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Undiscovered joys of the Savoie

8th April 2012

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 …

The life of an ex pat in Abu Dhabi

16th November 2008

Three months after moving from France to Abu Dhabi, our expat is still living in a hotel and desperate to find an affordable family home. Helena Frith Powell November 16 2008, 12:00am, The Sunday Times When the gods want to punish you, they answer your …

The life of an ex pat

31st August 2008

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 …

I’m moving from France to the Gulf

20th July 2008

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 …

France’s zero tolerance for anorexia

30th June 2008

A shocking new Ad campaign in the usually pro-thin country has promted 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. It wasn’t …

Property values in France are holding up

25th May 2008

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 …

Female French students resort to sexual favours to secure a home

31st March 2008

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 …

My botox diary (The Times)

31st March 2008

Which was worse – facing the needle, or her husband afterwards? Helena Frith Powell grits her teeth and goes for the face freeze. “You’re not going to get any Botox done, are you?” my husband, Rupert, asks as I leave the house this morning. He knows I …

A plot to overthrow the village mayor in the municipal elections

25th February 2008

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 politician in France is so you can get your hands on Carla Bruni, but …

Savoie fair

7th January 2008

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 — …

The great escape

5th November 2007

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 …

English roses fall for Saint Jonny

22nd October 2007

Teenagers, career women, even grandmothers, are going weak-kneed over the ‘come hither’ fly-half. THIS time last week I had a terrible hangover. I woke up at 6am wondering why my head was throbbing. Then I remembered. “We won,” I said to my husband. “I …

Expat dream dies with the lady in the lake

21st October 2007

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 …

English roses fall for Saint Jonny

21st October 2007

Teenagers, career women, even grandmothers, are going weak-kneed over the ‘come hither’ fly-half Helena Frith Powell October 21 2007, 1:00am, The Sunday Times THIS time last week I had a terrible hangover. I woke up at 6am wondering why my head was thr …

Selling France to the French

16th October 2007

Local buyers have discovered a surprising taste for British-built property on their own turf, says Helena Frith Powell Conventional wisdom holds that once you buy a house in France, you can sell it only to other Brits. The French want something differe …

Sweet joy of stifling Gallic gloats

15th October 2007

(October 14th, 2007) “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 rugby shirt. On the large screen they are …

Sweet joy of stifling Gallic gloats

14th October 2007

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 …

The Autobiography by Marie Helvin

1st October 2007

My favourite part of the film Four Weddings and a Funeral is when Andie MacDowell’s character catalogues all her lovers, one by one, with a short description of each. Hugh Grant’s character listens with an air of bemusement, followed by awe, then disma …

The Autobiography by Marie Helvin

23rd September 2007

Reviewed Helena Frith Powell My favourite part of the film Four Weddings and a Funeral is when Andie MacDowell’s character catalogues all her lovers, one by one, with a short description of each. Hugh Grant’s character listens with an air of bemusement …

Fire in her blood

10th September 2007

Suite Française was a posthumous literary sensation for Irène Némirovsky. Now there’s more from the same suitcase. They may not be up there with the Dead Sea scrolls, but the contents of a tattered brown leather suitcase must still rank among the world …

La Bella Figura: An Insider

30th July 2007

By Beppe Severgnini, translated by Giles Watson. For a book that is described on the jacket as “hysterical” this holds precious few laughs Reviewed by Helena Frith-Powell In Italy, it’s not what you know or who you know that counts: it is how you look. …

Cabin Fever

26th July 2007

Imagine that the Isle of Wight was an hour from London, and that, instead of just one island, there were thousands. Imagine old-fashioned ferries with velvet-lined wooden seats that delivered you right to the middle of the capital. Imagine beautiful pe …

Tempted by truffles

29th April 2007

Uzés in Languedoc is a magnet for British buyers. I am sitting in a restaurant in the Place aux Herbes in Uzès, a historic town in the Gard département of Languedoc, watching a pig rooting for truffles in much the same way as a British househunter look …

English not spoken here

29th April 2007

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 most o …

You don

29th April 2007

…but you do have to deal with endless red tape. And remember that English is not the lingua franca. Most people move to France in order to do as little as possible. The adage has always been that you go to England to earn money and come to France to …

A touch of the oh la las

15th April 2007

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. …

English not spoken here

7th April 2007

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 …

My sweet mother

23rd February 2007

Not many of us can name a day when our lives change for ever, but for Denise Epstein there’s an exact date. It remains a vivid and painful memory, etched on her mind like a tattoo. “For me, life finished on July 13, 1942,” she tells me over a cup of Fo …

Weird science

7th January 2007

Injecting poison into the forehead was once thought wacky. But it’s nothing compared to some new anti-ageing treatments Helena Frith Powell January 7 2007, 12:00am, The Sunday Times DERMAGENETICS Developed by the American bioscience company Genelink in …

Goose, herring, lamb or turkey?

24th December 2006

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 …

‘FRENCH MISTRESS’ COLUMNS

14th December 2006

The French have no truck with notions of multiculturalism. Is this patriotism or arrogance?

16th November 2006

I have been thinking a lot about Marie Antoinette recently. There’s a nice new film about her, and I like the costumes. But I also think I am beginning to understand why the French were so keen to get rid of her. She had a reputation for arrogance and …

Papa, teach me more about love

22nd October 2006

At first Helena Frith Powell was stunned by her estranged father’s open attitude to sex, then she learnt to appreciate it “Testicles,” replied my father. “Oh yes, and I suppose there are breasts for pudding?” “If you wish, my dear, I know a very good l …

Sweden’s Muslim minister turns on veil

22nd October 2006

Helena Frith Powell October 22 2006, 1:00am, The Sunday Times Nyamko Sabuni, 37, has caused a storm as Sweden’s new integration and equality minister by arguing that all girls should be checked for evidence of female circumcision; arranged marriages sh …

Lessons from my lothario Papa

15th October 2006

Helena Frith Powell didn’’t know her Italian father until she was 14. When she found him he initiated her into whole new Latin attitude to life   As soon as we leave Italy, my memory of Rome and my real father fades. I start to believe my father i …

Under the skin of a French obsession

23rd October 2005

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 …

So chic, so thin … but oh la la, so dull

24th July 2005

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 …

Knock me down

24th October 2004

Bad news for sellers: the dubious but entirely legal practice of gazundering is back by Helena Frith Powell of the sunday times October 24 2004, 1:00am, The Times A new plague is stalking the shires. It strikes at random and the effect is deadly. Last …

Frail Pope in Lourdes visit

15th August 2004

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 …

Why I love Languedoc

4th January 2004

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 …

Focus: Can you select your baby’s sex by natural methods?

6th July 2003

These women believe they have found a way… Helena Frith Powell We were sitting in a restaurant on the Mediterranean last summer enjoying a glass of chilled rosé when I put the question. “How about another child?” I asked. “I’d rather have another bot …

Seclusion or social Siberia?

18th May 2003

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 …

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