-
France’s top literary prize 2024 awarded to author Kamel Daoud
The Prix Goncourt is widely seen as France’s version of the Nobel prize for literature
-
MAP: Offshore sites identified for new wind farms in France
President Macron has made the expansion of wind generated energy a priority
-
Important changes for drivers in central Paris from November 4
A 5.5 km2 zone in the centre will now have traffic limitations in place
Truffle price doubles... and more
Truffle fans were left paying over the odds for a product meagre in both quality and quantity in the run up to Christmas and prices soared as the main market at Sainte-Alvère in Dordogne had little to offer due to the summer drought.
However, prospects this month are much better with the Fédération Départementale des Trufficulteurs du Périgord saying the sought-after Tuber melanosporum were “more black, cheaper but better quality” than last month and were starting to appear in real numbers.
Périgord production had been “starting to improve” as Christmas approached, helped by some owners watering private plantations to give a boost, but this could not be overdone.
However, the federation admitted quality “was not good” and its inspectors had even prevented some truffles – deemed to be immature and damaged – from being sold in the auction.
Over the border in Lot, prices were double last year’s, at €850 a kilo, and set to rise even further – making what some buyers said was a ‘real luxury product’.