The saviour of Cap Ferret wages war with the sea — and developers

A dmirers view Benoît Bartherotte as a hero who has fought against the vicissitudes of nature and the avarice of humanity to preserve one of the finest beauty spots in France. Detractors see him as a self-serving landowner who has helped to turn Cap Ferret, a headland on the Atlantic coast, into an enclave for the super-rich.
In the mid-1980s, Bartherotte, then a celebrated Parisian fashion designer, decided to change career. He got rid of his Rolls-Royce, moved out of his mansion and took his wife and seven children to live in a wooden hut by the sea in the southwest of the country.
Bartherotte's new home was on Cap Ferret, where he had spent his childhood holidays. Over the past 40 years he has fought to ensure the area remains as he remembered it as a boy.

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The Independent

21 hours ago

• The Independent

The foodie French town that's less than two hours from London and is perfect for a weekend break

On the Eurostar from London, you can be in Lille faster than it takes to travel to Margate, making it ideal for a chic long weekend away sampling the region's best food and drink and enjoying the festival atmosphere. The French city has been under the rule of various entities, including Flemish, Burgundian, and Spanish Netherlands, as well as Romanesque-Moorish, Gothic-Classical, Neo-Renaissance, and Art Nouveau styles. The buildings and monuments of these eras fit together like pieces of an elegant puzzle. The sheer amount of lavish buildings is almost indecent and you will spend hours taking it all in. Stroll the city's pedestrian-friendly boulevards and the narrow streets that spider out in Vieux Lille (Old Lille), and stop for a long lunch in Place aux Oignons (named for the delicious smell from it's estaminets – cafés, bars or bistrots typical to Northern France). This year, as every three years, Lille is hosting Lille3000, a legacy of the city's stint as European Capital of Culture in 2004. The arts and culture Fiesta programme runs until 9 November 2025, and there are parades, performances and exhibitions to enjoy and explore across the city and sprawling metropolitan area. Venues are deliberately diverse, and include Gare Saint Sauveur, a former goods train station; the grand 19th-century Palais des Beaux-Arts; and the vast Tripostal, a converted 1950s mail sorting office. The Pom Pom Pidou exhibition at the Tripostal is Fiesta 's flagship event, where specially curated artwork borrowed from the closed-until- 2030 Centre Pompidou in Paris is ordered chronologically, around themes that represent the entire 20th century – a gargantuan task that has been wonderfully executed. Over three colourful floors, work by artists like František Kupka, Henry Valensi and Marcel Duchamp evoke movement and joy, and demonstrate how 20th century art turned everything upside down (see the legs-in-the-air Le mannequin by Alain Séchas on all the posters: this artwork that questions the traditional was chosen to represent the exhibition). Lille3000 is just one part of the urban regeneration that has been ongoing in Lille since the 1990s, when industrial decline meant mass unemployment and widespread poverty. Today, the city has invested in public transport and cycle routes, revitalised former industrial buildings and revamped its historic buildings. It's a laidback place to spend time doing not much more than dropping into an art gallery, browsing the second-hand book market in the handsome Vielle Bourse (Lille's old stock exchange) and wandering the trails in the lush green Parc de la Citadelle. If you can muster the energy, climb the 400 steps of the Lille Town Hall Belfry, a Unesco World Heritage Site, with panoramic views across the city. You'll want to dedicate a lot of your time in Lille to food and drink. Nibble a sweet vanilla waffle at Méert (one of the oldest pastry shops in the world), try a Welsh (a beer-soaked bread with cheddar cheese, ham and mustard) or beef stew cooked in beer at an estaminet, or enjoy dinner at one of the oh-so-cool restaurants flanking Parc Jean-Baptiste Lebas. You won't go wrong with a seafood extravaganza at minimalist Krevette from Michelin star chef Florent Ladeyn: start with oysters with ginger and move on to sea bass in basil and garlic with a little wild cauliflower, or asparagus with rhubarb shavings, or silky soft tuna tartare, then finish with creme brulee topped with horseradish. It's an adventure, paired with incredible wines. The foodie scene in Lille is excellent and you'd need to return for many, many long weekends to wade through all the brunch spots and cafés – oddly (and perhaps comfortingly?), many of them with British names, like Made's Garden by Mademoiselle, Nuts! and Wally's Coffee. And to drink? If Paris is all wine bars, then Lille is brewery tap rooms – there are more than 250 in the Lille region. The city is the capital of French Flanders, and its Flemish history means a close cultural as well as physical relationship with Belgium, and with craft beer. Célestin, a microbrewery in Old Lille, traces its roots back to 1740 and is probably the oldest in the city, and some nice choices in the old town include La Capsule at 25 Rue des trois Mollettes and Bettignies (of the Brussels Beer Project) at 3 Av. du Peuple Belge. If you're interested in the history of beer making in Lille, then take a walking tour with tastings with L'Échappée Bière. In December, Lille hosts a gorgeous Christmas market, and on the first weekend of September, the city centre is taken over by 'La Braderie', one of Europe's largest flea markets. And of course, there's the Fiesta until November this year. But honestly, the Hauts de France capital is more about strolling through interesting streets to find a restaurant for a long lunch, then a quiet bar for a refreshing beer and a spot of people watching. English language guided tours of Old Lille are typically available on Saturdays at 11am – book in advance with the. Rachel Mills was hosted by Hauts de France Tourisme and Hello Lille, and stayed at L'Arbre Voyageur How to get there Eurostar trains travel direct from London St Pancras to Lille, from £39 one-way. Where to stay A great budget option is JOST Hostel Lille Centre. For a comfortable mid-range option on the edge of the old town, look no further than Hôtel l'Arbre Voyageur. To push the boat out – with a spa – book historic L'Hermitage Gantois.

Daily Mail​

a day ago

• Daily Mail​

I'm a female solo traveller - the country where I felt the most unsafe is a European bucket-list destination

A solo travel content creator has shared her honest views on where she feels unsafe as a woman – and one of her picks is a hugely popular European destination. Savanna Crowell, who runs the @solowithsav Tiktok account, describes herself as 'your go-to solo travel girlie'. In a recent video that has been viewed almost 500,000 times, the New York-based traveller revealed three places where she didn't feel safe. Her first red-flagged destination is France – the world's most visited country, with 102 million international tourists arriving in 2024. She told her 54,000 followers she'd 'had a few uncomfortable situations in the country', facing problems in a number of locations. 'On my first solo trip to Paris, I almost got scammed by the 'petition scammers' at the Louvre,' she said. Petition scammers often pose as charity workers or petitioners who might speak to tourists about worthy causes – before putting pressure on them to hand over money. 'When I tried to get out of it they became very aggressive… thankfully I was able to get out of it because there were a lot of other people around me. Savanna felt unsafe in France, the country that saw the most visitors in 2024 Savanna also had issues in Nice, a beautiful city on the French Riviera. While she was walking along a street by herself, a man 'popped out of the bush with a pointy stick in his hand'. Savanna goes on to say he 'started chasing me down the road, ended up throwing the stick at me and laughing'. Despite the popularity of France, a number of other holidaymakers in the comments section voiced their unhappy experiences in the country. 'Facts! A man followed me into the girls' restroom in Paris and there is a section of Nice super unsafe for women,' wrote Alexandra Priscilla. Another user shared a story of a trip to Nice with her husband that saw a simple stop in a pharmacy turn scary. 'He bought sunscreen and sunglasses and we walked out and on the way out were stopped by a guard and we were taken to a back room where they had accused us of stealing,' said @katieter01. 'They went through our bags and pockets and were threatening us with the police but wouldn't even tell us what they thought we stole. 'We did not steal anything and eventually another manager came by and said we can leave but it was super scary we were held in this room with guards for a while.' One person said she 'had a dude harass me in France', though another wrote they 'felt super safe in France traveling solo'. The second country that left Savanna feeling unsafe was Mexico, a place she admits she loves travelling around. 'I did have an uncomfortable situation with a man once at a beach,' she said. I was sitting, minding my own business, when he came up, approached me, but his towel directly next to mine and started asking me very uncomfortable questions – like where I'm staying, how long I'm going to be staying. 'Just very intrusive questions where my gut was telling me 'I need to get out of this situation'.' Savanna waited until the man went into the ocean before grabbing all of her belongings and ran from the shore. Her third and final country to warn about is Nicaragua, the Central American nation between the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Nicaragua gets the unfortunate title of country where Savanna received the most catcalls It was unfortunately the place where the content creator experienced the most catcalling. 'It seemed everywhere I went on the street, if a man went by he had to say something or make a noise – something that made me feel uncomfortable.' It was so bad, Savanna said she only wanted to walk on very busy streets. Despite her experiences, the travel enthusiasts admitted she would return to all of those countries.

Times

a day ago

• Times

Oscar Onley shows credentials by beating Tadej Pogacar's lieutenant to line

With just over two weeks until the Tour de France, Britain's 22-year-old Oscar Onley has set out his stall by winning stage five of the Tour de Suisse in a photo-finish sprint ahead of João Almeida after a brutal day in the mountains between La Punt and Santa Maria in Calanca. It is the man from Kelso's second professional win (after he took a stage of the Tour Down Under in 2024) and the strong performance sets him in good stead before La Grande Boucle, starting on July 5, where he will be a key general classification (GC) rider for his team Picnic PostNL. Not only did he beat Almeida, Tadej Pogacar's key UAE Team Emirates XRG lieutenant, on the queen stage of the race, he also finished ahead of seasoned Tour de France riders such as Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor). The victory proved the young man's credentials as a climber as he moved up the GC to fourth place, 1min 21sec behind the race leader Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).