Factual entertainment
High Tides: When the Sun Meets the Moon
Every month, the Moon and the Sun align with the Earth during the full moon and new moon phases—this is called a syzygy. The combined gravitational pull of these two celestial bodies then causes the phenomenon of spring tides or "vives-eaux" tides on Earth. This is Newton’s law of universal gravitat...
A Very Different Kind of Convoy
Every day, hundreds of professionals transport extraordinary loads, sometimes without us even noticing them. Tight deadlines, extra-large convoys, vertiginous roads… the daily life of these ace drivers is littered with obstacles and dangers. Regardless of the destination, these extreme truckers have...
France is Ours!
Every year, thousands of people move to France from abroad. Last year, more than 236,000 people settled there... whether for professional reasons or to make their dream come true! Over the course of a year, we follow the progress of families, couples and foreign students who have chosen to leave eve...
The Summer Street Traders
With their patter and their gift of the gab, they sell products with revolutionary promises... The stars of the holiday season, they’re known as street vendors, hucksters, pedlars or hawkers. There are more than 30,000 of them in France. In the winter, they work the fairs; in the summer, the markets...
Val d’Isère: A Mountain Paradise
Val d’Isère is a ski resort with incomparable charm. Nestled at 1,850 meters in the heart of the Savoyard Alps, this mountain village and its 300 kilometers of slopes attract tens of thousands of visitors from around the world each winter.
But while many come just to pass through, some are deeply...
Cafés in Peril: the Villages Fight Back
Bars and cafés are an institution in France. But over the years, their popularity has waned and their number has fallen from 200,000 in the 1960s to about 35,000 today. The reason: high costs and too few customers.
The closure of a café, which enables social contact, encourages a sense of communi...
OLD BUSINESSES REFUSING TO SHUT UP SHOP
Despite the stranglehold of the internet, the proliferation of supermarkets, the desertification of town centres and the gradual loss of interest in local shops, some of France's oldest businesses are still managing to survive.
At the head of these establishments, the ever-vanishing reminders of ...
One Summer in a Holiday Club
Every year, 1.5 million French people choose to spend their holidays in clubs, where everything - accommodation, catering and entertainment - is included. There are dozens of different options in this market, from small family-run businesses to giant clubs that sometimes cater for more than 1000 hol...
Revenge of the Charcutiers
After the numerous health controversies that have hit the ham and sausage industry, it’s easy to imagine that traditional pork butchers are now on the verge of bankruptcy. At the centre of the debate: nitrite, the additive that gives ham its pink colour and allows products to keep longer.
Fifty g...
