France
Courchevel – from pickled cockles to the height of luxury
The last time I stayed in Courchevel it was in a tatty roadside chalet a long way down the mountain.…
A gastronomic moron’s view of a legendary French brasserie
Before we left for Sunday lunch at the Les Deux Garçons restaurant, Aix-en-Provence, I checked the reviews on Tripadvisor. I’m…
My afternoon with the French Foreign Legion
In the Foreign Legion’s Museum of Memory at Aubagne, near Marseilles, I examined the kit, weapons and uniforms from the…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said that if Britain left the European Union, France could stop allowing British officials…
The perfect wines to toast the end of the hunting season
A few years ago, a distinguished cove in the diplomatic service was made High Commissioner to Australia. To prepare himself…
François Hollande’s own personal state of emergency
The terrorist attacks of 13 November have had an enduring effect on people living in Paris and France’s other big…
Eugene Delacroix foresaw the future of society not just art
At the Louvre the other day there was a small crowd permanently gathered in front of Delacroix’s ‘Liberty Leading the…
We don’t need research to change banking culture. We need jail sentences
Was the Financial Conduct Authority leaned on by the Chancellor to scrap its ‘review of banking culture’? Or did it…
Britain is absent from the V&A’s new Europe galleries. Are they trying to tell us something?
Before cheap flights, trains were the economical way to discover Europe and its foibles. Personally, I enjoyed the old fuss…
Paris: go while it’s still friendly
My word, I do like the French! That’s up there with things I thought I’d never say, like ‘Just the…
Why would a dissolute rebel like Paul Gauguin paint a nativity?
A young Polynesian woman lies outstretched on sheets of a soft lemon yellow. She is wrapped in deep blue cloth,…
Glenda Jackson is brilliant in Radio 4’s Zola adaptation - and terrifying
It was a stroke of genius to invite Glenda Jackson to make her return to acting as the star of…
It is political correctness, not maniacal bigots, that will end civilisation
What does one do, attend or refuse a party after a tragic event such as the recent Paris outrage? My…
The pretend war: why bombing Isil won't solve the problem
Not so long ago, David Cameron declared that he was not some ‘naive neocon who thinks you can drop democracy…
The GP charged around to my side of the table and roved her hand all over my pubic area
On Friday morning I was peeing razor blades so I rang up the doctor and was given an appointment after…
France’s civil war — and the struggle facing Europe
In the wake of the massacre in Paris, President François Hollande said that France was ‘at war’ — and that…
All hail to the Stig’s mum’s Seat Ibiza TDI Sport
The car: a ’06 rosso red Seat Ibiza 1.9 TDI Sport, bought three weeks ago from a man who had…
Portrait of the week
Home After the killings in Paris, David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said that seven terrorist attacks on Britain had been…
François Hollande hasn’t seized the moment. Marine Le Pen might
Paris The terror attacks on Friday have given President François Hollande an opportunity to be statesmanlike, and he has tried…
The strange death of Louis XIV
At the beginning of the summer of 1715 Louis XIV complained of a pain in the leg. In mid-August gangrene…
How they tried (and failed) to make ‘La Marseillaise’ nicer
Friendly words England football fans sang ‘La Marseillaise’ in a friendly match at Wembley. The anthem has not always been…
Meet the intellectuals leading France to the right
When President de Gaulle was asked to authorise the criminal prosecution of Jean-Paul Sartre for civil disobedience during the Algerian…
Heathrow’s third runway could still be halted – here’s how
The Great British Runway final between Heathrow and Gatwick is beginning to look like a game of two halves. The…
Euroscepticism is growing all over Europe
Europhiles have warned us for years of the dangers of Britain leaving the EU. But all the while a different…
Merkel’s grandstanding on Syrian refugees will lead to many more deaths at sea
Of all the irresponsible decisions taken in recent years by European politicians, few will cause as much human misery as…
Most Popular
- Read
- Read
Latest
Cartoons
