Magazine people interview

Career change in France: from police officer to gardener

Amanda Freeman explains how she swapped law and order for a more creative vocation in the French countryside

Charles Aznavour: Grit and self-belief made the ‘French Frank Sinatra’

How the diminutive French singer went from poverty to stratospheric fame across the globe

‘Climate change should interest more people than it does’

France’s go-to expert on global warming and bestselling author, Jean-Marc Jancovici, talks to us about the future of our planet

‘I want to show wheelchair users they can travel the world’

Eléonore Vern tells us about her plans for a solo round-the-world trip in an all-terrain wheelchair and why she will avoid Paris

How an American carpenter helped repair Notre-Dame de Paris

Peter Henrikson had never been to France before he started work on the cathedral’s roof after it was destroyed by fire

Fixing France: ‘We must face colonial past and revive shared values’

French-Algerian author Nabila Ramdani tells us why ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’ must apply to everyone if France is to repair

I moved to France and became an English translator by accident

A letter to a magazine editor in 1997 complaining about its poor translation led to a job offer to do better

Sam Goodchild: the British sailor preparing for his first Vendée Globe

‘The French love crazy sailing adventures, I feel at home here’

‘My videos help people find the best deals in French discount shops’

We spoke to the popular social media influencer who films herself hunting for bargains in Lidl, Aldi and Action

‘I set up an invisible disabilities media company after my diagnosis’

We speak to a journalist who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021 and is now giving a voice to people with less obvious disabilities

‘I hit rock bottom, learned to swim and then swam the Channel’

A childhood dream of swimming the English Channel got Stève Stievenart through divorce and depression

France’s ‘Iron man’: ‘I had this crazy dream of flying even higher’

He tells us how hard it is to fly and why he keeps inventing despite French bureaucracy and nosy neighbours

‘We travel slowly through France in our tiny horse-drawn caravan’

With just 7m² of living space pulled by a horse called Zorba, this Bordeaux couple enjoy being kings of their own clock

The Franco-Scottish teen on track to break mountain-climbing record

Alasdair McKenzie aims to become the youngest person ever to climb the 14 highest peaks in the world, and he is well on his way

‘I played bad classical music because the male composer was famous’

We speak to a French cellist about her lifelong quest to put a spotlight on forgotten female musicians

How to avoid the wait for a driving test in France

France first-hand: Learning to drive - we speak to Libby Abel, who moved to Brittany as a toddler, about her learning to drive experience

‘The first baby hedgehog we rescued was love-at-first-sight’

We speak to an expert about her hedgehog health centre and how to make your garden more hedgehog-friendly

Paris street cleaner is TikTok sensation with a serious message

We talk to the social media star about getting kicked out of the army, being homeless and his viral litter videos

Inside France’s ‘UFO Bureau’ - ‘we explain what people have seen’

We talk to the head of Geipan, a tiny wing of France’s answer to Nasa that inspired a Canal + TV show

French writer reveals secrets of translating a great novel

From toning down the swearing to swotting up on Google Street View, re-working a prize-winning book can be a long process

Franco-Australian former water ski star nominated for top magic prize

Zatanna tells of magical transition from sport to illusions and mentalism, and how her ‘very British’ show is shortlisted for ‘Oscars’ of the magic world

French abroad are valued as our local ambassadors, says senator

UK-based Olivier Cadic says France’s system for support of its citizens abroad is best in world. Brexit caused issues but UK attitudes are much better again, he adds

France’s 84-year-old globetrotting ‘Tintin’ shares his life lessons

We talk to a French adventurer about his amazing life on the road, the wisdom he picked up and how he thrived on a dollar a day

‘France-UK ‘détente’ only possible if Northern Ireland issue resolved’

Former UK ambassador to France says improving relationship at risk if government continues to support NI bill; warns of EU Entry-Exit System ‘chaos’ next year

‘Stupidity and provocation are trendier than well-articulated thought’

French physicist and philosopher Etienne Klein talks to us about his infamous ‘chorizo’ star tweet, post-truth and if technology is dangerous for democracy

‘We found balance between joy and frugality living off-grid in France’

A French couple have not had a water bill for 48 years but their mission has always been to save the planet rather than save money

‘We sailed to France on a barge and took our time house hunting’

Moving to France on their own boat took the pressure off finding a perfect home for this UK couple

From a rented caravan in UK to buying entire French hamlet for €26,000

The married couple are now restoring the historic buildings – including functioning cider press and communal bread oven – to create a gîte complex

‘I returned to UK from France, did not feel at home so came back’

A Connexion reader tells how she enjoyed her new life in Dorset but after time – especially following the Brexit vote – realised her heart was still in France

Odd guests and bad reviews - eight tips to running a B&B in France

We spoke to a Danish couple who moved to France for a quiet life but started a five-star ‘chambres d’hôtes’ instead

The Londoners who ‘fell into the trap’ of buying a big French property

Initially seduced by property prices in France, the couple have downsized three times

French conductor Zahia Ziouani fights inequality with classical music

The award-winning conductor talks to The Connexion’s Théophile Larcher about beating ‘boys club’ attitudes and the up-coming film about her life

Finding Lucy with French paleontologist Yves Coppens

Forty-five years ago, a 3.2 million-year-old skeleton was found in southern Ethiopia that changed our understanding of human evolution forever. Paleontologist Yves Coppens was one of the team that found her. Here, he tells The Connexion about his career

‘Why I’d have moved if my area of France voted in a far-right MP’

British retiree Ian Joiner says a Rassemblement National-run administration would undermine diversity and local cultural life

Hebrew, Spanish, Esperanto: readers speak more than English and French

We asked what languages you know and how you learned them following the story of the American who can speak 24

Career change: UK charity CEO close to burnout found balance in France

Claudia Ryan-Jones, 52, moved her family to France in 2017 and swapped a stressful job in youth work for a remote admin role and loves it

Organ donation in France: Why it is good to talk about it

Working as an organ donation coordinator is emotionally gruelling but very rewarding, says Samantha Alexander, an organ transplant coordinator in the southern Var department

Managing one of France’s biggest charities ‘makes life worth living’

Henriette Steinberg has devoted her life to the Secours Populaire and is now its secretary general. She also manages to find time to run a bookshop

Art of trimmings: The artisans who supplied French and Monaco royals

Only one firm specialising in the ancient craft operates in France. Its owners describe the challenges that their business is facing in contemporary times.

'I feel lucky to be among the last British Erasmus students in France'

‘I’ve had the pleasure of observing the daily rhythms and routines of a culture that, despite its proximity to Dover, seems almost alien at times’

Lawyer to chef: My hobby inspired me to open a crêperie in French Alps

‘I had what I now see as a bit of a midlife crisis!’ says American Rachel Howard

Simon Beck: The artist reveals the secrets of his snowshoe drawings

‘When I did my first drawing I was amazed to see how good it looked from a chairlift the next day,’ the former cartographer told The Connexion

Support your local community in France with a guidebook in English

A blog can offer a great insight into your town or village but why not expand it to benefit the local community too? Michael Delahaye explains how

International Women’s Day: Three French women who beat the odds

To mark the annual March 8 event, we speak to a pilot, a dairy farmer and a ski patroller about the challenges they faced to do something they love

Greenpeace France: Tackling climate change is our priority

‘France is one of the very rare countries with a long coastline which does not yet have even one offshore wind turbine,’ the head of the association in France tells The Connexion

The war is wrong but hate towards us hurts: Russian resident of Nice

A Russian woman who has been living in France for seven years tells how she opposes the war in Ukraine - and is saddened by anti-Russian comments on social media

In France you are more responsible for yourself, says UK adventurer

A French resident of nearly 20 years, Jerry Gore talks about his life of adventure, climbing mountains, living with diabetes and why he loves his life in the southern Alps

From chateau to treehouse: How Covid changed our French B&B business

Andy and Natalie Solomon share their story of how the pandemic transformed their hospitality business

French-British snowboarder Charlotte Banks aims for Olympic success

With the Winter Olympics officially kicking off today, the 2021 snowboard cross world champion tells us about her Anglo-French upbringing and switch to team GB

Meet the woman who inspired Netflix’s 'Emily in Paris'

Critics have dubbed this new show as clichéd and “frankly misleading” but Rebecca Leffler, the real American in Paris, tells how it's really quite true to life

How I changed career: TV researcher to English teacher in France

From Nothing Hill to Perpignan, Louise Sayers tells us how professional life can sometimes be wonderfully surprising. ‘I have found my niche,’ she says

Reader experiences: Dealing with a burglary in France

Readers offer advice to others who may find themselves in the same situation and need to deal with police and insurance issues

Boom in eco-villages in France for those seeking simple community life

A far cry from the hippy communes of the past, 'écolieux' offer the chance to escape the rat race and embrace self-sufficiency

Brash, seductive, vibrant: How foreign residents describe Marseille

Marseille is regularly in the news for the wrong reasons - crime, poverty and gang shootings - we ask readers who have made it their home about life there

Who are the Covid vaccine doubters in France? We ask a researcher

France deconfined too quickly, August is going to be hard, and France must convince doubters of vaccine benefits, says a member of a collective of health professionals aiming to provide factual information about Covid-19

‘I knew I would be an actress but writing was my private ambition’

She was well-known as an actress before making her name as an author, but Carol Drinkwater says writing was always her first love

The campaigner who is changing the world - one petition at a time

Change.org director Sarah Durieux talks about giving power to the people and choosing your battles

Thomas Pesquet: From training in Moscow to lift off in Florida

Today is T-minus zero for France's 'rockstar astronaut,' the first French commander of the ISS. From the archives, read our 2011 interview back when he was a 32-year-old commander-in-training

France's corruption problem: Why Sarkozy trial is just the beginning

We need further cases like the one against the former French president to root out corruption in other high places, says anti-corruption association

Former French ambassador to the UK: ‘Brexit was big shock’

'The French in the UK had a sense of being abandoned. They said, ‘yesterday we were Londoners and today we are foreigners’

Ken Follett: I love France but I couldn’t be an expat there

The multiple best-selling author tried living in France after his first big success but left after three years as he missed the “all the sort of pleasures of life in London”. Yet, there was a more fundamental reason

French snowdrop garden open to visitors

It is the first Open Gardens/Jardins Ouverts event of 2021

'I am the novelist I am because of Carcassonne'

Novelist Kate Mosse speaks about Carcassonne and her second novel in a series set there during the Wars of Religion

President Obama interview on French TV

Former President to discuss his first term at the White House during 30-minute interview that coincides with the launch of the new volume of his memoirs

Why is a French hamlet called Fleur d’Ecosse?

One reader asks: I was travelling in the Hauts-de-France region and was intrigued by a hamlet called Fleur d’Ecosse in the commune of Ennetières-en-Weppes. Do you know the history behind this name? H.D.

Europe's largest Japanese garden is must-see French marvel

Connexion reveals the fascinating history of the Parc Oriental de Maulévrier and talks to its head gardener.

Coronavirus: Swiss doctor leads review into French response

Connexion talks to the doctor who gave hand sanitiser to the world about his latest role – leading an independent review into France’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In conversation with world champion kayaker, Manon Hostens

What makes an elite athlete? World champion kayaker Manon Hostens reveals a few secrets in this interview.

Behind the scenes at Paris' La Buvette plus exclusive recipe

In her new book, Camille Fourmont, the owner of a beloved Paris wine shop, bar, and café, shares the secrets of effortless entertaining. Here she talks about her inspiration and La Buvette’s special atmosphere.

Behind the scenes at Gîtes de France's new B&B project

Carole and David Movrel run Gîtes de France’ s best city break chambre d’hôtes , in Mont-de-Marsan, Landes. We spoke to Carole about how the project came to fruition.

French President's wife Brigitte Macron gives rare interview

The President’s wife spoke about her life alongside the French head of state, how she fulfils her role, and the capacity in which she influences her husband, Emmanuel Macron.

The doctor who gave sanitiser free to the world

The doctor who developed hand sanitiser and worked to spread its use cheaply around the world has told Connexion of his satisfaction at seeing his invention helping the fight against Covid-19.

Crafts in focus: meet French weathervane-maker Thierry Soret

‘Every weathervane I make has a personal story to tell’ says weathervane-maker Thierry Soret.

New Chocolat book + interview with author

The fourth novel in Joanne Harris’s Chocolat series has just come out in paperback. The writer spoke to Jane Hanks about her writing, her French/British background and the influence of France and her French family on her work.