Indeed, France’s café culture has long been a major draw for visiting tourists. However, a report by RFI suggests that many of the country’s traditional café-bistros are struggling to make ends meet and may be forced to close.

According to the RFI report, the number of cafés in France has fallen from 200,000 in 1960 to fewer than 41,000. The situation is particularly difficult for rural cafés, which rely on regular visitors and tourists for their income.

Cafés have been hard-hit by the economic downturn. Not even Paris has escaped the damage, with more than 2,000 of the capital’s cafés closing down in 2009 alone.

While the financial crisis has played a major role, experts have also laid much of the blame on the smoking ban, as well as tougher measures against underage drinking and drink-driving.

However, industry expert Laurent Lutse believes that many cafés are closing purely because they have failed to move with the times and are unable to offer a service to suit modern-day standards.

“Many [traditional cafés] were obsolete anyway and not up to the standard. You have to provide something else, invent a new concept,” RFI quoted Mr Lutse as saying.

The good news for regular visitors to France, though, is that café owners will be upping their efforts over the coming years as they look to improve their service and win back customers from modern chains. Expect more comfortable seating, friendlier service and wider access to wi-fi connections.

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An article by BBC News highlights a 45% fall in the number of pupils taking GCSE French since 2002, and suggests that Britain as a nation is gradually falling out of love with the language.

According to The BBC, most pupils decide not to study French simply because the exams are difficult, and because they doubt the relevance of language skills for future careers.

“The core reason [for pupils avoiding French] is because pupils know French is difficult to pass, and difficult to get something out of it,” language learning expert Paul Noble told BBC News.

“With French or any language, you either know how to say it or you don’t – you can perhaps be a bit more vague with subjects like religious studies,” he added.

With foreign languages no longer compulsory in many schools, it would be easy to assume that Britons have given up on language learning, and that taking French classes is something of a waste of time.

The fact remains, however, that a basic knowledge of French – even just a few words – can add a whole new dimension to your trips abroad and make your French holiday an altogether more enriching experience.

Even if you mispronounce a word or make a small mistake, French people will genuinely appreciate the fact that you tried. So don’t give up on French just yet; the warm smile you receive at the end of your first sentence will be enough to make all your efforts worthwhile.

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According to a report by Le Figaro, the majority of the international visitors who enjoyed a French holiday this summer came from European countries such as the UK, Holland and Belgium.

However, a significant number also came from Russia and China, as holidaymakers looked to benefit from the weak Euro.

French hotels and holiday industries endured a fairly grim summer in 2009, as many UK households in particular felt the financial squeeze and decided not to holiday overseas.

However, recent French tourism figures suggest that visitor numbers are gradually returning to pre-recession levels. France’s Minister for Tourism even went as far as describing the 2010 holiday season as “highly satisfying.”

The French tourism industry recorded a 4 per cent rise in overall visitor numbers compared to 2009, thanks mainly to an influx of foreign holidaymakers. In addition, foreign tourists injected as much as 2 billion Euros into the tourism industry this summer, according to tourism experts Protourism.

The report in Le Figaro says that luxury holidays on the Côte d’Azur were particularly profitable. Chinese tourists were the biggest spenders in this domain, closely followed by visitors from Russia and the Middle East.

“Visitor numbers in France are back to pre-recession levels, with a rise from 5% to 10% in the number of European visitors and double-digit growth in visitors from further afield,” Protourisme analyst Thierry Bouriat told Le Figaro.

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The cross channel firm said its Norman Bridge and Norman Trader vessels would continue to run a passenger and freight service until the end of the school holidays on September 5.

All passengers with bookings up until that date will be unaffected by the route closure. However passengers travelling after September 5 will be offered places on other routes, as well as special offers on future crossings.

The announcement is sure to come as a blow to many travellers. Boulogne’s location makes it a convenient starting point for Britons embarking on a French holiday, but they will now have to find an alternative route or change ferry companies altogether.

LD Lines’ managing director, Christophe Santoni, explained that low passenger volume was behind the company’s decision to scrap the route, but suggested that a reduced service may still operate between Dover and Boulogne in the future.

“Whilst we are disappointed to have to announce the ending of a tourist passenger service between Dover and Boulogne, as the addition of a second ship has not generated the extra traffic volumes we had hoped for, we will continue to explore every option to try and maintain some form of ferry service to Boulogne”, The Independent quoted Mr Santoni as saying.

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The beach closures came just a matter of days after a shark alert spread panic among beach-dwellers on the French Riviera.

The alarm was raised after local newspaper La Voix du Nord received a letter from two men claiming to have seen a metre-long reptile swimming around tourist vessels near Boulogne’s port.

“We would like to inform you that we saw a young crocodile of roughly a metre in length near the small pleasure boats,” said the letter sent by a pair known simply as ‘Pierre and Laurent’.

“We’re quite certain that someone must have got rid of it when it was a baby,” the message went on.

The senders left no phone number or contact details, which has led to some speculation that the alert was a hoax. No reptiles had been reported missing by local zoos, but local authorities decided nonetheless to close the beaches as a safety precaution.

Red flags were put up and a message was broadcast in French and English to warn local residents and any Britons on a French holiday to stay away from the shoreline.

“We made several announcements over the tannoy in both French and English to warn people that there may have been a crocodile in the swimming area,” a lifeguard told reporters from La Voix du Nord.

The port area was thoroughly searched, but no signs of a crocodile were found. Red flags were subsequently taken down and beaches were finally able to re-open at around 2pm.

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The scheme, set up by French charity Secours Populaire Français thirty years ago, provides trips and activities for children from around Europe who might otherwise never have the opportunity to go on holiday.

Of the 40,000 children who arrived in Paris yesterday, around 3,000 of them came from countries outside of France. Youngsters from Spain, Poland, Germany, Tunisia, Turkey and Albania all made the journey, according to local news source France 3.

A large picnic took place at the base of the Eiffel Tower yesterday, organised by SPF as part of the Soleils d’Europe festival. Children were given the chance to visit twenty-five of Paris’s top tourist attractions for free, including Versailles, the Louvre and the national stadium, Stade de France.

2,350 children aged between 6 and 14 visited the Palace of Versailles yesterday, according to le Parisien. Around 500 SPF volunteers accompanied the young visitors to help make sure they had a day to remember.

“We’re really lucky to be here. We’d never have had the opportunity to come on our own,” a girl named Anaïs told le Parisien.

The palace was extremely busy throughout the day, and the SPF volunteers had to be on their toes to make sure that none of the youngsters got lost in the crowd. Staff from Versailles praised the charity scheme, and hope that it will inspire many of the children to return again in the future.

“It’s always nice to see a child, who has never been to a museum, get so excited after visiting the Hall of Mirrors,” employee Denis Berthomier told le Parisien.

“With a bit of luck, he might want to come back one day with his parents,” he added.

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As the Associated Press explain, pétanque has long been associated with pastis-guzzling, ‘flat-capped’ old French men, with the only physical exertion involved being the short walk to the end of the gravel track to pick up your boules at the end of a round.

Now though, the century-old French game is rapidly establishing itself as one of the coolest ways for French people to spend the long, hot summer evenings. Young people in particular are starting to embrace pétanque, possibly attracted by the game’s laid-back but highly competitive nature.

It is thought that around 15 million French people now regularly play pétanque, and the game’s popularity is said to be spreading around the globe. One English pétanque enthusiast explained why he feels so many Britons are becoming captivated by the game.

“Being English, I think it’s the closest thing to cricket,” John Morrison told the Associated Press.

“It’s a very relaxing way of passing the afternoon,” he added.

For any Britons on a French holiday this year wishing to give pétanque a try, The Guardian recently published a number of useful tips for success. Above all, players are advised to ditch their allegedly characteristic ‘British timidity’ and adopt a more ‘aggressive’ Gallic approach.

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Workers at Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports had planned the walkouts after a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. The strikes would have caused massive travel disruption during one of the busiest periods for UK airports.

Thankfully, Britons planning a late-summer French holiday can now relax, as ground staff have accepted a new pay deal. According to Reuters, workers will receive a 2 per cent pay rise and a one-off payment of at least £500.

Terms were finally agreed after marathon 9-hour talks between the Unite union and BAA. Reuters report that negotiations were intense, but Unite officials are confident that its members will be satisfied with the new deal.

“The negotiations were tough but Unite has delivered a fair deal for BAA staff,” Unite national officers Brian Boyd and Brendan Gold were quoted as saying in a statement.

For their part, BAA apologised to passengers for the latest period of uncertainty, which came just months after strikes by cabin crew and major disruption caused by a volcanic ash cloud.

“All parties brought a constructive approach to negotiations and we are sorry for the uncertainty ahead of yesterday’s discussions,” a BAA spokesperson told The Independent.

“We now look forward to working with our people to improve the service we provide to passengers and airlines in the weeks and months ahead,” he added.

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Walking around town topless or in a bikini has been banned in coastal resorts such as St Tropez and Cannes for many years now. However, inland cities are now following suit in a bid to maintain standards of hygiene and uphold ’public decency’.

According to the Independent, the southern city of Perpignan is the latest to clamp down on scantily-clad visitors, following the Provencal city of Cavaillon’s decision to introduce a similar ban earlier this year. 

Under the new rules, anyone who refuses to cover up after being approached by the police will now face a fine of up to €38 (£31). It is thought that Perpignan introduced the new law after some of its citizens complained at seeing a group of British rugby fans strip off in the town centre.

Perpignan’s head of security, Pierre Parrat, was keen to point out that the measures were a response to specific complaints rather than a reaction to a perceived fall in standards. “We’re not saying there’s been a general moral decline, but some people have complained,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

‘Decency of dress and behaviour’ is compulsory in Paris, but unlike in Perpignan and other cities, visitors are not fined if they are caught breaking the rules. Parisians are often considered more sensitive than most when it comes to flashing bare skin in public, with bare male torsos particularly frowned upon.

Justifying this stance, a waiter from Paris told Le Parisien: “A girl in a bikini in the centre of town is lovely, but children should not have to see hairy chests.”

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Tourists from around the world will be able to use the website before embarking on their impending French holiday, to find out what is going on around the country.

France.fr is available in English, German, Italian, Spanish and of course French. The government hope the site will be used not only by tourists, but also by the country’s residents needing practical information on a range of elements of French life.

The website will promote the country to tourists and provide information to those wanting to know more about studying, working, living and starting a business in France.

The new project, which is being managed by the Prime Minister’s office, will see the website continue to grow in the coming months. The website is expected to contain around 12,000 links to other online resources, which may be found useful. These include links to the country’s weather forecast office, Meteo France and to tourist offices in the country.

The website has launched today, as part of the country’s fête nationale celebrations. The day remembers the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison in Paris in 1789 and celebrations symbolise the uprising of the county’s modern state.

However, France’s English newspaper The Connexion reports that the country’s celebrations will be more low-key this year than in the past. Although the traditional Champs-Elysees parade will go ahead as usual, many other events including Nicolas Sarkozy’s garden party have been cancelled, due to the economic crisis.

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