FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
PARIS The government reshuffle has just been announced and the ministers are already going on vacation. But, like every year now, the wishes of the Elysium transmitted by Matignon (home of premier Elisabeth Borne) are mandatory: stays two hours from Paris, rest yes but remaining under “active supervision”, destinations “compatible with the responsibility» and preferably on the national territory. «Sobriety, exemplary, closeness», repeats the Minister of Transport, Clement Beaune.
As for the head of state, Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte will spend three weeks in the presidential residence of the Fort de Brégançon, on the Mediterranean, near Hyères and Toulon. An always delicate stay from a communicative point of view: Macron complies with the delivery imposed by himself of the “studious holidays”, but then lets himself be photographed astride the jet-ski or while paddling in the canoe. Brégançon is also very expensive: Macron has more than halved maintenance costs but we are still talking about 250,000 euros a year, of which 50,000 for the kitchen and 32,000 for the swimming pool. The safety of the coast, including divers and boats of the gendarmerie, reaches around 60 thousand euros. “When you take a bath, you can’t help but think that it’s expensive,” said his predecessor François Hollande years ago.
Brégançon allows Macron to show himself focused on international politics even in August: in 2019, when he still thought he could influence the actions of Vladimir Putin, Macron invited the Russian president, and the following year it was Angela Merkel’s turn .
After the clashes over pension reform, the riots over the killing of Nahel Merzouk and considering the difficulties many French people have in going on holiday, the overall tone is one of great sobriety. The only exotic trip is that of the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who will accompany his colleague Amélie Oudéa-Castéra (Sport) to Tahiti, to visit the surfing test site of the Paris 2024 Games.