Airlines will not know exactly how many flights they need to cancel until the action is confirmed and almost underway, but Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said he expects Ryanair to be told to cancel up to 600 daily, affecting up to 100,000 passengers.
EasyJet’s CEO said the airline has been “held hostage”(Image: BrasilNut1 via Getty Images)
Ryanair and easyJet have issued warnings to passengers ahead of a run of disruptive strikes that could impact more than 100,000 passengers.
The main French air traffic control union, SNCTA, has announced a strike scheduled from 7 to 10 October 2025, which is expected to trigger a large number of flight cancellations and delays throughout western Europe.
Airlines will not know exactly how many flights they need to cancel until the action is confirmed and almost under way, but Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said he expects Ryanair to be told to cancel up to 600 daily, affecting up to 100,000 passengers.
He said: “We cannot have a situation in the EU where we have a single market yet we close that market every time the French go on strike. They have the right to strike, but if flights are to be cancelled they should be flights arriving to and from France. They should not be overflights.”
The union’s reasons for striking include concerns over air traffic control governance, highlighting “mistrust, punitive practices, and harsh managerial methods,” along with demands for pay increases to offset inflation.
Kenton Jarvis, CEO of easyJet, said: “While this is outside of our control, we will be doing all we can to minimise the impact this will have on our customers. Our passengers and crew have been impacted by ATC related disruption for too long and so a solution must be found.
“We are calling on the new head of the French aviation authority to urgently address this issue by building more resilience into the system and crucially, by protecting overflying on strike days to ensure the travel plans of passengers whose flights do not take off or land in France are not needlessly ruined.
“We need action on this now, so the rest of Europe is not held hostage when French Air Traffic Controllers go on strike.”
This industrial action is likely to cause major disruptions, especially affecting flights crossing French airspace, with past strikes having resulted in thousands of cancellations and substantial costs for the aviation sector.
By law, airlines must reroute passengers and provide accommodation and meals for cancelled flights, regardless of the strike’s cause—though managing these obligations becomes difficult during widespread disruption.
Latest analysis by AirAdvisor shows the strike will impact over 129,600 UK passengers, with mass cancellations expected on routes to Spain, Italy, France, and beyond. AirAdvisor expects a 50-60% disruption rate, which means 240 UK flights per day or over 720 flights to and from the UK will be disrupted, affecting 129,600 Brits over three days.
According to AirAdvisor, the routes that are most vulnerable to being disrupted are:
UK to Spain (all routes except northern Spain via the Bay of Biscay)
UK to Portugal (including Madeira and Azores)
UK to Italy (especially southern Italy)
UK to Greece (western routes)
UK to the Canary Islands
UK to Morocco and Tunisia
French airspace acts as Europe’s bottleneck. More than 30% of all UK-to-Mediterranean flights, and a huge chunk of UK-Spain, UK-Italy, and UK-Portugal routes, are about to face either outright cancellation or one to four hour delays. The disruption isn’t limited to French airports, but will affect every hub from Barcelona, Madrid, and Palma to Amsterdam and Brussels.
Airlines cannot simply fly around France as alternate, oceanic or North African routes add time, cost, and complexity. Fuel, crew, and slot constraints mean not every flight gets an alternative path.
Travellers headed to Spain and Portugal from London, Manchester, and Bristol are expected to be especially hard hit, with flights being axed at the last minute and others rerouted hundreds of miles out of the way, resulting in arrivals creeping into the early hours or simply overnighting at hubs.
JUST hearing the name Courchevel conjures up images in my head of gold-trimmed ski jackets, sheepskin-draped lodges and food prices that would frighten even Jeff Bezos.
That’s because when I first skied in the area, nearly 20 years ago, a round of drinks in the part known as Courchevel 1850 would set you back the price of a small flat.
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The French ski resort of La Tania has guaranteed snow and has been visited by Kate and WillsCredit: Alamy
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La Tania is a fixture for families and those looking for a cheaper and quieter place close to the actionCredit: Supplied
But these days you don’t need to be a Silicon Valley tech bro or Russian oligarch to ski the resort’s 150km stunning pistes.
I was staying in the small resort of La Tania, the perfect gateway to the French alpine jewel of Courchevel, where celebs and royalty from Kate and Wills to the Beckhams have skied.
La Tania is — in French ski resorts terms — a tiddler of a place and has only been an official part of the Courchevel region since 2018.
Since then this purpose-built modern village, which only came to life for the 1992 Winter Olympics, has become a fixture for families and those looking for a cheaper and quieter place close to the action.
That action being Les Trois Vallées — aka the “world’s largest interconnected ski area” — where from €69 (£60) a day you can access 600km of runs, which is the equivalent of skiing from Paris to Geneva.
A key selling point of Les Trois Valées is that unlike many of the French resorts that have been affected by warmer weather, snow is guaranteed.
A whopping 85 per cent of all runs are at an altitude of over 1,800m — and half of them are green or blue. Some peaks on the region’s SIX glaciers are even above 2,500m — great for when the season has been a particularly snowless one.
I was staying at the beautiful Chalet Jonquille, a snowball’s throw from the town and the bottom of the main lift and run by the ever professional tour operator, Ski Beat.
From the outside it looks like a traditional A-frame chalet but inside it was all open plan and modern with a hot tub on the balcony and a cosy cinema room downstairs.
I always judge a chalet on the food — if it’s not up to scratch it can ruin a ski trip. And I was not disappointed.
Hit the slopes for ski fun for all the family and a warm welcome at stunning Chilly resort
After a full day on the mountains every cell in my body is crying out for a scalding hot fix of tartiflette or some other heavy French cuisine — and a few large glasses of red. I got that in spades.
BIKINI-CLAD DANCERS
Helpfully Ski Beat prides itself on offering top-notch cuisine and red and white wine on tap in its catered chalets.
The homemade cakes served for afternoon tea were so good you might be tempted to cut short your time on the slopes, just so you don’t miss out on a slice.
La Tania may be small but it is by no means a sleepy backwater.
There are many bars and restaurants in the village where you can do everything from chowing down on local delicacies like fondue to dancing to a band until the wee hours.
The imaginatively named Pub Le Ski Lodge is exactly that — a charming ski lodge with a decent selection of beers.
Half a litre of Pélican blonde (7.5%) will put hairs on your chest and knock out any aches and pains in your legs, as I found to my pleasure.
It also serves snacks like French tacos (try them!), which at ten euros a pop, won’t break the bank. Dining piste side, it can make a cheap and cheerful lunch spot.
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After a full day on the slopes, guests can unwind with a party until the late hoursCredit: instagram/foliedoucemeribel
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There are many bars and restaurants in the village where you can chow down on local delicacies like fondueCredit: Supplied
Courchevel also has its own La Folie Douce (a famous party bar) up at Meribel, where you can watch bikini-clad dancers pirouette on table tops as EDM beats pound your ears.
It’s a fairly show-off crowd but utterly fascinating to watch as they guzzle Veuve Clicquot out of the bottle in their Balenciaga salopettes.
The Bouc Blanc, also at Meribel, is a cheaper option where plats du jours are a more reasonable 21 euros
Views here are superb and when the sun is out there are few greater ways to spend a day — beer in hand, watching the world ski by.
And if you’ve still got the legs, you can ski all the way back to La Tania.
GO: La Tania
GETTING/STAYING THERE: Ski Beat holidays from £784pp for the week during the 2025-26 ski season.
A week at Chalet Jonquille in La Tania is from £913pp including breakfast, afternoon tea, and three-course evening meals with wine, as well as return flights from Gatwick or Manchester, and transfers.
Fans were prevented from taking Palastine flags into Real Madrid’s stadium on heated night with Marseille fans in Spain.
Published On 16 Sep 202516 Sep 2025
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Spanish police clashed with Marseille fans ahead of the Champions League match between the French club and Real Madrid.
The confrontation began in the Spanish capital on Tuesday, as the fans waited to get into the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium before the game.
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Police in riot gear and horse-riding officers used batons to disperse the French supporters as they apparently tried to move out of the spot allocated for them while waiting outside the Bernabeu gates.
A few thousand French fans were expected for the match, and a heavy police presence was in attendance for the game.
The situation was controlled quickly, and the fans entered the stadium in time for the match.
The clashes between the police in Spain and supporters of Olympique de Marseille took place on the streets of Madrid near to Real’s stadium [Rodrigo Jimenez/EPA]
Bernabeu security personnel did not allow fans to enter the stadium with Palestinian flags, enforcing a policy that was in place even before pro-Palestinian protests made headlines for disrupting the Spanish Vuelta cycling race this weekend.
The flags were confiscated from fans who tried to enter with them.
The anti-Israeli government protests disrupted several stages of the three-week-long Vuelta.
Protesters, who demanded that team Israel Premier Tech be expelled from the Grand Tour event, threw barriers onto the road and clashed with police on Sunday to keep the final stage from being completed as originally planned.
A member of the Spanish police on a horse outside the stadium where a heavy security presence was in operation [Mateo Villalba Sanchez/Getty Images]
Travel blogger Jen Carr took her kids to France instead of Cornwall for less than half the price it would have cost to holiday in the UK. This is exactly how she did it
15:30, 13 Sep 2025Updated 15:36, 13 Sep 2025
Jen Carr, family travel expert and founder of The Travel Mum.
When planning a half-term break, Cornwall tops the list for its beautiful beaches, cosy cottages and a holiday without the airport stress – but it’s not cheap.
Travel blogger and mum Jen says she recently took her family to France after pricing up Cornwall and realising it was more expensive than going on holiday abroad.
“We recently priced up a summer break – a week in a two-bedroom caravan in a holiday park in Cornwall came in at £2,100,” she says. “And that’s before adding petrol, meals out, and activities!
“For the exact same dates as that caravan in Cornwall, we found a week at a French holiday camp for under £1,000 – literally half the price. More sunshine, better facilities, more fun – and for less money.”
The money she saved on the campsite went towards flights and car hire. But it wasn’t just accommodation costs where she managed to save money. The blogger, who runs The Travel Mum, has revealed other ways people can save some serious cash.
“Driving from where we live to Cornwall takes seven hours each way and, with fuel prices as they are, would’ve cost us around £120 just in petrol. (Plus 14 hours of hell in the car with the kids…)
“We found flights to the French Riviera for under £500 for four people. You can get flights to Paris for even less, currently around £350 for four people in August. If you can travel light you save a fortune by not adding a big check in luggage.”
Holiday camp hack
“The South of France has absolutely mastered the art of the family holiday camp. Think pools, huge playgrounds, kids’ clubs packed with activities, and evening entertainment that keeps everyone happy.
:And the best part? For the exact same dates as that caravan in Cornwall, we found a week at a French holiday camp for under £1,000 – literally half the price. More sunshine, better facilities, more fun… for less money.”
Jen Carr – The Travel Mum – shares the best affordable holiday deals for families throughout the week.
Eating out costs less
“In Cornwall, we’ve spent £60+ on a family pub lunch without even trying. In France, we were eating out in little village restaurants for €35-€40 total – three courses, bread, and a glass of wine included.
“Supermarkets are much cheaper too. We stocked up on fresh baguettes, cheese, and fruit for picnics and spent much less than we would on a similar supermarket shop in the UK.”
Car hire ‘dream’
“This one’s less about saving money and more about saving your sanity. If you’ve ever braved Cornwall in peak season, you’ll know the chaos of narrow lanes, endless queues, and half the UK heading there at once.
“In contrast, driving in France is a dream – wide, quiet roads, smooth journeys, and far less stress. Plus, car hire is surprisingly affordable if you book in advance, making it an easy win for both comfort and convenience.”
The bottom line
“Everyone assumes UK staycations are going to be cheaper than going abroad, but that isn’t always the case. When you add up flights, accommodation, eating out, and activities, France actually cost us less – and let us explore a whole new area of the world.
“Our holiday in France could have been even cheaper too! The French Riviera isn’t known for being the cheapest part of the country, but we have always wanted to visit.
“Would we swap Cornwall for France again next half-term? Absolutely. Next time, we’re eyeing up Brittany, the Atlantic coast and even Corsica! Sometimes, going abroad really is the budget option.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has named his defence minister and close ally, Sebastien Lecornu, as the new prime minister after Prime Minister Francois Bayrou resigned after losing a confidence vote.
Lecornu, 39, the fifth prime minister in less than two years, has major challenges ahead, including resolving a deepening political crisis as protests loom in the coming days.
“The President of the Republic has entrusted me with the task of building a government with a clear direction: the defence of our independence and power, the service of the French people, and political and institutional stability for the unity of the country,” the incoming prime minister said.
The French parliament – the National Assembly – on Monday voted to remove Bayrou over his proposed $51bn in budget cuts to address the country’s debt crisis. The formal handover of power between Bayrou and Lecornu is due to take place on Wednesday.
Macron’s decision to choose Lecornu, analysts say, is an indication that he intends to continue on with a minority government that supports his pro-business economic reform agenda. In the 577-member National Assembly, the left bloc, which has opposed Macron’s pro-business policy, has most seats but not enough to form a government.
The appointment of Lecornu, a one-time conservative, risks alienating France’s centre-left Socialist Party, which leaves Macron’s government depending on Marine Le Pen and the far-right National Rally for support in parliament.
“Regardless of Sebastien Lecornu’s personal qualities, his nomination is a slap in the face of parliament,” Philippe Brun, the Socialist lawmaker who has been in charge of budget negotiations, told Reuters.
However, Jordan Bardella, seen as Le Pen’s protege, seemed willing to give Lecornu a chance.
“We will judge, without illusion, the new prime minister on his merits,” he said, adding that the party still kept strict “red lines”.
[Al Jazeera]
Bayrou’s downfall and France’s instability
France, the European Union’s second-biggest economy, seems on the brink of yet another period of instability.
The French budget deficit is now nearly 169 billion euros ($198bn), or 5.8 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), well above the 3 percent limit set by the European Union for countries using the euro. Investors worry that France’s persistent deficits will cause ever-higher debt ratios and undermine its credit score.
Before Monday’s vote, Bayrou warned lawmakers: “You have the power to bring down the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality. Reality will remain relentless: expenses will continue to rise, and the burden of debt, already unbearable, will grow heavier and more costly.”
The prime minister’s proposals came on top of Macron’s unpopular 2023 move to raise France’s retirement age by two years to 64. At the time, the president argued that excessive pension payments were a drag on the country’s finances.
Protests expected around France
As Macron grapples with the collapse of his fourth government in less than two years, French citizens are planning to take to the streets this week in “Block Everything” protests.
The movement, which lacks centralised leadership and planning, is threatening widespread disruption this week.
“The public authorities and the government have betrayed us so much that I’m not sure they can really meet the expectations of the people,” Louise Nechin, a left-wing activist in Paris, told Reuters.
The protests have drawn comparisons with 2018’s “yellow vest” demonstrations, with protesters at the time setting fire to makeshift barricades and vehicles.
The November 2018 protests, which began over planned hikes in diesel taxes, widened into an uprising against Macron’s policies and became the biggest challenge to his presidency at the time.
The National Assembly votes to bring down government led by PM Francois Bayou over its plans to cut about $52bn to reduce the country’s debt.
Published On 8 Sep 20258 Sep 2025
France’s Prime Minister Francois Bayrou has lost a confidence vote in Parliament, hours after warning that the country was facing “life-threatening” debt, deepening a political crisis and handing President Emmanuel Macron the task of finding a fifth prime minister in less than two years.
Bayrou, who has been in office for nine months, will tender his resignation on Tuesday, his office said.
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The National Assembly voted on Monday to bring down the Bayrou-led government over its plans to cut about 44 billion euros ($52bn) to reduce the country’s debt.
Bayrou is the sixth prime minister under President Macron since the head of state was first elected in 2017. Bayrou’s ousting would leave the French leader with a new domestic headache at a time when he is leading diplomatic efforts on the Ukraine war.
In 1909, French journalist-turned-entrepreneur Pierre-Francois Lardet returned from a trip to Nicaragua determined to recreate a beverage he had tasted there.
Five years later, in August 1914, Banania was born.
The arrival of the chocolate-flavoured banana powder drink came just as France found itself at war.
The following year, its mascot – a Black soldier wearing a red fez – first appeared on an advertising poster.
During World War I, 200,000 African soldiers fought for France on the battlefields of Europe, Africa and Anatolia. They came from French colonies in West and Central Africa. Many were forcibly recruited.
The African soldier on the Banania poster resembled soldiers known as the Senegalese Tirailleurs (riflemen), who wore a signature red fez. This military corps, founded in 1857, was given its name because its first recruits came from Senegal.
The tirailleurs were famed for their bravery. They were first sent to serve in the colonial wars in West and Central Africa, before fighting in World War I (1914-18). During World War II (1939-45), they served in France, North Africa and the Middle East. At least 30,000 tirailleurs died during the First World War, while an estimated 8,000 died during the Second.
Banania’s tirailleur is smiling, sitting on the grass with a bowl of the powdered drink and a rifle by his side. His exaggerated smile and facial features resemble the racial stereotypes popular at the time and seen in advertisements for chocolate, soap and shoe polish.
The poster’s slogan, “Y’a bon”, meaning “C’est bon” (this is good) in the simplified French taught to colonial soldiers, furthered the racist caricature of the cheerful but simple African. The company referred to its mascot as “L’ami Y’a bon” – the Y’a bon friend.
Against the backdrop of World War I, Lardet’s Mascot tapped into a mood of patriotism and pride in French colonialism. But it also helped to encourage public acceptance of African soldiers fighting on French soil, explains Sandrine Lemaire, a historian and co-author of several books on French colonisation. Banania wasn’t alone. The French authorities also sought to use images highlighting the loyalty and military qualities of France’s African soldiers through propaganda, postcards and news articles.
Senegalese riflemen rest during the First World War. These soldiers were the inspiration behind Banania’s first mascot [Roger Viollet via Getty Images]
“The tirailleur was an opportunistic advertising invention from Lardet … which made the consumption of Banania a quasi-patriotic act,” said Pap Ndiaye, a politician and historian, during a 2010 talk about Banania and colonial oppression.
Banania was promoted through children’s comics featuring the mascot. In one, he returns to his homeland from France, bringing two boxes of Banania to Africans dressed in loincloths. In an illustrated booklet published in 1933, he takes Banania to France before going to the West Indies, the Canary Islands and French colonial Indochina to set up banana plantations.
“In the 20s, 30s, 40s, Banania was everywhere. It had touchpoints in all domains – cinema, packaging, promotional items, notebooks,” said branding expert Jean Watin-Augouard in a 2014 documentary about Banania.
Meanwhile, between the late 1930s and the early 1950s, according to the sole book published about Banania’s history, the company tripled production. These were Banania’s golden years before Nesquik entered the market in the 1960s.
The mascot, which appeared in advertising, packaging and collectible items, such as toys, was popular throughout the 20th century because it reinforced French people’s pride in their colonial empire and their “subjects’” contribution to the war effort, says Etienne Achille, an associate professor of French and Francophone studies at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
A Renault Estafette with Banania branding and a 1979 Tour de France sign [Creative Commons]
Shaken by decolonisation
But as the French colonies in Africa fought for and gained independence in the 1950s and early 1960s, Banania was also shaken by decolonisation.
Increasingly, Banania – with its slogan and stereotyped mascot – became shorthand for colonialism and racism. The tirailleur, in representing soldiers forced to fight for France, came to embody the injustice denounced by anti-colonial movements.
“I will tear up the Banania smiles from all the walls of France,” wrote Leopold Sedar Senghor, who became Senegal’s first president in 1960, in a 1948 poem dedicated to the tirailleurs.
A few years later, Martinique-born philosopher-psychiatrist Frantz Fanon made several references to “Y’a bon Banania” in his 1952 book Black Skin, White Masks, to denote how Black people in France are seen through the lens of racist tropes.
But, despite the criticisms, the mascot remained, albeit with updates.
In 1967, when advertising sold modern, aspirational lifestyles, it became simplified and geometric: a brown triangular face with cartoon eyes and a red rectangular hat on a yellow background. The slogan, however, was retired in 1977.
In the 1980s and 1990s, a cartoonish child’s face was introduced on some of the brand’s products, while others retained the mascot.
The ‘grandson’ of the original tirailleur adorns modern packaging [Clement Girardot/Al Jazeera]
In 2004, after Banania was acquired by French company Nutrial under a holding company, Nutrimaine, a new mascot was unveiled: the “grandson” of the 1915 tirailleur, who, according to Nutrimaine, symbolised diversity and the successful integration of migrant communities into French society. But his stereotyped features weren’t so different from his predecessor’s, with his ecstatic smile, white teeth and red fez.
During the last decades of the 20th century, the French brand never regained its dominant position and continued to lose ground to competitors like Nesquik. It had struggled financially while becoming less popular among younger generations.
“They had to return to the golden era of the brand to save the company. There was only one way to do it: to go back to the emblem. Very few brands are so connected to their emblem,” explained Achille. “This rejuvenated version effectively plays on the idea of superposition. When you see it, you immediately think of the old tirailleur.”
The design also caught the attention of writers and activists at Grioo.com, an online platform for the French-speaking Black community in Europe and Africa. “Can we tolerate that in 2005 we are represented as our ancestors were 90 years ago?” Grioo asked its readers, launching an online petition against Banania.
Graphic designer Awatif Bentahar reimagined the packaging of a drink that was part of her childhood [Courtesy of Awatif Bentahar]
‘Hurtful’ heritage
More than two decades later, the “grandson” still smiles on Banania boxes in supermarkets across France.
For Achille, Banania’s marketing epitomises France’s lack of public debate about colonialism and postcolonial racism. “Only the complete imbrication of the colonial into popular culture can explain why Banania can continue to operate with impunity,” he said. “In other countries, this would not be possible.”
A spokesperson for Nutrimaine declined to provide comment for this article.
Awatif Bentahar, 37, grew up seeing Banania on supermarket shelves and drinking it on occasion. She says, “The company hasn’t understood how their heritage can actually be hurtful to a big part of the population.
“The French ‘children of immigrants’ see the painful history of colonisation and the struggle we are waging today to be respected in a society that cannot help but refer on a daily basis to our status of ‘different’ French.”
As a graphic designer and a French woman of Moroccan descent, Bentahar would like to see Banania evolve. As a personal project, she created alternative decolonised packaging, removing the mascot and drawing from previous designs to include playful eyes and a smile.
“I decided to try to rebrand Banania, not because I hate it, but because I actually like the idea of what it could be. Brands are part of our lives, whether we like it or not,” she wrote on her blog.
“This one happens to be part of my childhood, and I would love to see it being on the good side of history for a change.”
This article is part of “Ordinary items, extraordinary stories”, a series about the surprising stories behind well-known items.
French Montana is reportedly engaged to Mahra Maktoum — full name with title, Sheikha Mahra bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum — and the couple has apparently managed to keep the romance news off the radar for even longer than Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift did.
The couple got engaged in June during Paris Fashion Week, TMZ said Wednesday, citing a publicist for the rapper. They didn’t even go public as a couple until this summer in Paris. He’s 40 and walked the runway very slowly in the 3.Paradis spring/summer 2026 show; she’s 31 and the daughter of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai.
People reported that there’s little to report at this point, quoting a news release that stated, “Representatives confirm that while wedding plans are underway, specific dates and arrangements are still being finalized by both families, who are reportedly excited and supportive.”
Montana, who was born Karim Kharbouch and raised in Morocco until his family moved to the United States when he was a tween, previously dated reality TV royalty: He and Khloé Kardashian connected in 2014, dated for a bit, then split up and have remained friends over the years.
This will be a second marriage for both parties. Maktoum and her first husband, UAE businessman Sheikh Mana bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mana Al Maktoum, split in 2024 and have a young daughter together.
Montana and his first wife, entrepreneur Nadeen Palmer, a.k.a. Deen Kharbouch, had a son together in 2010 and separated in 2012 after five years as husband and wife; their divorce was finalized by a court in 2014.
‘This is probably the wildest place in the whole of the Vallée des Belleville,” says Roland, our guide, sweeping one arm across a bank of saw-toothed peaks as though conducting a great, brawny orchestra. My husband, two sons and I are midway through a four-day stretch of the Grand Tour de Tarentaise hiking trail in the French Alps, and we’ve stopped near the top of Varlossière, a roadless side valley among a great arc of mountains that runs to the west of the ski resorts of Val Thorens, Les Menuires and Saint-Martin-de-Belleville. Hiking up here from Gittamelon, a rustic, summer-only mountain refuge in the neighbouring Vallée des Encombres, we’ve paused to exhale breath, and to inhale the primeval views.
High peaks loom either side of us, their shocking green flanks underscored by an elegantly designed bothy and its shepherd-dwelling twin, and we can hear the rush of water far below. It’s midmorning but the moon is low and large in a cloudless sky, adding to the otherworldly scene. Climbing higher, an eagle flies past almost at eye level, no more than six metres away. Though we meet three other hikers on the other side of the Col du Bonnet du Prêtre, the 2,461-metre (8,074ft) pass that leads from Varlossière to the Nant Brun valley – and detect from sheep bells that at least two shepherds must be somewhere among the great folds of these hills – it feels as though the landscape is ours alone.
That may not be the case for long. Soaring temperatures across Europe this summer have fuelled a rush to the mountains, social media funnelling many visitors to the same honeypots and creating infrastructure pressure points; in Italy some farmers in the Dolomites have resorted to installing turnstiles and charging tourists €5 to pass, incensed at having their meadows trampled.
Navigating these challenges is no easy task for Europe’s mountain resorts, which are increasingly encouraging summer tourism as the climate crisis signals a limited lifespan for ski tourism. One of the biggest issues is that many of these new summer visitors are first-timers, unfamiliar with the mores of mountain adventuring: treading gently on the environment, respecting local countryside codes, wearing suitable kit, knowing how to read a map rather than an app (we had no wifi or phone signal for two days of our hike), and packing enough food and water. In France, call-outs to mountain rescue services by inexperienced hikers have risen so sharply that workers now trawl social media looking for potential disaster hotspots in advance.
The writer and her sons walking above Lac de Lou. Photograph: Richard Hammond
In an attempt to tackle these issues, the Vallée des Belleville tourist office has introduced a range of summer initiatives to support new hikers, from kids’ mountain skills activity days to free wildlife talks and events. Lower-level footpaths and bike trails for children, pushchair-users and visitors with reduced mobility makes it safer for those groups to access the mountains, and easier for local communities to manage the larger numbers that tend to make use of them. And while challenging marked trails through more remote corners of the mountains are fairly easy to follow, visitors are encouraged to hire a guide (something we are glad of at Col du Bonnet du Prêtre, when Roland tracks down the shepherd owner of an aggressive dog and persuades him to move away from the trail).
It is at our accommodation each night, in mountain refuges, that we really see support for new hikers in action, though. Several have been designed specifically with families and first-timers in mind, including Refuge Plan Lombardie, where we end our 12-mile (19km) hike from Gittamelon.
We are not first-timers, but staying here is a good opportunity to remind ourselves of the rules of refuge culture, and for the boys to hang out with other children. Though we hike in, it’s possible to park about 20 minutes’ away and walk from there, something several guests with preschoolers have done, grateful for the treasure hunt-style sculpture trail the refuge has installed along the route to entice younger visitors uphill.
Though we have seen less than a handful of hikers during the day, we find Refuge Plan Lombardie as packed as a marmot’s burrow. Approaching it in the soft glow of the afternoon, earlier arrivals have already nabbed the terrace’s deckchairs with a view. Instead, we collect beers and lemonades and find a free bench to enjoy them before swapping our boots for the refuge’s borrowed Crocs, and finding our allocated bunk beds.
Refuges like this are more than just places to sleep. Full of city folk temporarily escaping to higher ground, they’re the human equivalent of a centuries-old rhythm of transhumance, where families bring sheep and cows up to the high pastures for the summer months. At dinner, we share a table with a mother from Chambéry who has brought her four-year-old son for his first visit to a refuge. “My friend gave me a list of the most family-friendly ones and I’ve decided to start a new tradition of visiting one every year with my son. I want him to love them as much as I do,” she told us between bites of a Savoyard blueberry version of Eton mess.
The previous evening, in cosy Gittamelon refuge, we’d shared similar tales, and a dorm, with three generations of a Belgian family who were following the same trail as us but in the opposite direction. And the evening before that, we’d followed suit with other families, playing cards at Refuge du Lac du Lou, a modern, child-friendly refuge just 90 minutes’ hike above the resort of Les Menuires.
Walking from the cosy Gitamelon refuge. Photograph: Richard Hammond
Between Lac du Lou and Gittamelon we’d hiked with Estelle Roy-Berthaud from Les Menuires tourist office, following the trail through harebells, cotton grass, neon-coloured lichens and, much to the boys’ delight, thickets of wild blueberries. Stopping for lunch with Mont Blanc spearing the horizon in the distance, I ask her how the valley is managing increasing summer numbers.
“Summer tourism is a relatively new concept here, so we are not seeing the overtourism issues experienced by more well-known summer destinations in the Alps,” she says. “We’re also protected by not having too many places to stay. In winter, we have around 27,000 beds, but in summer this reduces to just 8,000, so this naturally restricts the number of people in the valley.”
Further along the trail, at Plan Lombardie, I wake in the night and slip out of one of those beds. Outside, the sky is luminous with stars, while the peaks and folds of the land are now entirely black beyond the winking of a distant light – a shepherd’s stove, perhaps, or the torch of a camper. The Belleville valley still feels wonderfully wild tonight.
Malian minister says situation under control after plot foiled to ‘destabilising the institutions of the republic’.
Authorities in Mali have arrested a group of military personnel and civilians, including two Malian army generals and a suspected French secret agent, accused of attempting to destabilise the country.
Mali’s security minister, General Daoud Aly Mohammedine, announced the arrests on Thursday evening following days of rumours that Malian military officials had been arrested.
The minister said, “The situation is completely under control.”
“The transitional government informs the national public of the arrest of a small group of marginal elements of the Malian armed and security forces for criminal offences aimed at destabilising the institutions of the republic,” Mohammedine said on national news.
“The conspiracy has been foiled with the arrests of those involved,” he said, adding that the plot began on August 1.
“These soldiers and civilians” had obtained “the help of foreign states”, Mali’s military said in a statement, adding that a French national – identified as Yann Christian Bernard Vezilier – was held on suspicion of working “on behalf of the French intelligence service”.
The security minister said the Frenchman acted “on behalf of the French intelligence service, which mobilised political leaders, civil society actors and military personnel” in Mali.
Images shared on social media of the alleged French spying suspect featured a white man in his 50s wearing a white shirt and appearing somewhat alarmed.
National television also broadcast photos of 11 people it said were members of the group that planned the coup.
The security minister also identified two Malian generals he said were part of the plot.
One of the suspects, General Abass Dembele, is a former governor of the country’s central Mopti region, who was abruptly dismissed in May when he demanded an investigation into allegations that the Malian army killed civilians in the village of Diafarabe. The second general, Nema Sagara, was previously lauded for her role in fighting rebel groups in 2012.
Security sources told the AFP news agency that at least 55 soldiers had been arrested, and authorities said they were working to identify “possible accomplices”.
Impoverished Mali has been gripped by a security crisis since 2012, fuelled notably by violence from armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the ISIL (ISIS) group, as well as local criminal gangs.
The country’s military rulers, led by President Assimi Goita, have in recent years turned away from Western partners, notably former colonial power France, and aligned politically and militarily with Russia in the name of national sovereignty.
In June, Goita was granted an additional five years in power, despite the military’s earlier promises of a return to civilian rule by March 2024.
Scientists say warmer waters in the North Sea due to climate change have created conditions allowing jellyfish to thrive and reproduce.
Four reactor units at one of France’s largest nuclear power stations have been forced to shut down due to a swarm of jellyfish in the plant’s water pumping stations, French energy group Electricite de France (EDF) said.
Three reactor units were automatically shut down on Sunday evening at Gravelines on the English Channel, followed by the fourth early on Monday morning, EDF said, adding that the safety of the plant, its employees and the environment was not at risk.
“These shutdowns are the result of the massive and unpredictable presence of jellyfish in the filter drums of the pumping stations,” EDF said in a statement.
The plant in northern France is one of the largest in the country and is cooled from a canal connected to the North Sea.
Teams were carrying out inspections to restart the site “in complete safety”, EDF said, adding the reactors that were shut down are expected to restart on Thursday.
The beaches around Gravelines, between the major cities of Dunkirk and Calais, have seen an increase in jellyfish in recent years due to warming waters and the introduction of invasive species.
Jellyfish lie on the shore near the Gravelines nuclear power plant in Gravelines, northern France, August 12, 2025 [Sameer al-Doumy/AFP]
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists wrote in 2021 that jellyfish swarms incapacitating nuclear power plants is “neither new nor unknown” and there was substantial economic cost due to the forced closure of power plants.
Scientists are currently exploring ways to avert closures due to sea swarms, including using drones to map the movement of jellyfish, which would allow early intervention.
“Jellyfish breed faster when water is warmer, and because areas like the North Sea are becoming warmer, the reproductive window is getting wider and wider,” Derek Wright, marine biology consultant with the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told the Reuters news agency.
“Jellyfish can also hitch rides on tanker ships, entering the ships’ ballast tank in one port and often getting pumped out into waters halfway across the globe,” he said.
An invasive species known as the Asian Moon jellyfish, native to the Pacific Northwest, was first sighted in the North Sea in 2020. The species, which prefers still water with high levels of animal plankton, such as that in ports and canals, has caused similar problems before in ports and at nuclear plants in China, Japan, and India.
EDF said it did not know the species of jellyfish involved in the shutdown, but this is not the first time jellyfish have shut down a nuclear facility, though such incidents were “quite rare” – the last effect on EDF operations was in the 1990s.
There have been cases of plants in other countries shutting down due to jellyfish invasions, notably a three-day closure in Sweden in 2013 and a 1999 incident in Japan that caused a major drop in power output.
Experts say overfishing, plastic pollution and climate change have created conditions for jellyfish to thrive and reproduce.
EDF said there was no risk of a power shortage due to the shutdown, saying other energy sources, including solar power, were operational.
The saying goes “curiosity killed the cat”, as if being nosy is a bad thing. As I stood knee-deep in the cool Atlantic Ocean, marvelling at the beauty and emptiness of the Plage de Port Lin, I decided this was nonsense: without this little detour, “just to have a look”, I’d never have discovered Le Croisic, on the Guérande peninsula. The downside is that time isn’t on my side: it’s past 5pm and I’m supposed to be at the big resort, La Baule-Escoublac, six miles east by now. But the presqu’île (a “nearly island”), as the French call it, tucked in the corner where Brittany meets Pays de la Loire, is calling out to be explored.
First, though, a late afternoon dip in the sea is too hard to resist, and I wade into the water, sharing a delighted smile with fellow swimmers. Two elderly women in flowery swimming caps nod a cheery “Bonsoir” as I take my first strokes. Afterwards, I wander up the coast a little way. A row of belle epoque villas overlook the rocky coastline, and I climb down on to the sand in front of them to look west at the enchanting view of the small headlands jutting into the sea and scattered black rocks in silhouette.
Illustration: Guardian Graphics
Back in the car, I hazard that I have just enough time to do a circuit of the peninsula if I delay my evening dinner reservation in La Baule, and so I follow the coast road west, spotting menhirs, small sandy coves and a golf course along the way. As I approach the town of Le Croisic, there are more people out for a stroll beneath the towering maritime pine trees and I park up again to join them for a while.
At the jetty that usually sees passengers boarding the foot ferry to the islands off the coast, such as Belle-Île-en-Mer and Hoëdic, I notice a crowd of people aren’t queueing, but fishing. Old men and teenage boys are peering over the railings, with nets lowered down on lines; there’s a jolly camaraderie and their chatter carries on the breeze.
One of Le Croisic’s squares. Photograph: Hemis/Alamy
In the sea behind them, I spot the Trehic jetty, an 850-metre stone pier that snakes into the bay nearby – its end point marked by a lighthouse – as well as the tip of the Pen Bron peninsula on the other side of the bay, which seems so close it could be within swimming distance. Its proximity reminds me what the two peninsulas embrace: 2,000 hectares (4,940 acres) of marshland and the salt ponds from which the famous Guérande salt crystals are harvested. The thought of sprinkling it on my dinner makes my stomach rumble, and so I head on to La Baule, taking a detour through the main town, along the pretty harbour front with its yachts and quaysides.
After checking into the Hotel des Dunes, I wander out for dinner. There’s a holiday vibe in the town and restaurants are full of families and friends dining together, black-clad waiters whirling between them with trays aloft. I arrive for my reservation at Restaurant Le M (starter, main course and dessert from €18.90), and tuck into briny oysters from Brittany and grilled fish with Mediterranean vegetables.
La Baule-Escoublac first welcomed tourists in the late 19th century, after the opening of the railway line, and became a sophisticated resort. Today, it is a mix of modern apartments, belle epoque-era timber-framed architecture, cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops. Away from the main drags are desirable 19th-century villas shaded by the cypress and pines that were planted in the early 1820s to stabilise the dunes. It is undeniably touristy, but that’s no surprise for a place with such a good beach.
The next morning, I wander down to the seafront and inhale the ozone before wandering along the shore, sitting for a while on the golden sand.
Some 15 minutes north of La Baule-Escoublac is impressive Guérande – its name familiar from the eponymous salt – with its mighty walls, towers, moats and grand medieval gate, La Porte Saint-Michel. Inside, it is a delight: bunting flutters above streets packed with bakeries, arty boutiques and creperies.
The mighty walls and grand gate, La Porte Saint-Michel, in the medieval town of Guérande. Photograph: Hemis/Alamy
The sun is shining, so I take a table in the main square on the terrace of the creperie Chez Lucien and soon I’m tucking into a crispy golden galette complète, with ham, cheese and a gooey egg at its centre, and a cup of cider. I might strictly be in the region of Pays de la Loire, but the identity here is resolutely Breton, and the salt harvested from the nearby marshes has been a key ingredient in Brittany’s famous salted butter for centuries.
To find out more about the fascinating process of harvesting the sel de Guérande, I head out to the marshes. At the shop and visitor centre of the Terre de Sel cooperative (salt marsh tours from €10.50), I meet Simon Pereon, a paludieror salt harvester, who has agreed to show me how he and his 220 fellow paludiers enact the process of salt harvesting between June and September. Salt has been prized in these parts since Roman times, when soldiers were sometimes paid in salt (hence the origin of the word salary), but the marshes as we see them today date from around 1,000 years ago.
As we drive to Simon’s ponds, I start to see the appeal of working under the big skies and open air, and the reason he followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. “The government classes us as ‘farmers’,” he explains, “but we work with seawater and the whole landscape is balanced between the land and the sea.” With a long, toothless rake called a las, he moves the seawater between a labyrinth of shallow rectangular ponds that don’t drain, due to the clay mud beneath, coloured pink by the algae that thrives here. As the water moves between each pond it becomes increasingly concentrated as the sun evaporates the water and leaves the salt behind.
‘Big skies and open air’ – Marais Salants de Guérande. Photograph: Hilke Maunder/Alamy
Simon sweeps the las across the ponds and the water ripples gently: the process is hypnotic. By the end of each day, he has raked the salt into neat piles on the dykes between ponds. “In summer, we harvest 50kg every day. The job has evolved over the years, with tractors and other machines, but for the actual salt harvesting, we still use the identical process that’s been around for centuries.”
The tranquillity has been passed down the ages: I hear little more than the calls from the avocets and ibis in the neighbouring lagoon. “I start at daybreak,” Simon says, “and for the first few hours of the day, I see the sun rise, listen to the birds, and there’s no one around. At the end of the day, too, I just watch the sun go down.”
It sounds like bliss and, after I take another detour later that day through the salt marshes – the clouds in the reddening sky are reflected in the mirror-like ponds – I am reassured that curiosity can only be a good thing.
The trip was provided by Pays de la Loire Tourism; accommodation provided by Hotel des Dunes in La Baule (doubles from €65 room-only). Brittany Ferrieshas crossings from Portsmouth to St Malo from £229 return for a car and two people, including en suite cabin on the outward, overnight leg
Amuse Bouche: How to Eat Your Way Around France by Carolyn Boyd is published by Profile, £10.99. To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com
The recordings of vehicles considered to be breach the rules are then sent to a human agent for verification, who can then issue motorists abusing the rules with a fine.
Signs and enforcement for the new carpool only lanes on the ring road also started at the beginning of May.
They aim to encourage commuters to travel into the city in groups of at least two, hoping to reduce congestion and emissions from vehicles.
The car sharing lanes are on the far left of the four-lane carriageway in both directions of what is one of the busiest ring roads in Europe.
These exclusive lanes were initially introduced for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games last summer, designated for athletes and staff to use as priority vehicles accessing the city.
Hidalgo, who has launched various anti-car measures for the city, confirmed they would remain after the conclusion of the games, and instead be used for car sharing in peak congestion hours.
These hours 7am to 10:30am and 4pm to 8pm on weekdays.
On weekends and public holidays, all lanes are open to any vehicle.
Public transport operators, emergency service vehicles, taxis, and cars for people with reduced mobility are also permitted to use the carpool lanes at any time.
President of Automobile Association, Edmund King, told the Daily Mail: “Britons driving to Paris this summer might be forgiven for not understanding a new addition to French road signs – the diamond with a blue background.
“Some might think it is a sign to the ‘diamond district’ in Paris, which is around Place Vendôme and Rue de la Paix, but it is not – it is a sign denoting a car sharing lane.”
The baguette was fresh from the boulangerie that morning, a perfect fusion of airy lightness and crackled crust. The cheese – a nutty, golden gruyère – we’d bought from Pierre: we hadn’t expected to hike past a human, let alone a fromagerie, in the teeny hillside hamlet of Rouet, and it had taken a while to rouse the cheesemaker from within his thick farmhouse walls. But thankfully we’d persevered. Because now we were resting in a valley of pine and pasture with the finest sandwich we’d ever eaten. Just two ingredients. Three, if you counted the mountain air.
As lunches go, it was deliciously simple. But then, so was this trip, plainly called “Hiking in the French Alps” on the website. The name had struck me as so unimaginative I was perversely intrigued; now it seemed that Macs Adventure – organisers of this self-guided walk in the Queyras region – were just being admirably to the point.
Yes, Queyras. I hadn’t heard of it either. Bordered to the north and east by Italy, barricaded by a phalanx of 3,000-metre peaks, this regional natural park might be the least-discovered – and the Frenchest – corner of the Alps. Queyras only really entered the national consciousness in 1957, after disastrous floods made it briefly headline news. Tourism filtered in. But it remains little known to outsiders, and centuries of undisturbed agriculture and isolation mean its rural character has been preserved.
Ceillac, the gateway to Queyras natural park. Photograph: Sarah Baxter
Even now Queyras takes some effort to reach. Either you take the narrow, hair-pinning road through the gorges of the Guil River from Guillestre. Or you drive over the 2,361-metre Col d’Izoard (from Briançon) or the 2,744-metre Col Agnel (from Italy), both of which periodically test the thighs of Tour de France riders, and both of which close over winter, all but cutting Queyras off from the rest of the world.
Making the most of Macs Adventure’s collaboration with the no-fly specialists Byway, my husband and I travelled as close as we could by train. We overnighted in Paris, whizzed down to south-east France, then chugged more slowly towards Montdauphin-Guillestre, where a Vauban hilltop fort surveils a strategic meeting of valleys. Finally, we boarded the end-of-day school bus, joining children inured to the spectacular views to squeeze up the valley to Ceillac, gateway to the natural park.
The plan from here was to spend six days hiking a circular route that promised big, satisfying climbs but no technical terrain (and no shared dorms or privation). Covering up to 12 miles each day – and walking for an average of six hours – we’d use parts of the GR58 (the grande randonnée that circuits Queyras) as well as other trails to roam between traditional villages. We’d eat cheese, gaze over lakes and mountains, and generally revel in a region that, reputedly, has 300 days of sunshine a year and as many species of flowers as it does people (about 2,500 of both).
On day one this meant walking from Ceillac to Saint-Véran, over the Col des Estronques (2,651 metres). It was a fine start, under blue September skies – we’d come at the end of the hiking season (the trip runs June to mid-September), when crocuses still fleck the meadows and houseleeks hang on higher up, but the bilberry bushes are beginning to blaze in fall-fiery colours and there’s a sense of change in the air.
‘The highest village in Europe’, apparently … Saint-Véran. Photograph: Jo Skeats/Macs Adventure
We joined a light stream of other walkers, progressing up the valley via lonely farmsteads and meadows bouncing with crickets. Noisy choughs and a boisterous breeze welcomed us to the pass itself; 100 vertical metres more took us to the lookout of Tête de Jacquette, where we felt like monarchs of this mountain realm. These may not have been the very biggest Alps – few peaks sported any snow – but they rippled every which way, great waves of limestone, dolomite, gabbro and schist.
From the col we dropped down through arolla pine and larch to Saint-Véran. At 2,042 metres, it claims to be the highest village in Europe. It’s also a snapshot of Alpine life before the modern world seeped in. The oldest house, built in traditional Saint-Véran style, dates to 1641 and is now the Soum Museum; the ground floor, with its half-metre-thick stone walls, is where animals and families would sleep together for warmth. The upper floors, built from tree trunks, were used to keep hay, barley and rye; the grains were made into coarse loaves that would last all winter, baked in the communal oven.
That enormous village oven is still fired up a few times a year, for festivals. But I was pleased to be fed at Hotel le Grand Tétras (“Capercaillie”) instead. Here, we feasted on gratin d’oreilles d’âne (literally “donkey’s ears”, actually a delicious spinach lasagne) and stayed in a simple room with a five-star view to the opposite peaks.
‘A five-star view’ … at Hotel le Grand Tétras, Saint-Véran. Photograph: Sarah Baxter
After this, our days settled into a familiar pattern. We’d set off after breakfast to buy picnic supplies. We’d hike up through butterfly-wafted green. We’d cross a pass, go by a lake or reach a panoramic ridge. Then we’d descend through forest or towards an icy river. By evening we’d be ensconced in a pretty village, drinking reasonably priced wine, with a multicourse meal or an indulgent fondue. The air was always fresh, the trails always joyful, the crowds largely thin.
“It’s busy here mid-July to mid-September,” said Christophe Delhaise Ramond, the owner of a gîte in Abriès where we stayed one night, as he poured us mélèze (larch) liqueurs while we pored over maps. Then he reconsidered: “But there are only around 2,000 tourist beds in the park, so it’s never that bad.”
A très français pitstop in Queyras park. Photograph: Sarah Baxter
It’s thanks to Christophe that we made a slight detour the following day. As planned, we climbed up to 2,583-metre Lac Grand Laus, a lake so brilliantly blue-green it seemed a bit of the Mediterranean had got lost in the mountains. It was spectacular, but as crowded as we’d seen anywhere in Queyras. So, on Christophe’s suggestion, we continued to climb, steeply, up to the Col du Petit Malrif, where tenacious flowers popped through the rocks and the views were immense, reaching to snow-licked peaks.
From here, we looped back, via two smaller, but no less Mediterranean, tarns, where there were no other people. At the second we flopped down in the cotton grass and chewed baguettes stuffed with bleu de queyras. We stayed there long after the baguettes were gone, listening to the water burbling in the wind. Finally, we headed on, descending via a rocky cleft. Soon we emerged on a track so swirled by puffs of silken thistledown it was as if we were hiking in Fairyland. But no, we were still just hiking in the French Alps – albeit a particularly magical bit.
The trip was provided by Macs Adventure and Byway,; the seven-night self-guided Hiking in the French Alps trip costs from £1,150pp half-board. Transport was provided by Byway, which can book return trains from London to Montdauphin-Guillestre, plus a night in Paris in each direction, from £734pp
A pretty UK seaside town is a popular destination for many – including French travellers and it’s easy to see why so many people flock to the coastal area during the summer
The popular coastal town is perfect for a sunny long weekend(Image: PA)
The UK has many charming towns – including this one, once thought to be a ‘prestigious’ holiday destination for French tourists. Folkestone in Kent is a town full of buzz and atmosphere, located in the south-east of England on the coast. Bustling with creative outlets, vast range of food, local beers and wines there is so much on offer for visitors.
With beautiful beaches and independent shops it’s a great destination for a long weekend away. Folkestone has also had some famous historic residents who once called it home, including Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie – which can all be found at the Folkestone museum.
Mermaid Beach in Folkestone, Kent, UK(Image: Getty)
According to Visit South East England, Folkestone has seen lots of regeneration and development, with brand new shopping areas, leisure facilities and boutique hotels. The nearby designated coastal park of Samphire Hoe is a great place to wander, and is a haven for wild birds. The area’s maritime history is well preserved too, through ancient remains and architecture.
With an elegant clifftop promenade, a lower coastal park, a fishing harbour and Victorian cliff-tops, it’s an idyllic town by the beach and offers many things to do. The booming economy has grown in the past 10 years. It’s home to the world’s first multi-storey skatepark, a New York Highline-inspired garden walkway, leading to the revitalised Harbour Arm, an annual Pride, and LGBTQ+ bookshop and even mini golf on the beach.
It’s also home to the iconic Mermaid Beach, which boasts a glorious stretch of pristine goodness with an eye-catching coastline which is in the shape of a mermaid’s tail. There’s loads to do in Mermaid Beach if you do plan on taking a trip. You could check out the Folkestone Mermaid sculpture located on the beach.
People flock to the beach in the warm weather – making it a charming place to visit(Image: PA)
There’s also the Lower Leas Coastal Park which is one of the most visited tourist spots. This award-winning park has one of the largest free adventure playground for children, as well as beautiful gardens and forest treks, perfect for the whole family.
Meanwhile Folkestone itself is gaining recognition as a hub for art and culture. There’s the Folkestone Triennial which is an international public art festival that scatters sculptures and other artistic creations throughout the town.
Folkestone is also one of the best connected towns on the coast, with direct rail links to London and is the ideal base for exploring the beautiful surrounding landscape – while still being easily accessible. Visit South East England recommended some of the best things to do in Folkestone including:
Animal lovers should head straight for the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park. It’s a great place to see dozens of exotic and rare species.
The nearby Kent Battle of Britain Museum has the best collection of Battle of Britain memorabilia of any war museum in the UK (including dozens of aircraft).
Take a ride on the miniature steam trains Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.
One impressed visitor took to TripAdvisor and said: “Folkestone have really made a shining example of what to do with a cliff area. After leaving the amazing boardwalk (again, genius idea) on the beach we walked right up and beyond the playground. The accessibility to the beach in several places was brilliant.”
While another chimed: “This is such a beautiful walk between the cliff and the beach. Nice flower beds and landscaped arrangements. It was also protected from the wind, which was quite strong when we were there.”
Its clear and tranquil waters are hard to beat, and I’ve struggled to find a beach that’s as pretty as this ever since I visited
I visited a lesser-known beach on the French Riviera that’s better than Nice(Image: Balate Dorin via Getty Images)
France has no shortage of beautiful beaches that draw in thousands of visitors each year, and while some are still relatively unknown, Nice is no stranger to tourists thanks to its location as the capital of the French Riviera.
While there are plenty of dupes for the French Riviera, there’s nothing quite like seeing the real thing, and a few years ago I decided to do just that. Attracting an estimated five million visitors each year, although I found the pebbled beaches in Nice fairly charming, it didn’t make for a relaxed seaside getaway. Fortunately, there are plenty of tranquil towns along the French coastline, and one of them is home to the prettiest beach I’ve ever seen.
Often hailed as the Jewel of the French Riviera, Villefranche-sur-Mer is a mere 15 minutes from Nice and a welcome break from the crowds of tourists you can expect to see in the capital during the peak summer season, myself included.
Arriving with little more than a freshly-baked baguette and a towel in my bag, lounging on the beach here was exactly what I’d hoped for from my trip the South of France — a laidback seaside with a touch of old-school charm.
Sheltered by dramatic cliffs adorned with pastel-hued homes gazing out over the azure waters, stepping off the train and glimpsing the shoreline felt like picking up a postcard.
The charming town houses roughly 5,000 year-round inhabitants and is often considered one of the region’s most beautiful, reports the Express.
Villefranche sur Mer is often described as the Jewel of the French Riviera(Image: Yann Guichaoua-Photos via Getty Images)
Though it was high season and busy with other sun-seekers, the charming bay known as Plage des Marinières never seemed excessively crowded either, and there’s a peaceful atmosphere to the beach.
Comprising rough sand mixed with tiny stones, it also proved to be a slightly more comfortable experience than lounging on Nice’s 10km stretch of coastline.
Charming bistros and eateries dot the seafront, and while I’d brought my own provisions due to travelling on a budget, which is, in fact, doable along the glamorous French Riviera, it ensures that grabbing refreshments won’t prove problematic for day-trippers.
Though my visit lasted just one day, it’s certainly deserving of an overnight break or even several days, particularly for those seeking somewhere slightly more easy-going than Nice.
Speaking of her own visit, Louise Scott who runs the blog All Things French said: “Discover charming architecture, worn shutters, wrought-ironwork, and colour everywhere. A few shops, weekly brocante and food markets, and a terrific variety of beautiful restaurants and bistros makes relaxing for a week (or a month) in this place an absolute joy!”
The charming town is home to just 5,000 residents(Image: Elizabeth Beard via Getty Images)
Catching the train is incredibly straightforward, and while I can’t recall the exact fare when I visited, a quick glance at Trainline revealed that a one-way ticket today costs just £3.
However, a word of caution — in all my travels to beaches around the world since, I’ve yet to discover one as charming as Villefranche-sur-Mer, complete with its slightly rugged landscape and peaceful shore.
Indeed, I’d even venture to say that the South of France boasts some of the world’s most stunning beaches, and while it’s renowned as a posh destination, it’s certainly achievable on a budget if you’re merely seeking a relaxed beach holiday.
While Nice is certainly worth a trip, I’d highly recommend using it as a base to explore the less-visited beaches nearby.
Georges Ibrahim Abdallah flown to Lebanon from France after incarceration ends.
France has released Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a pro-Palestinian Lebanese fighter jailed since 1984, and put him on a flight to Beirut after he spent nearly four decades behind bars.
Shortly before 3:40am (01:30 GMT) on Friday, a convoy of six vehicles with flashing lights was seen leaving the Lannemezan prison in southern France, according to journalists with the AFP news agency on the ground. A source confirmed the 74-year-old had been freed and later boarded a flight to Lebanon.
Abdallah, who was convicted in 1987 for his role in the killings of United States military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in Paris, had long been eligible for release. However, repeated applications were rejected, often due to pressure from the US, which was a civil party in Abdallah’s case.
Last month, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled in favour of his release, effective on Friday, on the condition that Abdallah leave French territory and never return.
His lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, told AFP that the former fighter appeared “very happy” during their final visit “even though he knows he is returning to the Middle East in an extremely tough context for Lebanese and Palestinian populations”.
Abdallah, the founder of the now-defunct Lebanese Revolutionary Armed Factions, had declared during a recent visit by a lawmaker that he remained a “militant with a struggle”. French police uncovered submachine guns and communication equipment in one of his flats at the time of his arrest.
Abdallah has never expressed regret for his actions and has always insisted he is a “fighter” who has battled for the rights of Palestinians and is not a “criminal”.
The Paris court described his behaviour in prison as irreproachable and said in November that he posed “no serious risk in terms of committing new terrorism acts”.
The appeals court cited the length of Abdallah’s detention and his advanced age, calling his continued imprisonment “disproportionate”. In France, inmates serving life sentences are typically released after less than 30 years.
Abdallah’s family said they would greet him at Beirut’s airport before travelling to his hometown of Kobayat in northern Lebanon, where a reception has been planned.
The ruling might set a precedent to allow prosecution of other government leaders linked to atrocities.
France’s highest court is set to rule on whether it can strip the state immunity of Bashar al-Assad, the toppled Syrian leader in exile in Russia, because of the sheer brutal scale of evidence in accusations documented against him by Syrian activists and European prosecutors.
If the judges at the Cour de Cassation lift al-Assad’s immunity on Friday, it could pave the way for his trial in absentia over the use of chemical weapons in Ghouta in 2013 and Douma in 2018.
It could also set a precedent to allow the prosecution of other government leaders linked to atrocities, human rights activists and lawyers say.
Al-Assad has retained no lawyers for these charges and has denied he was behind the chemical attacks.
The opposition has long rejected al-Assad’s denial, as his forces were the only side in the ruinous, nearly 14-year civil war to possess sarin.
A ruling against al-Assad would be “a huge victory for the victims”, said Mazen Darwish, president of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, which collected evidence of war crimes, quoted by The Associated Press news agency.
“It is not only about Syrians; this will open the door for the victims from any country and this will be the first time that a domestic investigative judge has the right to issue an arrest warrant for a president during his rule.”
He said the ruling could enable his group to legally go after government members, like launching a money laundering case against former Syrian Central Bank governor and Minister of Economy Adib Mayaleh, whose lawyers have argued he had immunity under international law.
Brutal crackdown
For more than 50 years, Syria was ruled by Hafez al-Assad and then his son, Bashar.
During the Arab Spring, rebellion broke out against their rule in 2011 across the country of 23 million, igniting a brutal civil war that killed more than half a million people, according to the the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Millions more fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkiye and Europe.
The al-Assad dynasty also fomented sectarian tensions to stay in power, a legacy driving renewed recent violence in Syria against minority groups, despite promises that the country’s new leaders will carve out a political future for Syria that includes and represents all its communities.
As the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for leaders accused of atrocities – such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza, and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines – the French judges’ ruling could empower the legal framework to prosecute not just deposed and exiled leaders but those currently in power.
The Syrian government denied in 2013 that it was behind the Ghouta attack, but the United States subsequently threatened military retaliation, then settled for a deal with Moscow for al-Assad to give up his chemical weapons stockpile, opening the way for Russia to wield huge influence in the war-torn nation.
Al-Assad survived more than a decade longer, aided militarily by Russia and Iranian-aligned groups, including Hezbollah, before being overthrown by rebel groups.
