Pick up Connexion December issue

FRANCE'S astronaut-in-waiting, a world champion pastry-maker and the British owner of Provence's smallest vineyard all feature in the December issue of The Connexion, which is on sale now.

The paper is packed with 68 pages of news, features and practical information. Here is a peek at what is inside:

Interviews:

"If I can go and stand on Mars, things no one has done before, that is every astronaut's dream"
Thomas Pesquet, aeronautical engineer and France's astronaut-in-waiting
Plus: Why skydiver Michel Fournier wants to be the first man to freefall from 130,000ft

"In ordinary cooking, you can get by without much and just wing it, but in pâtisserie it's more complicated."
World champion pâtissier Christophe Michalak on the art of pastry making

News: Cancer rate falls in France; French gastronomy honoured; Customs Christmas clampdown; High-speed web on TGVs; Tough penalties for drink-drivers

Profile: Controversial author Michel Houellebecq, who has finally been awarded France's top literary award, the Prix Goncourt

Christmas: Carol services and pantomimes, where to go for the best snow, plus our guide to what's on and how the French celebrate Christmas

Food/drink: Best vintage ever for Provence's smallest independent vineyard

Practical: New way to sell second-hand cars

Education: The new school timetable on trial

Business: Maternity and paternity leave explained

Healthcare: Time to cancel your top-up insurance?

Money: Protect against capital gains reform

Property: The ups and downs of living in a cave

Outdoors: Caring for winter wildlife, from robins to slow worms. Plus: meet France's only British snail farmer

Where we live: Views and property info from the Rhône-Alpes region

Directory: 14-pages of local goods and services from businesses dedicated to the English-speaking community

The Connexion costs €3 from newsagents. Find your nearest stockist here.

Copies sold in the Dordogne and Normandy include a free copy of your local community newspaper, The Advertiser.

Subscribe today for €30 and get every issue of The Connexion delivered to your door for a year. Subscriptions received by December 16 will start from the January issue.

We also now offer a discounted two-year subscription at €55. Simply enter the promotional code "2YEARS" on the subscription page.