The last dictator of FranceThe death of Gabonese President Omar Bongo — France’s last old-style dictator-patriarch in Africa — has sparked renewed debate in France’s role over its former colonies.
France 
Sarko the sex dwarf
Nicolas Sarkozy is the President the French love to hate. Lucy Wadham thinks the cliché of a “nation of adolescents in search of a strong father figure” to rebel against holds true in his case.
French court rules reality TV stars have workers’ rights
Participants on the French version of Temptation Island have won compensation for unfair dismissal and the right to be treated as salaried workers.
When an airliner goes missing
A jet with 228 people on board has undoubtedly crashed somewhere in the mid Atlantic, maybe on or near an island. What does the aviation industry do in this kind of crisis? Ben Sandilands explains.
France’s latest pandemic: Anti-Sarkozysm
Two years into Mr Sarkozy’s term in office, intense and obsessive dislike of the president—anti-sarkozysme—is fast becoming the defining feature of French opposition politics.
French pollies make the Brits look like amateurs
The UK MP expenses scandal may have shocked some, says Adrian Michaels, but the average British parliamentarian’s standard of living is laughable by French standards.
Train through Cézanne country
In the vineyards of Aix-in-Provence, captured famously by Cézanne, residents are invoking the name of their most famous citizen to protest against a planned high speed railway through the region.
April in Paris *sigh*
Oh Paris, with your darling streets named after grammarians and revolutionaries and mathematicians. A writer muses on lilacs and cheese and radishes.
French Elle features bare-faced cover model
The latest edition of the French Elle magazine has caused a stir by featuring model Eva Herzigova without any makeup on its cover.
The Racing Kangaroo and De Ronde
De Ronde is a race for the hard men of cycling, not the anaemic mountain goats that characterise stage races such as the Tour de France, writes Tim Watson.
Sarkozy takes a knife to the military
French president Nicolas Sarkozy is battling the military, writes Charles Richardson.
Has the Tour de France turned the doping corner?
There have been drug cheats caught at this year’s Tour de France, but unlike previous years, it has not brought the event to its knees. Has the sport turned the corner? Nahum Alyiffe investigates.
France cracks down on underage drinking
A new advertising campaign will target binge drinking among the young in France, writes Charles Richardson.
