The brazier effect, in the clutches of Algeria, Bayrou's holiday notebooks... Denis Carreaux's Wandering Week

Small causes, big consequences. In an overheated France, the butterfly effect has a new variant: the brazier effect, or how a few embers buried at the bottom of a common receptacle caused one of the biggest fires of this early summer. In the Aude department, the fire that destroyed 400 hectares was started by the residue of a poorly extinguished barbecue transported in a trailer. While traveling on the highway, the street vendor didn't notice the ashes escaping. The result: seven fires over twelve kilometers, 1,000 people mobilized to contain the blaze, houses, a campsite, and even an abbey evacuated. "Negligence is not acceptable," said Minister François-Noël Buffet, who came to assess the damage. Cigarette butts, braziers, barbecues: this negligence, the cause of 9 out of 10 fires, is in any case always culpable.

IN THE CLAW OF ALGERIA

Seven months after the arrest of Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sensal and the day before his scandalous five-year prison sentence by the Algiers Court of Appeal, we learn that another of our compatriots has been suffering a similar fate for the past thirteen months. The crime committed by SoFoot journalist Christophe Gleizes, sentenced to seven years in prison for "apology for terrorism" : having practiced his profession by going to interview a manager of the Tizi Ouzou football club without knowing that the latter was in the crosshairs of the Algerian regime. In the clutches of Tebboune's thugs, Boualem Sensal, seriously ill, and Christophe Gleizes, to whom his relatives are not even allowed to speak, are in grave danger, hostages of an Algeria that misses no opportunity to humiliate France.

BAYROU'S HOLIDAY NOTEBOOKS

François Bayrou can get out his swimsuit, flip-flops, and Sudoku puzzles. For the Prime Minister, the holidays are fast approaching. By rejecting the eighth motion of censure filed against him, the deputies extended his (very precarious) tenure at Matignon, but they don't guarantee him a restful summer. Because even if he's regaining some breathing room, the Bayrou pupil will have to quickly get down to his summer work. The day after Bastille Day, the head of government must indeed unleash his famous $40 billion plan to redress public finances. High-risk announcements and an uncertain budget: the start of the school year promises to be hectic for a Prime Minister under threat of censure that could hasten his departure and offer him another vacation. A long one, this time.

CHAMPION, PUBLIC SERVICE

While France has its eyes glued to the thermometer, a national drama is quietly unfolding. Starting Monday, the show "Questions pour un champion" will no longer air during the week. Too expensive to produce in the eyes of France Télévisions, which has rather selective budgets, this cult show, broadcast on France 3 for 37 years, remains popular, but is clearly no longer trendy enough. Outdated, surely, perhaps outdated, it still delights 1.2 million French people who take pleasure every day in educating themselves and learning while having fun. The very definition of a public service program.

So we have been lied to. While we are constantly told that the level of French students continues to plummet, while we are bombarded with international rankings that relegate our little darlings to the category of hopeless dunces, the results of the 2025 baccalaureate shatter this pessimistic vision. Let's reestablish the truth: with a 91.1% success rate (general track) before resits, our high school students are true champions. In certain academies like Rennes (98.2% success rate!), we can expect that all candidates will soon be accepted for the baccalaureate! Even more striking: the number of "very good" mentions, once exceptional, has increased twelvefold since 1997. Do these results mean that the "bachot", devalued, is no longer an exam? Go tell that to those, fortunately few in number, who spend their first weekend in July preparing for their resit oral exam...

The simpler it is, the more chic it is. After the sock-swimming craze, flip-flops are well on their way to becoming the must-have accessory of the summer. Be careful, though: don't expect to make a splash by wearing beach sandals like Patrick Chirac in Camping. Yes to the flip-flop dance, but in a chic version, like those by Hermès, Dior, or Balenciaga, presented during the shows of the last Fashion Week. In terms of budget, forget the Decathlon flip-flops at 4 euros a pair. Being the prettiest person on the campsite will come at a price: you'll have to dig into your savings account to hope to parade on the beach in luxury flip-flops from Dune (780 euros) or Phoebe Philo (750 euros). Have a great summer, everyone, barefoot, in sock-swimming flip-flops, plastic jellyfish, or flip-flops!