helena frith powell

ON the whole, my English friends have a relationship with their underwear that is a little like the one they have with their dishwasher. It’s useful, not very pretty and lasts for decades. I remember one pal once joking that of course her underwear was …

Despite French criticism, the series has drawn a huge audience, thanks in no small part to its heritage. If you’re getting déjà vu — pretty young woman working in media teetering round a major city in ever more extravagant outfits — it’s no coincidence …

‘They can replace hands and lungs, they can fit pacemakers, but they can’t do a damn thing about hot flushes,’ laments the lead character in the new French hit film Aurore, or I Got Life! to give it its English title. My first reaction on hearing this …

By the time it got to Saturday evening, none of us could remember exactly when we’d last seen him, we only knew he was missing. We’d rolled in at 2am that morning after an evening of wine and music with an octogenarian friend of ours (these 80 somethin …

I first went to Paris when I was 14 years old. I was travelling with my father who introduced me to a “friend” of his, a dancer at the Lido called Sophie. Something she told me has remained with me ever since. “All you need to be a French woman,” she s …

Helena Frith Powell moves beyond beauty and chick-lit with her latest novel – and tells Jessica Knipe how moving to France has changed her life forever Matching bra and knickers – check. Daytime-appropriate lipgloss – check. Driving through the picture …

During my last visit to France I visited my beautician. I have known Chantal, who works in a salon in Montpellier, for 15 years and I always pop in for a facial and to talk about the latest skincare products. This year, she had some unusual advice for …

Not even Scarlett Johanssen could do it. Hang on to a French husband that is. Two and a half years after she married Romain Dauriac the father of her daughter Rose, the actress is filing for divorce. She doesn’t give a reason, but in an interview a few …

Emmanuel Macron’s wife is 24 years his senior. Do the French care about the age gap?   There’s a sudden spring in every older Frenchwoman’s step. Being over 60 was never an obstacle to being attractive. In France there is no age limit to wearing m …

A survey in France has found that relationships between older women and younger men are on the rise. French couples explain the benefits of an age   During my last visit to France I visited my beautician. I have known Chantal for 15 years. She wor …

Helena Frith-Powell was initially very intimidated by the elegant Frenchwomen she met when she first moved to France in 2000. Here she asks three French women what they really think about Brits We have always felt threatened by our French counterparts, …

Kristin Scott Thomas slammed British women in Marie France this week, calling them ‘drunk, vulgar, lacking in style and orange’ due to fake tan. Helena Frith Powell said she too was ‘tres British’ when moved to France but has changed…  By Helena Frit …

In France I learnt how to eat, dress, drink in moderation and live well. So although my knee-jerk reaction is to support Brexit, when I consider that link, I’m suddenly not so sure…  Photo: REX By Helena Frith Powell 7:23PM GMT 23 Feb 2016 For someon …

People go to Paris to be happy. They go to drink champagne, to eat delicious food, to sit in cafés discussing philosophy, to shop for matching underwear and to make love. Paris is not a city you go to if you’re on a diet, metaphorically or literally. I …

News reaches me that Swedes recycle 99 per cent of their rubbish. Never one to be outdone by my compatriots, I am recycling this column first published in the Sunday Times. You will be pleased to hear that since this exciting episode things have calmed …

On our way to the south of France from England, Leo and I passed the time listening to Desert Island Disks podcasts. One of the best ones was Bear Grylls. He spoke about his decision to climb Everest as he lay in hospital with a broken back. It was in …

The Brits and the French have been sparring intermittently for the past 1,000 years. So far no one has managed to land the killer blow. In fact in recent years there has been a dangerous outbreak of entente cordiale, at least off the rugby pitch. Hosti …

François Hollande’s love life has highlighted French attitudes to extra-marital affairs. But what is it really like to be the ‘other’ women in France? In my next life, I want to be a French mistress. I know quite a few of them. They don’t have the same …

As I dropped Leo off this morning at the hallowed Chelsea training ground in Cobham I was more than usually relived. It is always a joy dropping him off at any sporting venue, but this was particularly poignant because only a few days ago he was lying …

Perish the thought of stripping off and showing builder’s bums. Gallic men don’t let style slip even in the heat   While the heatwave rages in England, bringing out more moobs and orange six-packs than anyone should have to deal with in a lifetime …

I am getting old. The reason I know this is not the wrinkles or the aches and pains, but that I have discovered landscape. Landscape was a word that used to make me switch off as soon as I heard it. I found people droning on about land (yawn) scape was …

I wrote this article in 2007 for the Sunday Times. Denise died earlier this month and I am posting it with much sadness but happy memories of meeting her. When Irene Némirovsky was sent to Auschwitz she left behind a hidden literary sensation – and a l …

I once met Mrs Thatcher at the British embassy in Paris. The year was 1989 and I was staying with my friend Iona, the daughter of the then ambassador. He is a lovely man called Sir Ewen Fergusson, who was and remains my idea of a perfect ambassador, ta …

Just after Christmas we went to a party at the home of a French family we are quite friendly with. Like us, they have three children aged between nine and 13. Unlike us, these children look and behave like they have leapt straight from the pages of a ‘ …

Reports of the First Lady Valerie Trierweiler’s former affairs are scurrilous even by Gallic standards Two lovers, allegedly, and a husband waiting at home: the multi-tasking Valerie Trierweiler Photo: AFP/Getty Images By Helena Frith Powell 8:03PM BST …

I remember when I was at school we used to have to write an essay at the beginning of term about our summer holidays. I could never really think about much to write, except of course for the summer when my mother and I escaped from her third husband in …

In one of my past jobs I had a particularly irritating boss who used to make me send her a daily itinerary of what I was up to. So when I wasn’t sitting at my desk where she could see me I would have to let her know where I was. This itinerary was usua …

On Monday the children and I head off on our travels until August 31st. This will be the first time in four years that I will have been away for the summer. We arrived in August 2008 and since then, even if the girls have been able to escape for much o …

Known to skiers but largely unexplored by British buyers, this part of France has plenty to offer all year round Travel guide: Six of the best French regions undiscovered by Brits Call it love at first sight — or, as the French would say, un coup de fo …

When we bought Sainte Cecile in the year 2000, I never thought we would sell it. “These people must be crazy, selling this place,” I whispered to Rupert as we were shown around. “It’s utter heaven.” It is utter heaven, as anyone who has ever visited us …

Ever since we have been visiting our friends Norrie and Mary in the Savoie, I have been in love with a beautiful old farmhouse on the top of a hill in same hamlet as they live in. I call it THE house or La Belle Maison. It is actually very English in a …

When we lived in France, we would go for around three walks a day. One mid-morning, one late afternoon and one after dinner. Mostly we would up to “the cross”, as we called it, the end of the small road we lived on, marked by a metal cross at the edge …

OK so I know I said in the last blog that it’s amazing how little you can get done on holiday, but after a week in Europe I’m amazed at what we have actually achieved. Yesterday we drove from Pezenas to Rome (I use the term ‘we’ loosely, I drove about …

We are on holiday. I don’t know why we don’t spend more time on holiday, it is quite wonderful. As soon as we got to our friends Norrie and Mary’s the children did what they long to do in Abu Dhabi bu can’t, ran through a lush green field. It was one o …

This morning as I was battling on the exercise bike, I watched a brilliant programme on the French channel Arte about the feminst group ‘Ni Putes, Ni Soumises’ (not whores, nor submissives). Obviously as it was all in French I hardly understood any of …

Not long after she’s uprooted her family from England to France to start a new life making wine, married mother-of-three Sophie Reed is horrified to find a bra in her husband’s weekend bag. It’s not his and it’s definitely not hers: it’s far too small …

Helena Frith Powell is a journalist and author. She writes the French Mistress column in the Sunday Times and is the author of More France Please; Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Ciao Bella – In search of my Italian father and To Hell in High Heels. She liv …

Helena Frith Powell always thought that having an affair would be a relationship deal breaker — until she moved to France   It was during a perfectly pleasant Sunday lunch with lots of wine and good cheese that I first realised that French marriag …

We have been home for a week and are getting ready to leave again. I am not quite sure what to think. Part of me wants to sort out the whole house, unpack all the boxes and just never ever leave again and yet part of me thinks ‘thank God we don’t live …

The French designer Agnès b has one film company, two art galleries, over 200 shops and 2,000 employees. But, she tellsHelena Frith Powell, her international triumphs are merely a means to more compassionate ends. Agnès b is wearing green. I am surpris …

Just had this note from our tenants at home… ‘The house is OK but we had a serious fire here yesterday and had to evacuate the area. The hill opposite the house (to the north) was affected with the fire coming over the top from the other side and the …

This morning Leo talked to me about “the other France”, by which he means the France where Norrie and Mary our friends in the Savoie live and not the Languedoc where we are. It got me thinking about how different a child’s world is. England is waking u …

Our house in France is close to a beautiful medieval town called Pèzenas. One of the best things about it, apart from its cobbled streets and stunning architecture, was that there was no McDonald’s. Then to my horror, one day it was there in all its mu …

So my Zeldafication begins in earnest on Tuesday when I go to an advanced adult ballet class with our lovely new lodger Una, who was at ballet school until she was 14. Yes I know that I am not advanced, but did that ever stop Zelda? So wish me luck. Me …

Sainte Cecile was burgled yesterday. I got the news from a friend in the village and felt like weeping. The children were even more upset than I was. “You have to remember it is only things,” I told Olivia, trying to keep calm. “It is not a person.” Sh …

I have a strange (according to Rupert) and enduring love of England, and more specifically an England that I suspect no longer exists. It is an England full of nice middle-class people drinking tea on lush lawns and playing tennis as the sun sets while …

You couldn’t make it up. The trial of former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin for allegedly plotting a smear campaign against the man he affectionately calls “the dwarf” and known to the rest of the world as Nicolas Sarkozy, President of Fra …

Ken Hom has turned his ancient tower in southwest France into a retreat for relaxing, entertaining and writing cookbooks, he tells Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times   In Ken Hom’s wine cellar there is an oversized bottle of Cristal champagne …

We leave the day after tomorrow. In fact Hugo and Rupes left yesterday. We are staying on until the last possible moment to let Olivia’s ear infection clear up and also to enjoy some last-minute walks around the green fields. Yesterday we spent the day …

While we were still at the lakeside hotel in the Savoie last week Olivia and I had an interesting conversation. “Mummy,” she began. “Not that you’re very old, but when you die would you like to be buried or burned?” “I think probably burned,” I said. ” …

This morning I went for a run around the lake, not the whole way round, it is 18 kilometres, but for about 15 minutes. Suddenly it started pouring with rain. My instinct was to shriek and call a taxi. But then I thought; rain, there’s a novelty, let’s …

When we left France, we needed to find a home for was Sushi Sam, Olivia’s goldfish. He ended up in a lovely place. In fact he ended up where I want to end up – in the Savoie. I don’t want to live in a washing trough but I do envy his view of the green …

While the clothes of Paris Fashion Week are the topic on every fashionista’s lips,, Helena Frith Powell explains how to get in touch with your inner Frenchwoman. There is an expression used to describe French women when they really are perfect: French …

How could I ever have left him? Or is it her? Actually I always think of Sainte Cecile as feminine, I suppose Cecile is. And as for selling up…..what a stupid, mad, cruel and short-termist notion. I can’t tell you how nice it is to be home. There is …

No, nothing to do with waxing, but Two Lipsticks & a Lover is now available in Brazil. The news was a lovely way to end an otherwise fairly unremarkable birthday. The highlight was lunch with Olivia and Bea at IKEA where they looked and behaved like pr …

So Wasta (pictured) is a girl, and she is now called Chloe, which suits her well. She seems to be settling in well, and has helped the children to settle down too. They are a lot happier I am pleased to report and have not mentioned moving back again. …

This was the conversation on the way to school today. Olivia: “Mummy, I don’t want to tell you this but I have to tell you something.” I assumed Bea had eaten my lip gloss or Leo had been wearing my bras. But it was worse. “We want to go home to France …

A month ago, our French Mistress bid farewell to France for a new life in the Gulf Helena Frith Powell August 31 2008, 1:00am, The Sunday Times So, we said au revoir to our lovely farmhouse in the Languedoc (we’re still trying to let it out) and the fa …

After eight eventful years, Helena Frith Powell is bidding France au revoir Regular readers of this column will recall that we moved to France on a whim. My husband had met a couple who lived in the Languedoc on a boat in Thailand, and he insisted that …

The Savoie is idyllic. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to, rather like Devon on steroids but with mountain ranges. But this tosh about a peaceful life in the country is, well, tosh. I am pleased to report that the well-known and …

It is not often that reality turns out to be better than one’s fantasy. For example those red croc stilettos from Fratelli Rossetti are great, but they have yet to change my life. And a cream cake rarely tastes as good as it looks. But here I am, in th …

A shocking new Ad campaign in the usually pro-thin country has prompted calls for a law to combat the eating disorder   Alongside the catwalk shows, the gossip and the glamorous parties, Paris fashion week was dominated by a billboard this year. I …

I have been to the Ile de Re on France’s Atlantic coast three times and every time it has rained. Notwithstanding this, I love it. In fact I’m sure after two months in the desert I will be dreaming of its green coastline and soft showers. To me it sums …

French Mistress: Heaven knows they’re misérables now If an Englishman’s home is his castle, then what is a Frenchman’s? I think I have the answer: as well as a place to build a barbecue out of breeze blocks, decorate badly and tie up barking dogs outsi …

So we have said goodbye to Sainte Cecile and begun the European tour. We drove away from a calm-looking Max (being looked after by the tenants) with the car jam-packed with our belongings. For some reason I have four bags of bathroom products; there ar …

When I was growing up there was only one supermodel who counted; Ines de la Fressange. She was Karl Lagerfeld’s muse, the face and body of Chanel, as good as it gets. On my desk as I write I am looking longingly at an invitation to a reception next wee …

When I went up to Paris for my style talk last week (which incidentally went very well except for the fact that I forgot the cardinal rule of hanging out with French women – never overdress – and consequently looked like a Christmas tree compared with …

“I hate Sarkozy,” Leonardo told me this morning. The reason? He makes him go to school. “Does Sarkozy go to school?” he demanded angrily, throwing his Spider-man school bag across the room. “No,” I said. “He has a job. Either you go to school or you ha …

As other markets crash, British buyers return to our old favourite, France. Even with the strong euro, there are bargains to be had Helena Frith Powell May 25 2008, 1:00am, The Sunday Times Can anything put the British off buying property in France? Yo …

After a lovely trip on the Eurostar (now my number one way to travel anywhere due to the opening of not one, but TWO, Marks & Spencer’s at St Pancras International, I am on the TGV speeding towards home. I am desperate to see the children, Rupert, my d …

A survey published today concludes that the French are more miserable than ever. In fact they are more miserable now than any time since records began. That’s pretty miserable. When I moved to France eight years ago with my children I expected them to …

For Helena Frith Powell, having a third child was a luxury she could afford only by moving to France. She and her husband left their native Sussex, in England, to live in a converted farmhouse in the Languedoc region, in south west France. France is fa …

In order to break into journalism in England I was forced to become a financial journalist on leaving university. This was not, as you can imagine, my natural environment. I worked for the gripping title ‘Trade Finance Magazine’ which shortly after I j …

When I went to collect Leo from school today he ran at me, threw his arms around me and started giggling hysterically. As this is something he often does, I didn’t pay any attention. We left school, went to the park, chatted to friends and then came ho …

Sordid ‘sex for housing’ deals are just another symptom of the scandalous cost of living in France The shocking news from France this month is that some female students have been paying the mounting cost of accommodation on a “contre services” basis. T …

Sordid ‘sex for housing’ deals are just another symptom of the scandalous cost of living in France Helena Frith Powell: French mistress March 30 2008, 12:00am, The Sunday Times The shocking news from France this month is that some female students have …

Yesterday my book about French women Two Lipsticks and a Lover came out in France. Here it is called So Chic! and they have translated the UK title and made it a sub-title. Some of you may remember the scary meeting I had with the foremost book publici …

Helena Frith Powell February 24 2008, 12:00am, The Sunday Times An hour is a long time in French politics. Two hours feels like for ever, but that’s the total length of time I have been in the business. My husband says the only reason to become a polit …

Some of you may think this blog is just an excuse to get yet another picture of Jonny Wilkinson up. And your problem with that is…? Last night he proved yet again that he is the greatest living Englishman. The Six Nations match between England and Fran …

I was on a yoga mat in my M&S pink polka-dot underwear when the police arrived. I am genetically pre-disposed to panic as soon as I see a policeman. I spent my childhood watching my mother shout ‘help’ every time one came anywhere near us, even if he w …

This week I felt the full force of the French educational system. Olivia had some homework about the origins of the French flag, Marianne and other French national symbols. If I had been a contestant on ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’ I would have been …

So the news that Carla has married Sarko has of course devastated Rupert. “How could she?” he wailed down the phone to me as I stood at the supermarket check-out. I excitedly shared the news of the wedding with the people queuing with me at Carrefour. …

It is not every day there are twenty men at the bottom of my drive in tight uniforms. But yesterday I was surrounded. Next to our house is a plot of land owned by a local man. Yesterday morning he decided to burn some shrubs. What he had not factored i …

The Australian Open is on at the moment and every morning I switch on the television to be greeted with images of French players battling it out down under. And every morning I ask the same question: Why are there no British players playing? There was …

New transport links should turn this quiet corner of the French Alps into a property hub – so get in while you can Most of the places in France discovered by the British in the 19th century have long since been overrun by their modern-day compatriots — …

“‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In the hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.” This little ditty from the American write …

I had my day all planned out. I was going to write my introduction to the French edition of Two Lipsticks and a Lover, finish my article on the Savoie and then take the children to their tennis lesson this afternoon. This was until Leo (aka Spiderman) …

I am lucky that I am not one of millions of ordinary French people trying to get to and from work today. For me the commute is easy. Out of bed and down the stairs to my office. But all over the country people are stranded, delayed, inconvenienced and …

November 4, 2007 In the second part of our vineyard special, our correspondent advises on where in the world to find the terroir of your dreams. According to Robert Burton, the 16th-century clergyman and scholar: “Wine and women . . . have infatuated a …

In France, eating well and staying slim is a constant preoccupation. But few people diet or go to the gym – and no one takes food scares seriously, says Helena Frith Powell Another day, another diet scare. As British consumers panic about the latest re …

We decided to stop for lunch at IKEA on our way home from the Savoie. Total madness. I have never seen so many French men desperate for Swedish meatballs. Haven’t they heard of onion soup or croque monsieur? “Mr IKEA must be sitting in his Swiss villa …

Evelyn Lund and her husband sought a new life in France but now she is dead and he is in jail. Helena Frith Powell finds out where it all went wrong Helena Frith Powell October 21 2007, 1:00am, The Sunday Times Thousands of Brits move to France every y …

As divorce looks imminent for the Sarkozys, Helena Frith Powell explains why few Frenchwomen condemn her French president Nicolas Sarkozy is finding that Jimmy Goldsmith’s famous dictum – that when you marry your mistress you create a job vacancy – wor …

Helena Frith Powell October 14 2007, 1:00am, The Sunday Times “I DON’T want anyone yelling ‘come on’,” says Arnaud, the owner of the bar La Maro 20 in Pezenas, a Renaissance town in the heart of rugby-playing France, when I walk in wearing my England r …

Some amazing news today. Apparently Brad Pitt has been house-hunting in the Languedoc. Unlike most of us who do our house-hunting on the internet, Brad has been flying over the region in a helicopter and when he spots a pad he likes the look of, he lan …

Most people move to France in order to do as little as possible. For as long as anyone can remember, you go to England to earn money and to France to spend it. Once in France working is the last thing on anyone’s mind. How can you possibly do anything …

I’ve never had it so good In my column last month, I argued that the only way to save France was to put some Brits in charge. This produced an extraordinarily large and rather critical mailbag. “Why don’t you go home to that wonderful utopia called Eng …

Today is the 14th of July and all over France people will be celebrating the overthrowing of the ruling classes and the beginning of liberté, égalité, fraternité. Not me. As a royalist I will be celebrating the birthday of Sweden’s Princess Victoria. S …

I can now die happy having watched David Owen sing along to Bob Marley’s One Love. On Saturday we went to a wedding. These were not friends of ours re-affirming their vows but the children of some friends. That’s how old we’ve become. The service was i …

In England the advertising slogan ‘go to work on an egg’ has been banned. Apparently an egg every morning is not a well-balanced enough diet. This morning we were late for school so Rupert gave Olivia an apricot for breakfast as she got in the car. “Yo …

We had an unusual guest to stay as soon as Marguerite had packed her beret and headed off home. He is a laughter yoga coach called Jeffrey, whom I met on Laguna Beach (see blog in March). This is a man who spends most of his days laughing. The Laughter …

Our weekend with Marguerite is going well so far. She has got used to us wearing knotted handkerchiefs on our heads and eating nothing but jelly and baked beans. Bea had a bad go on her new pink bike. In fact she was complaining about how bad a bike-ri …

This weekend is a long weekend in France. In fact, officially it’s not, the government cancelled the holiday on Monday two years ago but as is the norm here no one took a blind bit of notice and so everything is shut, including the schools. Even Chanta …

There were unidentified objects flying through the air, the heat was almost unbearable, the natives restless and noisy. This was before we even got off the coach. A few weeks ago Olivia volunteered me as a ‘parent-in-charge’ for a school outing to an A …

So my first outfit is deemed “too muttony” by my husband. His comment on the second one is “you look like you’re going to a hen party.” Finally he agrees the white linen trousers, white cotton shirt and red cardigan will be fine. And the shoes of cours …

So it’s all over for Sego. Even more disastrous than the hair-do is the news that Olivia is voting Sarko. On hearing this her godfather Jonathan, a keen Francophile who knows much more about these sorts of things than I do, pronounced Sego “yesterday’s …

So I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for my expert commentary on the Sego/Sarko debate last night (considering I am a prize-winning political commentator see Glass half empty or half full blog). Well here it is. Madame de Fontenay whom I interviewed for …

The children came home for lunch today. Accompanying them was Olivia’s best friend before she met the other Olivia, Clemence Barre. For some reason she is never known simply by her christian name, notwithstanding the fact that as far as I know there is …

Why do French women always look so chic? Helena Frith Powell uncovers their best-kept beauty secrets   I live close to a small town in southern France (population: 7,464), where there are 19 hairdressers, five beauticians and four lingerie shops. …

We are in Zermatt on a skiing holiday with the children organised by a company called Powder Byrne. The concept is brilliant. They take your children away to places with lots of other children and people like a very nice man called Ed who like looking …

If it’s expat-free France you want, Helena Frith Powell has some unspoilt gems   One of the complaints I hear most from British people living in France is that they didn’t cross the Channel to socialise with compatriots. It annoys me. I know that …

This morning was one of those mornings that make me even happier than I usually am that we moved here. For some reason the children were nice to me, and to each other. Even Max the cat was spared his normal morning tail-pulling from Leonardo. I took th …

An eventful weekend, which began with me driving into the back of someone while gazing at a Ferrari. I don’t know what it is about red Ferraris that get me so excited, maybe it’s genetic. Cars normally leave me cold. Anyway, there we were, me and the c …

Yesterday we had a picnic at our almond grove. That makes it sound very grand, which it’s not. We have around sixty almond trees and a little hut, known as a mazet. There is about an acre of land with a river at the bottom of it and a vineyard lining o …

Spring is here. I know because the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming and a yellow and black salamander keeps falling into the pool. We are on constant pool-watch and have already rescued him three times. We even put some bleach in to try to dete …

I am often accused of writing about stereotypes. Sometimes I get really nasty letters from grumpy readers who call me things they can’t spell like bigoted and offensive. But the fact is that people from different parts of the world are DIFFERENT. Howev …

I am in Paris filming for Tonight with Trevor McDonald (ITV 8pm this evening if you’re bored). As it’s the school holidays I am with my daughter Bea (aged 6) and my stepdaughter Julia (aged 12). I decided that I would introduce them to the museums of P …

We’ve had a lovely weekend. Yesterday wandering around IKEA (a rather strange Swedish habit) and Montpellier. Montpellier is a fantastic city; it always seems to be sunny and there is lots to do. The only glitch was trying to visit the newly re-vamped …

Yesterday I spent the day in Toulouse with Denise Epstein, the daughter of Irene Nemirovsky (see ‘We’ve never had it so good’ blog below). Ever since I heard about Irene being carted off Auschwitz in front of her two daughters and read her brilliant bo …

I am at Stansted Airport, a strange place to be at 4.30 am but my flight leaves at 6 am. Yesterday I had one of those days that make me wonder why we ever left England. I went for a long walk first thing in the morning, watched the mist rise over the s …

A survey out today by a US magazine called International Living places Britain at number 37 in the world of best countries to live. We share this dubious honour with Greece, Ecuador, Cyprus, Iceland and Lithuania. Apart from Greece I have never been to …

I am reading Suite Francaise at the moment, as good a book as I have ever read. It is about France during the second-world war, written by Irene Nemirovsky, a Russian-Jew who lived in France and was carted off to Auschwitz in front of her two daughters …

Carrying on the lust theme, I heard an interesting definition of sex as we drove home from our weekend in Uzes on Sunday. Bea (pictured left) was busy telling Olivia that she had had sex with her best friend Manon. As you can imagine, I stopped map-rea …

It is Sunday morning and we are in Uzès for the 14th annual truffle fest. This is a magical place, a medieval town in the hills about half an hour from Avignon. As usually happens when we travel anywhere in the direction of Provence I have decided I wa …

Here is a question for all you Francophiles: Can you name the person voted France’s most popular photographer in two separate polls? Henri Cartier Bresson, perhaps? Jacques Henri Lartigue? Robert Capa? Wrong, wrong, wrong. The answer is David Hamilton, …

It is generally accepted that if you ask to get into bed with someone once and they refuse, it’s seen as impolite to insist. But during his Normandy upbringing French Prime Minister Guy Mollet must have missed out on this tiny piece of social etiquette …

With a Swedish mother, Italian father, English husband and a home in France, Helena Frith Powell wonders which traditions to follow for her family Christmas   I have been recently reunited with my father, and my parents are coming to our house in …

The new high-speed rail link will bring many places on the Continent within easy reach of British buyers, says Helena Frith Powell   The day before I was due to take the train back to my home in France during a visit to London, my husband called t …

Napoleon was wrong. It is the French who are a nation of shopkeepers, not the English. Here in France there are specific shops for every item; here one doesn’t live in Tescoland. You would as soon buy your beef from the supermarket as your lingerie. Th …

It is said of the French that they’re interested in only two things: food and sex. Every Thursday night in May Galeries Lafayette, Paris’s most famous department store, is combining these two obsessions in an evening of shopping and seduction. I go alo …

Has France fallen in love with a new mistress? It very much looks like that from and not just because the readers of France’s FHM have voted Ségolène Royal the sixth sexiest woman in the world. Ségolène Royal looks likely not only to be the first femal …

The first school meeting I ever went to was about food. We had been living in France for a year and my daughter was in the nursery school section of the local primary school. “We are here to organise a collective morning snack for the children, it will …

It was as close to a blind date as I have ever got. But instead of an expensive agency or a well-meaning friend organising it, I was being set up by SNCF. The French state-owned railway company has introduced an online service to help you meet a friend …

Jacques Chirac, president of France, may be dreading the food at this year’s G8 summit in Edinburgh, but the first thing I do when I arrive in London from Paris is head for a decent meal that doesn’t include body parts of a duck. I have lived in France …

My amazon rating is holding up very well in the UK but sliding slightly in the US. This is notwithstanding a charming review by a C. Farley from Bakersfield in California who loves the book. Great taste those Californians. But amazon has paled into ins …

The most popular look with the French women in the village I live in is an easy one to copy. Take an old pair of slippers, preferably weather-beaten and worn as you have spent years walking to the bakery in them, a totally shapeless grey dress and a di …

Sun-worshipper? Nightclubber? Want to get away from it all — and from other Brits? Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times advises which area could be the right place for you to buy So you want a house in France. But where? One of the toughest decision …

Helena Frith Powell persuades French women to reveal the key to dimple-free skin I am on a beach in Corsica looking at a French woman’s bottom. It is pert, round and deliciously tanned. At the risk of being arrested, I move a little closer. This is an …

She’s 52, a mother of four, and possibly the next president of France. Helena Frith Powell analyses the allure of Ségolène Royal In France, being over 50 is no excuse not to be sexy and Ségolène Royal – tipped by some to be the first female president o …

Helena Frith Powell looks for a bargain in the Touraine, where property prices are set to rise thanks to a new motorway link   When the Foreign Office wants to teach its diplomats to speak French properly, it sends them to Tours. This well-spoken …

While Ile de Ré’s house prices reflect its film-star status, neighbouring islands offer more for your money, says Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times   When the English move to get away from it all they go to France. When the French want to do …

Thousands of British homebuyers head to both countries — but where is the best place to buy property? Home’s own resident experts, our French Mistress, Helena Frith Powell, and Spanish Property Doctor, Mark Stucklin, slug it out   The welcome you …

They have realised their dream of living in France. But many UK expats are determined to create a little Britain once they’re there   As thousands of people flock to London’s Olympia at the end of this week for the annual Vive La France exhibition …

Still largely undiscovered, Limousin is France’s cheapest region. But househunting Brits are already arriving, says Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times There is a French verb, limoger, which means to send somebody to a godforsaken place, and that m …

When she realised the full extent of the love affair between French women and their very expensive underwear Helena Frith Powell was astonished. Then she was seduced We spend the rest of the journey talking. B, as I will call him, tells me he is an MP …

Here’s the second part of our webchat with Helena Frith Powell:Amelia: If French men are encouraged to misbehave, are you worried about your husband? Helena: Oohhh! My husband is very English! Though he has made a French female friend I’m not sure I tr …

  Author Helena Frith Powell joined us for a live chat about her new book Two Lipsticks And A Lover, serialised exclusively in the Daily Mail’s Femail section.Helena moved to France five years ago, and her eye-opening account of French culture rev …

Francophiles find the southwest has rural charm and falling prices, says Helena Frith Powell What do you do when there are no more stone houses left to buy in the Dordogne? You go across the border to the Lot. The countryside is just as lovely: lush gr …

The Websters already have two under the age of five and would like another. They cannot afford this, either. They already pay £1,500 a month in childcare and when Claire goes back to work part-time, this will increase by £500. In a couple of years’ tim …

It boasts breathtaking countryside, low property prices and some of the most beautiful villages in France. What’s more, the Massif Central is not overrun with hordes of Brits – yet. Helena Frith Powell reports. Finding a British person living in the Au …

French women eclipse all as the epitome of female perfection, but they work so hard at it they’’re no fun. For that you need British girls, says Helena Frith Powell   But it is not only French-women’s famed chic that sets them apart from the rest …

Stunning views and low prices are making the the Béarn, in southwest France, the latest magnet for buyers, says Helen Frith Powell Some people say they move to France because it’s like England was 50 years ago. If you want England 100 years ago, then y …

By Helena Frith Powell In the round: the living area Everything about ‘the bubble house’ is round, from its structure down to the dog kennel. Helena Frith Powell tours an unusual French home Festes-et-Saint-André, with its traditional stone houses, is …

If you need to fund your move to France, you might try starting your own business. Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times meets Brits who have survived the red tape involved in the simplest start-ups   When Olivier Lesault went to the Béziers Cha …

Powell Most of us have dreamt of it — Frith Powell has actually done it: packed up her husband and assorted children and decamped to France. We already know it’s not as easy as it looks from Peter Mayle and his chums. Frith Powell keeps it real, with d …

It can look like the Cotswolds, English is spoken everywhere and you can buy Walker’s Crisps in the corner shop. The British have always loved the Dordogne, but the past year has seen a record invasion of buyers. Helena Frith Powell reports Ten weeks a …

Dreaming of starting a new life in France? Don’t leave home without carefully considering Helena Frith Powell’s top tips for a pain-free transition When I moved to France four years ago I spoke no French, knew little about the country and had no guaran …

Helena Frith Powell, Lourdes An estimated 300,000 people packed the Pyrenean town hoping for a glimpse of the pontiff — there were so few rooms left that French radio advised latecomers to bring a tent. The Pope, 84, was greeted at nearby Tarbes airpor …

Property finders say they can take the hassle out of finding the right place to buy abroad. Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times explains what you get for your money   Paul and Sarah Skitmore contacted Barbara Wood, who runs The Property Finder …

A decade ago there were barely any Brits in the pretty villages around the city, but now you can buy Branston Pickle in the local shops and house prices are booming, says Helena Frith Powell of The Sunday Times   When Jill Allcroft moved to a vill …

It is easy enough to get to the Languedoc. All you have to do is follow the Rhône river south and once you reach the Mediterranean, turn right. The mystery is that for generations people have been turning left, towards the Riviera and Italy. But over t …

What’s the attraction of the Beckhams’ French holiday hideaway? And will their choice affect property prices in the Var? by Helena Frith Powell  The news that the Beckhams are buying a £1.5m home in the Var region of France sent most of the British pre …