France
Welcome to Clockwork Orange France
At the first sign of serious French rioting, observers typically reach for the French handbook of past revolutions – a…
I’m mourning the loss of BBC Sounds
Provence The other Friday, via the reader comments section, I was contacted by a chap, Simon, inviting me to attend…
Beware left-wing fake news
We hear a lot from the lanyard class about the harm that mis- and disinformation causes, from anti-migration protests to…
The specter of civil war haunts France
It was a peaceful weekend in France apparently. One broadcaster described the latest protests as “calm” and Le Monde said…
I’ve ended my ‘situationship’
Provence Lying awake at 3.30 the other morning, I thought about a V.S. Pritchett quote: ‘Once one has got used…
Our thirst for torching old buildings
Regard the protestors. See how happy they are. Can you hear them whoop and whistle? The burning clock tower of…
What I saw in the French riots
It’s the third week of the student-led protests in Lyon, and the second that my university has been blockaded “in…
We cannot trust our AI overlords
It is no longer an exaggeration to say that the digital apocalypse is at our door. The advance of artificial…
Don’t take Britain’s cathedrals for granted
Everywhere I hear voices complaining about charges being imposed on those who wish to visit our great cathedrals. Everywhere, I…
Do France’s pupil protestors have a point?
On 21 September, pupils at the Lycée Saint-Exupéry in Créteil, south-east of Paris, staged a protest. They had a list…
My poolside revelations
Lying by the rooftop pool of the Hotel Sun in downtown Lefkosa, I felt like a cowboy about to stir…
The Bayeux Tapestry must never be returned to France
The Norman Conquest is a crime against humanity that remains, over a millennium on, entirely unsettled. The French still refuse…
My midnight naked swim
Provence The tiny village of Correns, two villages along, suffered more in the recent fires than we did. Even the…
Why were women banned from the Eiffel Tower?
The French are accustomed to rancorous debates about the threat to women’s rights posed by religious orthodoxies – especially Islam,…
My dog’s an accident waiting to happen
‘My apologies again for you nearly losing your leg,’ I said to the young Frenchman as he and his family…
Why are French kids’ school bags so heavy?
It’s that time of year again in Paris, when the cool breeze and light rain announce the arrival of the…
My cave house’s wonderful history
Provence Looking back on it, apart from this year’s wildfires, the stultifying heat of high summer in Provence isn’t so…
How to do a salade Lyonnaise justice
Salade Lyonnaise is often translated as ‘bacon and egg salad’ and I can’t stand it. Not because it’s inaccurate –…
Emmanuel Macron is an embarrassment to France
France’s under-15s can carry on using social media after a parliamentary ban was struck down by the Republic’s constitutional council…
A toast to the heroic French firefighters
Provence ‘Imbeciles! I told them! When the fire comes on the hill there, it always goes that way… did they…
Farming today: field fires and food price hikes ahead
I report from FTSE boardrooms and City bars, but I also spend time – mostly in Yorkshire, currently in France…
Tears and terror on the front line of the French wildfires
Provence As soon as I opened my front door I could smell it. Along the path, flakes of white ash…
Won’t someone please think of the French wine?
There was something surreal about my visit to La Cité du Vin, Bordeaux’s wine museum, last Saturday. From the top…
Legal organ harvesting is just a PR campaign away
Summertime, and the living isn’t as easy as it used to be. The dying, though, is getting easier, especially if…
Patrick Bruel and the death of French seduction
Patrick Bruel was once a heartthrob pop star whose dark brooding looks fuelled a ‘Bruelmania’ fever that swept through France…
