Tour de France 2010

The 2010 Tour will be launched from the south side of Rotterdam, for a prologue time-trial. The launching pad will actually be set up in Zuidplein, from where the riders will move north.

The choice of Rotterdam, a vast urban centre with one million two hundred thousand inhabitants, is directly in keeping with the special start of the Tour in London in 2007. The proposed project – “Rotterdam and the Tour, a new energy” – seduced us. It fits into an overall policy that aims to an even bigger place for the bicycle in the city’s heart, while leaning on the popularity of the biggest cycling race in the world, the Tour de France. From the banks of the Thames to the biggest port in Europe: the same desire, the same will.

Kraft Foods, sells food in more than 125 countries around the world and is opening a facility in France that will research biscuits. The facility, called Biscuit Research & Development Centre, is to be built in a suburb of Paris at a cost of around $20 million.

The very first TGV (Train à grande vitesse) departed on its journey between Paris and Lyon in 1981, since when, living in France has sped ahead of the rest of Europe in the race to build a fully functioning high speed rail network.

Currently having almost 1,250 miles of specially built lines linking many of its major cities in service, France is looking for new ways to extend its lead.

A holiday cottage (or gîte) in France is an valuable starting point for an unforgettable holiday in one of the largest and most beautiful countries in Europe. French fashion, perfume, gastronomy and wine are famous throughout the world, but there is nothing more delightful than going there to see for yourself. No matter how often you visit this country, it always has the capacity to surprise and delight, from the magic of Paris to the appeal of its country-wide hamlets, booking a couple of weeks in a holiday cottage in France is the perfect getaway.

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.

Born in Belgium, Brussels based Cathy Pill completed her studies at l’E.N.S.A.V. de La Cambre and has worked for A.F. Vandervors and Vivienne Westwood.

After winning a slew of awards, including in 2003 the Collection of the Year contest It’s-Two in Trieste, in 2005 two awards of the Foundation Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint-Laurent and the fashion house Yves Saint – Laurent Andam contests in France, the price in Italy Fabio Inghirami and the Prix Modo Bruxellae Belgium, Cathy Pill launched her first collection of ready-to-wear during the Fashion Week in Paris in October 2005.

Now aged 27, recently married and with her first baby on the way, Cathy already has everything lined up for spring. She gets a jump on the season by showing her ready-to-wear ahead of her peers during Paris Couture week and what she’s up to is getting better by the season.

She belongs (in spirit, if not geographically) to the cohort of young modernist print talents that has been on the rise in Europe, like Josh Goot and Peter Pilotto.

Pill also has a mathematical brain that approaches the draping of a dress like a geometry problem. She aims to have dresses that are as easy as T-shirts to put on and says  “I’ve gone through everything, thinking what I want to wear.”

Collections Cathy Pill is distinguished by the clever use of printed fabrics and shapes, to create modern feminine silhouettes.

Video: Fédération Française de la Couture

Fluoride may now be added to foods manufactured and supplied in Europe.  It’s been classified as a harmless supplement, according to Europe’s highest authority on food standards.

The decision means that food manufacturers can include sodium monofluorophosphate in their products.  This is the common form of fluoride found in toothpaste and mouth washes.

The decision, by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), has angered the consumer pressure group Alliance for Natural Health (ANH).  ANH is asking for an immediate enquiry.

Energy group GDF Suez says it recorded a significant dip in delivery of Russian natural gas on Tuesday.

PARIS – Deliveries of Russian gas to France were down 70 percent from their normal level on Tuesday amid a dispute between Russia and Ukraine, energy group GDF Suez said.

We have all heard it said that “money is the root of all evil” and probably thought that was a bit of an exaggeration. But when we understand how money is created in the modern world we can then understand the main cause of many major problems: ever increasing taxation; pensions disappearing; inequitable distribution of wealth; inflation; national debt; currency crises and devaluations; recessions; depressions; and even the failure of government in a democracy to govern in the interest of its electors.

Money was invented to be a tool for facilitating trade, but has now become a tool used by the rich to govern the world. If you have any doubt about that, please read on.

If the idea of a move to France attracts you and you like the idea of buying a house, which perhaps needs renovation, then before you even consider the financial implications you must ask yourself some much more important and deeply searching questions. Print this article, go and lie in a nice warm bath, take a glass and a bottle of Beaujolais with you, relax and be totally honest with yourself. When you’ve finished the wine, open another bottle and see if your partner will join you in the bath (bring another glass)… and then be brutally honest with each other.

Now, imagine you’ve sold up, kissed your family and friends goodbye and followed the removal van to your new French home. This is not a two week holiday, this is for keeps…so, seriously ask yourself and your partner these questions:

Can I and my partner really cope with leaving our home-country?