Greenpeace activists 'bomb' nuclear power plant In a stunt aimed at highlighting alleged security issues, members of Greenpeace have 'attacked' two nuclear facilities close to Central France. >> Page 3
June 2012 Issue #32
Creuse strikes back! Residents and politicians of the Creuse have fought back following the printing of a disparaging article in an arty Parisian magazine. at the department’s largest town with a series of lazy stereotypes that were presumably meant to raise a chuckle from its ignorant readers. In the magazine, it refers to the Creuse as the nerve centre of a ‘diagonal of emptiness’ that disfigures France. What neither the author, Alexandre Majirus, nor his employer realised, was that the residents of Creuse would not take these nasty insults lying down. Word soon spread on social networking sites – yes, Mr Majirus, the computer has made it to La France profonde – and within hours a Facebook page entitled “Les Creusois contre Technikart” had been created and in no time had nearly 1,500 signed-up members. The anger was felt in two ways. Firstly, because the article in question was in no way balanced, and was simply a series of cheap shots that bordered on a form of racism. For example, the author
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NEWS - Courbefy sells for €520,000
The entire Limousin village up for auction has fetched €200,000 over the asking price >> Page 4
NEWS - Tornado hits Toulouse
A tornado has ripped through Toulouse in the south of France, causing plenty of damage, but no injuries >> Page 7
BILINGUAL - The Queen's Jubilee
In June, Britain will be celebrating The Queen's sixtieth year on the throne >> Page 13 © 2008 - Mgimelfarb (WikiCommons)
C
entral France is one of the poorest areas of the country and the poorest department in central France is La Creuse. A sparsely populated area, Creuse is a land once famed for its skilled masons, but it has suffered in recent years from the decline of farming, an ageing population and the migration of its youth towards larger cities in search of work. The average person earns just €19,500 per year and over half of the population pays no tax. That said, as is so often the case in rural areas, what Creuse may lack in the ‘trappings’ of modern life, it more than makes up for in quality of life, friendliness and a pride in the local area and people. This was put to the test recently when pretentious Parisian arty magazine, Technikart, printed a sneering article on Guéret, the capital of the Creuse. The article poked fun
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Increasing numbers of wealthy Parisians are crossing the Channel to live in London >> Page 9
Your indispensible guide to the region's Businesses >> Centre Pages