Great news. "GCSE results 2024: French and German grades improve in languages boost. Language GCSEs have had a renaissance after the number of pupils opting to take French, Spanish and German increased following a drive to boost their popularity." The Times and The Sunday Times #ForeignLanguages

For French politics fans, a thought-provoking interview with the astute observer and comedian sophia aram In this week’s Le Point France’s Far Left as democracy’s venom.

Remembering Paris' Liberation from the great mgemancipation.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/frdhfirstr…

"Launched in January and marketed as the world’s first ice cream generated by artificial intelligence (AI), AI Terra artfully teases the tastebuds with white chocolate melting over your tongue before black pepper fizzes through" #Gelato #Icecream thetimes.com/world/europe/a…

Cherchez la poseuse #PavelDurov

"Efforts by President Macron to shape a new French government have made little progress after the left opposition demanded power, the hard right vowed to block them and conservatives refused any deal with the president’s centrist bloc." #Summary thetimes.com/world/europe/a…

‼️#Paris's 1850s modest village houses are vanishing little by little, demolished with the blessing of the municipality, and for what? Soulless high-rise buildings. Shame on the #demolishers!

Aha, tried to set up a BlueSky account, as you do these days. Used Delacroix's Liberty Guiding the People as a banner picture but hey, Liberty's bosom proved too much, my account is now blurred with the label "sexually explicit".

#Freud writing to his fiancée in 1886 during a six month stay in #Paris: " This city and its inhabitants are disquieting. People here seem to belong to a different species. They seem possessed by a thousand demons. I believe they ignore both modesty and fear. There are the people

Good morning from « unmanageable France »…

#France’s new government and new PM. Will it be Socialist Bernard Cazeneuve or Right Republican Xavier Bertrand? President Macron is biding his time and forcing political parties to take responsibility. Cunning or foolish?

The exoneration of #MarieAntoinette... Poor little queen. thetimes.com/uk/society/art…

An expensive mirage. Marianne reveals the (impressive) salary expectations of the Left alliance's chosen PM, the ephemeral Lucie Castets. marianne.net/politique/51-0… via Marianne

#France’s next PM. The saga continues. Could it be Michel Barnier? A rock star in Britain, a lesser known figure in France…

France’s new PM is Michel Barnier. Good luck et bon courage.

"Enfin un homme sensé" : Michel Barnier, Premier ministre en France... et rock star au Royaume-Uni lexpress.fr/monde/europe/e…

"A nation on trial"? A wee excessive, perhaps. thetimes.com/article/france…

The degree to which British Brexiteers assume or fantasise that the UK features at the top of French political minds, not to mention in Macron’s domestic decision-making, never ceases to amaze

The #VanGogh exhibition (the Arles and St Remy years) at the National Gallery that opens this Saturday is ravishing with paintings still in private hands and rarely seen. Go!