Emma Pearson

@emmapearson

Editor of The Local France, co-host of Talking France podcast. Paris resident, Yorkshire born, Castres Olympique 🏉 fan - emma.pearson@thelocal.com

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Emma Pearson@emmapearson· 21d

So apparently my parcel is waiting patiently for me, but my Darty order is waiting impatiently . . . Should I prioritise Darty or is this simply rewarding poor behaviour on the part of an inanimate object?!

Text reads, in French, Darty - your order is ready and is waiting impatiently

Text reads, in French, Point Relais, your package is waiting patiently for you at Franprix

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· 28d

www.thelocal.fr/20260714/opi...

Text reads - The success of French football has been achieved by good and cheap sports facilities and the hard work of amateur coaches for children’s teams. It has also been achieved by encouraging, rather than denigrating the diverse qualities offered to France by migrants and their children and their children’s children.

If that has produced a “surplus” of talent which France can export back to the players’ countries of origin, all the better.

The problems of the banlieues remain. They cannot be solved by sport alone. Hence my question. What is French football doing right which the rest of France should copy?

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· 28d

Bonne fête nationale! Perfect start to the day - a swim in the Seine. Perfect end to the day would, obviously, be watching France defeat Spain . . . Allez les bleus 💙🤍❤️

Swimmers use the Seine bathing space at Bras Marie

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· 29d

These two high profile Frenchmen both have one immigrant parent. Yet Jordan Bardella never has to deal with questions about whether he is 'really' French. I wonder what could possibly account for that difference?

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· 29d

Kelly gets it, shame she's not in government www.thelocal.fr/20260713/hug...

Text reads -

French rail company SNCF said on Sunday evening there were delays of up to six hours for trains arriving at or leaving from Paris's Gare de Lyon.

At the station, 34-year-old physiotherapist Kelly took the delay in stride.

"It's global warming," she said. "It's the disruption of the seasons...there are political decisions to be taken."

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jul 10

Europe swelters for the third time (so far) this summer, wildfires rage and the local paper is launching a campaign against wind turbines 🤦‍♀️

Front page of the Darlington & Stockton Times, leading a campaign to 'save Hope Moor'

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jul 1

I'd love to meet the 🇫🇷 person who decided that a bat should be 'chauve-souris' (bald mouse). Which beautiful lunatic looked at this and thought 'Ah oui, the main difference between this and a mouse is that it's bald'?

A bat flying directly at the camera. Its face looks demonic, it is clearly not bald and it has large leathery wings

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 28

Wonderful 2nd part of the street art exhibition We Are Here at the Petit Palais in Paris (Celebrating the first day in almost 2 weeks when it's cool enough to move with instantly feeling like you're going to melt or die)

A painting showing a man in the dress of an 18th century aristocratic, next to a TV showing a scene from La Haine. The paint appears to melt and dribble

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 28

On the incredible French diaspora playing in the World Cup, and the sporting bonuses to being an immigrant www.thelocal.fr/20260627/ins...

Text reads- There are in fact two brothers - born in Angers in western France - playing in this tournament; Désiré Doué is one of the stars of the French team and his brother Guéla Doué is playing for Côte d'Ivoire, the birthplace of their father.

I've always thought that one of the joys of being an immigrant is that you get two teams to cheer for at sporting tournaments, so double the fun, and these talented young men have taken that one step further.

Dual nationals are often spoken of in negative terms of having 'divided loyalties', but surely it's just about loving more than one thing? Does anyone suggest that parents who have more than one child must 'divide' their loyalties and pick their favourite kid?

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 27

Looking back at a brutal week in France www.thelocal.fr/20260627/ins...

Text reads - We all know that the records set this week won't remain for long, more heatwaves are coming, and they will be even longer, even hotter, even more brutal.

A political battle has erupted in France over air conditioning, which is rapidly becoming necessary for public spaces such as schools and hospitals, and for the homes of people in high-risk groups such as the elderly.

But air-conditioning is, at best, only treating a symptom. Looking at the terrifying, burning heatwaves sweeping across Europe and responding with only AC is like trying to treat a bubonic plague patient by sticking a couple of nice, neat surgical dressings over their suppurating boils.

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 25

The expression on the face of this dog who has been caught fare-dodging 🤣💔 (Or rather, her owner has. Yes, dogs need a ticket on French trains)

A bearded collie, hair in a top knot, looks penitant and sad

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 22

I know it's only Monday, but this - from AFP's Valentine Chapuis - is surely the photo of the week from France? From a 'Medieval sword fighting meets MMA' event in Aveyron, southern France

A man sits in full armour, holding a sword, his head (shaved with a large beard) bare. He sits in a school sports hall, with a floral tote bag at his feet

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 21

This is the best €10 I have ever spent . . . Also met a Spanish friend last night and she had the Spanish version (puto calor)

Hand fan with the message 'putain de chaleur' (fucking heat)

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 20

It's so hot in Paris that leopards are indigenous now 🥵

Close up of street art of 2 leopards and some butterflies

Cafe terrace decorated with street art of 2 leopards

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 19

French caption writers determinedly swerving the challenge of explaining to their readers why the likely next British prime minister is standing between a person dressed as a fox and another with a bin on his head. Cowards!

A mad photo - of Andy Burnham standing between a man dressed as a fox and another with a bin on his head - captioned simply as 'the British MP Andy Burham waves at supporters'

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 17

This is very cool (physically cool, as well as fun) - walk off a Paris street into a mountain cave, designed by street artist JR My photos absolutely do not do it justice

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 16

Every one one of those Macron/ Trump photos from the G7 is worse than the last . . . This one has extremely strong energy of someone trying to distract a toddler with a tantrum imminent "Look! A horsie!" Photo: Ludovic Marin/AFP

Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump sitting at a conference table. Trump looks like he's about to burst into tears, Macron is smiling slightly manically and pointing

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 15

This is a Fennec Fox, the insanely cute animal native to the North African desert that is the national animal of Algeria and the nickname of its football team, & the reason we get headlines like this; Pour les Fennecs, c’est nuit blanche (a sleepless night for Algeria football supporters)

A Fennec Fox being held by a handler, it has enormous ears and a very cute face

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 12

Can't tell you how much I hate this. Genuine* psychic animals being forced out of work by AI. RIP Paul 🐙

Headline reads - AI replaces Paul the octopus for 2026 World Cup tips

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 12

Er, I have not signed up for Duolingo. Why has this passive-aggressive owl suddenly appeared in my inbox?? If it comes near me I will kill it with sticks

Emails from language learning app Duolingo. Subject lines are; I'm not that upset, it's allergies; Your French won't practice itself; Nobody ignores me . . . for long

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 10

Can't say I'm very tempted by this French perfume named 'hangover' . . . 🤢

Boxes of perfume with the name 'gueule de bois' (hangover)

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 9

More végétalisation of the public space in Paris 😎

A roundabout with new trees around it, plus some older trees, and vegetation planted in the middle around the statue of La Semeuse (the sower)

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 9

Random street in Paris that was dug up last year as part of the city's 'végétalisation' programme - it's mostly about planting trees but here we get wildflowers too, aren't those poppies pretty?

A Paris road with a strip of grass, trees and wildflowers in the centre

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 8

The Talking France podcast currently has enough listeners to fill Paris' Opéra Garnier almost twice over . . . *but* if every listener just told 22 of their closest friends/relatives about us, we'd have enough to fill the Stade de France! www.thelocal.fr/podcasts/tal...

The elaborate roof of the Paris Opéra building

Aerial view of Stade de France in Saint-Denis, just outside Paris

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 6

Evening, Paris #NuitBlanche

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· Jun 3

Every time you cross a border in Europe you get a welcome message from your phone provider which, in the case of 🇫🇷 Free, seems to lean heavily into national stereotypes. So 🇬🇧 gets Fish & Chips, 🇮🇹 gets Mamma-recipe cooking, 🇪🇸 gets 'funny' pronunciation and poor old Belgium gets . . . nothing at all

Text reads 'fancy a fish & chips? Welcome to the UK'

Text reads 'here we don't swear by Mamma-recipe data. Welcome to Italy'

Text reads '35GB of data at once. Welcome to Belgium'

Text reads 'Here Free is pronounced Frrrrree. Welcome to Spain'

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· May 25

Happy Pentecost 😎 (Last French bank holiday until July, quelle horreur)

Foundation Louis Vuitton building in Paris, blue sky in background

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· May 23

What a performance from Bordeaux! 🥳 Also enjoying the post-match interviews about 'le back-to-back'

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· May 22

Journalism in the 21st century

A plastic skeleton sitting in an office chair

Emma Pearson@emmapearson· May 22

It's going to be a beautiful day 😎