1920s boulangerie

News & Features

SNCF fined for deporting Jews A frisson of excitement has swept around the international legal community, presently digesting the implications of a decision by a Toulouse court to find French Railways guilty of being involved in the deportation of French Jews during the Second World War. Find out more >>

Michelin recovers from loss of the head of the family Michelin’s shares have shown signs of recovery from the sharp fall that followed the tragic death of its head, Edouard Michelin, in a boating accident off the coast of Finistère. Find out more >>

British pleas fall on deaf ears While the UK is still debating the merits of extending nuclear power, France remains wedded to the concept. A new reactor at Flammanville in the Manche département of Normandy is the subject of a public enquiry but in France these are not noted for overturning government policy.  Find out more >>

Bikini-clad president? Tipped as a serious contender for the French presidency in 2007, Ségolène Royal was allegedly furious when the magazine Closer, noted for its snatched pictures of celebrities, published pictures of her in a bikini. Find out more >>

Millau yes, Montpellier no That wonderful French engineering achievement, the Millau bridge on the A75 between Paris, Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier, has tended to obscure the fact that road building is sometimes subject to the same infuriating delays found in abundance in the UK. Find out more >>

Fréjus Ltd Fréjus is to repeat in 2007 its ambitious guide book showing the locations of its extraordinary range of artisans, who work in glass, iron and wood as well as the more traditional range of ceramics and mosaics. Find out more >>

Striking Oil The Renaissance palace of Saint-Firmin in Gordes now has a new tourist attraction, an extraordinary underground olive mill, thought to have been in operation until the French Revolution.  Find out more >>

Balzac’s Château The 17th century writer Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac remains among the great French literary figures but few have visited his family home, Château de Balzac, near Angoulême.  Find out more >>

Sticking point At La Vallée des Singes near Romagne in the Vienne, the owners have taken down a sign that used to say, ‘Caution: sticks may be thrown’ because stupid, or perhaps mischievous, members of the public thought this meant they could throw sticks at the chimps.  Find out more >>

Zero tolerance If you draw the zero line of latitude directly due south of Greenwich, you come to the French version of the leaning Tower of Pisa: the Tour d’Ébéon, a ruined stone tower in the commune of Authon-Ebéon, north of Cognac and east of Saintes. Find out more >>

Strictly for the birds An island that cannot be visited, that was completed less than a year ago, and that lies in one part of France but is run by another, is unusual to say the least. Find out more >>

Sweeter than the sweet Sweet white wine is an acquired taste for many but according to respected wine critic Robert Parker, the Jurançon’s sweet wines are among the country’s rarest and finest, while remaining moderately priced. Parker names two particular growers, Domaine Cauhaupé and Cru Lamouroux, as offering the pinnacle of excellence. Find out more >>

You could save up to 12.5% in 2006 and 2007

If you* have travelled with us since 2004 you are entitled to the following financial benefits:

• A reduction of 5% on your 2006/2007 booking
• Plus another 2.5% if your first 2006 takes place after 2 September 2006
  or if your first 2007 does not include the period between 30 June and 1 September 2007
• A 5% reduction will apply as well to a second booking taken in any one season 
  
      * You qualify if you were a member of a party, not necessarily the person who booked
  
  Reductions apply to the villa portion only of the holiday 
  Reductions do not apply to bookings made via Travel Agents
  
  More offers for our Villa Club members >>