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2024 bank holiday dates in France and how they are celebrated
There are technically 13 statutory holidays in 2024 in France - although some are only celebrated in one area. Here are the dates to note
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Property taxes, car sales, pharmacy strike: 5 French practical updates
Our round-up of recent practical articles you may have missed
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Gironde department wants 1,000 km of new cycle paths by 2030
Authorities hope the lanes will encourage more young people to cycle to school
Monet garden Unesco bid
Giverny and the gardens that inspired impressionist artist Claude Monet are being proposed as a Unesco World Heritage site.
Monet lived in his house at Giverny for 43 years from 1883 and the gardens are seen by many as a work of art in their own right.
With around 700,000 visitors a year they are the second most popular tourist site in Normandy after the Mont-Saint-Michel and for the past six years they were cared for by British gardener James Priest who recently retired.
Just 70km from Paris, the Eure gardens are a homage to Monet and they were recreated by philanthropist Gérald Van der Kemp and head gardener Gilbert Vahé exactly as the artist would have known them with their weeping willows, waterlily pond and the wisteria-framed Japanese footbridge.