Ski resort managers in the French Alps are scrambling to find ways to conserve energy as part of a national effort to reduce consumption, with about half the resorts also bracing for power bills to be three to six times higher than in prior years. In Chamonix, close to Switzerland, if there is no crowd, the lift will go 10% slower. And if the resort gets an alert that power supplies cannot meet demand, Chamonix will slow the lifts by 30%. A snowboarder starts a climb ahead of the season opening and amid surge in electricity costs in winter sports resort Val Thorens, France, November 24, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse A number of ski resorts including Chamonix and Val Thorens have also pledged to limit artificial snow production and reduce heating within buildings, officials said. ...
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travel articles and news about France
October 2022 is set to be the hottest month of October in France since records started in 1945, national weather agency Meteo-France said in a statement. With an average temperature close to or even just above 17 degrees Celsius (63 Fahrenheit) - three to four degrees above normal levels - last month was far warmer than the previous record in October 2001, when temperatures averaged 16.3C. People enjoy a warm and sunny autumn day on the beach of the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, France October 27, 2022. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard The second half of the month saw an exceptionally long and intense period of unseasonably high temperatures, with the southwestern city of Bordeaux registering on Oct. 16 the latest 30C since records started. Meteo-France said that due to climate ...
Read MoreIt is hard to come up with something new at Paris' annual chocolate fair, but French chocolatier Damien Vidal found a way to put a mouth-tingling twist on his confectionary: incorporating the world's hottest chili. French chocolatier Damien Vidal poses with chocolates flavoured with Carolina Reaper chilli pepper at the Paris Chocolate fair in Paris, France, October 28, 2022. REUTERS/Lucien Libert Besides traditional ingredients such as raspberry, cassis and passion fruit, his marble-shaped "Bille en tete" (a play on a French idiom for "headfirst") chocolates are flavoured with Carolina Reaper, the world's hottest chili pepper according to Guinness World Records. He managed to put just enough chili in them to give them a kick, but not too much so as to make them unpalatable. Tw...
Read More“Be patient, slow down,” I reminded myself as we neared the summit of the Col de la Colombiere in the French Alps, a climb that’s been ridden 23 times in the Tour de France. And, trust me, they don’t include it so regularly in the world’s most famous race because it’s easy. The Colombiere is a 17.6-kilometer (10.9-mile) challenge with an average gradient of 6.5 percent. (There’s a sign every kilometer that lets you know the gradient for the upcoming kilometer.) I’m not a professional cyclist and was struggling. Up ahead was Mike Booth, my new cycling companion. Booth, a charming and chatty Brit who lives near the base of Mont Blanc, has ridden the Colombiere more than 50 times and wasn’t even breathing hard. The village of Le Reposoir appears along the route to the summit of the ...
Read MoreIt is late October on the French Riviera, but tourists are sunbathing in bikini, the terraces are full and the seawater is warm enough for swimming. On the beach in Nice, few were complaining about global warming. "At the end of October it cools down normally and by All Saints Day it usually rains, but this year is exceptional," said Rose-Marie Martini, tanning on the beach in a bathing suit. People enjoy a warm and sunny autumn day on the beach of the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, France October 27, 2022. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard She said that at home, the heating was still off, and that the water was still great for swimming at 20 to 21 degrees Celsius. Western Europe's unusually balmy October follows a summer during which blistering temperatures parched farmlands and ...
Read MoreA fancy restaurant on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower may not be the obvious setting for environmental activism, but Michelin-starred chef Thierry Marx wants to make it a showcase for climate-friendly cuisine. Offering seasonal and local ingredients, cooked with minimal use of energy, his "Madame Brasserie" restaurant gives diners a spectacular view over Paris and an inkling of how the restaurant industry can dress a greener table. French chef Thierry Marx poses at the Eiffel Tower restaurant 'Madame Brasserie' with a dish that he says is more environmentally-friendly in Paris, France, October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Yiming Woo. Putting the finishing touches on a starter of leeks as his team gets ready for the evening service, Marx said his menu is designed to minimise the restaura...
Read MoreParis’ Champs-Elysees says it will be switching off the lights on the famed avenue hours earlier each night until further notice to help save energy as the war in Ukraine squeezes the electricity market in Europe. The plan announced Tuesday means that lights on the avenue will go dark at 10 p.m. instead of the current 1 a.m. It will take effect on Oct. 15. Shops on the avenue that remain open past 10 p.m. will “naturally” have an exemption, the committee governing the avenue said. The ruling affects dozens of luxury boutiques but will not affect public street lamps. FILE PHOTO: Spectators gather to attend the Champs Elysee Avenue illumination ceremony for the Christmas season, in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) The avenue’s dazzling Christmas illuminations...
Read MoreAlain Robert, the free climber dubbed the "French Spiderman", scaled a 48-storey skyscraper in Paris on Saturday, fulfilling a goal he had set for himself once he reached the age of 60. Dressed in red, Robert raised his arms aloft as he reached the top of the 187-metre (613-foot) Tour TotalEnergies building, which towers over the French capital's La Defense business district. French "Spiderman", climber Alain Robert, climbs the TotalEnergies skyscraper in La Defense near Paris, France September 17, 2022. REUTERS/Lucien Libert "I want to send people the message that being 60 is nothing. You can still do sport, be active, do fabulous things," said Robert, whose 60th birthday was last month. "I promised myself several years ago that when I reached 60, I would climb that tow...
Read MoreLights on the Eiffel Tower will soon be turned off more than an hour earlier at night to save electricity, the Paris mayor announced Tuesday, as Russia’s war in Ukraine deepens an energy crisis in Europe. Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the iconic tower that is normally illuminated until 1 a.m. is only one of the city’s monuments and municipal buildings that will be plunged into darkness earlier in the evening as the French capital — like the rest of France and Europe — faces risks of power shortages, rationing and blackouts when energy demand surges this winter. FILE PHOTO: People walk on a bridge next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Wednesday Feb. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh, File) Russia has reduced natural gas supplies to several European countries as they support Ukraine, se...
Read MoreWhen Notre-Dame de Paris suffered extensive structural damage in a major fire, most of the historic cathedral's stained glass was able to withstand the heat and the flames. But the windows were heavily soiled with smoke and dust which blocked external light and obscured the range of colours of the 170 years-old glass. More than three years after the massive blaze, eight glass manufactures from France have begun the painstaking operation to clean and restore 39 high windows in the medieval cathedral's nave, choir, transept and sacristy. FILE PHOTO: A view shows the reconstruction site at the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, in Paris, France, July 28, 2022. Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/Pool via REUTERS Flavie Serriere Vincent-Petit, head of the eponymous stained-glass company in Troye...
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