Career change in France: from police officer to gardener Amanda Freeman explains how she swapped law and order for a more creative vocation in the French countryside
Charles Aznavour: Grit and self-belief made the ‘French Frank Sinatra’ How the diminutive French singer went from poverty to stratospheric fame across the globe
‘Climate change should interest more people than it does’ France’s go-to expert on global warming and bestselling author, Jean-Marc Jancovici, talks to us about the future of our planet Right-wing TV news channel in France grows in popularity Career change in France: Highway maintenance to natural pools British D-Day veteran Bill: I want to honour fallen comrades in France
‘Book about life with my dog touched so many people’ We speak to Cédric Sapin-Defour, author of the surprise bestseller which describes in lyrical language the relationship between him and his dog, Ubac
Barbara: The elfin singer, actress and French national treasure An abuse survivor who forged a successful showbiz career despite remaining virtually unknown outside France
‘I want to show wheelchair users they can travel the world’ Eléonore Vern tells us about her plans for a solo round-the-world trip in an all-terrain wheelchair and why she will avoid Paris
How an American carpenter helped repair Notre-Dame de Paris Peter Henrikson had never been to France before he started work on the cathedral’s roof after it was destroyed by fire
Alain Delon: French cinema legend dogged by scandal and family feud We look back at the 88-year-old film star’s colourful life, on and off screen
Fixing France: ‘We must face colonial past and revive shared values’ French-Algerian author Nabila Ramdani tells us why ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’ must apply to everyone if France is to repair
How a French winemaker put the world’s biggest wine fraudster in jail I realised what was happening when I saw our wine on an auction list with a vintage 20 years before we started making it, said Laurent Ponsot
150 years of Impressionism: how Americans saved Monet from poverty If you visit his Normandy home you will not see a real Monet work - but there are some nearby
Find my lost dogs and I will give you my car, pleads Frenchman Dog owner will reward anyone who brings back his missing animals with a Peugeot 107, worth around €3,400
I moved to France and became an English translator by accident A letter to a magazine editor in 1997 complaining about its poor translation led to a job offer to do better The French craftsman making beautiful tiles for a Monaco landmark Sam Goodchild: the British sailor preparing for his first Vendée Globe US president Thomas Jefferson’s French wine tour has lasting legacy
Hacker, peep shows, jail: the story of a French tech billionaire Artificial intelligence is the next realm to be conquered in legendary tycoon Xavier Niel’s colourful career The French couple who loved, lived and died studying volcanoes I want girls to pick this career, says French World’s Best Pastry Chef ‘My videos help people find the best deals in French discount shops’ Two Americans moved to France 50 years apart - what has changed? ‘Giving to help others in France and overseas is good for you’
Marguerite Durand: the force of France’s first feminist journalist The 19th-century former actress founded a daily newspaper written and produced entirely by women
‘I set up an invisible disabilities media company after my diagnosis’ We speak to a journalist who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021 and is now giving a voice to people with less obvious disabilities
‘My aim is to improve France’s building trade by training more women’ A Marseille-based painter and decorator explains her plans to change the image of construction trades and encourage women to join
‘I tell women to be bold, no field is out of bounds’ The first French woman to go into space shares her thoughts on Mars exploration and her disagreement with Elon Musk
Mimie Mathy: French TV star who turned disability into a driving force She may be virtually unknown outside of France but outspoken Mimie continues to be one of the country’s best-loved actresses
Frédéric Chopin: the short life of a musical genius We discover the man behind the piano compositions - a child prodigy, Polish émigré and an unconventional love life
‘I hit rock bottom, learned to swim and then swam the Channel’ A childhood dream of swimming the English Channel got Stève Stievenart through divorce and depression
Couple who built a straw bale house in France share their one regret The Britons have reduced their annual energy bills to €500 by living off-grid and want to pass on the lessons they have learnt
Career change: Africa safari guide to recycled art in France We talk to Josie Easton about how wildlife still influences her ‘trash-to-treasure’ artwork in Limousin
British man walking from Cheshire to Eiffel Tower for charity The 21-year-old said: ‘I want to help people who cannot afford Christmas’
‘I am learning to read at 43 after running my own business for years’ A successful French entrepreneur tells us how he hid his illiteracy and why he decided to learn to read and write
France’s ‘Iron man’: ‘I had this crazy dream of flying even higher’ He tells us how hard it is to fly and why he keeps inventing despite French bureaucracy and nosy neighbours
16 things you can do at your library in France apart from borrow books From growing seeds to borrowing art, there is more to your local library than meets the eye
‘Running our Normandy camper van site is a holiday that never ends’ A couple’s determination to beat French bureaucracy and open their dream camper van site pays off
Models with disabilities are focus of photographer’s new French show Juggling a logistics job and a family has not stopped a UK-born photographer creating her latest exhibition celebrating disability
‘We travel slowly through France in our tiny horse-drawn caravan’ With just 7m² of living space pulled by a horse called Zorba, this Bordeaux couple enjoy being kings of their own clock
American returns 68 years on to French town that helped him after WWII He told The Connexion he met a childhood friend on the visit to the south of France where his family began to rebuild their lives on release from a Nazi labour camp
‘Rugby is the reason for my move to France’ International rugby referee shares his love of Gers and the difference between French and English rugby
What Americans notice when they move to France Four US citizens in France explain what they have discovered about life here (apart from struggles with bureaucracy)
Key points of President Macron’s TV interview last night Subjects included the cost of living, migration, taxes and carbon neutrality as Mr Macron spoke following the visits of King Charles and Pope Francis to France
Interview with Ibrahim Maalouf: ‘I compose what comes from my heart’ The Lebanese-born French trumpeter tells us of his influences, collaborations and why he preaches the message of love
Rugby exclusive: How France became the team to beat in World Cup Former national rugby coach Philippe Saint-André tells us how ‘les Bleus’ were transformed into winners
The Franco-Scottish teen on track to break mountain-climbing record Alasdair McKenzie aims to become the youngest person ever to climb the 14 highest peaks in the world, and he is well on his way
TV couple who bought French hamlet open gite in a horsebox The couple, who feature in the UK Channel 4 show Help! We Bought a Village, are rebuilding hamlet they bought for €26,000 in Normandy
Why Ligue 1 French football club has song that echoes British royalty Le Havre Athletic Club was founded in 1872 by British expats, making it France’s oldest club in activity
Research and ruches: Paris librarian bringing bees to University To work with bees, people have to learn to be calm, to work in a group, to notice the mood of the beehive, to think of how their actions affect others, to remain flexible, and to work with people from other disciplines
‘I got a French master’s degree based on my professional experience’ A senior manager, originally from Italy, explains how he converted real-life experience into a recognised VAE qualification
Meet Frédéric Sommier, director of Normandy's D-Day museum The Connexion spoke to the former military man about the museum’s newest improvement, but also about his role in maintaining the memory of WW2
Timing is key when buying French coastal apartments A study shows buyers could avoid soaring prices by waiting for a sufficient number of newly developed properties to be sold first
France will win Notre-Dame rebuild challenge, says general in charge Seven tonne oak trusses recently arrived in Paris by barge. We spoke to the project chief, a military man hand-picked by President Macron
‘Hand-delivering letters across France is slow and full of love’ The retiree dubbed The Humane Postman shares what delivering ‘important but not urgent’ messages has taught him about humanity
$193bn: how did this French businessman get so rich? Bernard Arnault frequently beats Elon Musk to ‘world’s richest man’ title, we look at his complex relationship with France and what he owns
French choral revival hits all the right notes The coronation of King Charles III highlighted the rich choral music tradition in the UK
Fête Nationale: French aerobatics team delighting crowds for 70 years We spoke to a Franco-British pilot in the elite Patrouille de France about how they train for the July 14 display
‘Greedy families pushing an assisted death in France is nonsense’ We speak to the director of a pro-euthanasia group who welcomes the end-of-life legislation review, and we remember campaigner Jacqueline Jencquel
Fifth book for Perry Taylor whose images feature in The Connexion The Anglo-Gascon artist’s work is known for its affectionate look at French life – and its ducks and berets
Meet British singer-songwriter Terry Scott Jr, based in Normandy He got his big break in 1970 playing in front of 600,000 people at the Isle of Wight festival
Meet Hélène Carrère d'Encausse, the guardian of the French language Holding the highest position at the Académie francaise, d’Encausse explains which French book every learner should read, how anglicism impact French and the importance of grammar…
The pioneering Brit who was French town’s first foreign councillor Cycle campaigning and city pride were a springboard to role in local politics in Albi
Meet Nicolas Sarkozy’s former communications chief, Thierry Saussez He discusses his brainchild Villes & Villages: où il fait bon vivre, and his business that aims to defeat French pessimism
Career change: ‘What I learned at 54 working in a French vineyard’ We talk to Moira Tune about how exhausting vineyard work was the springboard to her new property career
‘I played bad classical music because the male composer was famous’ We speak to a French cellist about her lifelong quest to put a spotlight on forgotten female musicians
French Highland dancer picked to perform at Coronation party The 18-year-old only took up lessons during lockdown but wowed guests at a British Embassy event in Paris
French woman takes 101-year old grandmother on epic Spanish road trip We talk to Fiona Lauriol, who took her centenarian grandmother out of the nursing home in which she was deteriorating to go on an unforgettable road trip through Spain in a camper van
How to avoid the wait for a driving test in France France first-hand: Learning to drive - we speak to Libby Abel, who moved to Brittany as a toddler, about her learning to drive experience
Varian Fry: The American who was a ‘Schindler in France’ The journalist, whose story is to be dramatised by Netflix, helped save the lives of some 2,500 people at risk from the Nazis by smuggling them out of France to safer countries including the US
Bistro and bar open at French retirement home to boost social links The project helps residents foster friendships and feel more sociable. Any profits are reinvested in the care home’s social activities
Career change in France: Amsterdam charity to gîte guru in Dordogne We talk to a successful gîte owner and consultant about why he quit a top fundraising job for a new life in France
15 things your French ‘com com’ can do apart from collect your bins Your ‘communautés de commune’ provides local services and advice to residents
May 1: Who do French people give muguet to and does it still matter? We speak to young people in France about the tradition of giving lily of the valley flowers on Labour Day, and how it can be hierarchical between grandmothers, mothers and daughters
‘French society is built around the economy not the right to dignity’ We speak to Sébastien Peytavie, a rugby player, psychologist, and the first MP to use a wheelchair at the Assemblée nationale in the Fifth Republic
Community workshops make DIY accessible in France A growing number of community workshops have sprung up in France offering DIY enthusiasts access to space, equipment and skills to develop their projects
Three women on how they forged their own French lives in Dordogne We hear how the women broke the expatriate mould to lead independent lives in their adopted country
From California to free life making wine in the 'Kansas of France' Running an organic vineyard was never on the cards for this American until she travelled to France and fell for a Frenchman
Idea to revitalise rural areas in France: the ‘smart village’ The trend for ‘smart cities’ could be applied to villages to revitalise rural communities
‘The first baby hedgehog we rescued was love-at-first-sight’ We speak to an expert about her hedgehog health centre and how to make your garden more hedgehog-friendly
Paris street cleaner is TikTok sensation with a serious message We talk to the social media star about getting kicked out of the army, being homeless and his viral litter videos
‘I drew in five minutes the absolute pain of a lifetime’ Retired courtroom artist shares her many years of experience covering France’s most memorable and harrowing trials
‘France is no left-wing country - it is time to let go of that myth’ A controversial new film about the French Revolution shows the persistence of right-wing ideas in France, says historian