Les Paveurs (Arles), Van Gogh

News & Features

Not tonight, Joséphine When Cécilia Sarkozy refused to join the French President Nicolas Sarkozy on a trip to meet US President George W. Bush and his wife Laura last August, it was apparent to everyone that the marriage was finally over. So it proved when they divorced last month, giving Sarkozy an unenviable place in the history books, the first French head of state to end his marriage in office since Napoléon Bonaparte back in 1809. Find out more >>

Beaujolais Nouveau in the pink Back comes the Beaujolais Nouveau, bottled at ever increasing speeds, and once again available from midnight as Wednesday becomes Thursday, on the third Thursday each November. But this time there’s a difference. Some late night drinkers in bars all over France will be able to order not just the traditional red wine but a rosé version as well.   Find out more >>

Juliette Binoche: Chaos or pathos? Which of Juliette Binoche’s latest movies, made on each side of the Atlantic, has the better chance of bringing her fresh acclaim?  One is a new Disney-financed comedy, Dan in Real Life, made on a Los Angeles studio lot; the other was a low-budget drama shot in London about refugees trying to make a new life for themselves, Breaking and Entering. Find out more >>

Who blinks first Eurostar has not commented on reports that it intends to schedule its non-French drivers to take out the first trains on its launch this month of the new, faster service from St Pancras International to Paris, to make sure that it was not hit by the ongoing strikes of French rail workers.  Find out more >>

Not so healthy Last month, when the new “health year” began in France, as many as 100,000 resident British expatriots under retirement age had to face the financial consequences of losing their entitlement to free health care. In a letter that pulled no punches, they were told to return their documents entitling them to free state medical treatment and henceforth to expect to pay. Find out more >>

Infinity in Paris A close examination of the most important mathematical text for centuries, sold at Christies nine years ago for about £1M, has proved that Archimedes was a genius who discovered the building blocks of calculus nearly 2,000 years before it was invented. The text lay undisturbed in a Paris apartment until the family who owned it put it up for sale, and experts have been working on it ever since. Find out more >>

A pig's tale The Japanese eat every part of a pig except, they say, its squeal. The French are more fussy: they never eat the tail. Most of everything else often ends up in a pâté because, goes the old saying, Dans le cochon, tout est bon: all good enough, that is, to eat.  Find out more >>

Enjoy 5% off any future villa holiday
if you (or any member of your party)
have travelled with us since 2004

Reductions apply to the villa portion only of the holiday 
If you are booking via a Travel Agent the reduction may not automatically apply

Reductions are also available on many books and holiday items >>