Playing the French revolution all over again?

French Revolution...

In the last 5 days, the news in France has been gripped by the “scandal” of French finance minister, Herve Gaymard, after he attracted heavy criticism for using public funds to rent a huge luxury apartment in Paris. Yesterday, he finally announced his resignation.
There was nothing illegal but it was clearly morally questionable to rent a 600 square metre apartment close to the Champs-Elysees, at a cost of €14,000 a month to the French taxpayer, at a time when unemployment in France hits a record high of 10%, when finding a small apartment in Paris is synonymous to a treasure hunt, and when budget austerity and cuts in public spending is the official motto of this cabinet.

There is little need to go along the public lynching, but the interview of former-minister Gaymard on T.F.1. (France's most popular private channel) was a great illustration of the indulgence of French TV anchors when inteviewing politicians. Such unnecessary reverence may be the sign that deep down the French have some nostalgia for their former aristocracy and the privileges of the pre-revolutionary ancien régime, and so maybe that the ‘media lynching’ is a revolution of sorts. In other words, maybe the French continue to play their history over and over again (creating aristocracy of sorts and then demanding revolution, and finally using the guillotine) - their fascination for the elite and their demand for political beheading certainly seems to have a lot to do with that.

This has also been noticed by the Brits, not only as a great opportunity for French-bashing - fair enough! - but also for the interesting idea of a 'Let them eat cake' attitude [that] faces another revolution in a recent article published by The Times.