France

The picturesque port town of Auray somehow manages to exude a metropolitan feel, writes Walter in this week’s letter.

France’s Constitutional Council has vindicated Macron in technical terms. But his battle with the unions is set to continue unabated.

France burns, electricity is cut, millions are on strike, rubbish piles high yet Manu strides the world with his anti-Atlantic posturing.

The French president is borrowing from the playbook of at least three former incumbents.

A Pétanque tournament is imminent. Fingers crossed.

Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen have kickstarted their ambitious diplomatic trip to dissuade China from switching to “war camp” on Ukraine.

It turns out that the NHS isn’t the only healthcare system in Europe to face recurring strokes of the axe.

A state of intermittent anarchy, choreographed by the trade unions, has taken over from any kind of political discourse.

Britain’s monarch and his wife will have no wish to play the part, however vicariously, of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.