French

Milo Boyd explored M De Megève, a luxury hotel in the French Alps beloved by the mega-rich that rivals any White Lotus setting

White Lotus is making a comeback for a fourth season, this time heading to the Château de La Messardière – a genuine palace-turned-hotel nestled on 32 verdant acres of jasmine, cypress trees and parasol pines in France’s Saint-Tropez.

Whilst there’s no question that the programme will continue to captivate, excite and astonish on the Mediterranean, the show’s brilliant creator Mike White has overlooked a golden opportunity.

There exists a resort 300km to the north that presents a far more abundant tapestry of historical glamour and nouveau riche intrigue that forms the backbone of the HBO sensation, whilst also providing grounds for introducing a yodelling theme tune.

That destination is Megève and the particular hotel, the M De Megève. The compact ski resort is nestled 1,400 metres up the French Alps, beneath the shadow of Mont Blanc.

OPINION

Milo Boyd

OPINION

Milo Boyd

Although the village of 3,000 might be less renowned than Tignes or Val d’Isère, it remains cherished by the ultra-wealthy and French nobility.

Indeed, Megève’s exceptionally affluent origins trace back to the late 1910s when Noémie de Rothschild – weary of encountering German arms dealers in Switzerland’s Saint Moritz – resolved to place the tiny and rural settlement on the map.

In the 100 years since, dozens of ski lifts have emerged across 400 km of interconnected pistes; several Michelin-starred chefs have established themselves in Alpine life there; and luxury hotels matching those showcased in White Lotus have welcomed the global elite. This January, I managed to slip in amongst the international elite for a weekend at M De Megève, a five-star establishment that belongs to the prestigious Small Luxury Hotels of the World club.

It is a truly enchanting destination.

Upon arrival, a porter swiftly collects your luggage and a beverage is offered as you’re escorted to the crackling fire in the entrance hall. A welcome pairing after travelling from London on Eurostar’s Snowtrain, despite the smooth and agreeable nature of the trip.

Drink finished and cases transported upstairs, it’s time to begin discovering.

The M De Megève comprises 42 rooms arranged around a lengthy reception space that opens into a bar area by the entrance, a bistro at the rear and a fondue restaurant to the side. Friendly staff, many of whom spend their winters grafting in the Alps before heading back to Cannes or Marseille for the summer season, are available to help, converse or simply beam a greeting.

In the intimate Grand Crus de Fondue, they’re prepared to provide some more particular guidance. “How do you like your cheese,” the hotel’s sommelier-style Cheese Chef enquired of my partner and I, before conjuring up a pot of bubbling, stomach-fillingly potent fondue that nearly floored us there at the table.

Who knows what would’ve occurred if we’d chosen the Champagne or pear cider base, rather than playing it safe with a classic white wine blend. Equally scrumptious and more traditional cuisine is offered at the bistro, where we feasted on extraordinary plates of French onion soup, mushroom risotto and sea bream, accompanied by a glass or two of Pommery Champagne.

M De Megève enjoys a special partnership with the Reims château, as it does with Clarins. Visitors are showered with complimentary face creams and balms from the premium French skincare brand, and pampered with its complete range down in the spa.

I genuinely question whether my masseuse, who left me floating on clouds and resolved a weeks-long bout of troublesome skin, was practising sorcery.

The enchantment persisted in the timber alpine lodge-style quarters, where drapes are controlled by a bedside button and the lavatories are delightfully interactive.

“Our Asian and Middle Eastern guests insist on it,” a staff member informed me.

White Lotus producer David Bernad recently dashed hopes of a ski season when he declared, “Mike does not like the cold”.

Fortunately for him, the M De Megève’s sauna, hammam and hot tub are sufficiently steamy to warm his joints and, naturally, provide enough ‘actors in swimsuits’ screen time to satisfy the fans.

Yet it is in a different type of suit that Megève’s visitors are at their finest.

Venture out onto the cobblestones of the village and you’ll discover high-fashion brands aplenty. We’re talking Dior, Hermès, Rolex. We’re talking an average month’s wage to kit out each of the piste posers in a white ski-suit, designer label of choice adorned in diamanté on the back. “Megève is a place to be seen,” a Canadian heir explained in the queue for a drag lift.

And he’s right. What’s so intriguing about the hotel is that, despite sitting just 100m from the Chamois lifts, many guests do not ski. Instead, they come to shop, to parade through the village on horse-drawn carriages, and to telecabin up in platform Uggs to a hillside grill flogging £200 steaks and £9 bottles of Evian.

I adore skiing. For the unmatched physical excitement it provides on days brimming with powder-fresh thrills and stunning panoramas.

And for the opportunity to glimpse into a contrasting realm. A realm of Brits debating whether they’d manage to expense a €5,000 club table whilst tucking into the previously mentioned steak; of an Alpine settlement that hosted Emily in Paris; of sharing ski lifts with multilingual families switching between Italian, French and English.

It represents a realm of sophistication and fascination, practically begging to be White Lotused.

Book it

Rooms can be reserved at en.mdemegeve.com from £479.

Eurostar Snow train tickets for the 2025/26 season start at £99 each way (£198 return) in Standard class, running weekly from Dec 20, 2025, to Apr 5, 2026, from London St Pancras to the French Alps via Lille. Visit eurostar.com/uk-en/train/ski-train.

If you’re planning on a swim at one of France’s over 6,000 public pools this year, travel expert Simon Hood has a warning for you and advice about what to pack

A travel expert has warned holidaymakers to think twice before dipping in France.

If you’re planning on a swim at one of France’s over 6,000 public pools this year, travel expert Simon Hood has a warning for you. Our French cousins to the south are traditionally known for their superior wines, fashion, and romantic charm. So much in fact that over 9-13 million Brits are estimated to visit the country’s beloved cities like Paris, and the glamorous Riviera each year.

However, while the European Union’s second-largest economy remains the envy of many, one little-known health regulation could upend many British holidays in the country this year. Simon, who is the executive director of John Mason International, says the rule is something to adhere to, or risk seeing you denied the ability to swim on your break.

Thought to date back to 1903, most public pools in France’s network of over 6,000 pools and open-air basins enforce a strict hygiene-based regulation on men’s swimwear.

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Upheld by many levels of French local authorities règlement intérieur, or internal regulations, men must wear ‘tight-fitting swimwear’ like Speedos at public pools. Enforced by local municipalities or the ARS (French regional health authorities), disregarding the rule could see you packing from the local swimming pool.

So, while Speedos may certainly be out of fashion abroad, they’re integral for men’s attire in public pools in almost all major cities like Paris, Lyon, and Marseille.

Simon explained: “It may seem odd but failure to comply with these hygiene regulations could see you marched out of the pool and leave you waving at your family or friends from the outside. While most pools will offer appropriate swimwear onsite, it could set you back somewhere between €10-€20, a bit of an unnecessary spend, so before I’d recommend checking whether you need more appropriate swimwear or not.”

Some may think this law to be outdated and not enforced by French public pool staff and authorities, but Simon explains it comes from a very well-intended place.

“When you bottle it down, the rule stems from a concern about hygiene in the pools. It was originally enforced as culturally French people tend to walk around in swimwear well before they attend the pool in the summer months. Thinking about this, it means people could track all manner of dirt in once they jump into the pool hours later. We don’t wander around outside in our trunks in the UK, which is why it may seem odd, but local authorities are just trying to keep the pool clean.”

Eurocamp, a large holiday park chain with a number of sites in France, warns on its website: “If you’re headed for the beach, don’t worry: you can wear what you like. But it’s true that many swimming pools prohibit the majority of baggy or loose-fitting shorts. Why? Simply because of hygiene concerns.

“Of course, rules can – and do – vary from parc to parc. If in any doubt just ask. We’re only too happy to help and save you from any poolside blushes!”

The website adds information for those concerned by the policy. “Wearing tighter swimwear wastes less water. Their material usually dries quicker, staving off any potential buildup of bacteria,” Eurocamp’s blurb continues.

“But don’t panic: if you’re not keen on slipping on a pair of conventional Speedos, you can still opt for swimming shorts. Just make sure they’re more fitted, and above the knee, and opt for fabrics that are designed for the water. Have a look for a style called ‘jammers’ online, to get an idea of what’s usually allowed.”

There’s no sign these rules are due to be eased anytime soon. In May 2022, the French municipal authority in Grenoble attempted to wind down these restrictions, only to have the central government in Paris block any changes.

Simon added: “Like with any holiday, all I’d recommend is researching in advance since these rules exist for a reason. If Speedos aren’t your thing, either don’t swim or use a pool where these regulations don’t apply. At the end of the day, Speedos might be out of style, but missing out on a day at the pool due to your fashion choices could be worse.”

French lawyers for suspected ISIL members transferred from Syria say the men are suffering inhumane treatment in Iraqi jails.

Lawyers for a group of French nationals accused of being part of ISIL (ISIS) and transferred by the United States from Syria to prisons in Iraq say the inmates have been subjected to “torture and inhumane treatment” there.

French media reported on Wednesday that lawyers Marie Dose and Matthieu Bagard visited the accused men in Baghdad during a recent visit and said their clients had been subjected to ill-treatment in detention in Iraq.

The abuse – including being slapped, strangled, handcuffed behind their backs “with a pulley system” and threatened with rape with iron bars – was inflicted to “make them confess to their presence in Iraq” during their alleged time in ISIL, which would give the Iraqi justice system jurisdiction to try them for their alleged crimes, the lawyers said.

The lawyers were quoted as saying the accused ISIL members “assured us that they had not been in Iraq before their arrest in Syria and their transfer to Baghdad”.

Deaths in Syrian custody

During their two-day visit, which began on Sunday, the lawyers, acting on behalf of the families of the prisoners, said they met 13 of the 47 French nationals alleged to be ISIL members who are being held in Iraq.

The 13 men said they were arrested from 2017 to March 23, 2019, the day ISIL lost control of Baghouz, Syria, ending its final hold on territory.

They said they were imprisoned in a jail in northeastern Syria under challenging conditions, in which four French inmates died due to illness and “severe deficiencies”, and they were interrogated on numerous occasions by the FBI, CIA and other agencies believed to represent France and the European Union.

US military transfers

The lawyers made the comments amid the transfer of large numbers of ISIL detainees from prisons and detention camps in Syria to Iraq on US military flights.

The wave of transfers was being carried out after a recent advance by Syrian government forces in the northeast against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which the US trained and supported to fight ISIL. The SDF has controlled camps and prisons holding suspected ISIL members for years.

The escape of ISIL detainees during the fighting in cities like al-Shaddadi sparked concerns that they could regroup and pose a renewed security threat, prompting an arrangement for the US military to run flights transferring the prisoners to Iraqi jails.

The Associated Press news agency reported on Sunday that 275 prisoners had been transferred so far while the Anadolu Agency reported that thousands were planned to be transferred under the agreement.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Sunday said the transfer of the ISIL detainees was “temporary” and urged countries to repatriate their nationals.

In a separate statement on Sunday, Iraq’s highest judicial body said it would prosecute the transferred detainees after a meeting of top security and political officials.

Jan. 28 (UPI) — A French court sentenced former Sen. Joel Guerriau to four years in prison after finding him guilty of drugging a minister of the French parliament in November 2023.

Guerrieau, 68, will spend 18 months of his 48-month prison sentence behind bars, but he has appealed the decision and would not be imprisoned if the appellate court overturns his conviction.

The court also ordered him to pay MP Sandrine Josso, 50, the equivalent of $5,975 in the Tuesday ruling.

Guerriau formerly represented the Loire-Atlantique region in western France and was found guilty of spiking a drink with ecstasy and serving it to Josso in November 2023.

Prosecutors accused him of inviting Josso to his flat in Paris and drugging her with the intent of sexually assaulting her, but reports do not indicate whether a sexual assault is alleged in the matter.

Guerriau admitted he spiked her drink but said it was an accident and that he did not intend to commit sexual assault.

Following Tuesday’s verdict, Josso told media that she “had gone to visit a friend” on the night that she was drugged.

Instead of visiting a friend, she said, “I discovered an aggressor,” adding that “he looked at me insistently” and that she never had seen him like that.

“I didn’t want to show him my weakness because I was worried that if I told him I wasn’t feeling well, he would have forced me to lie down,” Josso said.

She left Guerriau’s flat and, with the help of a friend, went to a hospital, which determined her blood contained three times the normal dosage of a recreational MDMA.

Guerriau claimed he had been depressed and was using MDMA to treat it and meant to consume the spiked drink himself.

Instead of drinking it, he told the court that he accidentally served it to Josso, adding that he feels sorry for her.

“I am disgusted with myself, with my recklessness and my stupidity,” Guerriau told the court.

He said not enough is done to discuss “the effects of these drugs enough,” adding that he wants to “speak out on the dangers of these products.”

Guerriau was a member of France’s center-right Horizons Party and was suspended after being charged. He resigned is Senate seat in October.

Josso is a member of France’s center-right MoDem Party and has become a vocal opponent of “chemical submission” after her encounter with Guerriau.

Jan. 27 (UPI) — Legislators in France took the first step toward becoming the first European country to block children from social media with a ban that would take effect at the beginning of the new school year in September.

National Assembly members voted 116-23 for the ban for children younger than 15, which was introduced by a lawmaker representing France’s Champagne region in President Emmanuel Macron‘s Renaissance party, late Monday.

The MPs amended the bill to empower the country’s media regulator to decide which social media services will be included in the ban and not limited to just those most popular with teens such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.

The law would use an as-yet-undecided method of age-verification to block children from accessing those sites the regulator determines are most harmful to children’s mental and emotional health.

An existing smartphone ban for children in junior and middle schools would also be extended to high schools, under the legislation.

Children younger than 15 would be permitted to continue to use platforms on a second list deemed to pose less risk to them, but only if their parents give their consent.

Hailing the vote as a “major step,” Macron urged the Senate, the upper house, where it must also pass to become law, to follow suit and vowed to make sure it was implemented in time for the start of the fall semester.

“To ensure that this ban is effective from the start of the next academic year, I have asked the government to activate the accelerated procedure,” he posted on X.

“Because our children’s brains are not for sale. Not to American platforms, nor to Chinese networks. Because their dreams cannot be dictated by algorithms. Because we do not want an anxious generation,” Macron added.

Fastracking the law will enable it to leapfrog over a logjam in the assembly which has been unable to pass a budget for this year.

National Assembly Deputy Laure Miller, sponsor of the bill, complained afterward that opponents attempted to run the debate, which went on for almost seven hours, off the clock, knowing they would lose when it came to a vote.

“We explained everything to you, but you didn’t want to listen. Obstruction, off-topic remarks, conspiracy-laden speeches… above all, you tried everything to avoid having to vote on this text. Pathetic,” she wrote online.

Miller headed a committee probe into the psychological impact of social media on children that issued its report earlier this month.

MP Louis Boyard from the populist France Insoumise party said the bill had been rushed through.

By granting blanket verification powers to the government and the European Union to check the ages of all social media users, regardless of age, Macronist deputies were sleepwalking France into a surveillance state,” he said on X.

“The Macronists refused to respond or speak in order to have it voted on as quickly as possible. Under the pretext of banning social networks for those under 15, the Macronists seem to be preparing to have everyone monitored.”

He urged the Senate to send it back to the assembly to allow a “more enlightened” public debate to take place.

“The subject is too important to be rushed,” added Boyard, who represents a different district of the same region as Miller.

The development in France comes amid similar efforts being weighed across Europe, including in Greece, Spain, Denmark, Ireland, and Britain, where the House of Lords voted through a ban for children under 16 on Wednesday.

Lawmakers in the upper chamber of parliament passed the amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill by 261 votes to 150, however, the government signaled it intended to overturn the effort in the House of Commons, the lower house.

The move came two days after the government launched a consultation on a potential ban for under-16s in the wake of the lead taken by Australia, which last month became the first Western country to implement such a ban.