People interview

Interview: French cheesemonger on what it takes to become the best in the world

Vincent Philippe describes the effort that it took him to achieve the title of World's Best Cheesemonger, some of his favourite cheeses and France's biggest strengths involving cheese

Notre-Dame Cathedral reopens - to the great joy of this fervent fan from Canada

Emily MacKinnon, 29, moved to France to found a Notre-Dame dedicated tour-guide company. She collects everything she can about the cathedral - and even has six Notre-Dame related tattoos

Profile: French scientist Didier Raoult banned from practising medicine

The self-declared 'maverick' microbiologist who promoted a discredited Covid drug, faces a two-year professional suspension

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Interview: Cancer specialist Ines Vaz-Luis on changing attitudes in France

The director of the Cancer Survivorship program at Gustave Roussy hospital, talks about her pioneering post-treatment care for breast cancer patients, and changing nature of 'survivorship'

Living off-grid in France: A couple’s 40-year plus success story

How an interest in growing food organically evolved into a fully self-sufficient lifestyle

Revered French national icon falls from grace

Celebrated anti-poverty and homelessness campaigner Abbé Pierre was voted France’s most popular person for many years, but sexual abuse accusations have shattered the activist priest’s crusading legacy

I moved to France and became owner of a reclamation and salvage yard

When Nick Powell, 55, came to France at the tender age of 20, it was to help with a building project on a house close to Poitiers

PHOTOS: Renovations to our maison de maître have made us YouTube stars in France

Rebecca and Jack Jenkins fell in love with a dilapidated property in Charente, south western France, and fixing it up brought an added bonus

Comedian who found fame in France talks multicultural comedy

I still feel 80% British in France, says Paul Taylor

I fell in love with wild, beautiful Cévennes in south-central France

Award-winning US poet Zaro Weil on why this remote part of France is a major inspiration for her work

I had cataract surgery in France

After her vision deteriorated in one eye, Finistère resident Ann Edwards, 80, had to go into hospital for an cataract operation. Here, she talks about the procedure and post-op check-ups

Career change in France: From actress to estate agent

Jacqueline Reddin-Williams describes her journey to become a 'property matchmaker'

I have enjoyed every one of my five French chateaux renovations

Geoffrey Kenyon-May, 82, moved to France in 1975 and has since enjoyed a rollercoaster life renovating five chateaux and one watermill

Interview: Sailor Sam Goodchild prepares for Vendée Globe round-world solo race

It is like the Everest of offshore sailing says the Briton based in France

I moved to France and became a mountain guide

What inspired one British woman to settle in the Alps change careers

Tributes pour in for French film legend Alain Delon

Politicians lead the praise of France’s ‘leading man’

Swimmer to attempt 3-day, 3 night non-stop Corsica to Monaco crossing

Noam Yaron wants to draw attention to the need to protect the Mediterranean sea - and to set a new world record for amount of time in the water

My story: I moved to France and became a botanical artist

Kate Churchwell explains quitting the ‘rat race’ in the City to pursue her passion for plants and art

French conductor Zahia Ziouani fights inequality with classical music

The award-winning conductor talks about beating ‘boys club’ attitudes and film about her life. She recently headed the orchestra which performed at the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Career change in France: from credit controler to running a food truck

Mel Jones, 50, tells how she came to set up a mobile catering business

Our interview with the creator of France's summer stargazing extravaganza

Popular scientist and environmental lobbyist Hubert Reeves was a key public face of ecology in France. We spoke exclusively to him on a wide range of subjects, from astrophysics to airports, in 2018

Young Franco-Scottish mountaineer is one peak away from record

Alasdair McKenzie, 20, is on a quest to become the youngest ever to climb the 14 highest mountains in the world

French campsite offers flood victims free holiday

A campsite in southern France gifts 28 flood-affected families a chance to enjoy a sun-filled break

Our life aboard a barge near Bordeaux

Yann and Ombline Romanson transformed a 1930s péniche into a family home and thriving business on the Garonne river

UK ambassador to France: what travellers should know about border change

Dame Menna Rawlings discusses a pre-registration app, travel papers for Britons under-18s and passport gates - as well as the Olympics and updates on this special year in UK-France relations

French inventors convert food waste into biodegradable plastic

Former university friends develop a sustainable alternative packaging and secure millions to help their firm grow

France's Fête de la Rosière embraces modern values

This traditional festival now celebrates civic engagement, moving beyond its historical focus on virtue

Why Christian Clavier is still one of France's favourite comic actors

We take a look at the Paris-born actor's illustrious career, the typical characters he played and how he understands French humour

Horseriding accident in Brittany left me with a broken neck

Alex Nicholls, 62, broke her neck in an equestrian accident and spent months immobilised from the waist up

Man who speaks 50 languages gives his tips on learning French

It should not be a difficult language to learn for English-speakers due to significant common ground, although a sympathetic ear may be necessary, says hyperpolyglot Alexander Argüelles

Why this little French fish has its own quality label

The famed Collioure anchovy is the only fish in France with a prestigious PGI label, but why it is such a gourmet favourite?

'Well paid, looked after' British jockey James Reveley on life in France

Mr Reveley tells The Connexion about how the sport differs in France and elsewhere, the tribulations of French paperwork... and if he would plump for horsemeat at the dinner table

Jordan Bardella: his unflattering nickname and 1.5m Tik Tok fans

We look at five points about the 28-year-old president of far-right party Rassemblement national

Niece's moving D-Day journey for her UK veteran uncle Bill

Kaye travels to Normandy as part of commemorations of invasion that began the liberation of France. Her uncle, who turned 100 earlier this year, had planned to make the trip but died a few weeks ago

The National's Bryce Dessner now calls France his home

The Connexion caught up with the US rock star ahead of his concert in Paris on June 5, discussing his life and experiences in France, and his career to date

How a Frenchman became a GI on Omaha beach in WW2

'All he could think about was getting safely to his mother, terrified that he might die so close to home'

French family battles Huntington's through sporting challenges

Calvados-based father, son and daughter go the extra mile to raise money to fight disease

Films dubbed into French: meet France’s Tom Hanks AND Tom Cruise

The doublage artist has had a long and successful career as the voice of two Hollywood icons

Gardener develops cacti suitable for the temperatures of… Normandy

A gardener in Normandy has started to sell cacti from the deserts of the United States, which he has adapted to grow in the cold clay soils of the region

House sharing in France can benefit retired people and the young

Intergenerational house sharing is growing in popularity in France as a solution to both housing problems and feelings of isolation

France first-hand: We fostered a 'blind dogs' puppy

Nicole Marty talks about a rewarding time for her and partner Gérard with a guide dog in-training

Chronic illnesses, language barriers and French health bureaucracy

Advice from a Canadian in France who suffers from chronic illness

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

Installing a natural pool at French home led to a new job

Alex Wells explains how building her own chlorine-free swimming pool led to a new role

British D-Day veteran Bill: I want to honour fallen comrades in France

The centenarian planned to return to Normandy this June - driven over by a London cab charity. He was just 20 at the time of the invasion and shared his memories of the day with Connexion during one of his interviews

‘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

A television report in 1979 kick-started Stéphane Montalto’s award-winning career as an artisan potter

Sam Goodchild: the British sailor preparing for his first Vendée Globe

‘The French love crazy sailing adventures, I feel at home here’

US president Thomas Jefferson’s French wine tour has lasting legacy

The third President of the United States wanted an American wine industry to compete with the ‘debauchery’ of whisky

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

When scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft died on an erupting volcano they left a legacy of research that saves lives today

I want girls to pick this career, says French World’s Best Pastry Chef

The first woman to win the global patissier competition tells us how she had to fight to succeed

‘My videos help people find the best deals in French discount shops’

We spoke to the popular social media influencer who films herself hunting for bargains in Lidl, Aldi and Action

Two Americans moved to France 50 years apart - what has changed?

We speak to two US natives now living in Paris about their expatriate experience

‘Giving to help others in France and overseas is good for you’

The Fondation de France works with donors and volunteers to make the world a better place

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