French weekly magazines review

On the cover of L’Express, you have a photo of François Hollande's current partner Valérie Trierweiler and his ex-wife Ségolène Royale looking rather morose with the headline "The poison that is jealousy".

Is this seriously a top story?

Aren't we all over the "twittergate" problem caused by Trierweiler using the social network to openly support Ségolène's opponent in the legislative elections while her husband, the French president supported his ex-wife.

This happened over a month ago but people are obviously still interested. Sub-stories include a look at the all the previous first ladies and a psychology report:"I'm jealous but I'm getting help".

One can't help wonder whether if the president had been a woman and her partner had engaged in such futile rivalry with her ex would such a story still be making headlines?

Parliamentary elections 2012

We know the summer isn't the easiest time to find stories but perhaps the magazine's editor could have led with its other big article "How to save the French car industry" which only gets a small bottom line on the cover.

After all, some 8,000 jobs here in France are at stake.

VSD also has Treirweiler on the cover, although that is to be expected. It's headlining "Valérie Trierweiler au garde à vous" or Valérie brought back into the ranks. It looks back at the tweet scandal story. Yawn! The magazine says that François Hollande took advantage of the 14 July to quell rumours. Erm ...

Trierweiler, who is a journalist and has refused to leave her job as a political editor at a weekly, is also on the cover of the rag she works for. Yes, along with Prince William and Kate Middleton, her face is gracing the cover of Paris Match.

They are headlining the "Return of the first lady". No surprise for guessing which team they are on. One may wonder if there is not some sort of conflict of interest going on. In any case, Hollande's other half must obviously be selling papers.

Left-wing Le Nouvel Observateur has decided to leave France off its cover this week. It is summer, after all. So the magazine takes us all the way to California. On the front page you can see the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco and the article hales California as the birthplace of Hollywood, hippies and Facebook. It says that, despite the credit crunch, the area has enabled America to reinvent itself.

Perhaps it is wondering if such a region exists in France.The magazine writes that with the help of its immigrant population, the US could dominate the 21st century. It says that two out of three children in the Los Angeles region have one parent that is an illegal immigrant.

Over at Le Point a Chimpanzee proudly sits on a throne and asks "Where does man really come from?”

The weekly looks at the latest scientific discoveries, unexpected ancestors and finally assesses are position as the world’s almighty predator. It also heads off to Corsica and has a dossier on celebrity houses on the Mediterranean island.

Beach-whale reading par excellence.