France Travel News 01/07/2011

The Palace of Versailles, west of Paris, will have its Hotel du Grand Controle, the traditional home of the chateau's treasurers, converted into a luxury hotel as part of a plan to pay for renovations at some of France's historic buildings.

Jacques Tardi's Adèle Blanc-Sec is a longtime favorite French anti-heroine, appearing first in comic books in 1972. She's never quite broken into the English-language market, although four books appeared in English the 1990s. Now in the wake of a movie adaptation appearing in France, Fantagraphics publisher Kim Thompson has translated her first two stories anew.

Acting legend SIR MICHAEL CAINE has been made a Commander of Arts and Letters in France after receiving the country's highest cultural honour on Thursday (06Jan11). The Italian Job star, 77, was awarded the medal by Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand, who paid tribute to his lengthy movie career and highlighted his most iconic roles from Alfie to the Batman franchise.

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Cultured skiers might be thrilled to hear one of France’s top ski resorts is hosting the Classicaval music festival in the new year. Val d’Isère ski village will host the festival on January 18-20 and March 15-17, with internationally acclaimed classical artists headlining a number of concerts at the beautiful baroque church of Saint Bernard de Menthon. This will give winter sports enthusiasts the opportunity to showcase their best ski fashion during the day and then wear their favourite luxury brands in the evening for the event.

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has revealed that she wants to make a film in French. The actress is hoping to perfect her French in 2011, so she can make a movie in her late mother’’s native tongue. Jolie’s mum Marcheline Bertrand hailed from France and Jolie now has a dream to make an arthouse film in the country – once she has mastered the language and accent.

France will deploy extra police and keep vandalism statistics under wraps on New Year's Eve to fight what authorities say has become an annual "sweepstakes" of disaffected youths competing to see who can burn the most cars. Youths in depressed suburbs of French cities have been torching hundreds of vehicles on New Year's Eve and Bastille Day since the early 1990s. Police say the annual rite has turned competitive, with youths tracking the news in the first days of the new year to see which neighbourhood did the most damage.

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In southern France, in the region of Languedoc, castles and walled cities stand on high promontories and rocky outcrops along the Cathar castle trail which takes us on journey of discovery back to the middle ages and the Catholic crusade against this heretical sect.

Stéphane Hessel’s wildly popular new book “Indignez-vous !” is a rallying cry for French masses to combat social, political, and economic injustices. France24.com takes a look at the man behind this unlikely bestseller.