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Thursday, 15 November 2007 |
In the tiny village of
Poleymieux, nestled in the
hills and woods above Lyon,
a place is dedicated to the
man who bears the name of
an electrical unit. It’s La
Maison d’Ampère, Musée de
l’Electricité in, the house
where the light savant and
electrodynamic expert grew
up more than two hundred
and thirty years ago.
Anyone looking to enrich
their knowledge will
appreciate the exhibitions,
which include an extensive
collection of old appliances
and rare machines, telling
the story of electricity.
There’s nothing better than
pushing buttons, pulling
levers, watching sparks fly
and currents flow to fire the
imagination.
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Thursday, 15 November 2007 |
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A wave of wolf attacks on sheep have stripped farmers of their livelihood, and
left them feeling unsupported by the government. Sally Green finds trouble
stirring in the Haute-Savoie.
The annual cacophony
of bells resounded in
village streets in the
French Alps mid-October as
farmers led their flocks and
herds down from the
mountain for the traditional
autumn descente des
alpages. Mickaël Richard’s
flock of sheep was already
down from the Plateau des
Glières and although it was
the last time, he didn’t look
back. “No regrets at all,” he
said. “Rather a sense of
deliverance.”
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Wednesday, 14 November 2007 |
The Cité de
l’Automobile is the
pride of Mulhouse,
known for its museums
rather than its beauty.
The collection of 437
cars covers 97 different
makes, all European. The
oldest car is a steam-driven
Jacquot, dated 1878. The
vehicles are displayed over
17,000m2, in an old woollen
mill specially adapted by the
original private owners, the
Schlumpf brothers.
Walking around this truly
incredible collection of
antique cars, each one rarer
and more valuable than the
last, it dawns on you that this
is an exceptional place. It
was therefore no surprise to
come across the UK’s former
Deputy Prime Minister and
well-known car enthusiast
John Prescott, escaped for
the day from the Council of
Europe, gazing longingly at
a vintage Lotus.
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Wednesday, 14 November 2007 |
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Some 30 youths in Saint-
Dizier (Haute-Marne),
armed with iron bars,
baseball bats and Molotov
cocktails deliberately
ambushed firemen and then
clashed with police sent to
help. The riot took place in a
shopping centre. Police and
fire vehicles were damaged.
A company of CRS riot
police was sent to the town
to restore order. There was
so much damage that Interior
Minister Michèle Alliot-
Marie decided to visit the
scene in person.
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Wednesday, 14 November 2007 |
France’s biggest toy maker has been put into liquidation.
Smoby, based at Lavans-les-Saint-Claude in the Doubs, is one
of the world’s five biggest toy manufacturers.
The company has finally been forced into liquidation by
the commercial court at Lons-le-Saulnier, after six months of
struggling to survive. It will now be sold off to the
highest bidder.
A recovery scheme proposed by the American company
MGM Entertainment was rejected by the court, because it had
not produced the necessary funding in time.
The company was started by the grandfather of the
owners, the Breuil family, with a lathe in his farmhouse
making traditional wooden toys. Today, the company is
completely in the plastic market, selling toys very cheaply
through the big retail outlets, where the competition from the
Far East is hard to beat. The company employs 2,750 workers
worldwide, of which 1,300 are in France.
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