Post-pandemic cost-of-living pressures have deepened France’s political turmoil. Inflation and rising prices have fueled voter anger, driving support for populist parties on both the extreme left and far right that promise to fight austerity and protect household incomes.

While President Macron’s government has introduced subsidies and energy caps to soften the blow, proposed spending cuts and pension reforms have sparked fierce opposition. The result is an extremely polarized parliament and a succession of prime ministers, upending the nation's political system.

Remarkably, according to a report in British newspaper The Independent, French people are drinking more beer than wine for the first time ever, with the growing cost of living changing drinking habits in the country.

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