The 15th August is the festival of l’Assomption – a jour férié (public holiday) celebrated by Catholics throughout France and commemorating the departure of Mary from this life and the assumption of her body into heaven.
If you have a letter to send, look out for the updated version of the ‘Marianne’ stamp designed by street artist Yseult Yz and available now at the post office.
The mosquito, (‘little fly’ in Spanish) has been around for more than 30 million years.
Recent excavations carried out by the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives (INRAP) have unearthed a treasure trove of artefacts that should now make it possible for historians to reconstitute the medieval Jewish quarter of Perpignan
Did you know that it is likely that tennis was first played in France. The ball used to be hit with the palm, and started off as the ‘jeu de paume’.
During the French revolution, it was the kindly doctor Joseph Ignace Guillotin, who decided, in a humanitarian gesture, that the guillotine shouldn’t just be for the benefit of the French nobility.
Have you ever wondered what the D in D-Day stands for?
Many French companies use non-geographic telephone numbers. They may be free, but are just as likely to be premium rate numbers.
It is believed by some that “God Save the Queen” or ‘Grand Dieu Sauve le Roi’, originated in France!
In 1860 Abbé Rous, the new Curé at the Chapelle de la Rectorie, first tasted the naturally sweet wine of Banyuls and found it so good that he decided, through his network of Catholic contacts, to make it the communion wine of France.