Latest news with #Gaulish
Mint
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Lounge Loves: ‘Asterix and Obelix', a foldover pizza sandwich and more
Earlier in March, I carried my entire Asterix and Obelix collection from my parents' home in Bengal to Mumbai. I wanted to introduce the popular French comic series to my seven-year-old son, who surprisingly got hooked in no time. So you can imagine our excitement when Netflix released the comic adaptation of Asterix and Obelix recently. We binge-watched all five episodes of the The Big Fight series, that go back in time to the beloved Gaulish warrior duo's childhood, including an incident where Obelix accidentally falls into a vat of magic potion and acquires superhuman strength. What got us most excited are some new characters like Apothika, an old friend of the village druid Getafix, and Metadata, the cool rebel girl, who helps Julius Caesar strategise the big fight between the Gauls and the Romans. This one's an absolute riot of fun. Like most boys his age, eight-and-a-half-year-old Palash Ranjan Sen, aka Poltu, loves reading Phantom comics. But unlike his peers, he has a scientist mother who is headed for an Arctic mission, and an uncle with an odd job—rehoming ghosts ousted by the forces of climate change and urbanisation. Sudeshna Shome Ghosh's delightful middle-grade novel takes you on a night-long taxi ride through the spookiest neighbourhoods of Kolkata. With fun illustrations by Pankaj Saikia, the story will not only resonate with readers around Poltu's age, but also their seniors. Weren't we all eight once, looking for friendly ghosts to spice up our boring lives swamped with school and holiday homework? I have a WhatsApp group with two friends—each of us in our 30s, navigating very different life stages—united by a love for home improvement finds. I call it calming capitalism. We trade notes on bedsheets, diffusers, label makers, and most recently, sunscreen for the group's only man, who's new to skincare. When I needed a spray bottle that could handle both my plant babies and my unruly curls, I turned to the youngest in the group, our resident make-up artist. She suggested Inovera (Label)'s mist spray bottle, and it's been a quiet joy. My leaves are perked up, and taming my hair feels like less of a chore now. The group chat? Still going strong, fuelled by product recs, tiny upgrades, and the everyday thrill of making life feel a little nicer. Hipsters everywhere will hate me for saying this: I hate sourdough. Don't mess with sandwich bread, I say. So it was with great suspicion that I tried a 'foldover pizza sandwich' at Breakaway Pizzeria and Café in Panaji last month, and—you know where this is going—I loved it. It's a take on the panuzzo, and has roots in Naples, like the Neapolitan pizza they serve. Breakaway's dough is 70% hydrated, which means there's 700 grams of water for every 1,000g of flour, and fermented for 44 hours. The bread is pulled by hand and baked fresh for every sandwich, which gives every panuzzo that perfectly mild char and the light little pockets that make Neapolitan pizza special. There's the comfort of bread, without it overwhelming the filling itself, whether it's fresh tomatoes and stracciatella with basil pesto, or meatballs with mozzarella.
Local France
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Local France
Inside France: Asterix, cheese and Le Pen's moment of truth
Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article. Crunch time for Le Pen In recent weeks French politicians and media have been somewhat distracted by events across the Atlantic, but the focus has returned to France with a potentially seismic court ruling due on Monday. This is when far-right leader Marine Le Pen finds out if she will be banned from politics , as the judges in her embezzlement trial deliver their verdict. If she is found guilty, the judges have the option of either imposing an immediate ban (as a legal update in 2016 recommends) or allowing her to remain in politics while she appeals. Given that appeals can be spun out for years, this is basically the difference between allowing her to stand in the 2027 presidential election or not. Advertisement Given that she has come second in the last two presidential elections, with a narrower margin each time, this is hugely consequential. The judges will - one hopes - make their ruling on purely legal grounds, but if she is given an immediate ban, then Le Pen has the option of appealing to the Constitutional Court , which must consider balancing the law against the constitutional right to "freedom of elections". The 'sages' of the Council are no stranger to making decisions on huge and controversial topics , but it really doesn't get much bigger than this . . . Talking France We talk about the upcoming verdict on the Talking France podcast - and debate whether she should be banned - while also discussing McDonald's plans for French villages, the French law on surrogacy and Ryanair's threat to leave France. We also have a brief but fun diversion into the place that Astérix and Obélix hold in French hearts. At every French sports international that I have ever been to, there is always at least one fan dressed up as the Gaulish heroes - I wonder if there is an official rota? Listen here or on the link below. Advertisement Veiled threat They say nothing can be predicted but death and taxes, but I think you can add two more to that; that every few years, France will have some kind of discussion about what Muslim women wear; and that conversation will be neither calm nor reasoned. This week, as French MPs prepare to debate whether the hijab or Muslim headscarf should be banned in any kind of sport in France (professional or amateur), judo star Teddy Riner offered a view . The French sporting giant (in both senses of the word - 11 times world champion, 5 Olympic golds and 6 ft 9 inches tall) made the following statement: "In some neighbouring countries, it's fine to wear the hijab and nobody minds. I think we're wasting our time in France - let's think more about equality rather than focusing on one and the same religion." His view might sound fairly uncontroversial - but the reaction demonstrated how France apparently cannot have a normal conversation about this. The hijab ban had been couched as being all about French secularism , with supporters keen to emphasise that the law would ban all types of religious clothing or symbols in sport, and wasn't specifically targeting Muslim women. But reacting to Riner, Interior Minister Bruno Retaillau said: "The hijab is not a symbol of freedom, it's a symbol of submission . . . Nor is it a marker of equality; on the contrary, it radically challenges equality between men and women, and is a sign of the inferiorisation of women's status. "Of course, not all women who wear the hijab are Islamists. But you won't find a single Islamist who doesn't want women to wear the hijab." The veil slips. Advertisement Fromage facts As this week featured World Cheese Day, I went to have a look in The Local France's cheese archive - in the last five years we have done roughly 130 articles on cheese, which I consider to be not nearly enough for a country that has so many excellent cheeses. But how many cheeses does France actually have? Cheese experts say it's somewhere between 600 and 1,600 and it won't surprise you to hear that much time has been devoted to arguing about this. One thing for sure, it's a lot more than Charles de Gaulle estimated with his famously exasperated quote: "How can anyone govern a country with 258 different types of cheese?" Inside France is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in France that you might not have heard about. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.
Local France
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Local France
Paris Olympics' metal horse goes on tour around France (and Germany)
One of the most astounding – and eerie – moments of the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games last summer (really, it was just last summer) was the ghostly mechanical horse galloping for six kilometres down the Seine with the Olympic flag-wrapped rider on its back. It was not – despite bursts of already heightened social media hysteria at the time – a reference to the pale rider of the apocalypse, but rather a representation of Sequana, the goddess of the Seine, who was worshipped by pre-Roman Gaulish tribes. Not everything needs a biblical reference, you see – in fact it wasn't even the only non-biblical reference in the ceremony. From March, the metal horse – whose name is Zeus, by the way – who amazed more than one billion television viewers during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will travel around France, taking in stops in Montpellier, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes and Rouen. After being admired in the courtyard of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, and causing a sensation at the Palace of Versailles throughout the month of October, Zeus has been back with its creators, Nantes-based Atelier Blam, for a few weeks to be completely refurbished, before its grand tour of the country. The travelling exhibition will start on Monday, March 11th, when Zeus will go on display at Porte Maillot, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. It will then set off across France, with stops in major cities and emblematic heritage sites, throughout the spring and summer. After Porte Maillot, Zeus heads south for nine days in Montpellier, from March 5th to 14th, before heading to Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Rouen. The silver horse will even cross the Rhine to Frankfurt before returning to France and a summer spell on Mont-Saint-Michel. Zeus will be accompanied on certain sections of his route by the Science Lab, a 'travelling and educational' exhibition, the horse's owners Sanofi said in a press release, 'which will invite the public to discover the process of creating the medicines and vaccines of tomorrow.' The company explained: 'The metal horse will stop in towns near Sanofi sites and at emblematic places of French heritage.' After the tour the horse will return to Paris. Zeus Tour Dates March 3rd – Porte Maillot, Paris March 5th to 14th – Montpellier, Promenade du Peyrou March 17th to April 2nd – Lyon, City Hall April 16th to 26th – Marseille (venue to be confirmed) May 3rd to 9th – Bordeaux (venue to be confirmed) May 12th to 23rd – Rouen (venue to be confirmed) June 17th to 27th – Frankfurt (venue to be confirmed) July 12th to September 7th – Mont-Saint-Michel, belvedere of the Abbey September 19th to 29th –
Local Germany
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Local Germany
Paris Olympics' metal horse goes on tour around France (and Germany)
One of the most astounding – and eerie – moments of the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games last summer (really, it was just last summer) was the ghostly mechanical horse galloping for six kilometres down the Seine with the Olympic flag-wrapped rider on its back. It was not – despite bursts of already heightened social media hysteria at the time – a reference to the pale rider of the apocalypse, but rather a representation of Sequana, the goddess of the Seine, who was worshipped by pre-Roman Gaulish tribes. Not everything needs a biblical reference, you see – in fact it wasn't even the only non-biblical reference in the ceremony. From March, the metal horse – whose name is Zeus, by the way – who amazed more than one billion television viewers during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will travel around France, taking in stops in Montpellier, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes and Rouen. After being admired in the courtyard of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris, and causing a sensation at the Palace of Versailles throughout the month of October, Zeus has been back with its creators, Nantes-based Atelier Blam, for a few weeks to be completely refurbished, before its grand tour of the country. The travelling exhibition will start on Monday, March 11th, when Zeus will go on display at Porte Maillot, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. It will then set off across France, with stops in major cities and emblematic heritage sites, throughout the spring and summer. After Porte Maillot, Zeus heads south for nine days in Montpellier, from March 5th to 14th, before heading to Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Rouen. The silver horse will even cross the Rhine to Frankfurt before returning to France and a summer spell on Mont-Saint-Michel. Zeus will be accompanied on certain sections of his route by the Science Lab, a 'travelling and educational' exhibition, the horse's owners Sanofi said in a press release, 'which will invite the public to discover the process of creating the medicines and vaccines of tomorrow.' The company explained: 'The metal horse will stop in towns near Sanofi sites and at emblematic places of French heritage.' After the tour the horse will return to Paris. Zeus Tour Dates March 3rd – Porte Maillot, Paris March 5th to 14th – Montpellier, Promenade du Peyrou March 17th to April 2nd – Lyon, City Hall April 16th to 26th – Marseille (venue to be confirmed) May 3rd to 9th – Bordeaux (venue to be confirmed) May 12th to 23rd – Rouen (venue to be confirmed) June 17th to 27th – Frankfurt (venue to be confirmed) July 12th to September 7th – Mont-Saint-Michel, belvedere of the Abbey September 19th to 29th –
