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How a Hazelnut Spread Became a Sticking Point in Franco-Algerian Relations | The New Yorker

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Every summer in France, an exodus takes place. It invariably begins in early July, when public school lets out, kicking off les grandes vacances. This year, the last day of school is July 4th. On July 5th, the country’s airports, highways, and ferry terminals will swell with outbound travellers. Among them will be many of France’s 7.3 million immigrants, who constitute some ten per cent of the population, and the descendants of immigrants, who account for many millions more. Nearly a third of children born in France in 2023 had at least one parent born abroad. The exodus is a charged moment, an annual transmigration of people, money, goods, gifts, expectations, and yearnings nurtured through the long European winter. The ritual is colloquially known as le retour au bled, “the return to the homeland” or “the return to the village,” a combination of the French word for “return” and the Arabic word for “country.” Le retour au bled: Two parts of you stretching over a preposition and a sea.

Save this story Save this story Every summer in France, an exodus takes place. It invariably begins in early July, when public school lets out, kicking off les grandes vacances . This year, the last day of school is July 4th. On July 5th, the country’s airports, highways, and ferry terminals will swell with outbound travellers. Among them will be many of France’s 7.3 million immigrants, who constitute some ten per cent of the population, and the descendants of immigrants, who account for many millions more. Nearly a third of children born in France in 2023 had at least one parent born abroad.

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