Tour de France : third Spaniard in a row takes home yellow jersey
July 29, 2008
Spanish cyclists win Tour de France three years running; Sastre keeps the Spanish streak alive
Carlos Sastre became the third Spaniard in a row to win the Tour de France on Sunday. Sastre’s win comes after victories for fellow Spaniards Oscar Pereiro in 2006 and Albert Contador in 2007. Last year’s Spanish winning Astana team was not invited back to the Tour de France this year because of its own doping scandal. Sastre said the three-Spaniard streak was partly due to luck, but also to a national program that encourages young cyclists in Spain.
Cadel Evans of Australia finished second overall, just 58 seconds after Sastre, who unofficially nailed his win Saturday after beating Evans in the time-trial. Austrian Bernhard Kohl was third, one minute 13 seconds behind the lead, also taking the polka dot jersey for the best climber.
Sastre’s win was only a surprise in that he has comes so close so many times without a victory. Despite five finishes in the top 10 of the Tour de France in the last six years, including four victories in mountain stages, Sastre was widely written off as an also-ran who could not attain a big enough lead in the mountains to best other cyclist in the time-trials. In this year’s Tour de France, he proved the naysayers wrong.
It’s been a red-letter year for sports in Spain. In the last seven weeks, Spain has also won the Euro 2008 football tournament and Rafael Nadal clinched a fourth French Open tennis title plus the Wimbledon championship.
Other riders honored in the Tour de France included the German/Austrian winner of the polka-dot jersey, Bernhard Kohl. The polka-dot jersey is awarded for best climber in the Tour de France. Yet another Spaniard, Oscar Freire of the Rabobank team, won the green jersey, called the sprinter’s jersey because it is based on points awarded at stage finishes and intermediate sprints along the Tour de France route. Freire’s victory was something of a vindication for Rabobank, whose Tour hopes ended when the team fired Michael Rasmussen during the final week of the race while he was in the race leader’s yellow jersey. Rasmussen had lied about why he had missed anti-doping tests during training before the Tour de France. The prize for best overall team effort and the white jersey for best young rider under 25 went to CSC-Saxo Bank. Andy Schleck, 23, recorded the best overall time among riders age 25 or under. CSC won the team prize based on finishes of stages of its riders, who hogged the leader’s yellow jersey for 7 out of the 21 days of the Tour de France.
Despite the Spanish winning streak, Spain did not escape the spectre of illegal drug use that has permeated the Tour de France for the past 10 years. An entire Spanish team, Saunier Duval-Scott, withdrew after its Italian team leader and the winner of two stages, Riccardo Riccò, tested positive for a new variant of the blood-boosting drug EPO.
Paris welcomes Obama with star treatment on his whirlwind trip to France
July 26, 2008
Sarkozy appearswith Barack Obama in Paris as French press and crowds turn out for Democratic candidate
Crowds in Paris lined the street outside the Elysee Palace on Friday to catch a glimpse of Sen. Barack Obama’s motorcade, chanting “yes we can”, Obama’s campaign slogan, in English. Sarkozy, who has met with John McCain several times, has never officially appeared in public with him. But this time the president of France stood alongside the man who could be the next American president, and treated him like an old friend. The French president called Obama’s promise of more U.S.- European cooperation “good news.” Obama contributed to the mutual-admiration society by calling Sarkozy a “rock star,” thanking and praising him for his positive stance on America, not a popular stance for a politician in France to take in recent years. Obama and Sarkozy met for about 45 minutes in the Elysee Palace. Later, as the two men appeared together ofr a news conference, President Sarkozy said “The French love Americans,” and he repeated this strong support for the U.S. He said Barack Obama’s adventure “rings true to the French and Europeans….” Senator Obama thanked President Sarkozy and praised the French troops serving in Afghanistan, and said the two had also agreed to work together toward resolution of the trouble in Darfur. Obama also said Iran should accept the current international terms to end their nuclear program, adding that Iran should not wait for the next US president.
Obama’s visit to France was short– only a few hours. While he is popular in France — French newspapers waxed rhapsodic over his visit, one with the headline “Obamamania” –he didn’t seem interested in drawing the rock-concert style reception he had had in Berlin, perhaps wary of how such a French welcome would play back home. After all, it is not so long since “Freedom fries” replaced French fries on menus in Washington D.C. and across America, and John Kerry’s French connections did him more harm than good.
Obama’s popularity in France may have to do with his youth, his race or just that he is not President Bush. A recent Pew poll in France found that 68 percent of people in France believed a new American president would improve U.S. foreign policy. In a later poll, 84 percent of French people said they hoped that president would be Obama. African-Americans have long found a haven in France, where performers like Josephine Baker and Louis Armstrong were welcomed at a time when racial prejudices in their own country marred their opportunities there. Now it seems another minority American star has found his spotlight in France.
While Sarkozy is a nominal conservative, who has embraced President Bush and whose views are arguably closer to those of John McCain than Obama’s, he obviously likes Barack Obama’s story and personality. He said his discussion with Obama was as two men who had similar experience in running for office. Still, Sarkozy made it very clear that whoever the US elects as its next President, France would be delighted to work with him. Sarkozy wished Obama luck, but did not endorse him. He said it was up to Americans to choose their president.
When the two men ended their appearance, they left with their arms around each other.
Obama then left for London to meet with Gordon Brown.
Hiking vacations in France: More tourists walking off that creme brulee
July 24, 2008
Looking for a French vacation with a balance of pleasure and fitness? Logis hiking-themed hotels get you moving in the great French outdoors.
For tourists visiting France, food and drink are highlights as much as chateaux and cathedrals. Inevitably for many, that’s reflected on the scale when they return home. But there’s a way to see even more of France on your vacation, enjoy fabulous French meals and not blow a year’s worth of Pilates and sensible eating: why not try a hiking vacation in France?
The best of France on two feet
Logis hotels offers a wide choice of charming hotels throughout France chosen for their warm hospitality and good restaurants. To make organizing trips with family or friends even easier, Logis hotels have long had a handy and reliable ratings system of “fireplaces”. The news is that now the hotels also are grouped by theme.Those with an interest in walks and hiking in France can browse for a Logis hiking-themed hotel with the location and the amenities that interest them most. And whether you’re thinking of a challenging climbs or gentle rambles, you’ll find many resources at a Logis hiking-themed hotel to make your excursions more enjoyable. In fact, to qualify as a Logis hiking-themed hotel, an establishment has to meet strict criteria, offering the right location, equipment and specific services for those who want to make walking tours and hikes the centerpiece of their holiday in France.
For example, Logis hiking hotels are nestled right in the middle of perfect country for walking, so you can set off right from your charming hotel. Your friendly host will enjoy sharing tips about the area, offering you trail maps and pointing you in the right direction, or even putting you in touch with a local guide who can lead you to all the best spots. A special energy-rich breakfast will be prepared for you, and box lunches for picnics in the gorgeous French countryside can be ordered. Your hotel will have a locked, ventilated room for you to store and dry your hiking clothes and gear, with running water nearby for for cleaning your shoes. And a weather report will be posted each morning, so you can decide whether it’s a day for walking or simply sitting by the fire with a bottle of local wine and good friends.
Time to sit down and enjoy a great French meal.
Speaking of which, don’t think that a hiking vacation at a Logis hotel is all hard work! These hotels uphold the Logis tradition of excellent gourmet cuisine prepared with the freshest local ingredients by accomplished French chefs, so when you return from your day out walking to your charming hotel in France, your well-earned meals will be all you could hope for.
And besides walking off all that great food, hiking in France will allow you to take your time to explore France in an up-close-and-personal way that other tourists don’t. France teems with protected natural preserves full of ravishing countryside and charming villages. Hundred of miles of marked-out walking trails in the Landes and Girondes regions invite you for adventures that take you along the Atlantic coast and through cool pine forests. Or take a long stroll along the Loire and visit the villages and chateaux of Chambord and Amboise. Trails also abound in Limousin, winding through a permanent nature spectacle, as well as in the Rhone-Alpes area with its towering snow-capped mountains, icy lakes and majestic stands of evergreens. All these and more can be explored from your home base at one of Logis’s charming hotels.
Besides hiking, there are themed Logis hotels for those with special interests in wines, cycling, family holidays, gourmet food and more. There are also Logis hotels specially equipped for business meetings and seminars.
A hiking vacation in France is a great way to indulge in all the pleasures of France with none of the guilt. At a Logis hotel, you’ll enjoy both exercising and eating your way through France on your next trip. With any luck, one will cancel the other out!
Services
- Fishing vacation
- Cycling vacation
- Hiking vacation
- Snowing vacation
- Distinctive vacation
- Wine testing vacation
- Business accommodation
Booking hotline : +33 1 45 84 83 84
Central Reservation : info@logis-de-france.fr
Web : http://www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/
Paris or the beach this summer? Why not both?
July 23, 2008
Paris-Plage, the man-made beach along the Seine, opens again to summer tourists and Parisians alike.
Every July through August, the riverside highway along the Seine is closed to traffic and covered by 2,000 tons of fine sand to create the Paris Plage, from Ile St. Louis to the Jardin des Tuileries — something to do for those Parisians left in the city in summer, and one of the top free things for tourists to do in Paris. Umbrellas, concerts… picnic on this man-made Paris beach starting July 19-20 to meet people and lounge.
Launched in 2002, Paris Beach (“Paris Plage”) is a free summer event that transforms three spots in Paris into full-fledged beaches, each with its own theme. The brainchild of Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, well-known for launching ambitious municipal projects, Paris Plage, which was initially ridiculed as expensive and frivolous, has become a permanent fixture and a beloved tradition the formerly featureless Parisian summer. Many in Paris leave for the summer on vacation and Paris Plage has become a haven for those “left behind”. From sunning in the sand to swimming in pools suspended over the Seine (a new feature added this year) , kayaking, or enjoying an evening concert, Paris Plage offers activities that both kids and adults will enjoy.
Paris Plage 2008 is open daily between July 21th to August 21st, from 8:00 a.m. to midnight, and has three totally different locations: “Tropical” alongside the right bank of the Seine, from the Louvre to the Pont de Sully; “Water Sports and Boating” along the Bassin de la Villette in the north, stretching from the Rotonde de Ledoux (métro Jaurès, line 5,7) to the “anciens Magasins généraux” (Rue de Crimée); and “Metropolitan Ambiance” at the foot of the National Library, facing the Seine’s left bank (Metro Bibliothèque, Quai de la Gare).
The Tropical beach is the original Paris Plage location and the most traditional. It features sand and grass beaches, parasols and chaise longues (free rental), fountains and mini pools for cooling off, and a variety of sports and games , and free concerts at night. The Water Sports themed beach attracts boating enthusiasts of all stripes to La Villette. Kayaks, pedalboats, sailboats, canoes can navigate 53,000 square feet of water, free to the public until 9:00 p.m., with instructors on the scene for safety and tips. At the Metropolitan beach, a selection of books for children and adults, free newspapers, and wifi access are all available.
Noise pollution stressing you out? Escape to a Logis hotel designed for peace and quiet
July 21, 2008
France is an oasis of tranquillity if you find just the right spot, and Logis Silence-Nature hotels provide a range of relaxing choices
You don’t need a scientific study to convince you that the constant barrage of noise pollution you endure every day from traffic, television, cell phones and even the neighbors’ kids contributes to stress levels over time. But these days, even on vacation, it’s increasingly challenging to find a truly quiet haven where you can get away from it all.
Now Logis, long known for their charming hotels all over France with their handy ratings system of fireplaces (like hotel stars) have designated certain hotels in their network as Silence-Nature hotels. These fulfil all of the demanding criteria Logis Hotels must live up to — a warm and friendly welcome, a relaxed yet refined atmosphere, great authentic local cuisine– but Logis Silence-Nature hotels have been especially chosen and meticulously enhanced with total peace and quiet in mind.
First of all, Logis de France Silence-Nature hotels must be perfectly situated in tranquil and beautiful locations, tucked away from the hubbub and noise of urban centers and busy highways. Situated in parks among majestic mountains, tranquil lakes, country meadows, cool pine forests or near the sea shore, these hotels’ beautiful and peaceful settings are sure to lift your spirits and calm your mind. Whichever setting you choose, your environment is guaranteed to be close to nature and free of all unnatural noise, which is especially essential since Logis de France’s quiet hotels all have outdoor relaxation areas for you to enjoy.
In addition, these charming hotels in France have been remodeled for even more peace and tranqullity, with soundproofed walls, reinforced doors, double-glazed windows and softly carpeted floors that virtually eliminate all noise, both outside and inside your hotel. You’ll feel as if you’re the only guests.
Of course, when you do want conviviality, Logis hotels delivers on that score as well, with excellent food and wine in a relaxed yet refined setting, presented with warmth and care by your friendly host and gourmet chefs. Even the table layout of the dining room in a Silence-Nature hotel is conducive to a peaceful meal.
To work up an appetite for those wonderful dinners, why not take advantage of your beautiful location? Stroll in the heart of the volcanos of Auvergne, explore the art and of history of Orange, Toulon, Arles or Avignon. Or tour the peaceful and green Norman countryside, and admire its symbol of the Middle Ages, Mont St. Michel. Wander through the luxuriant nature of Picardy, and marvel at the ancient historic buildings such as the medieval sites of Senlis or Compiegne. So many choices await you, whether you set out from your charming hotel in Normandy, Provence, Brittany or anywhere in France there is a Logis de France Silence-Nature hotel. All the better to come home to your oasis — a quiet hotel in France where the chef will serve you local specialities made from fresh regional products as you relax from your day of exploring.
Logis has themed hotels specially selected and customized for those interested in fishing, wine-tasting, cycling, hiking and more.
But for total relaxation, read, recharge, reconnect with your loved ones in a peaceful setting that will really allow you to escape the stress of everyday life for once. For a week, or just for a long weekend, skip the hustle and bustle of the big city and get back to nature — without roughing it at all, at one of Logis de France’s comforting Silence-Nature hotels.
Services
- Fishing vacation
- Cycling vacation
- Hiking vacation
- Snowing vacation
- Distinctive vacation
- Wine testing vacation
- Business accommodation
Booking hotline : +33 1 45 84 83 84
Central Reservation : info@logis-de-france.fr
Web : http://www.logis-de-france.fr/uk/
French newspaper first with Brangelina twins story
July 19, 2008
US papparazzi and tabloids scooped by French newspaper Nice-Matin on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s celebrity birth
The French are not particularly known for competitiveness or speed. The drive to be number one at all costs is most often associated with those pushy, overambitious Americans. That is what makes it remarkable that the much-awaited story of the birth of twins in Nice, France to Hollywood superstars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt was not first trumpeted to the world by the US magazines, TV reporters, tabloids and paparazzi who had been lying in wait there, but by a regional French newspaper, Nice-Matin. Nice-Matin broke the story when it published news of the births on its Web site at 2 a.m. Sunday, July 13, four hours before even its own print version hit the newsstands.
As the major daily newspaper for the French Riviera, Nice-Matin , with a circulation of 280,000, has always made celebrities a big part of its coverage. Many stars from France, the US and elsewhere have second homes in the South of France, making celebrity-sightings almost as commonplace as in Hollywood, and stars are on holiday, so their guard is naturally lower. This summer’s stories in the French paper so far have featured photos of Naomi Campbell walking along the beach, Jerry Hallin St. Tropez and Faye Dunaway preparing for production of a biopic about Maria Callas. But the French newspaper, while covering celebrities, is remarkable in being well-known for respecting their privacy. This is why Nice-Matin often gets much better access than anyone else. The storm of coverage surrounding Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as they prepared for the birth of their twins is exactly what Nice-Matin strives to avoid and shield their subject from.
The editor of the French paper was quoted as saying, “Nice-Matin has always chosen not to play the game of paparazzi towards the celebrities who have chosen to live in the region. We respect them, and they do likewise. We let them have a peaceful life. This is why I think Brad and Angelina have chosen to make this gift to Nice-Matin.”
On Monday, the paper featured a Page One picture taken by its own photographer of Pitt beside obstetrician Michel Sussmann, Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi and the Lenval hospital director, Bernard Lecat.
All of which left InTouch Magazine, the TV show Entertainment Tonight, and all the other US press scooped and out in the cold on a huge story involving their own countrymen. Perhaps they, and celebrity-stalkers everywhere- should take a page from the newsprint of the polite and respectful Nice-Matin.
So far, that is as close as the paper has come to the Jolie-Pitt family. But Nice-Matin will remain on the Brangelina story — with hopes of yet more scoops to come. It has already reported that an unnamed U.S. publication has paid $11 million for exclusive rights to the first photo of the newly expanded Jolie-Pitt family, and that the proceeds will go to charity.
Once that deal is executed, Nice-Matin hopes to get a shot of the twins and their parents.
Tour de France loses a third leading cyclist to drug charges
July 18, 2008
Cycling crown jewel loses its luster as doping continues to compromise the sport in France and around the world.
On the Tour de France, gendarmes are becoming almost as numerous as competitors. An Italian rider who has already won two stages this year, Riccardo Riccò was led away from the start of the 12th stage by French police. He was the third cyclist this year alone to have tested positive for the banned blood-boosting drug EPO. The team he represented in the Tour de France, Saunier Duval-Scott, immediately withdrew from the race. This marks the third year that the Tour de France and cycling as a sport has been marred by doping scandals. And it comes on the heels of another leading cyclist leaving the Tour de France after his team fired him. Michael Rasmussen, the Dane who had been leading the Tour de France in the yellow jersey, was fired by his team. Rasmussen won last Wednesday’s stage and had looked set to win the race, which ends Sunday. He was taken out of the Tour de France by the Rabobank team after questions arose about his whereabouts when he was unavailable for doping exams earlier this year.
As unfavorable as the evidence against him appeared, Rasmussen’s withdrawal came under a mere cloud of suspicion, while Riccò’s disqualification was a result of a real failed drug test. Riccò continues to protest his innocence, saying that the elevated levels of the blood ingredient EPO is meant to boost have been naturally high for him since he was a child. Even if this is true, this does nothing to explain the presence of synthetic EPO markers in the test that knocked him out of the Tour de France midrace.
Riccò’s disqualification marked a grim anniversary for the tour de France. It came on the 10th anniversary of the Festina scandal, when routine doping among cycling teams came to light with the arrest at the 1998 Tour of Festina’s team leader, who was driving a car that was a vertiable pharmacy performance-enhancing drugs.
Desperate to do damage control on the reputation of the Tour de France and the sport of competitive cycling, Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour, also warned against condemning cycling as a whole in the wake of the repeated drug scandals. “The enemy is not sports, it is not cycling,” he said. “It is doping.”
French man living in Florida nabbed for art theft in South of France
July 17, 2008
Monet, Sisley, Breugel masterpieces among paintings stolen in brazen museum heist in Nice, France in 2007.
A French man living in Florida has been charged with conspiring to sell four masterpieces, stolen from the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Nice, France in August 2007. The Frenchman, Bernard Jean Ternus, was nabbed trying to sell four paintings, by Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Pieter Breugel, to undercover FBI agents. The four recovered paintings were Falaises près de Dieppe by Claude Monet, Allée de peupliers de Moret by Alfred Sisley, and Pieter Breugel’s Allégorie de l’eau and Allégorie de la terre.
On June 4 in Marseille, France, when the French mastermind had told the FBI agents the deal would be consummated, French national police arrested two men, finding all four paintings undamaged in a van. They have since been returned to the museum in Nice.
The arrests of the two men in France plus Ternus was the culmination of a 7-month FBI investigation in cooperation with French undercover police. Ternus, a French citizen who had been living a Fort Lauderdale suburb, faces a maximum sentence in the US of five years in federal prison and up to $250,000 in fines. Ternus pled guilty to all charges, with no attempt at denial, and also volunteered information for the investigation, in the hopes of leniency. Ternus will probably be deported to France after he serves his U.S. prison sentence. The other men involved in the theft are being prosecuted in France.
The French art thief made his hapless deal with the undercover FBI agents aboard a yacht off the Florida coast, but other meetings had been held in Spain and France. The actual August 2007 theft of the paintings in France was executed in broad daylight by masked thieves, shocking museum-goers who were visiting at the time.
In Paris, Bastille Day goes global, hosts troops from 27 EU nations
July 16, 2008
France national holilday celebrated for the first time by other EU nations and attended by middle eastern heads of state
When French President Nicolas Sarkozy down the Champs-Elysees on Saturday for his first Bastille Day as leader of France, it wasn’t the only first. He was followed in the parade by troops from all 27 European Union nations. Sarkozy has expressed strong support for a more united European military, so he used the holiday usually meant to celebrate the revolution that rid France of its monarchy to make a statement that goes far beyond the borders of France.
Perhaps aware of possible misinterpretations of the gesture, Sarkozy declared, “It was a parade of armies but it is peace that we want to celebrate,” referring to this year’s 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which laid the groundwork for the European Union.
Sarkozy had company to view the parade from the dais: Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission; EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana; and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
More controversially, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, whose son was marching as a graduate of an elite French military academy, also stood near Sarkozy reviewing the parade, as well as President Bashar al-Assad of Syria . Assad was sitting only steps away from Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, even though their countries at war. The leaders had been part of a Mediterranean summit held by Sarkozy on Sunday.
Sarkozy’s other breaks with Bastille Day tradition included pulling the plug on the usual mass pardon of petty criminals. Bastille Day gets its name from the destruction of the infamous Bastille prison during the French Revolution. Pardons for minor offenses on Bastille Day is a practice that aided in prison overcrowding while commemorating the holiday, but Sarkozy, known for his hard line on crime, would have none of it. He did authorize a huge free open-air concert for Saturday night, a new Bastille Day tradition he hopes will cement the day as “the people’s holiday.” Bands from France and Germany played, in antoehr gesture of EU solidarity.
France First Lady Carla Bruni releases first new album since marriage to Sarkozy
July 11, 2008
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, debuts her latest singing album 10 days early
France and the rest of the world has seen a lot of Carla Bruni since her romance and subsequent marriage with French President Nicolas Sarkozy went public soon after he took office. But we haven’t heard much from the model-turned-singer since the big wedding. That changes on Friday, July 11, when Bruni’s new album, Comme si de rien n’était hits the market. The title of the album translates to “As if nothing happened” but the album will be sold internationally under the title Simply. The release had originally been scheduled for later in the month, well after the July 14 national holiday in France, but fearing leaks of the tracks and dilution of the launch, Bruni’s record label moved the date up almost 2 weeks.
The songs on Bruni’s album are nothing if not controversial.
Among the 14 tracks is a song called Ma Came (My Dope) – comparing love to a class A drug. Written before she met Mr Sarkozy, it is nevertheless dedicated to her husband. On the track, Bruni sings: “You are my dope. More deadly than Afghan heroin. More dangerous than Colombian white powder,” adding: “My guy, I roll him up and smoke him.” In another song on the album referring to her reputation as a man-eater, the Italian former model sings: “I am a child. Despite my forty years. Despite my thirty lovers. A child.” The First Lady of France, who is said to have dated Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Donald Trump and Kevin Costner among many other famous men, once claimed to find monogamy “boring”.
France, a country given to public displays of affection and other passions, appears not to be as shocked by such sentiments as one might suppose, despite their being expressed by the wife of their leader. Whatever concessions to discretion might have been made by a public figure such as Bruni in past generations have become seemingly outdated. She certainly does not appear to have censored her artistic license in the slightest because of her position. If anything, the album underlines Mrs Bruni’s desire to maintain her independence despite her official position. “Let them curse me and damn me. I don’t give a damn,” she sings.
In another nod to modern times, and to generate more public enthusiam in France and elsewhere, Carla Bruni’s record label Naive is allowing all 14 tracks of Comme si de rien ‘était be heard for a total of two hours per user on carlabruni.com until July 21.
The saga of the Left-leaning singer who married a conservative has created headaches for the Left-wing press, who despise her husband’s politics, but reads like a Hollywood love story that the public in France has been eating up since their courtship began. Sarkozy’s approval ratings have been on a roller-coaster since their wedding, but judging by a poll published last weekend, Bruni need not worry about how the French perceive her as a first lady: 64 per cent think she is doing a good job.
French newspaper Le Figaro reviewed Bruni’s album in glowing terms, paying the ultimate compliment in comparing it to her earlier efforts: “In a word, it’s less America, more France, more Beatles.”