Staff Writer, FrenchEntrée
With a BA in French and History of Art from the University of Bristol, Florence spent a year living in Paris, studying Art History at the Sorbonne and working in publishing. She travels regularly back to France for both work and pleasure. Florence’s passion for France revolves around its gastronomy, art and pleasure-seeking lifestyle, and the rebellious streak found only in a nation constantly looking for an excuse to go on strike!
Out of this world The astronomical clock (horloge astronomique) at Cathédrale Saint Pierre in Beauvais attracts a paying audience five times per day, once an hour between 10.40am and 4.40pm. The clock’s 53 dials display the time, tides and positions of the stars in…
Yet one more reason why I love France: it’s Saturday morning in Périgueux during high summer and I’m meandering up from my hotel – the superbly spruced up Ibis beside the Isle River – around the side of the Dordogne…
Provence is home to a rich ancient heritage, with some of Europe’s best-preserved ruins from antiquity. The Romans conquered the region in the second century BC and it was soon a focal point of construction and Roman society due to…
After living all over the world, Our French Oasis blogger Susan Hays settled in Charente-Maritime, where she lives with her husband and their five children…
This upside-down apple tart originated in the Sologne region under rather unconventional circumstances. Florence Derrick investigates the story behind one of France’s best-loved desserts.
A hedonistic short break on the French Riviera awakens and indulges each of the five senses, as Florence Derrick discovers
One of France’s most famous national monuments is the Arc de Triomphe, a neoclassical arch that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle.
These days, language learning apps for smartphones and tablets can be the easiest way to pick up a foreign language. Which are the best for learning French?
We asked our FrenchEntrée Forum members for their top tips on learning French. Most of them live in France and communicate in French every day, to varying degrees of expertise – and all of them have a personal story about their experience of learning French.
This second memoir from the author of Lunch in Paris may have the makings of a cliché, following the well-known trope of an American carving out a new life in France. But with ease and grace, Bard overturns any stereotypes…
This glossy volume raises Gallic patriotism to epic new heights, waxing lyrical on all things French in the kind of gorgeously poetic, hyperbolic prose that’s rarely matched by non-French writers. Tillinac takes us on an anecdotal journey to beautiful villages…
The Hundred-Foot Journey Director: Lasse Hallström Cert: PG Running time: 124 mins Two cinematic legends share the screen in this heart-warming culture-clash comedy which has cuisine at its core. Helen Mirren plays a snooty restaurateur whose Michelin-starred establishment caters for the…
Skiing in France explained: check out who skis in France, where they go and more with this this handy infographic
We review John Baxter’s book Five nights in Paris
Governed by the Ministry of Culture, the Centre des Monuments Nationaux conserves and manages 100 historic sites across France, which welcome some 9.2 million visitors per year
Tarte à la bette à cardes roses et aux légumes (pink chard and vegetable tart) We bring you a stunning summer recipe from Nina Parker, author of Nina St Tropez – her new cookbook, offering a sun-drenched selection of Mediterranean delights. Of this…
The answer may well be red wine!
Slap bang in between Italy and France, this Mediterranean island was the birthplace of the Emperor Napoléon and its cuisine consists of a glorious collision of the two cultures. Florence Derrick digs in…
An upcoming exhibition at London’s Royal Academy reveals that a neighbourly dispute almost prevented the ‘Waterlilies’ series from even beginning
The second largest city in France and its gastronomic capital, Lyon is also famed for its weaving heritage and its opera house. Florence Derrick examines its cultural exports and how they relate to contemporary Lyonnais life
Our rundown of the French beaches which should be at the top of any Francophile’s holiday list this summer
If you’re visiting the French coast this summer, fresh mussels in white wine and shallot sauce simply shouldn’t be passed up. Florence Derrick explores the dish’s history…
The Resistance Man Paul Fournel, Pushkin Press, £10 An elegy to print publishing in decline, told through the eyes of an ageing book editor and written by a former publisher. The ‘reader’ is an e-reader, publishing’s divider between the familiar and…
Are you thinking of tying the knot in France? Here are five reasons that will make up your mind…
The man in a hurry Paul Morand, Pushkin Press, £15 This re-released masterpiece by one of the modern maîtres of French prose is a fable which criticises life lived in a hurry. The author – a controversial, cult figure renowned for…
Name: Louise Bourgoin Born: November 28, 1981 Early career She made her screen debut on TV, presenting and working as a weather reporter. She was offered her first film role during 2007, in Anne Fontaine’s sexually charged drama, The Girl…
Director: Mélanie Laurent Starring: Joséphine Japy, Lou De Laâge Cert: TBC Running time: 91 mins This emerging directrice’s second feature film is rooted in the familiar coming-of-age trope, yet a clichéd tale of teenage angst this is not. Best-known for her acting role in Quentin Tarantino’s…
Topiary art, Renaissance statues, parterres and decorative pools make Les Jardins du Manoir d’Eyrignac one of the most creatively cultivated gardens in the South West. Florence Derrick explores its gorgeous terraces, features and orchards…
Suzy Duncan moved to the Ariège with her husband and two daughters during 2012. She’s since set up her own business, Pilates in the Pyrénées, in Saint-Girons…
Florence Derrick outlines ten fantastic holiday ideas to help you make the most of France’s glorious summertime
We’re always in the mood for chocolate! Florence Derrick recommends a decadent moelleux au chocolat for any occasion – a melt-in-the-middle dessert lover’s dream…
In Lower Normandy, apple cider has been distilled into brandy since the Middle Ages. Florence Derrick visits the Boulard family distillery in Coquainvilliers, where 85% of the region’s tipple is produced…
Director: Fred Cavayé Cert: 15 Running time: 90 mins A gritty tale of good and bad cops battling against criminals and the law, tragic circumstances and family threats, this certainly isn’t a ‘feel-good’ film. Shot in the grimy suburbs of Paris, the plot revolves around the drink-driving homicide committed…
Comté cheese has been produced in the Massif du Jura region of France for over 1,000 years, using only organic Montbéliarde and French Simmental cows’ milk. Its production is still based on artisanal traditions, lovingly crafted in around 160 small villages…
France has four départements, two territories and five collectivités territoires overseas, in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Here’s why you should venture to ‘France overseas’…
Governed by the Ministry of Culture, the Centre des monuments nationaux conserves and manages 100 national monuments in France, which welcome 9.2 million visitors per year. Watch the video below for an overview of France’s main monuments, from Paris’s Arc…
Virgile’s Vineyard Patrick Moon, Matador, £9.99 This is an expanded version of Virgile’s Vineyard: A Year in the Languedoc Wine Country, which was first published in 2003, and has been produced to sate popular demand. It’s an autobiographical tale of upping sticks, abandoning a career as a solicitor and…
Author Joanne Harris is best known for her novel Chocolat, which was made into an Oscar-nominated film. Here she tells FrenchEntrée about the effect that France has on her writing
Gloriously rich and sweet, with just the right amount of acidity, French onion soup defies the modest reputation of its main ingredient. However, when the dish was invented, it was simply a case of the allium being in the right place at the right time…
This mostly rural, relatively little-explored region abutting Switzerland is best known for its cheese and charcuterie yet boasts a unique of variety of wine dating back to the Romans. Florence Derrick investigates…
Until 12 April, Saint-Étienne (Rhône-Alpes) is hosting its four week-long International Biennial of Design. Now in its ninth edition, this year’s event is under the direction of new curator Benjamin Loyauté – a designer who is currently showing an exhibition of…
Director, actor, comedian and author Richard Ayoade is a French ‘New Wave’ cinema addict. He speaks exclusively to Florence Derrick about France and the ‘Nouvelle Vague’.
On a sandstone plateau in Vézac, overlooking the picturesque castles, villages and forests of the Dordogne Valley, sits one of the region’s most lovingly tended, impeccably preserved gardens: Les Jardins Suspendus de Marqueyssac… Four limestone castles resplendently punctuate the rolling…
Florence Derrick travels to a Midi-Pyrénées town where organic and fair trade products are the norm
We’re happy to announce that Pia Jakobsen’s photograph of children playing among water fountains at one of the French Riviera’s most popular attractions has been named the winner of our photographic competition. Pia, a software engineer and avid amateur photographer from Oslo,…
Comté cheese is a pressed, cooked cheese from the Massif du Jura region in eastern France. Its nutty flavour makes it perfect for hearty winter recipes such as this take on a British classic: chicken and leek pie. Combined with tarragon…
Director: Sylvain Chomet Starring: Guillaume Gouix, Anne Le Ny, Bernadette Lafont Cert: 12A Running time: 106 mins This first live-action feature from the director of French animated classics Belleville Rendezvous and The Illusionist is an interesting transition into the ‘real world’.…
Any visitor to Boulogne-sur-Mer is in for a culinary treat as the city’s enormous fishing port is just a stone’s throw from a famous fromager selling hundreds of cheeses. Florence Derrick investigates.
In the winter we all need dishes such as this to nourish body and soul. Florence Derrick charts the origins and history of this all-time French classic, a slow-cooked stew that’s equally pleasurable at home or sampled at your favourite bistro
Poet-philosopher Paul Valéry was one the most significant French Symbolists of the late 19th century, alongside Stéphane Mallarmé and Paul Verlaine. Valéry was born in Sète and spent his early years in Montpellier, later relocating to Paris to embark on…
