If you live in Cardiff, chances are you recently crossed the path of many French tourists visiting South Wales to support Les Bleus during the Six Nations. Beyond the streets of the capital, Frenchmen were also very present in the Welsh press these last few months. For the better and the worst, they've been remembered.
The enemy of my enemy...
More than six centuries ago, over 5,000 Frenchmen landed in Milford Haven to support Owain Glyndwr in his fight against the English usurper Henry Bolingbroke. That's the story Gareth Jones sent to the Western Mail on 13th March 2018 - just a few days before Wales indeed defeated France. As long as the English don't win!
Another date to remember in the Franco-Welsh history is that of the battle of Fishguard. Funny enough, no French person I know had ever heard of this memorable fiasco. The perils of selective History! Thankfully, political editor David Williamson was there to remind us of it with a pinch of humour, in a very topical WalesOnline article entitled "On this day in 1797 the French invaded Wales - and the world should know what happened next".
A painting of the surrender in the Battle of Fishguard
Interestingly, French forces were back in Wales this January - in reasonable numbers and with no conquering spirit this time. As the South Wales Echo reported (below), the Primauguet frigate was docked in the Bay for the week-end, allowing the crew some well deserved time off while officials enjoyed a few guided visits of the anti-submarine ship. Some representatives from the French community in Cardiff were also invited to a little get together on board - a chance to discover (among many interesting military things) that the crew bakes its own very own bread on board.
The hero, the engineer and the politician
Last month, policeman Arnaud Beltrame fell a hero in southern France. On 24 March 2018, a terrorist claiming allegiance to ISIS stormed a supermarket in Trèbes. He shot two people dead and took others hostage. Police negotiated for release of the hostages, and Beltrame offered to take the place of the final one, a woman. After a three-hour stand-off, the terrorist stabbed and shot Beltrame. The events, as well as Beltrame's daylong national homage, have been progressively reported by the South Wales Argus in nine articles over a week.
A less tragic story is that of shared by WalesOnline "The fascinating story of Newport's Transporter Bridge, and how it could become a World' Heritage site". The bridge, which first opened in 1906, is an impressive structure that took several engineers to design. And one of them happen to be French bridge engineer, Ferdinand Arnodin. Specialising in cableway transporters, Arnodin is regarded as the inventor of the transporter bridge, having been the first to patent the idea in 1887. He helped design nine transporter bridges around the world:
Bilbao Puente Colgante, 1893, still in use
Bizerta/Brest Transporter Bridge, 1898
Rouen Transporter Bridge, 1898
Rochefort-Martrou Transporter Bridge, 1900, still in use
Nantes Transporter Bridge, 1903
Marseille Transporter Bridge, 1905, destroyed 1944
Newport Transporter Bridge, 1906, still in use
Bordeaux Transporter Bridge, never finished
Sidi M'Cid Suspension Bridge, Constantine, Algeria, 1908
In another vein, Sarkozy made a catchy headline in the South Wales Echo last month (in an overall very depressing "World" page). The "French politician in custody" is suspected of having acted as a Libyan agent of influence during his tenure as president of France (2007-2012). As the South Wales Argus also pointed out, this is one of multiple corruption cases targeting Sarkozy, and marks the second case so far in which he is being sent to trial. Affaire à suivre!
