Archaeology Discovery

Archaeologists discovered a walled city in the northern Saudi Arabian desert that was likely home to 500 people as far back as 2,400 B.C.

The experts believe the city’s roughly 1,000 years of use showed a growing urban complexity in the region.

The town was functionally subdivided into different areas, but also included towers and ramparts for defense.

A newly discovered ancient oasis in the Saudi Arabian desert shows that, centuries ago, the area had a completely unexpected level of urban sophistication. The remains of the walled and fortified city include towers, ramparts, organized zones of residential areas connected by small roads, a centralized area, a cemetery, and a place to cultivate food.

In a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE, a team of archaeologists (led by France’s National Center for Scientific Research) unveiled the discovery of an “exceptional Bronze Age fortified site called al-Natah,” located in the Khaybar oasis and uncovered by the Khaybar Longue Duree Archaeological Project.       READ MORE...

First Prehistoric Monument Found

A team of French archaeologists have discovered a prehistoric site in the commune of Marliens, just 12 miles southeast of Dijon—the first of its kind to be found in France.

Researchers from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) excavated a 15-acre site with the remnants of numerous enclosures, all scattered with relics dating to disparate eras, from prehistory through the early Iron Age (1200–500 B.C.E.) “This type of monument seems unprecedented and currently no comparison has been possible,” Inrap said in a statement.

Excavations concluded in February. The most visually compelling subject the team is examining is a potentially prehistoric network of interlocking enclosures. The circular one in the center measures over 36 feet in diameter. It has a horseshoe-shaped enclosure jutting off over 26 feet to the north, as well as an open-ended southern appendage.       READ MORE...

China & France

HONG KONG — Derided by concerned observers from Washington to Brussels, French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent trip to China did not go down well with allies. But he left his hosts feeling delighted.

Hundreds of cheering people were waiting to greet Macron when he arrived in the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou this month, part of a high-profile state visit.


“He saw us and came right up to us and shook our hands who stood in the front row,” said Qiao Jiabao, a financial journalism student at Sun Yat-sen University, where Macron gave a speech. “I felt he was very gracious and proactive, even though we didn’t speak the same language,” Qiao told NBC News.


He said he and his friends joked that Macron, who has faced mass protests in France over his unpopular plan to raise the retirement age, had been treated so well in China that he might not want to go home.


When Macron returned to France, he faced another storm of criticism, this time over an interview in which he suggested that Europe should resist being drawn into a conflict over Taiwan and focus on “strategic autonomy” independent from both the United States and China.  READ MORE...

TIK TOK Fined in France

TikTok is the latest tech giant to be schooled by France’s data protection watchdog for breaking rules on cookie consent.

The €5 million penalty announced today by the CNIL relates to a cookie consent flow TikTok had used on its website (tiktok.com) until early last year — in which the regulator found it was not as easy for users to refuse cookies as to accept them — so it was essentially manipulating consent by making it easier for site visitors to accept its tracking than to opt out.

This was the case when the watchdog checked in on TikTok’s process, in June 2021, until the implementation of a “Refuse all” button on the site in February 2022 — which appears to have resolved the matter. (And may explain the relatively small fine levied in this case, along with the number of users and minors affected — as well as the enforcement relating only to its website, not its mobile app.)


Tracking cookies are typically used to serve behavioral advertising but can also be used for other site activity, such as analytics.

“During the check carried out in June 2021, the CNIL noted that while the companies TikTok United Kingdom and TikTok Ireland did offer a button allowing cookies to be accepted immediately, they did not put in place an equivalent solution (button or other) to allow the Internet user to refuse their deposit just as easily. Several clicks were necessary to refuse all cookies, against only one to accept them,” the watchdog notes in a press release [translated from French with machine translation].

“The Restricted Committee considered that making the refusal mechanism more complex actually amounts to discouraging users from refusing cookies and encouraging them to favor the ease of the “Accept all” button,” it added, saying it found TikTok had therefore breached a legal requirement for freedom of consent — a violation of Article 82 of the French Data Protection Act “since it was not as simple to refuse cookies as to accept them”.

In addition, the CNIL found that TikTok had not informed users “in a sufficiently precise manner” of the purposes of the cookies — both on the information banner presented at the first level of the cookie consent and within the framework of the “choice interface” that was accessible after clicking on a link presented in the banner. Hence finding several breaches of Article 82.

The Louvre in Paris, France

The Louvre is the world's largest museum and houses one of the most impressive art collections in history. The magnificent, baroque-style palace and museum — LeMusée du Louvre in French — sits along the banks of the Seine River in Paris. It is one of the city's biggest tourist attractions.

History of the Louvre
The Louvre was originally built as a fortress in 1190, but was reconstructed in the 16th century to serve as a royal palace. "Like many buildings, it was built and rebuilt over the years," said Tea Gudek Snajdar, an Amsterdam-based art historian, museum docent and a blogger at Culture Tourist.

During its time as a royal residence, the Louvre saw tremendous growth. Nearly every monarch expanded it, according to History.com. Today, it covers a total area of 652,300 square feet (60,600 square meters). In 1682, Louis XIV moved the royal residence to Versailles, and the Louvre became home to various art academies, offering regular exhibitions of its members' works.

During the French Revolution, Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were forcibly removed from Versailles and imprisoned in Tuilleries Palace, which was then adjacent to the Louvre, according to the Louvre’s official website. They were beheaded there in 1793.



The National Assembly opened the Louvre as a museum in August 1793 with a collection of 537 paintings. The museum closed in 1796 because of structural problems with the building. Napoleon reopened the museum and expanded the collection in 1801, and the museum was renamed Musée Napoléon.

"It was Napoleon Bonaparte who created the foundation for the world famous museum the Louvre is today," said Gudek Snajdar. "He wanted to be in charge of creating a collection of art in Louvre. That's why he renamed it in 1802 to the 'Napoleon Museum.' He wanted to create a museum of France with a wonderful collection of art from all around the world. He enlarged its collection by bringing art from his military campaigns, private donations and commissions he made."

Napoleon's contributions included spoils from Belgium, Italy, Prussia and Austria, according to Napoleon.org. In 1815, when Napoleon abdicated with the Treaty of Fontainebleau, almost 5,000 artworks were returned to their countries of origin. France was allowed to keep only a few hundred works, and the Louvre reverted to its original name. Many artifacts from Napoleon's conquests in Egypt remained, according to History.com.

After Napoleon, the Louvre continued to expand. The multi-building Louvre Complex was completed under the reign of Napoleon III in the mid-19th century, according to napoleon.org.  READ MORE...

The French Baguette

Baguettes took me the longest to master. Perhaps it's because my bread baking adventure started (many years ago) right after I baked my second loaf of no-knead bread and I lacked the necessary experience. So many factors here that can affect how your baguette will look and taste.

WHAT FRENCH BAGUETTES ARE MADE OF?
A traditional French baguette is made of flour, water, yeast and salt. It's fascinating how these four simple ingredients produce a beautiful, flavorful, crusty baguette. What's even more fascinating is how different bakers, using the same ingredients, can make baguettes that differ from each other quite substantially sometimes.

Baguettes took me the longest to master. Perhaps it's because my bread baking adventure started (many years ago) right after I baked my second loaf of no-knead bread and I lacked the necessary experience. So many factors here that can affect how your baguette will look and taste.

Up to about a century ago making bread with natural leaven was the rule for bakers in France. Later it was a mix of natural leaven and baker's yeast, which made the crumb lighter and more open. Lately, many bakeries seek efficiencies and switch to using baker's yeast as using natural leavens requires more work.

OTHER FACTORS THAT DEFINE A BAGUETTE'S APPEARANCE AND TASTE
As was mentioned above, many French baguettes, while using the same ingredients, differ in appearance and taste. This is largely due to the process that is employed. You can make the dough rise very quickly using warm water and warm ambient temperature but it will lack flavor. 

Slowing down the fermentation process, known as cold retarding, results in complex flavor and improved taste. Thus, how you ferment the dough, how long you retard it, how you proof it, how you shape, score and bake it - all contribute to how the final product looks and tastes.

BAGUETTE MAKING PROCESS
This baguette recipe uses baker's yeast and is influenced by the method used by Anis Bouabsa, winner of the 2008 Best Baguette in Paris contest. In an interview, Anis mentioned using baguette dough that has 75% hydration (meaning the ratio of water to flour), very little yeast, hardly kneaded, folded three times in one hour then placed in the fridge for 21 hours. He also added that baguettes are not fully risen when placed in the oven, it is the wet dough and the very, very hot oven (480F) that make baguettes get the volume.

A Guide to French Wine

Want to add the best French wine bottles to your collection?

The fascinating world of French wines is vast. The many wine names, regions, appellations, grape varieties, and so on might seem confusing indeed!

Which French wines should you try? Or add to your investment collection?

In this article, we explore everything you need to know about French wines. We’ve handpicked 21 of the best ones that you should get hold of. We’ll also tell you the easiest way to buy French wines for drinking and for investing!

A Brief History of French Wine
French winemaking started in the 6th century BC after the Greek settlers colonized Southern Gaul. However, it was the Romans who planted vines in all the major wine regions in the 300s.

Since then, the French wine industry continued to flourish - until mildew and Phylloxera spread in the 19th century, and entire vineyards had to be destroyed and replanted.

The following economic downturn in Europe, and the two world wars led to a depression in the French wine industry that lasted for a few decades.

In 1935, the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) was established to protect French interests. This system defined geographical wine regions and their distinct characteristics (terroir) to protect the quality of the produce and to prevent fraud.

Later, huge investments and the efforts of a new generation of French winemakers since the 1970s created the modern French wine industry as we know today.

Ever wondered what the terms terroir and appellation mean?
What is Terroir?

You may have heard a wine region being loosely referred to as terroir. But, terroir is a concept that refers to the environmental factors, including soil, climate, and altitude, in which grapes are grown. All these terroir factors combine to give a wine it’s unique flavors and aroma.
What is the Appellation System?

An appellation is a legally defined area where grapes are grown. In France, the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, or AOC system, strictly regulated the grape varieties that can be used in each appellation, minimum alcohol levels, how densely you can plant a vineyard, and how much it can yield.

In 2012, it was replaced by the Appellation d'Origin Protégée (AOP), which is now followed by the entire European Union.

Categories of French Wine
There are four categories or classes of French wine.

1. Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC), now AOP, as we saw earlier.

2. Appellation d'Origine Vin De Qualité Supérieure (AOVDQS): This falls just below AOC wines in the hierarchy. It has rules and regulations similar to AOC in terms of grape variety, amount of production, and winemaking processes.

3. Vin de pays: All the “country wines” that don’t fall under AOC appellation rules come under this category. It only has lenient rules for grape type and production methods.

4. Vin de table: “Table wines” come under this lowest category of French wines. There are no rules governing vineyard management or winemaking. You won’t see any grape varietals, vintage, or appellations listed on their wine labels.  READ MORE...

What to See in France

 

From rolling vineyards and plunging canyons to towering sand dunes and majestic villages, we share the most breathtaking places to visit in France.

There’s a reason why France is the most visited country on the planet. Not only does it boast some of the most exquisite wines and cuisine in the world, but also some of the most beautiful destinations. Indeed, wherever you travel within l’Hexagone, there are countless scenes that will take your breath away. From rolling vineyards and plunging canyons to towering sand dunes and majestic villages, there is more than enough to satisfy curious travelers.

But with so much to see and do, choosing which places to visit in France can feel overwhelming. So, to help you whittle down your options, here are our favorite picks to inspire your travel bucket list.

1. Champagne: home of Dom Pérignon
Let’s face it, a roundup of the best places to visit in France wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the birthplace of bubbly. Located in the northeast of France, just a 1.5 hour’s drive from Paris, the Champagne region is an absolute must-visit for anyone who loves to sip on bubbles. Just watching the sun set over the idyllic rolling vineyards and dreamy landscape is reason enough to visit the region. That said, those who do wish to sample the fruits of the land can embark on a tour of one of the prestigious Champagne houses. And this is sure to make for an unforgettable experience – or perhaps not if they choose to overindulge!

2. Provence: land of lavender

3. Gorges du Verdon: the Grand Canyon of France

4. Mont Saint-Michel: the real Rapunzel’s Tower

5. Dune du Pilat: Europe’s tallest sand dune

6. Saint-Tropez: land of luxury

7. Rocamadour: the sacred hilltop pilgrimage

8. The Loire Valley: the garden of France

9. Auvergne: the land that time forgot

10. Corsica: the island of beauty

READ MORE...

All About France

France, officially French Republic, French France or République Française, country of northwestern Europe. Historically and culturally among the most important nations in the Western world, France has also played a highly significant role in international affairs, with former colonies in every corner of the globe. 

Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the Alps and the Pyrenees, France has long provided a geographic, economic, and linguistic bridge joining northern and southern Europe. It is Europe’s most important agricultural producer and one of the world’s leading industrial powers.

France is among the globe’s oldest nations, the product of an alliance of duchies and principalities under a single ruler in the Middle Ages. Today, as in that era, central authority is vested in the state, even though a measure of autonomy has been granted to the country’s régions in recent decades. 

The French people look to the state as the primary guardian of liberty, and the state in turn provides a generous program of amenities for its citizens, from free education to health care and pension plans. Even so, this centralist tendency is often at odds with another long-standing theme of the French nation: the insistence on the supremacy of the individual. 

On this matter historian Jules Michelet remarked, “England is an empire, Germany is a nation, a race, France is a person.” Statesman Charles de Gaulle, too, famously complained, “Only peril can bring the French together. One can’t impose unity out of the blue on a country that has 265 kinds of cheese.”

This tendency toward individualism joins with a pluralist outlook and a great interest in the larger world. Even though its imperialist stage was driven by the impulse to civilize that world according to French standards (la mission civilisatrice), the French still note approvingly the words of writer Gustave Flaubert:  

"I am no more modern than I am ancient, no more French than Chinese; and the idea of la patrie, the fatherland—that is, the obligation to live on a bit of earth coloured red or blue on a map, and to detest the other bits coloured green or black—has always seemed to me narrow, restricted, and ferociously stupid."

At once universal and particular, French culture has spread far and greatly influenced the development of art and science, particularly anthropology, philosophy, and sociology.  SOURCE:  Britannica

Moving On With FCAS Warplane Development

Scale models of the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS / SCAF), 

Europe's next-generation fighter jet, are seen in Paris, France, February 20, 2020. 

REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo

BERLIN/PARIS, Nov 18 (Reuters) - France, Germany and Spain have reached agreement on starting the next phase of development of a new fighter jet dubbed FCAS, Europe's largest defence project at an estimated cost of more than 100 billion euros($103.4 billion), the German government said on Friday.

The Defence Ministry said in a statement that an industrial agreement was achieved after intense negotiations, confirming an earlier Reuters story saying the three countries and their respective industries had struck a deal.

The ministry said it was agreed at the highest government level that a cooperative approach on an equal footing would be pursued in the project, which is under overall French responsibility.

The Spanish Defence Ministry said Madrid would spend 2.5 billion euros ($2.58 billion) on the project, of which 525 million euros ($542 million) would be paid in 2023. The ministry said that the cabinet agreed to this expenditure but did not give other details.  READ MORE...

THANK YOU

The following countries have visited this blog more than once and are continuing to visit.  That support and loyalty is greatly appreciated.  

These countries are listed below:

1. USA
2. Germany
3. Phillippines
4. Italy
5. India
6. Canada
7. Ireland
8. United Kingdom
9. Russia
10. Australia
11. France
12. Nigeria
13. Venezuela
14. South Africa

I will devote a day, posting several articles about your country as way of drawing attention to where you live.  This is my way of showing appreciation for your support.  I will continue to focus on all of your countries throughout the year.  It will be my pleasure to help us draw attention to who we are and what we are all about.

ITS JUST ABOUT PEOPLE... like you and I...

Nomadic Horse Warriors That Invaded Europe

The charge of the Huns led by Attila (lived circa A.D. 406 to 453). 

(Image credit: SPCOLLECTION via Alamy Stock Photo)

The Huns were nomadic warriors, likely from Central Asia, who are best known for invading and terrorizing Europe in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. and hastening the downfall of the Western Roman Empire. They were expert horsemen known for their ferocity in battle and their ruthlessness toward conquered peoples.

Under their brilliant military leader Attila (A.D. 406 to 453), known by Christians of the time as "the scourge of God," the Huns carved out a huge empire that encompassed large swathes of present-day Russia, Hungary and other parts of Europe, including Germany and France. 

Attila's army became so powerful that both the Western and Eastern Roman Empires regularly paid tribute to keep these warriors from attacking and plundering Roman provinces. But the Huns' empire didn't last. After Attila's death, the empire was divided between his three sons, who fought one another and were unable to keep the empire intact.



Today, the name "Hun" is synonymous with any barbaric, uncouth and destructive person, and the term conjures up images of mounted warriors involved in acts of abject cruelty, brutality and bellicosity. 

For centuries, this stereotype, which originated with Roman writers who suffered from the Huns' depredations, was the dominant image of the Huns. But the story of the Huns is much more complex than these images suggest.  READ MORE...

Unfinished da Vinci Work

When the Italian polymath and Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci swore allegiance to the French king in 1516 and accepted François I’s invitation to make his home in France, he brought with him three of his most famous works. Saint John the Baptist, the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and his most celebrated painting, Mona Lisa – all now hang in the Louvre in Paris.

Some Leonardo experts, however, suggest he may have arrived in France with another painting – one that remained unfinished – a work that he returned to and improved but never completed, despite keeping it near him for more than 30 years.

The mysterious Saint Jerome in the Wilderness, which Leonardo started some time in the 1480s, rarely leaves its permanent home in the Vatican Museums. Today, however, as the result of an exceptional loan agreement it is on display at the manor house at Clos Lucé – near the former royal château at Amboise on the Loire in western France – where Leonardo lived for just over two years until his death in 1519.

“Five hundred years after Leonardo da Vinci’s death, we will have the painting here for 100 days,” François Saint Bris, whose family owns the Clos Lucé, told the Observer.

“It’s extremely moving for us to have this work loaned to us. This is a singular canvas, a work in progress that comes more alive the more we look at it. In it we see the workings of Da Vinci’s brain, his techniques, his intelligence, his drawing. We hope visitors will come here to contemplate it.”

Fewer than 20 paintings by Leonardo are thought to have survived until now. Saint Jerome in the Wilderness is not the best nor, indeed, the brightest: the gloomy and largely colourless painting depicts the gaunt and penitent fourth-century saint – considered the father of the Christian church – beating his chest with a stone. At the bottom of the canvas the outline of the lion from whose paw Jerome has famously extracted a thorn lies sketched uncharacteristically ferocious, a change from its usual docile representation.  READ MORE...

Far Right Shock Waves in France

PARIS, June 19 (Reuters) - France's far-right scored a historic success in legislative elections on Sunday increasing its number of lawmakers almost tenfold and cementing the party's rise from fringe status to the mainstream opposition.

Since taking the helm of the party in 2011, leader Marine Le Pen has sought to rid the National Front - now called the National Rally (RN) - of the anti-Semitic image it acquired under the nearly 40-year leadership of her father, ex-paratrooper Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Securing 42% in April's presidential election, Le Pen had already tapped into the general disenchantment with President Emmanuel Macron and identifying anger across the country over the rising cost of living and the decline of many rural communities.

On Sunday, she took that one step further. According to estimates, Le Pen's party will win between 85-90 seats, up from just two in 2012 and eight in 2017, which could make it the second-largest party in parliament. Major pollsters last week estimated just 25-50 seats.  READ MORE...

Tesla's Supercharger Network

After recently expanding its Supercharger pilot program for non-Tesla EV owners, the Supercharger network became the ‘largest 150 kW+ public fast-charging network’ in Europe overnight. It’s quite impressive that Tesla did that basically by just flipping a switch.

Tesla was early in investing in charging infrastructure, which led to the Supercharger becoming the largest global fast-charging network.

The company has been criticized for only providing charging for its own customers when most other networks are for all electric vehicles, but there basically wasn’t any other electric vehicle when Tesla started working on the Supercharger network.

Only lately has the automaker started to work on opening up the network to other EVs.

In November 2021, we saw Tesla take its first step with a pilot program running at 10 Supercharger stations in the Netherlands where non-Tesla EV owners can charge using the Tesla app.

When announcing the new pilot program, Tesla said that it planned to slowly expand it as it tests the user experience for both new non-Tesla EV owners being onboarded on the network and current Tesla owners who are going to see more traffic at those charging stations.

In January, the automaker announced that the program was expanding to more stations in Norway and France, and a month later, the program was expanded to all Supercharger stations in the Netherlands.

Finally, Tesla made its biggest expansion of the pilot program last week by opening many more Supercharger stations in the UK, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, and Austria to all EV owners.

Jeroen van Tilburg, Tesla’s Head of Supercharging in EMEA, had an interesting note about the pilot program. Following the latest expansion, he said that the network of Supercharger stations opened to non-Tesla EV owners in Europe has become the largest network of 150 kW+ public fast-charging stations.  READ MORE...

Grave For Men Holds Woman

Scientists tested the ancient DNA of 14 people interred at the monumental cemetery at

Li: Pascal Radigue; CC BY 4.0)

ve

The mysterious 6,500-year-old burial of a woman and several arrowheads in northern France may reveal details of how women were regarded in that society during the Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, a new study finds.


The researchers investigated giant graves known as "long barrows" — large earthen mounds, often hundreds of feet long and sometimes retained by wooden palisades that have since rotted away. Of the 19 human burials in the Neolithic cemetery at Fleury-sur-Orne in Normandy, the team analyzed the DNA of 14 individuals; but only one was female.


The woman was buried with "symbolically male" arrows in her grave, and the researchers argue that she may have had to be regarded as "symbolically male" to be buried there.

"We believe that these male-gendered artefacts place her beyond her biological sexual identity," said study lead author Maïté Rivollat, an archaeologist and geneticist at the University of Bordeaux. "This implies that the embodiment of the male sex in death was necessary for her to gain access to burial in these giga Dntic structures."

Archaeologists attribute the barrows at Fleury-sur-Orne to the Neolithic Cerny culture. Several other Cerny cemeteries have been found hundreds of miles away in the Paris Basin region to the southeast, but Fleury-sur-Orne is the largest yet found in Normandy.  READ MORE...

Cannes Film Festival

Veteran French actor Vincent Lindon will head the main jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival which awards the coveted Palme d’Or top prize, organisers said Tuesday.

The jury under Lindon, who co-starred in the 2021 winner “Titane”, will choose between 21 movies in the main competition at the film fest which runs from May 17 to 28.

Lindon, 62, will be accompanied by eight fellow jurors.

They are British actress and director Rebecca Hall, Indian actress Deepika Padukone, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, Italian actress and director Jasmine Trinca, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, French director Ladj Ly, American director Jeff Nichols, and Norwegian director Joachim Trier.

The line-up for this year’s festival, the 75th Cannes edition, is a mix of cult arthouse directors and Hollywood glamour.

Canadian horror maestro David Cronenberg, US filmmaker James Gray and France’s Claire Denis are among the competitors for the Palme d’Or.

They are expected to bring a bevy of stars to the red carpet, with Cronenberg’s sci-fi/horror cross-over “Crimes of the Future” starring Kristen Stewart, Lea Seydoux and Viggo Mortensen.  READ MORE...

Medieval Manuscripts

'Le Régime du corps' described a variety of ways to maintain health by keeping the body in balance. The Bute Painter, circa 1285, MS Arsenal 2510. Credit: Bibliothèque nationale de France

What type of images come to mind when you think of medieval art? Knights and ladies? Biblical scenes? Cathedrals? It's probably not some unfortunate man in the throes of vomiting.

It might surprise you to learn this scene is found in a luxurious book from the Middle Ages made with the highest-quality materials, including abundant gold leaf. Known as an illustrated manuscript, it was made entirely by hand, as virtually all books were before the adoption of the printing press.

Why would such an opulent art form depict such a mundane topic?

Scholars believe that around 1256, a French countess commissioned the creation of a health manual to share with her four daughters just as they were forming their own households. Known as the "Régime du corps," or "regimen of the body," the book was widely copied and became extremely popular across Europe in the late Middle Ages, specifically between the 13th and 15th centuries. Over 70 unique manuscripts survive today. They offer a window into many aspects of everyday medieval life—from sleeping, bathing and preparing food to bloodletting, leeching and purging.

I'm an art historian who recently published a book called "Visualizing Household Health: Medieval Women, Art, and Knowledge in the Régime du corps" about these magnificent illustrated copies. What's fascinating to me about the "Régime du corps" is how it depicts the responsibilities of women in wealthy medieval households—and how domestic management advice was passed down among them.

In a chapter on caring for one's complexion, two women exchange a remedy. 'Le Régime du corps,' circa 1265-70. British Library, MS Sloane 2435. Credit: The British Library Board

Glimpsing relationships

The illustrations, which are usually located at the start of each chapter, convey information not often found in other historical records. Even if the images are idealized, they reveal an extraordinary amount about the clothes, objects and furnishings of the period. They also show interactions among people that reflect the culture and society in which these books were made.  READ MORE...

Immigration in France

Far-right polemicist Éric Zemmour has vowed to reverse the immigration he blames for undermining France’s identity and core values if he wins the country’s upcoming presidential election. FRANCE 24 spoke to his supporters who gathered by the thousands in Paris on Sunday.


A writer and talk show pundit known for his polarising attacks on Muslims and immigrants, Zemmour emerged as the election’s dark horse early on in the campaign, drawing from both the mainstream conservative camp and voters disappointed by the far right’s traditional champion, Marine Le Pen. He has since slipped down the table in voter surveys, polling at around 10-11 percent, though his supporters still rank among the most raucous and motivated ahead of the first round of the election on April 10.

On Sunday, tens of thousands gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, facing the Eiffel Tower, hoping to inject new momentum into his campaign. They included veteran far-rightists, staunch Catholics, anti-LGBT activists and anti-vaxxers for whom Zemmour is the best candidate to halt immigration, restore order and uphold traditional French values.


Donning a “Zemmour 2022” cap and a baptism medal wrapped around her neck, 18-year-old Eugénie is getting ready to cast her very first ballot on April 10 – and she could hardly be more thrilled about her choice of candidate. “I never thought I’d support someone with such fervour,” she says. “I’m lucky to be casting my first vote for a candidate I really like.” The philosophy student was just 9 years old when she first took part in a Paris rally, back in 2013, to oppose marriage for same-sex couples. Nine years on, she’s back on the streets of the French capital to “prove that Zemmour is not alone, contrary to what the media claim”.

A practising Catholic, Eugénie stresses the former pundit’s “love of France (...) and the fact that he’s the only candidate to defend Christian values”. He’s also “the only one to challenge the transhumanist movement [advocates of human-enhancement technologies]”, she argues, praising Zemmour’s conservative stance on “bioethical debates that undermine society”. While she acknowledges that transhumanism is a niche concern, even for the far-right candidate, Eugénie wholeheartedly subscribes to his core policy: his pledge to halt, and indeed reverse, immigration.  READ MORE...

America is NASCAR

NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), sanctioning body for stock-car racing in North America, founded in 1948 in Daytona Beach, Fla., and responsible for making stock-car racing a widely popular sport in the United States by the turn of the 21st century.

Integral to NASCAR’s founding in the late 1940s was Bill France, an auto mechanic and sometime race-car driver. France had organized stock-car races in Florida throughout the 1930s and ’40s, and, after several unsuccessful attempts to create a series of races that would determine a national champion, in 1947 he created the National Championship Stock Car Circuit (NCSCC), a yearlong series of 40 races held across the southeastern United States. 

France was responsible for establishing and enforcing the technical regulations that governed the cars; creating a scoring system that would award drivers points used to determine a series champion; organizing and promoting each race; and awarding cash prizes to the winners of races and to the series champion. These would become NASCAR’s primary tasks as a sanctioning body.

Although the NCSCC was successful, France had greater ambitions. He convened a series of meetings in December 1947 in Daytona Beach attended by racetrack owners and race-car owners and drivers and intended to establish a still-larger stock-car-racing series. What emerged from those meetings was NASCAR, which replaced the NCSCC. France was its first president. The first race sanctioned by NASCAR was held on Jan. 4, 1948, at Pompano Beach, Fla. In February of that year NASCAR was incorporated, with France the primary stockholder.

In 1949 NASCAR changed the rules governing the cars: whereas in 1948 “modifieds”—cars varying in age and in the mechanical modifications made to them for the purpose of racing—were allowed to compete, from June 1949 only late-model (recently manufactured) stock cars were permitted. Races that year were called Strictly Stock races, and Red Byron became the series champion.

France changed the name of the series to Grand National in 1950, a name used until 1971, when the tobacco company R.J. Reynolds bought sponsorship rights to the series and renamed it the Winston Cup Series (it was also known as the Cup Series or NASCAR Cup Series). By then, stock cars had become purpose-built race cars; NASCAR’s rules required cars to resemble their stock counterparts in their dimensions and appearance, but car owners, drivers, and mechanics increasingly exploited those rules in their attempts to gain a competitive advantage. NASCAR was also responsible for mandating safety equipment in cars that, by 1970, had reached over 200 miles (320 km) per hour in nonrace conditions.      READ MORE...