Prime minister Edouard Philippe is a writer and an amateur boxer

What a series of amazing surprises have happened this week in France with the nomination of 22 new ministers. Emmanuel Macron had promised many women and some experts. We got both. With Prime minister Edouard Phiippe at the helm, his town of Le Havre in Normandy is put forward. He is slick, wears the trendy beard and light navy blue suits that seem to be the uniform of his generation.  And he learnt live on TV that there is a boxing room at Matignon, his new residence.

Laura Flessel, four times Olympic champion in fencing is Minister of Sports

With Françoise Nyssen, CEO of Actes Sud publishing, being made Minister of Culture, it is the Provençal city of Arles that is honored and literature and education is put forward. François Bayrou, mayor of Pau in the Pyrénées is made Minister of Justice… and starts with a law on moralisation fo public life! And our sports minister, from Guadeloupe, Laura Flessel, is the four times Olympic fencing champion who also happens to love golf…

Young and old, left and right, the new government is a mix of experts (oncologist Agnès Buzyn is Minister of Health) and politicians. All seem to have created a surprise and to have pleased the medias and eight of them have already written one or many books as the weekly Livres Hebdo immediately reported.

Marlène Schiappa, published “Maman travaille” and is Minister of Equality men women

Brigitte Macron said that when she met young Emmanuel, she expected him to become a writer not the President of the Republic. And it seems that most of his colleagues in the cabinets are very literary.

François Bayrou published a biography of Henri IV, Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy has written many political essays, Jean-Michel Blanquer, Minister of Education has published seven, Marlène Schiappa, has written among others « Maman travaille » on women’s equality with men, her new ministry. Nicolas Hulot the star environmentalist has published 23 books.

Françoise Nyssen is the owner and manager of Editions Actes Sud based in Arles

Since our new Minister of Culture is a publisher, it seems that France’s cultural vocation is in good hands for five years. She was honored in Cannes for her publication of books on cinema. Let’s see what comes out of it !