Anti-Parisian stickers cause controversy in Bordeaux

The stickers, which say “Parisien, rentre chez toi“ beside a drawing of a TGV train, started to appear on walls around the city this week.

Bordeaux mayor Alain Juppé described them as “shameful” and said he plans to take the creators of the stickers to court.

“Our city is welcoming and will remain so,” he tweeted.

The stickers were created by Vincent Poudampa, a Bordeaux lawyer, who told Le Monde that the mayor was “overreacting” to what he described as a silly joke that was thought up over a drink.

Mr Poudampa and a friend have set up what they are calling a two-man Bordeaux Liberation Front Against Parisianism, the Front de libération bordeluche face au parisianisme, in response to cards distributed by the mayor that show Bordeaux with an Eiffel Tower and promote the fact that, since July, Bordeaux is only two hours by train from Paris.

"It's annoying that Bordeaux is now defined in relation to Paris,” Mr Poudampa said. "We're just passing on a grumble that is beginning to be heard around Bordeaux."