France hasn’t won the Eurovision song contest in nearly 40 years and, I’m sorry to say, it’s unlikely to return to glory tonight. The last time France proved victorious at…
For the perfect French-themed film, you need gorgeous locations, a stellar cast and a world-class director. The Hundred-Foot Journey has all that and more – cardamom, cumin and turmeric, to…
Will anybody ever choose a suburban semi in England over a stone-built character house in warmer climes? Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun: Home or Away is back in France…
As the weather turns colder, what could be more satisfying than a generous helping of chocolat? It is just what I need to warm me through and convince me that…
French films have such a reputation for being slow that I feared the fastest thing about Cycling with Molière might be the bike ride of the title. I was happy…
For a Briton to be awarded France’s Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is some achievement – particularly for one whose career has sometimes been overshadowed by her…
Am I the only person to have enjoyed the film Bed and Breakfast? Known as Bienvenue au Gîte in French, the film was released to widespread indifference in 2003. It…
The careers of most pop stars last two years at best. By the end of that time, their fickle fans have move on to the next big thing. The situation…
Not since Nigel Farage was last questioned about his offshore tax avoidance has anyone come across as awkwardly as the two principal characters in Romantics Anonymous. The film, known as…
Michèle Torr’s hit Emmène-Moi Danser Ce Soir has become shorthand for middle-age angst. This tale of a couple who have stopped finding the time for each other struck a chord…
For a Provençal-flavoured slice of cinematic escapism, you can’t beat A Good Year. This guilty pleasure of a film serves up an idealised tale that would charm the culottes off…
On Halloween, what could be scarier than five gay ghosts performing their rendition of Boney M’s Rasputin? If that sounds more tempting than a night of trick or treating, grab…
There’s nowt quite like a feel-good film set in Yorkshire to fill the cinemas of Britain night after night. Brassed Off, Calendar Girls and The Full Monty all demonstrate the…
If your penchant is for subtitled French films with languorous plots and layers of meaning, please move along – there is nothing for you here. If, however, you like a comedy…
Becoming an expert on French architecture seems easy. Thirty minutes of a programme such as A Place in the Sun and Escape to the Continent is enough to give you…
Finding a new group of people for viewers to sneer at is like striking reality TV gold. Ratings successes, industry accolades and an inbox full of interesting job offers await…
I’m thinking of taking out an injunction against Pascal Obispo, preventing him from coming within 100 metres of me. Don’t be fooled by his boyish charm: everywhere I go, the…
“I hope all your doughnuts turn out like Fanny’s.” With that immortal line TV host Bill Tennant closed a segment with British chef Fanny Cradock on his 1970s talk show.…
For me, Édith Piaf’s Bravo is like the sound of fingernails being dragged down a blackboard. I would rather listen to the Birdie Song on a loop than ever to…
France has come a long way in 40 years. When Charles Aznavour released Comme Ils Disent – a song about a gay cabaret artist – in the early 1970s, the…
