Macron orders vacation-loving French ministers to keep their summer holidays modest this year
has told French ministers to keep their holidays modest this summer out of fear of stoking resentment among voters, reports say, as he tours the Pacific Islands for talks over the on-going climate crisis. The French President and his government has been rocked by crises after crises in recent months, and so is eager to keep angry voters placated. Therefore, in a country that holds its holidays dear and resents the idea of working during time off, ministers are looking to demonstrate their dedication. Many have made it clear they will be taking their laptops with them, and that they will be staying with friends or family to cut costs rather than booking hotels or rentals in an attempt to show they are like any other French citizen. Pressure on ministers to take more understated breaks increased with the leak of a memo from the prime minister's office, ordering them to take a holiday that is 'compatible with their responsibilities,' according to . The message also told ministers to state when they would be away from Paris and who would be standing in for them during that time period. According to France's Le Figaro newspaper, 'distant and exotic' holiday destinations are off limits, with ministers expected to stay within two hours of the nearest government office, the Times reported. Ideally, Le Figaro said, ministers would also stay within France's borders. While a holiday in France may not seem like the worst option for many outside of the country, Macron's ministers are applauding themselves for scaling back their vacation plans and using it to demonstrate how hard working they are. It is understood they have also been told to keep one eye on their portfolios while they are away, with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne warning them to remain 'on the lookout' should anything arise. In its report, Le Figaro says ministers have been ordered to detail the exact addresses they will be staying and for which dates, and to provide the 'coordinates at which they will be reachable on the spot 'if necessary'.' The French newspaper also reported that ministers have been told they must stay in Paris until August 7, and return on August 24, despite the parliamentary session officially ending on Friday, July 28. The instructions are being viewed as evidence that there is a nervousness in government following two crises that led to mass protests in France. The first came in April when , leading to further protests and violence on the streets. There are fears that more disturbances could come later this year over the cost of living, and so Macron wants his ministers to show they understand ordinary people. Clement Beaune, 41, France's transport minister, said he would 'set an example' by making a 'sober' choice in his holiday destination. Last summer, Beaune went to Italy, however tensions between France and its fellow EU state to the east are high following last year's election of Giorgia Meloni, the right-wing populist, as Italian Prime Minister. This year, Borne said she would stay with friends in southern France's Var departement, where Macron is also planning to go, The Times reported. Each year, 45-year-old Macron stays at the President's official retreat of Bregancon Fort that sits on the Mediterranean coast, about 20 miles from Toulon. It is understood he will spend this summer with his wife Brigitte Macron, 70, who has invited her three children from her first marriage - Sebastien, 48, Laurence, 46, and Tiphaine 39 - along with their spouses and her grandchildren. Macron's aides have insisted that he will continue to work during his holiday. Ministers are expected to follow his example, with Christophe Bechu - France's minister for ecology - saying he be given daily wildfire briefings, The Times says. Meanwhile interior minister Gerald Darmanin, 40, and sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, 45, are set to take a working holiday to inspect the site where the surfing event is set to be held at next year's Paris Olympics... in the French territory of Tahiti. As for Macron's whereabouts today, he stripped off his suit jacket to wander the wild forests of Papua New Guinea on a green-tinted charm offensive in the South Pacific. There, he is telling Pacific leaders that France understands the threat they face from a warming Earth, from rising seas swamping low-lying islands to a loss of wildlife, wilder weather and the financial costs they impose. It is a message he has already pushed on his first two Pacific stops, on the eroded coastline of the French territory of New Caledonia and in the sea-threatened archipelago of Vanuatu where he joined a call for the phasing out of fossil fuels. In Papua New Guinea, Macron wore no jacket, and at one point no tie, as he walked more than a mile with Prime Minister James Marape through the lush Varirata National Park, touting a French initiative to remunerate countries that preserve their old-growth forests. Natural forest covers 14 percent of the Earth's surface and is a huge reservoir of stored carbon, which is released when burned - 'so that in a way we go backwards', Macron said. The world already finances reforestation, he said, arguing that there is no economic model to preserve the woodlands that already exist. To address this, a first so-called Forest, Climate, Biodiversity project was signed Friday with Papua New Guinea, to be managed by the French development agency with 60 million euros ($66 million) in financing from the European Union. Other non-governmental organisations are already aboard, French officials say, and they hope to get the private sector involved, too. The challenge is significant.