue, no family in France had ever brought a legal complaint against a hotel for not admitting children. He said the sector was likely to continue to grow steadily in France, in the same way that child-free weddings had increased. Jean-Didier Urbain, an anthropologist and author of a recent book, What Our Travels Say About Us, said: 'There's a trend in society to seek more comfort and relaxation, more time to pause, and this is part of that. 'Vacations, after all, are traditionally a moment where citizens can detach themselves from their social obligations.'
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Call to ban ‘intolerant' child-free resorts and hotels in France
Child-free resorts and adult-only hotels are discriminatory, risk creating a society of intolerance and should be banned, a French senator has said, amid a growing debate in France on whether it is inhumane to exclude children from holidays. 'We can't organise society by separating children off from ourselves in the same way some establishments don't take dogs,' said Socialist senator and former French families minister Laurence Rossignol. 'Children aren't troublesome pets.' Last month, the French government's high commissioner for childhood, Sarah El Haïry – who has warned that adult-only holiday resorts were 'not part of [French] culture, not our philosophy and not what we want to see as the norm in our country' – launched a Family Choice award as part of what she called a 'fight against the new no kids trend'. El Haïry called for French parents to vote for their favourite child-friendly locations as a way to 'put children back at the heart of public space' and stand up to the adults-only sector. 'No way can we let it take hold in our society that children aren't welcome on a restaurant terrace,' she told Parents magazine. But Rossignol said the government must go further, and called for a parliamentary debate on her proposal to make it illegal to ban children from venues in France. Rossignol said child-free spaces amounted to 'organising society around people's intolerance of others' and served to 'institutionalise and legitimise intolerance'. Rossignol said these resorts 'allow people to say: 'I don't like children and I don't want to see them.' And that is not acceptable, because to not like children is to not like humanity itself.' Child-free resorts and hotels – often advertised with images of relaxed adults on sun-loungers undisturbed by kids shouting or dive-bombing in the pool – have expanded across the world in recent years, and businesses say demand has risen since the Covid lockdowns. For decades, hotels reserved for adults have been popular in locations such as Mexico and Central America, Thailand and Greece, attracting many northern European tourists, including Germans and Britons. South Korea has also seen a rise in child-free cafes and restaurants. But France – traditionally family-focused and with one of the highest birthrates in Europe – has instead prided itself on its family-friendly holiday attractions, from towering hotel waterslides to campsites with kids' clubs. France has relatively few adult-only hotels and resorts, estimated to account for 3–5% of overall tourism, far less than neighbouring Spain, a market leader. As the French birthrate declines and the president, Emmanuel Macron, calls for a 'demographic rearmament' of pro-child policies, there is renewed debate over children's shrinking place in society. An expert report last year on reducing French children's screen-time said children must be given more alternatives to phones and take up their 'rightful place' in society, including 'their right to be noisy'. Véronique Siegel, the president of the hotel section of the UMIH trade union, said child-free hotels were 'extremely rare' in France compared with the total number of tourism businesses. She said there was a targeted market and hotels were simply meeting clients' demands. She added: 'For people seeking adult destinations, if there are none left in France because we're told it's illegal, would they go to neighbouring European countries, or further afield?' Vincent Lagarde, an associate professor of entrepreneurship and business at the University of Limoges, who studies the business model of child-free resorts, said the top reason holidaymakers chose them was not because they hated children, but because they needed a rest. Lagarde said: 'There is a kind of physical and mental exhaustion in French society right now, a need to switch off from professional and family burdens. It's much more complex than simply not liking children, because my research showed that around one-third or more of these holidaymakers were exhausted parents who needed a break from their family. It wasn't that they didn't like children, they just needed a pause from the rhythm of the rest of the year. And I also observed teachers, or people who work with children. These aren't people who don't like kids, but people who need a bit of time without them.' Lagarde found the second reason people chose child-free resorts was for special time as a couple or with friends – a 2014 poll in France found that 56% of parents had gone on holiday without their children, mostly for romantic mini-breaks. Finally, there was what Lagarde called a 'perception of luxury' associated with adults-only locations. These hotels could charge higher prices simply because there were no children making noise. Lagarde said that while French anti-discrimination and trade laws were open to interpretation on the issue, no family in France had ever brought a legal complaint against a hotel for not admitting children. He said the sector was likely to continue to grow steadily in France, in the same way that child-free weddings had increased. Jean-Didier Urbain, an anthropologist and author of a recent book, What Our Travels Say About Us, said: 'There's a trend in society to seek more comfort and relaxation, more time to pause, and this is part of that. 'Vacations, after all, are traditionally a moment where citizens can detach themselves from their social obligations.'
Daily Mail
08-08-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Sydney already has its own Chinatown and Little Italy. Now, one tiny suburb has transformed into the French capital of Australia: 'Who knew?'
Nestled within a quiet enclave at the gateway to the northern beaches, the suburb of Killarney Heights has emerged as Sydney 's very own French quarter. Over the past two decades, a French influence has gradually become prevalent within the community, centred around the suburb's main Tramore Place shopping mall. Within the delightful tree-lined precinct are an array of stores offering everything from French specialty foods and cured saucisson to small house Champagnes and - naturally - handcrafted French pastries. There's even a place to buy French books or take speaking lessons. Daily Mail asked Le Parisien Café Patisserie owner Jérôme Chevalier about how the unlikely location has become a thriving French community - albeit over 14,300 kilometres away from the homeland. The café owner explained that the community's spirit had been developing ever since a French-speaking program was introduced to Killarney Heights Public School in 1998. 'It has kept growing ever since,' Jérôme said. And this is more than just a casual observation - it's backed up by cold hard facts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Killarney Heights on Sydney's northern beaches looks like any other quiet suburb. But when you look closer, you uncover a rich connection within the community to French cuisine and culture Recent data shared on the ABS Instagram account confirmed that Killarney Heights has the highest percentage of people born in France out of any suburb in Australia. This makes the suburb, just 12km north of Sydney's CBD, the unofficial French capital of Australia. Thanks to this thriving expat community, Jérôme said the village atmosphere in Killarney Heights has come to closely resemble that of a small French town. 'It's really become a meeting point for the French community,' he said. 'You can hear French being spoken all over Tramore Place and see people dining à la carte.' And it's not just the people within Killarney Heights who are enjoying the European country-inspired spoils. Visitors from all across Sydney - and even further abroad - are making the pilgrimage to the suburb Heights for a petit taste of the French-inspired culture and cuisine. 'Word is definitely spreading and people are now coming from all over to visit,' Jérôme confirmed. French food lovers are certainly taking notice. The local grocer stocks a range of French specialty foods, like a la Bourguignonne kit pour escargot and tins of duck foie gras The shop also sells bottled bisque de homard (French lobster bisque) and Alsa packet cake mix boxes to whip up a moelleux marble (marble cake) Any foodie's visit to the area should start with the Le Parisien Café Patisserie, located in the heart of the Tramore Place shopping precinct. They offer an array of viennoiseries baked goods, like croissants and pain au chocolat, and there's a basket of baguettes by the door. If you fancy a light lunch, the soupe du jour (soup of the day) is served traditionally topped with cheese and fried shallot - with a half baguette and butter on the side. Then, in the display window you'll find sweet delights like macarons, tarts and the mousse-like Le Merveilleux. For special occasions, place an order with the patisserie for a St Honoree cake or a showstopping croquembouche. Magnifique! Just a few doors down, the small grocery store House of Fruit & Salads looks like it could belong in any other Sydney suburb. But once you step inside, you quickly discover shelf after shelf loaded with imported French specialty foods. There's tins of duck foie gras and bottles of bisque de homard (French lobster bisque). You'll even find an à la Bourguignonne kit pour escargot. Yep, that's a Burgundy snail soup kit. Home bakers might even want to grab a French Alsa cake mix to whip up a moelleux marble (marble cake). Over in the chilled section is a veritable delight for lovers of a charcuterie board. Think saucisson, terrine and of course, an array of French cheeses. Stroll on over to the Wine Haven Bottle Shop and you'll find a variety of French tipples - from wines to bubbles. The store owner reveals that the Louis Moretti Grand Reserve Brut Champagne is a hands-down best seller. But Killarney Heights isn't just about delectable French food and drinks. A few doors down, The French Corner is a culture hub for the community, offering everything from French speaking lessons and tuition to holiday camps. Francophones will even be able to browse the store's selection of French-language books, including a range of children's titles. All throughout the year, the suburb has become known for hosting a number of themed events. The French Corner sells French language books and offers a range of courses and programs to choose from The French influence in Killarney Heights dates back to 1998 when the school introduced a French speaking program - you can even see a French flag above the school sign. The Sydney suburb's unique history has also been documented in a guide book There's crepe and raclette nights, French trivia nights and Fête de la Musique, a music event celebrated in June to mark the northern hemisphere's longest day. The highlight is the annual FANS French Market, proudly run by the French-speaking Association of the North Shore. This year's event is slated for Sunday 16 November and it's one of the most anticipated dates on the local community calendar. 'The French market brings big crowds and features a lot of French stalls selling all sorts of goodies,' Jérôme said. 'There's also loads of music as well as rides for the kids.' 'Events like these are the perfect opportunity for Killarney Heights locals, the French community and really anyone with an interest in French culture to come together and enjoy.'
CTV News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘We're in Quebec,' responds Quebec City mayor about buskers forced to sing in French
Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand says he was surprised that a pilot project demanding buskers sing only in French has received such intense criticism. 'We're in Quebec City here,' the mayor tells Noovo Info. 'It's not everywhere. Those who are unhappy can go to other sites.' In May, the city modified its regulations regarding public entertainers in the Petit Champlain area, particularly Félix-Leclerc Park and Place Royale. Marchand says he was 'flabbergasted' when opponents criticized the measure on the pretext that 'English attracts tourists.' 'We are not subject to an Anglophone diktat,' he insisted. 'Quebec City is French. We will embrace that. French is part of our culture.' Quebec City officials note that the pilot project is a trial and does not prevent Indigenous artists from singing in their native language.
National Post
13-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- National Post
Home design: Downsizing, Paris-style
Yvonne Dametto's tastes are super specific. The semi-retired nurse is enamoured with everything old and French: Baroque dressers with tassels, burnished champagne buckets, Aubusson rugs and countryside oils depicting Provence in giltwood frames. Article content Her affection for French culture runs so deep she keeps a pied-à-terre in Paris, where she frequently travels. Article content Naturally, Dametto's home base in Guelph was also French-imbued, down to her extensive art collection. She raised her kids (who have kids of their own) in the 5,500-square-foot family home but when she became a widower, she downsized to a nearby townhouse nearly half that size. Article content Article content And so, alongside Bellamy Custom Homes, she recruited Cristina Kirby, the designer and visual curator with FOR Design, in Oakville, to overhaul the home into an enchanting refuge for herself and a pair of British short hair cats, Rupert and Angus. Article content Article content Dametto wanted to skew towards a femme fatale vibe, less countryish. 'She wanted something curated to express her new life,' says Kirby. Article content Article content The goal for the townhouse, Kirby continues, was to lean into the drama by embracing the opulence of the Beaux Arts. To create the effect, Kirby layered every level of the four-storey townhouse in a rich palette. Deep green hues, plummy-toned tapestry, mood-making wallpaper and sumptuous velvet and linen lend a nuanced and dynamic feel throughout the home. Article content Article content Dametto's art collection has also been weaved into the design scheme alongside newer pieces from FOR Living, the design studio's retail shops in Oakville and Guelph. Article content 'That's to balance the antique vibe,' says Kirby, 'and to make it curated. In all of my designs, I emphasize that everyone should have one piece of original art and one antique. It makes it feel like a collected home.' Article content Article content For better flow in the formerly cramped dwelling and to get rid of the golden-toned 1980s-era wood, the team at Bellamy Custom Homes stripped the house to the studs.
