French weekly magazines review

How to stop your euros going up in smoke. How to find the path back to growth and ensure democracy survives.  How the markets will decide next year's presidential election. How the freemasons have become a right-wing secret weapon, while inflitrating the left. How girls' brains differ from boys'. How English rioters are not so pleased with themselves now. And what the well-dressed French schoolkid will wear this autumn.

A front-page cartoon in Le Canard Enchaîné captures perfectly the mood in France this week.

It sketches five would-be Presidential candidates of the opposition Socialist Party on an auction house floor. "Me - I'll reduce the debt by 100 billion [euros]" bids former Party leader Ségolène Royal.

Another contender bids 150 billion, a third 200 billion, a fourth 300 billion and, the fifth, Royale's former partner and father of her children - François Hollande - bids 400 billion. On which bid, the auctioneer's hammer is about to fall.

Debt and the financial crisis look to be on almost everyone's agenda.

Crisis - what will change for you, asks the cover of L'Express, with alarmist art work showing euro notes in flames. Inside, the magazine devotes 10 pages to the subject and - usefully perhaps - considers how its readers might be affected and how, exactly, they can protect their money.

In spite of multiple summits and political pronouncements, L'Express says, the world economy is still unbalanced. The magazine cites Albert Einstein's dictum that we can't solve a problem with the thinking that caused it.

Austerity alone isn't the solution. To rediscover the path to growth, that's the key. And that needs investment, for example in the energy sector and health care. With new economic giants such as China emerging, it's about the economic survival of France.

And, if the time comes when the markets declare war on Europe, it's about the survival of democracy.

Hmmm. And how, exactly, do I protect my money? Life insurance is as secure at it gets, says L'Express. And, lest we forget, the stock market offers a good return, albeit over the longer term. Then there's gold. The price of which has risen 30-per in the past month. Though you'd best buy paper gold - so to speak. Ingots, it seems are a bad idea, heavily taxed when you resell.

Le Point looks at France's public debt, exploring what it calls the truth and the lies. For 30 years, it says, governments have squandered deficits and debts. All governments have followed the same strategy. Public debt has ballooned, as has the number of people employed by the state.

Germany and Sweden reformed and begun paying back their debts. France thought it could do differently, the magazine says. So much the worse. Next year, calculators in hand, rating agencies and the markets will decide the French presidential election.

The cover of Le Nouvel Observateur features a sinister pictures with a mysterious blacked-out figure wearing the regalia of the Freemasons. Inside, Nouvel Obs devotes 10 pages to the masons, exploring how, as political parties have become weaker, the masons and their extensive network are rediscovering their power and influence.

Former president Jacques Chirac found words to please them. Former president François Mitterrand never failed to install several masons in his entourage, the magazine says. Today they might not be able to decide an election but we should not ignore their influence.

The magazine says the masons have become an arm of the political right. It suspects some ministers are active masons, accuses others of cosying up to them and charges that senior politicians often do favours for masons.

What's more, the influence of the shadowy brotherhood isn't confined to the right. Party of the left! Party of the masons! screams another headline. And, just so no political party feels left out , Nouvel Obs reveals that in recent years the French masons have also colonised the Green Party. It may be time to learn that secret handshake.

Le Figaro Magazine wonders why boys and girls are so different. Evidently, the answer is in the brain. Girls' brains are pink. Boy's brains are blue.They report on the findings of an American neurologist who says boys are more nervous and often less sociable.

Girls aims for group harmony, fulfilling the role of a "mummy". The findings spill over into education, where girls are said to have shaken off old stereotypes, such as being no good at science. But boys have not and often perform less successfully than girls.

Elsewhere, Le Figaro Magazine recalls the recent riots across the Channel. The pictures alone are shocking. Burning and gutted buildings. Hooded and masked looters armed with baseball bats, posing calmly with their loot, including laptop computers and designer trainers.

Apparently, four young men were so pleased with themselves they posted a souvenir photo on the internet. Arrested and charged, with many convicted and jailed, more than 1,000 rioters are not so pleased with themselves now. The magazine features an 18-year-old footballer in handcuffs being led from a cell. They say he stole 1,500 euros-worth of clothing from a Hugo Boss shop and as a result his career in football is ended.

Finally, Madame Figaro anticipates what is known in France as la rentrée. Which translates as back to work and back to school in September - after the long summer break.

In a 20-page Kids' Special they look at what the well-dressed French infant or adolescent will be wearing this autumn. The short-hand descriptions offered are tradi flashy and smart fun - with elegant tots pictured in designer brands.

The French state may be up to its collective ears in debt, individuals and families may be worried about their financial well-being, but, clearly, it will take more than a financial crisis to dilute France's flair and passion for chic.