You almost have to feel sorry for Monsieur Chirac. Almost. Compared with Blair, he’s not been having a great time of it recently. Unpopular at home; losing the vote on the EU constitution; failing to wring a concession from Blair over “the cheque”; Blair delivering that barnstormer of a speech to the European parliament about the need to modernise and grasp the opportunities of new technology, while Jacques made himself look old and dinosaur-like by defending the indefensible, outmoded Common Agricultural Policy instead; the Battle of Trafalgar celebrations; the backfiring remarks about English cuisine; the UK leading the debate on Africa and global warming; the UK hosting the G8 conference; the UK starting their 6 month chairing of the EU Commission; and now, today, the final humiliation: the 2012 Olympics snatched from the jaws of Parisian victory by yet another inspirational tub-thump by his irritatingly young and articulate adversary from across the Channel.
I’ve never quite understood the antipathy I’m supposed to feel about France and “the French”. I like the place, and I’ve known enough French people in my time to judge them favourably. I like their food and their wine and their climate, and the way they play football. Yes, it’s a generalisation, but I like what seem to be principled French attitudes towards art and politics and welfare. I’ve never forgotten their response to the Salman Rushdie fatwa. While most people in the UK shrugged their shoulders, in Paris a spontaneous protest march erupted in the streets, bringing out thousands of people who’d probably never heard of Rushdie, but who wanted to show their support for freedom of artistic expression, and their hatred of censorship. It made a lasting impression on me.
As for Chirac, we tend to forget that he’s not a popular man in France. He’s not much of a mouthpiece for the French people at the moment, and most people there (from what I’ve read and heard) seem to regard him as a liability and a national embarrassment, rather than a figurehead and a unifying asset to the country.
I like the banter we have with our French friends. I like the jokes that poke gentle fun at our national stereotypes. Much of the time we’re actually parodying those who hold these views seriously. But there’s some sort of invisible line that I get uncomfortable about crossing. When people talk about Israel or Pakistan the way we sometimes talk about France and the French, we accuse them of anti-semitism or racism. I’d like to think that, a bit like our relationship with the Scots, or our own friends and family, we feel we can be rude about them because we know that we’re friends really, and no lasting damage will occur. But I sometimes wonder…
But the great big fat, hairy, undeniable, astonishing fact is that London has been awarded the 2012 Olympics. Let’s be pleased about this and, whatever we might be feeling under the hood, commiserate with those appalling garlic chompers from over the water.
I was dreading the announcement, and the disappointment that I felt sure would accompany it. I went home for lunch so that I didn’t have to show my emotions in public. Watching the build-up on TV was every bit as tense and dramatic and nailbiting as any big sporting event I’ve watched. That tight feeling all around your torso, with your heart literally feeling heavy in your chest. We had to sit through the execrable cacophony of three people tunelessly warbling the Olympic anthem before Jacques Rogge, after an extended preamble, casually eased his way into that absurdly large envelope. According to the story I read earlier in the day in some German online news website,
but when the critical moment came, after a cruelly elongated pause, the bugger suddenly blurted out… London! Eh? Did he say London? There it was again. London!
Not everyone has celebrated the news. Some people I’ve spoken to seem wearily irritated by the prospect of the impending fuss. But most of us understand that this will be one of the great milestones in our history. It’s an event that will cordon off one era, one way of thinking, and open up new avenues into… into places we don’t yet know exist. The impact on our lives, on the way that others see us, will change. The way we see ourselves will change, I’m sure.
Exciting news for a great city.
