-
You know you are in France when... champagne is on the hospital menu
Australian spotted the drink at the American Hospital in Paris
-
New French government announced but already faces threat of ousting
Several parties are expected to issue a vote of no confidence against new government
-
France weekly weather forecast October 13 - 17: Calm and warm
South-west set to see temperatures considerably above seasonal norms
2km of string winds its way into art
Each of the pictures above is made up of two kilometres of string wound around hundreds of tiny pins – and the idea has led to a new business.

Mechanical engineer Anthony Chesneau and web designer Julien Lecherbault now specialise in creating string pictures from photographs sent in to them with their company Needle. They sell them on their website for €170-€250.
Julien said: “It is a little bit of magic. People are surprised with the realism at the end.”
It took 30 hours to make their first picture, so they created software and a machine to help.
The software converts the picture into a drawing and tells the machine which way the string needs to follow. Julien and Anthony now plan to introduce colours. They will create pictures with only one colour or with several colours.
The two friends, both 31 and from Rennes, spent three years working on this project before launching it last November.
They have since exhibited their art in Brittany and Normandy.