Wednesday 12 December 2012

Joyeux Noël from La Résidence!




Petit Papa Noël (Little Santa Claus) sung by the incomparable Tino Rossi

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Sunday 2 December 2012

Vodafone France offer advice

... on what to do if you find yourself on a plane next to Emanuelle Béart



La Résidence - THE French Property People

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Le singe est dans l'arbre (the monkey is in the tree)




Learning French is made easy by Eddie Izzard (from his show Dress to Kill 1999)

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Saturday 3 November 2012

Downtime on the Western Front



As Remembrance Day approaches once again, an exhibition of recently-unearthed photographs shows everyday life on the Western Front nearly a century ago. The photos of allied servicemen were originally taken by a French couple in northern France and sold as postcards to soldiers during World War I.

The exhibition itself is in Australia, but you can see a slideshow preview here.

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Sunday 14 October 2012

Wrong number!

A woman in south-west France, who received a telephone bill of nearly 12 quadrillion euros, has had the real amount she owed waived - after the company admitted its mistake.



Solenne San Jose, from Pessac outside Bordeaux, said she received a huge shock when she opened the bill for 11,721,000,000,000,000 euros...



La Résidence - THE French Property People

Monday 1 October 2012

Adieu Edouard Leclerc


British tourists heading through France often pause to stock up at one of the giant hypermarkets bearing the name E Leclerc, which have sprung up on the edge of almost every French town. Edouard Leclerc gave up his ambitions to become a priest and opened his first grocery shop in Brittany in 1949...


La Résidence - THE French Property People

Saturday 15 September 2012

French Royalty Topless!



As a riposte to French magazine Closer's scandalous recent publication, La Residence brings you France's most famous topless royal...... Marie Antoinette!

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Monday 3 September 2012

The Journalist, the President, his Partner and his Ex......


The complicated love life of French President Francois Hollande is examined in the book, Between Two Fires - Entre Deux Feux, looking at the rivalry between his partner and ex-wife.
Previous presidents would not have faced such public scrutiny of their private affairs.

Journalist Pierre Haski, who co-founded the Rue 89 news website, said the allegations about former potential candidate Dominique Strauss Kahn "broke this whole status quo in France and opened the door for investigations into private lives when they have political consequences".

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9747000/9747391.stm

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Thursday 16 August 2012

Prends un tic-tac (have a tic-tac)



A very funny ad currently on French tv....

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Vive Bradley Wiggins!



As we wait patiently for gold medal success at the olympics, let's revisit some British sporting glory earlier this summer.

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Mind the jellyfish!

Scientists and officials in the French Riviera will soon be launching a website to tell beach-goers where they may face a risk of a jellyfish sting.



Analysis of water mass and plankton levels helps to predict jellyfish movement along the coastline.

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Monday 2 July 2012

La Barbe: France's bearded feminists

A group of French feminists has found a new way to fight inequality - with sarcastic humour and fake beards...

Colette Coffin unzipped her handbag and pulled out a small piece of artificial fur. "This is my speaking beard," she explains.
"I've got a much bushier one but this has a wider hole so I can talk without getting too much fluff in my mouth."

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Saturday 16 June 2012

Philately will get you everywhere


The US and French postal services have joined forces in order to pay tribute to the music legends Edith Piaf and Miles Davis.

The United States Postal Service and La Poste of France have released joint commemorative stamps to honour the careers of the two accomplished musicians. It is only the second time the two countries have released postage stamps together, with the set to be used on both sides of the Atlantic.

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Vive la reine!

 ... or why the republican French love Liz...

the BBC's David Chazan investigates

(view of a French ship which took part in the jubilee pageant)

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Tuesday 1 May 2012

A May Day French Anthem


Serge Gainsbourg's reggae version of the Marseillaise infuriated France's far right when it was released. Especially for Marine LePen - here it is again!

Wednesday 18 April 2012

The Donzy weathervane

The French village that predicts results of presidential elections...

 

Ahead of the official count, BBC correspondent Christian Fraser travelled to the village of Donzy in Burgundy, which has a remarkable record in predicting the final results.

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Sunday 15 April 2012

Je dis, je dis, je dis...

French presidential hopeful Francois Hollande has been described as an unlikely comedian
Francois Hollande on campaign visit on 7 April 2012 in Les Ulis, outside Paris 
When Francois Hollande decided to run in this year's presidential race he made two promises. The first was to lose weight. The second was to give up cracking jokes.

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Wednesday 11 April 2012

French WWII resistance hero Raymond Aubrac dies aged 97

Raymond Aubrac told the BBC recently that his arrest had been a shock but not a surprise
 
Raymond Aubrac  
One of the leading figures of the French resistance against the Nazis, Raymond Aubrac, has died aged 97, his family says. His daughter said he had died at Val de Grace military hospital in Paris on Tuesday evening. Raymond Aubrac and his late wife Lucie became important members of Jean Moulin's underground Resistance movement in 1942.

La Résidence - THE French Property People 

Monday 9 April 2012

Allons etc...

Melenchon unites French hard left in presidential campaign
Jean-Luc Melenchon in Toulouse (5 April 2012)  
The word "revolution" comes easy to Jean-Luc Melenchon. The far-left candidate's campaign speeches are peppered with references to 1789, and calls for France to reconnect with the spirit of the Bastille.
If you believe his rhetoric, the whole of Europe is on the verge of a new popular insurrection, merely waiting for France to point the way.

La Résidence - THE French Property People 

Friday 6 April 2012

Bien surly?


Surveys repeatedly suggest that people think the French to be rude and unwelcoming to visitors. But is there really any truth in the stereotype? Rajan Datar decided to put it to the test on the streets of Paris and also put the claim to France's Minister of Tourism Frederic Lefebvre.

La Résidence - THE French Property People 

Monday 2 April 2012

The changing face of French lunchtimes

Diners at a bistro table  
Some French workers are finding their lunchtimes too brief for the traditional three-course meal
On a sunny spring day, a bistro with a well-deserved reputation for first-rate traditional cooking is all but deserted at lunchtime. "When the weather's good, people tend to grab a sandwich and eat outdoors," laments Otis Lebert, the owner and chef of Le Taxi Jaune in the trendy Marais district of central Paris...

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Le sack... £1,250

France train firm pays out after delays cost woman job

SNCF TER train at Perrache station in Lyons  
This is not the first time SNCF has been told to pay compensation for delays
A court in France has ordered the national rail company, SNCF, to pay 1,500 euros (£1,250) in compensation to a commuter who lost her job because of delays. 

Monday 26 March 2012

Boneyland?


A theme park based on Napoleon is being proposed in Montereau, south of Paris, the scene of one of Napoleon's last victories. It is hoped there will be a direct train service from Waterloo...

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Friday 23 March 2012

Monday 12 March 2012

Adieu Moebius...

Jean Giraud, one of France's leading comics artists, has died in Paris at the age of 73 after a long illness.
He drew for more than 50 years, under various names, but was most widely known as Moebius.


La Résidence - THE French Property People

Wednesday 29 February 2012

75% ? Aieee !!!


 French presidential hopeful François Hollande has proposed a 75% top rate of income tax for high earners. Coincidentally, his poll lead over incumbent Sarkozy has narrowed recently ...

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Friday 24 February 2012

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Friday 17 February 2012

Entente nucleaire

It's official! We're friends with the French again! And to prove it, we're going to let French company Areva build our nuclear power stations.

Curiously, no mention was made of any reciprocal arrangement...

La Résidence - THE French Property People

Friday 27 January 2012

BBC2 The Dream King

BBC2's forthcoming trilogy The Dream King celebrates the life, loves and achievements of Louis XIV, though with an emphasis, by the looks of it, on the loves...



La Résidence - THE French Property People

Sunday 15 January 2012

Monday 2 January 2012

Une bonne oeuvre pour le nouvel an



Comment faire pour tester un nouveau pont ?
On met toutes les belles-mères sur le pont : s'il résiste, c'est que l'oeuvre est bonne, s'il craque, c'est une bonne oeuvre.


La Résidence - THE French Property People