The French influence in Puducherry started in 1673 as a french soldier bought a little village named Poudoucherry to the Bijapur Sultan. It started then to be a strategic place for french commercial interrests. Under the administration of Joseph-François Dupleix, French influence in India was on her peak period : Madras was also brought under French control. But the shareholder from the "Compagnie Française des Indes", took a dim view of incessant wars against Britains and decided to replace Dupleix by an other governor who failed in negociations, and 3 years later, the colony was demolished by the Birtish army.

With the treaty of Paris in 1814, Puducherry became French again, but the trading post was more a stage on the road to Indo-Chine, on which France was focused.

As India became independant in 1947, the population hoisted the Indian National flag on French settlements, and French gave freedom to the French Indian population to choose their political status by a referendum.

Pondicherry still retains evidence of its history as a French colony. The french quarter has a unique architectural style in Tamil Nadu. Thanks to the "Traité de session", French is still an official language : The French language shall remain the official language of the Establishments so long as the elected representatives of the people shall not decide otherwise For more informations, look at this videos :

This is one of the first song that french people learn when they are young. "Aux Champs Elysée" has been written during the sixties by Joe Dassin, a very famous French singer.

The success of this song goes through generations, and is now a part of French culture. It deals with the most famous street of Paris, the "Champs Elysées".

Are your ready to sing with us?! Here are a Karaoke, lyrics and translation to enjoy the song!

Les Champs-Elysees

Je m'baladais sur l'avenue le coeur ouvert à l'inconnu
I strolled on the avenue my heart open to the unknown
J'avais envie de dire bonjour à n'importe qui
I wanted to say hello no matter to whom
N'importe qui et ce fut toi, je t'ai dit n'importe quoi
No matter who and it was you, I said anything to you
Il suffisait de te parler, pour t'apprivoiser
It was enough to speak with you, to socialize you

Aux Champs-Elysées, aux Champs-Elysées
At Champs-Elysées, at Champs-Elysées
Au soleil, sous la pluie, à midi ou à minuit
With the sun, under the rain, at midday or midnight
Il y a tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Elysées
All that you could want at Champs-Elysées

Tu m'as dit "J'ai rendez-vous dans un sous-sol avec des fous
You said to me "I have an meeting in a basement with the insane
Qui vivent la guitare à la main, du soir au matin"
Who live with guitars in their hands, by the evening in the morning"
Alors je t'ai accompagnée, on a chanté, on a dansé
So I accompanied you, we sang, we danced
Et l'on n'a même pas pensé à s'embrasser
And we did not even think of kissing

Hier soir deux inconnus et ce matin sur l'avenue
Last night two strangers and this morning on the avenue
Deux amoureux tout étourdis par la longue nuit
Two in love both dazed by the long night
Et de l'Étoile à la Concorde, un orchestre à mille cordes
And to the Star of Concord, form an orchestra with thousand cords
Tous les oiseaux du point du jour chantent l'amour
All the birds at day-break singing for the love

Do you know Avignon?

The city is known as the "cité des Papes" (the city of popes) as it was the center of the western Christendom from 1309 and 1423. The "Palais des Papes", the pontifical residence and fortress, is the biggest gothic construction of Middle Age. It is now a listed UNESCO World Heritage site, as well as the "Pont d'Avignon" (the bridge of the city). The story tells that a young boy named Benoît (later known as Saint Bézenet) received a message from God asking him to build a bridge. A few years later, he and his friends (who will then create the Pontiff Brothers congregation) started a 8-years construction (1177-1185). For many years, this bridge was the only way to cross the Loire river in the region, allowing the city to collect taxes from travellers and retailers.

The city of Avignon is also very famous for the festival d'Avignon, a festival of theatre, that was held in June, for the 63rd edition.

Created in 1947 by Jean Vilar (a French actor) and René Char (a French poet), the original name of the Festival d'Avignon was "Une semaine d'Art en Avignon" ("one week of art in Avignon city). The objective was to offer several theatre plays, dance or cinema performances to the public during one entire week, in different places of the city. After the success of the first edition, a second week of festival was planned, focusing on drama plays.

In 1966, a new trend appreared. In parallel to the official performances (the "in" festival), the "Théâtre des Carmes" initiated a "off" festival, diversifying the art representations and welcoming more and more companies. During the years 1967-1971, the festival got an international dimension with the company "Living Theatre".

In 1980, the "in" Festival d'Avignon became an association coming under the law 1901 to ensure the professionalization of the festival. The city of Avignon, the French government, the region of Vaucluse, and the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur are part of the board of the association. Following the same trend, the "off" festival also created an association in 1982 which aims to coordinate all participants to this festival and edit a program of performances.

Nowadays, around 600,000 people participate in the "in" and "off" Festival d'Avignon.

"Home" is a documentary made by Yann Arthus Bertrand. This French filmmaker is engaged for a while in Earth protection through his foundation.

To make more people become aware of his struggle, he realized "Home", a movie composed of amazing area shots taken from different parts of the world, in natural environment and cities. The goal is to make people realize how humans are threatening climate, biodiversity and natural resources. The broadcasting is free and worldwide, and it broke the world record for film release in history.

On this page you can view the trailer, but by clicking here, you can freely see the entire movie on Youtube.

In France the topic of environmental protection is a very important issue. It was one of the key points of the 2007 presidential election. It started with the “Grenelle de l’environnement” which is a set of laws which aims are to reduce carbon emissions which are responsible for climate change, save biodiversity and natural resources. During 2 months, scientists, leaders of non-governmental organizations and members of the Parliament negotiated a couple of commitments, which were voted by the Parliament a few months later. There are a lot of day to day implementations in the fields of transports, energy, health, agriculture and building.

Have you heard about the "fêtes de Bayonne" (festivals of Bayonne)?

Launched in 1932 by a group of rugbymen inspired by the festivals of Pampelune, the capital of the spanish region Navarre, les fêtes de Bayonne welcome an average of a million visitors since the last couple of years. Since 1947, the Mayor of the city entrusts to the bayonnais (inhabitants of Bayonne) the three keys of the city for a 5 days festival. Les fêtes are held between the wednesday before the first week end of August and the next Sunday, i.e. in 2009, from July 29th to August 2nd.

During this festival, all visitors and Bayonnais are wearing the traditionnal dress code: white clothes, along with a red scarf or belt.
With the passing of years, some animations became real traditions: the races of cows in the streets of Bayonne, the competition of "pelote" (the traditional Basque sport) or the corrida.

However, like many popular festivals, excess have been observed. To prevent them, the city has created a commission to promote a respectfull and eco-friendly behavior of all participants.

Les fêtes de Bayonne are a must for all people in the South west region of France at this period!

For more information, rendez-vous on the Fêtes de Bayonne website.