France

CHARLIE CONNELLY on Dalida, the French superstar singer who endured a catalogue of personal catastrophes They made an unlikely couple arriving at the Sanremo Music Festival in January 1967, the young protest singer some called the Italian Bob Dylan and the elegant, older chanteuse from Paris with a glittering decade of mainstream chart success behind […]

In both war and peace, a love of reading made Napoleon history’s biggest bibliophile.  When you’re an enthusiastically expansionist autocrat and visionary military leader building an empire that will cover almost an entire continent your work doesn’t, it’s fair to say, leave much time for hobbies. Julius Caesar produced no macramé of note; Alexander the […]

For a man with a celebrated line of fragrances, it’s no surprise that Pierre Cardin comes out of a new documentary smelling of roses. “We kept digging for dirt,” concedes one of the film’s directors, Todd Hughes. “But we kept striking gold.” So, adorned by celebs including Dionne Warwick, Naomi Campbell and Sharon Stone, House […]

Napoleon’s role in shaping the continent we know today makes him a subject of fascination across Europe. So, on the bicentenary of the emperor’s death, why does he not occupy a central place in the French psyche?  A Frenchman must necessarily be arrogant.  For he can be nothing other than the heir of Napoleon Bonaparte. His commitment to […]

French fishermen have blocked lorries of UK-landed fish arriving in Boulogne-sur-Mer in protest at the slow granted of fishing licenses in UK waters by the government. Under Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit deal, EU fishermen could continue to fish in British waters, but only once they had received a license. But almost four months since the deal was […]

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has the profile and ambition to run against Emmanuel Macron for the French presidency. But her greatest strengths might also be what prevents this ‘Queen of the Bobos’ from reviving the country’s moribund Socialists Despite not yet having declared her candidacy for next year’s presidential elections, mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo […]

The city of Paris has mislaid two 10-tonne art deco fountains that stood near the Port de la Chapelle metro station. The landmarks were built in 1935 but were moved temporarily in 2014 to clear a new tram route for the 2024 Olympic Games. However, no-one now seems to know where they were put. Local […]

Flags have dominated the news agenda in recent weeks as debates about national identity rumble on. If you’ve only been casually checking into the news – and after the few years we have all had, who could blame you? – you might be forgiven for thinking that the world is suddenly quiet. What other possible reason […]

The European Commission president has warned AstraZeneca that it must “honour” its vaccine contract with the bloc before exporting doses elsewhere in the world. Ursula von der Leyen urged “transparency” from other countries, but did not confirm if the EU would bring in tougher export restrictions on coronavirus jabs, amid a row over supplies with […]

Another look at the continent’s weirdest stories, selected by Steve Anglesey. Paris police who boasted about busting a 1.2million euro (£1.03million) haul of MDMA and ecstasy turned out to have seized Haribo sweets instead. The gendarmes wrote on Twitter that after a “fruitful investigation” they had found a “large quantity of drugs to be sold […]

The great statesman adored the Côte d’Azur, where he indulged his passion for painting. Artist PAUL RAFFERTY, who has explored the area in search of the locations he painted, explains the profound connection between the man and the region. August 1948, Aix-en-Provence, late afternoon, the baking heat now just about bearable. A convoy of artist, driver, valet, bodyguards and a […]

JAMES BALL on Europe’s very uneven vaccine rollout. With so much riding on the vaccine rollout across Europe, it is perhaps unsurprising it has been quite so tempestuous and bad-tempered. Governments have been accusing one another of irresponsibility, of cheating on supplies, or botching their rollouts. Last week, Italy even stopped a shipment of vaccines destined for […]

Few politicians have fallen quite as far and quite as fast as Nicolas Sarkozy. Nicolas Sarkozy marked his finest political hour in characteristically brash style. The night of his election victory over Socialist rival Ségolène Royal on May 6, 2007, he spent celebrating at a private bash at the exclusive Le Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs-Elysées. It was a select gathering […]

Former French ambassador to the UK Sylvie Bermann made recent headlines with her very undiplomatic comments about Boris Johnson. She talks to TIM WALKER about how the country changed in her time here, and what she sees for its future. Almost a month after the EU referendum, the newly-appointed foreign secretary Boris Johnson bounded into the opulent residence […]

The French president is a politician like no other: neither from the left, nor the right; bold and decisive, yet the antithesis of a populist. And if he can win re-election next year he will shape not just the future of France, but of Europe. By ALASTAIR CAMPBELL  The first time I met Emmanuel Macron, he […]

A French court has found Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of influence peddling, as the former president was sentenced to three years in prison. Sarkozy’s trial was the first time a former French president has stood trial over corruption charges as he was accused of using his political influence to bribe a judge. The ex-head of the […]

The news you might have missed from around Europe, selected by Steve Anglesey. A group of hapless would-be thieves were arrested in Nancy, north-east France, after a disastrous attempt to rob a friend’s stash of several thousand euros. Two men, one armed with a hunting rifle, aborted their first raid when a woman they did […]

Following the announcement that the Pompidou Centre is to close from 2023 until 2027, BENJAMIN IVRY explores the history of the controversial building and its complex place at the heart of French culture and identity. Often referred to in French as Beaubourg, after the area in central Paris where it is located, the Pompidou Centre – with […]

The French response to Brexit has not quite been a Gallic shrug. But it’s not been far off. PAULINE SCHNAPPER explains the view from Paris. The Brexit deal reached on Christmas Eve was a relief for France as much as for the rest of the EU, both because a deal (any deal!) was better than no-deal […]

JASON WALSH reports on Europe’s varying fortunes on vaccination roll-outs. The European Union performs many roles for its citizens. The most important – if one of the least-discussed – is to keep them safe from harm. And that is the issue causing grave concern across the continent right now, as the EU and its member states try desperately […]

Stanley Johnson, the father of British prime minister Boris Johnson, has admitted he is in the process of applying for a passport that will give him all the benefits of EU membership after Brexit. Johnson, a former Conservative MEP, told RTL Radio in France that he wants to become a French citizen to keep his […]

An EU official has confirmed that the bloc rejected a request from Boris Johnson to allow him to involve German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron in Brexit negotiations.  The senior official said the request for a three-way call on Monday was rejected because negotiations were intended to go through the European Commission and not […]

Denis MacShane on the late Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, a man who helped modernise France and Europe, and relished an argument and a rivalry. “Your friend, Tony Blair, who does he think he is. He’s now calling for Albania to be let into Europe?” Valéry Giscard d’Estaing stretched out his long legs in the French embassy in […]

A French MEP has accused Boris Johnson over ‘underestimating the determination’ of the European Union during Brexit talks. Mireille Clapot claimed the prime minister had miscalculated the EU’s ability to negotiate and remain united, claiming he was paying the price by risking a no-deal Brexit. She told the BBC’s Newsnight: “Somebody said that strength comes from […]

The country might consider itself the cradle of liberty, but, says CONSTANCE KAMPFNER, a controversial proposed ‘security’ law has emphasised the uneasy relationship between the state and its citizens. A policeman is kneeling on a man’s neck. He tries to tell the officer that he can’t breathe while passersby look on, horrified. They shudder. And then […]

Joe Biden is expected to call European leaders Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron early on as he speaks with politicians across the world in the coming days. Johnson is hoping to build bridges with Biden after a Democratic source claimed that there was “no special relationship with Boris Johnson” following the election win. But sources close […]

As cinema enters dark times, the 60th anniversary of À bout de souffle offers a much-needed reminder of film’s ability to revive itself, says JAMES OLIVER. The irony is almost too bitter. This is the 60th anniversary of Jean-Luc Godard’s À bout de souffle (Breathless, as it was translated, as it shall be hereafter), one […]

While all countries are grappling with coronavirus, France is also facing another profound crisis. JASON WALSH reports As France hunkers down for its latest coronavirus confinement, or lockdown – announced last week by Emmanuel Macron – the country knows it is heading into a period of unease, angst, economic devastation and death. And yet the […]

France and Germany have both taken the decision to go into national lockdowns to last throughout November as part of an attempt to slow the growth of coronavirus. President Emmanuel Macron has confirmed the “stay at home” order which will see non-essential shops, restaurants and bars close from Friday until 1 December with external borders […]

A quiet town perched on the banks where the Seine and Oise rivers meet, Conflans-Sainte-Honorine is not one of Paris’s notorious banlieues. Around 20 miles northwest of the capital, it is certainly in its orbit but the quiet streets and restrained, low-rise buildings mean it feels more provincial French than Parisian. Pleasant, and rather unremarkable. […]

France’s is bailing out its wine industry, which has been hit hard by the pandemic. But, says JASON WALSH, long-standing social trends in the country could be even more troubling for the sector. The scene outside Le Ballon Vert in the trendy 11th arrondissement of Paris: forced outdoors by post-coronavirus regulations and unseasonal autumn weather, […]

As the Mamoudou Gassama incident adds to Emmanuel Macron’s accumulation of glowing publicity, BARNABY TOWNS challenges some Brexit myths about the UK’s supposed superiority to our southern neighbour Another day, another picture-perfect photo opportunity for President Emmanuel Macron, this time thanking Mamoudou Gassama — the undocumented immigrant who saved a child dangling from a balcony […]