Day 2517 (Monday) 29th April 2024

This is Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu.

There was a huge cruise ship in the bay this morning, the weather was a bit better than yesterday and it was warmer but it was mostly cloudy all day.

Four yellow bombers flew over the bay but they didn’t pick up any water because of the cruise ship, they picked up in Beaulieu instead. Huw took this photo the last time they were here.

What's happening in France this week – The Local France

A young French girl with the word 'non' painted on her forehead during a demonstration on May 1st in 2005 in Paris. (Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP)

From the end of the spring school holidays to May Day demonstrations and traditions plus a deadline for voting, here's what is happening in France this week.

Monday

School holidays end - Pupils in Zone A, which includes both Lyon and Bordeaux, will go back to school after their spring holidays on Monday. Zone C (Paris and the south-west) schools have already gone back but schools in Zone B (northern France) have another week off. Meanwhile schools in Corsica are just starting their two-week spring holiday.

Heathrow strike - For those looking to visit the UK with flights going through London's Heathrow airport, beware that border force officers are expected to strike from Monday, April 29th to Thursday, May 2nd.

Tuesday

End of Passover - The Jewish festival of Passover which began on April 22nd will end after nightfall on April 30th.

Wednesday

May day - Also known as the fête du travail or labour day, May 1st is a paid holiday (jour férié) for workers in France. There are plenty of traditions surrounding it, including widespread protests and mobilisations for workers' rights and other social issues. In Paris, several unions including CGT have called for people to meet at Place de la République at 2pm for the march.

On May Day, you might also notice people giving each other muguet, or lily-of-the-valley in English.

Elections deadline - If you are eligible to vote in the European elections, you should verify you are properly registered. May 1st is the deadline for online registrations, while May 3rd is the deadline for those sent by the post. The elections themselves will take place in June.

Friday

Movie screening - For those in the Paris area, Lost in Frenchlation will screen French films with English subtitles throughout the month of May. The first screening will be on Friday, May 3rd for the film 'Pas de vagues'.

Saturday

Olympic anniversary - Saturday, May 4th marks 100 years since the last time Paris hosted the Olympic Games, in 1924.

Sunday

Orthodox Easter - Christians who follow the eastern Orthodox calendar will celebrate Easter on Sunday, May 5th this year.

France and Switzerland locked in conflict over 'fourth' chocolate

French pastry chef and creative director of Valrhona chocolaterie Frederic Bau prepares a 'blond' chocolate. Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF/AFP

A fourth chocolate - 'blond' - has been slowly making inroads into French confectionary, but has failed to win official recognition and faces competition from a pink Swiss variety.

Blond chocolate was born from an accident.

French pastry chef Frederic Bau was demonstrating his skills at an exhibition in Japan, and left his white chocolate warming a little too long in a bain-marie... four days, to be precise.

"By chance, by magic... it became blond! This chocolate appeared with an incredible colour and smell", recalls Bau, who is creative director for chocolatier Valrhona.

Bau immediately smelled the commercial potential of this happy blunder, but it took seven years of testing to perfect its unique aromatic qualities and consistency.

The recipe remains a secret but has been officially registered by Valrhona, and is sold under the name Dulcey since 2012.

However, the basic chemistry is well-understood. It is the "Maillard reaction", a sequence of chemical reactions between amino acids and reducing sugars, causing browning and aromas that are close to toasting.

Blond chocolate has the milky fattiness of white chocolate but is much less sweet, with a soft caramel flavour and an aftertaste of roasted coffee.

French pastry chefs tend to snub white chocolate, associating it with the big slabs they gobbled as children.

But blond opens up new possibilities.

"It's very different from other chocolates. It gives a very biscuity, very delicious taste," Nice-based pastry chef Philippe Tayac, who combines it with hazelnuts for a tartlet, told AFP.

Bau combines it as a pure fondant dessert with freshly roasted apples and a Tahitian vanilla cream, and he also recommends "breaking it up" with more distinct fruity combinations, such as citrus or red fruit.

Despite efforts, Valrhona has not managed to convince French lawmakers to reopen its legal definitions.

So blond remains formally just another type of white chocolate, which was the last to be legally recognised - after dark and milk chocolate - after its invention in the 1930s by Switzerland's Nestlé.

And France's Alpine neighbours are not waiting to be beaten to the punch on a fourth variety.

Valrhona's key competitor in the world of professional-grade chocolate, Swiss giant Barry Callebaut, launched a marketing campaign in 2017 for its own fourth type: this one bright pink and derived from Ruby cocoa beans grown in Ecuador, Brazil and Ivory Coast.

Barry Callebaut calls its Ruby chocolate "the biggest innovation in chocolate in 80 years".

The company was diplomatic when asked about the rivalry by AFP, saying in a statement: "The best chocolate in the world is the one that gives you a moment of indulgence - no matter where it was produced and no matter the colour."