People

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

‘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

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

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

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

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

‘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

‘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

‘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

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

‘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

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)

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

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

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

$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

‘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

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…

From Nazi war camp survivor to fêted anti-poverty campaigner in France

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