BRITONS looking for some “joie de vivre” should move to France to feel happier and healthier, according to a new survey of expatriates.

The findings suggest that people living across the “La Manche” are also likely to find their French neighbours sexier and better dressed, but possibly not as witty or good company.

Jonny Wilkinson, no more than an occasional rugby player these days but still the player with the most caps from England’s World Cup winning team, has ended his 12-year stay at Newcastle in favour of a two-season deal with Toulon, France… the French club financed by wealthy businessman Mourad Boudjellal.

Wilkinson, still recovering from a knee dislocation from last September, will earn around £750,000 a year playing alongside nine fellow recruits from Premiership and Celtic League sides.

Sébastien Bruno and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe of Sale, prop Tim Ryan of Munster, Bristol flanker Joe El-Abd, Cardiff centre Jamie Robinson and Kris Chesney with Saracens have already signed up.

Known for their mistrust of banks, the French are not just stuffing money into mattresses in these anxious days of recession and minuscule interest rates, they are also putting their hard cash into cows.

For Pierre Marguerit, cows make a safe, secure investment, allowing for long-term growth from a renewable resource. Cow contracts are hardly new, but go back to Richard Cœur de Lion (Richard I).  The French word for livestock, “cheptel,” is the root for “capital.”

These are not literally cash cows. However, Mr. Marguerit says his investment in Holsteins will bring a 4 to 5 percent return a year after taxes, based on natural growth, i.e. the sale of their offspring. That compares to the present interest rate of 0.75% on the basic French bank account.

Mr. Marguerit says that last year his business went up by 40 percent, and so far this year, it has practically doubled.  He is the managing director of Élevage et Patrimoine, a cattle investment firm in eastern France, and president of Gestel, which works with farmers and investors.

My long standing friend, Richard Avon, has written a post on his blog entitled “How I Tackled Prostate Cancer”.

Richard has bypassed conventional medical treatments for his newly discovered prostate cancer and, having conducted his own research into all the available allopathic options, ventured into the more promising areas of alternative medicine to find answers. It seems he has had considerable success, as you will find when you read his blog.

A judge in Los Angeles on Thursday (7 May 2009) dismissed Roman Polanski’s bid to dismiss a sex bought against him 32 years ago because the fugitive director failed to appear in court personally to press his request.

In a brief hearing with no lawyers present, Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza said he was finalizing an earlier decision for the record. So as to give Mr. Polanski time to return to the United States from France, he had earlier placed the order on hold.

Chad Hummel, Mr Polanski’s lawyer, notified the judge earlier this week that his client would not appear because he believed his presence was irrelevant to the dismissal motion.

The judge took the bench temporarily and said that since “Mr. Polanski doesn’t intend to submit himself to the jurisdiction of the court,” his motion for dismissal would be denied.

Hummel maintains that the issue of whether Polanski’s rights were violated in his 1977 case can be resolved in his absence. He has said he will request a review by an appeals court.

Mr. Polanski, now age 75, pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl and then fled to France. He recently sought a dismissal on the grounds of misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had reneged on a previously arranged a plea bargain. Mr. Polanski risks arrest on a fugitive warrant if he returns to Los Angeles.

Talking on the behaviour of the now deceased judge, Mr Hummel said “The misconduct is plainly evident from the existing record,” . He also noted that Judge Espinoza’s refusal to dismiss the case is contrary to the wishes of the victim, Samantha Geimer, who joined in Mr. Polanski’s bid for dismissal. She has said she wants the case to be ended.

Judge Espinoza relied on the doctrine of fugitive disentitlement, which states that fugitives are not entitled to the processes of the court so long as they remain at large. He also cited the more than 30-years delay since Polanski fled.

Hummel contended the doctrine shouldn’t be used “to cover up misconduct and violate constitutional rights.”

Roman Polanski lives in France, where his film career has continued to prosper. He received an Oscar in his absence for the Director of the 2002 movie “The Pianist.” He directed such classic films as “Chinatown” and “Rosemary’s Baby” whilst living in the United States.

A recent HBO documentary about Mr. Polanski’s life uncovered new information about the judge’s actions in the 1977 case, which led him to seek dismissal.

Foreign civil partners living in France will have their relationships officially recognised for the first time, thanks to a measure passed by the French National Assembly yesterday (29 April).

The move means that British ex-pats who have had civil partnerships in Britain will now have their union recognised in France as PACS, which is a form of civil union in France. While similar to a British civil partnership, PACS can be entered into by both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy now has 15 days to “promulgate” the measure into law, after the National Assembly endorsed the Senate’s position, which passed it last month.

Currently, same-sex couples who live in France but have legal partnerships or marriages registered in other countries are not legally recognised as a couple.

This means that an ex-pat who has entered into a civil partnership in Britain is subject to a higher rate of inheritance tax if their partner died, than somebody with PACS – especially if property was owned.

The measure has been welcomed by both the European Union and the European Parliament, who had been putting pressure on the French Government to recognise the legal status of same-sex couples that had registered their partnerships in another country.

“We have been calling for this for some time,” said the president of the European Parliament’s all-party Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights.

“I am looking forward to similar moves in other countries and eventually hope that same sex partnerships will be recognised throughout all 27 Member States of the EU.”

The non-recognition of foreign same-sex couples in France has been particularly frustrating, as PACS are recognised by EU countries that have same-sex partnerships laws.