FRENCH NEWS - in English of course. Politics, sports, reviews, travel, a slice of life in France and stories you might not necessarily be able to find elsewhere on the Net.
Now you would think she might have learned her lesson from her Olympic gaffe last year.
Remember how Fourneyron appeared on (French) television during the games in London to outline the vast range of events from which there were to choose as she "entertained" this country's president, François Hollande, during his visit?
So "on the ball" (to use an inappropriate sporting chliché) was Fourneyron that she managed to muddle fencer Laura Flessel-Colovic's discipline...deciding she could best be seen on the tatami.
An easy mistake to make as Flessel-Colovic had previously only won five Olympic and 12 World Championship medals and, in London, was France's official flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
Well, the woman with a background in sports medicine, and therefore clearly with her finger on the proverbial pulse of her governmental portfolio, chose at the weekend "to boldly go" (let's split the infinitive in time-honoured Star Trek tradition) where no right-thinking minister should choose to go - Twitter.
Yes, Fourneyron plumped for social networking to congratulate France's only gold medallist at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, triple jumper Teddy Tamgho.
The only problem was that emotions clearly got the better of the minister as she tweeted her excitement.
"Thierry Tamgho won the first gold medal at the Athletics World Championships," she tweeted.
"A breathtaking performance."
Teddy Tamgho, World Championship triple jump gold medallist, Moscow 2013 (screenshot France Télevisions)
Er "Non, mais allô quoi" to quote that great French ("celebrity") commentator of our times, Nabilla Benattia.
Thierry Tamgho?
Who's that then, Teddy's twin brother.
Teddy Tamgho, World Championship triple jump gold medallist, Moscow 2013 (screenshot France Télevisions)
Fourneyron realised her lapsus...er clavis...but not in time to prevent a flurry of Tweets poking fun at her mistake.
Now what gems could Fourneyron have in store for us next year should France qualify for the World Cup (soccer this time) in Brazil? That's if she's still in the post of course.
Isn't it just what the world needed - and in particular that of cycling?
On the day before the 100th Tour de France begins, Le Monde has published an interview with the race's biggest cheat (well the most publicised one at least) and liar (ditto).
There's no need to go into the history of the man, his seven now-tainted wins of the Tour, the constant denials of drug taking and eventual admission or his deserved stripping of the titles he had "won".
That's all well-chronicled elsewhere.
But proving surely that Armstrong somehow believes none of the blame lies with him, here are some of the things Armstrong says in the interview, about the race.
"I didn’t invent doping," he told the paper.
"And it didn't end with me. I just participated in a system that already existed."
Yeah well.
He might be right.
But those are not exactly the words of contrition you would expect from a man who brought disgrace to the sport in the manner in which he constantly avoided telling the truth.
But there's more in his exercise of "justifying" his behaviour or lack of guilt.
“It’s impossible to win the Tour de France without doping because the Tour is an endurance test in which oxygen is a deciding factor," Armstrong said, adding that EPO was decisive for the race just as it was for long distance running.
Way to go! Now let's do a little deflection, shall we? And while we're about it, let's tarnish the reputation of other sportsmen and women based on your in depth knowledge of what it takes to "win".
Bravo M. Armstrong.
On former French rider Laurent Jalabert who had to step down as France 2 television and radio pundit for this year's Tour after doping allegations emerged earlier this week, Armstrong has some "comforting" words.
"Ah, Jaja. With all the respect I have for him, he's in the process of lying."
Congratulations M. Armstrong. You are an expert on the practice.
And finally on the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy (huh?), Armstrong said, "I really appreciate Sarko as a man. When I say this, it's not a political statement. It's just a personal opinion. He has always been cool to me."
No, it's not really clear what relevance that particular comment has to anything, but it was included in the interview.
If you want to read excerpts (in French) or the whole interview, then click here and here (for subscribers) respectively.
But there again, maybe you've far better things to do...
The 100th edition of the Tour de France will get underway on Saturday on Corsica - a fitting tribute as it'll be the first time in its history that it has visited the French Mediterranean island.
As you might know France took on Spain in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday evening.
Much of the talk here before the match was characterised by speculating on the chances of Les Bleus beating the reigning World and double European champions.
After all in their previous match last Friday, France had convincingly beaten Georgia 3-1 while Spain had dropped a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Finland.
Oh yes and let's not forget that when France and Spain met in October 2012, the game finished in a 1-1 draw.
Reason to be optimistic then and everyone in France was hopeful of a win.
All that is apart from one notable exception - the country's "normal" president François Hollande.
The man his staff at the Elysée palace apparently refer to "affectionately" as "pépère" was in suitably fine laid-back form as he appeared at a press conference alongside Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy on the same day as the match.
Mariano Rajoy and François Hollande (screenshot i>Télé)
The two men had been discussing pressing matters such as the economic crisis and the rise in unemployment throughout Europe and of course took questions on those and other subjects.
But towards the end there was also a lighter moment when they were asked for their predictions for the evening's encounter on the pitch - after all they would be attending the game together.
And Hollande, appearing fittingly small fry with Rajoy towering next to him, gave perhaps the most telling of responses as he said, "For lots of reasons the best result for France would be a draw."
"Non mais allo quoi," to quote TV reality star Nabilla's popular catchphrase.
This was the French president speaking wasn't it?
Isn't it kinda, like, all right for a country's leader to show a little more support and enthusiasm for a national side in any sport?
Rajoy had no such problems as he answered the same question.
"If you don't mind, I don't agree," he said.
"I think the best result would be a win for Spain."
Ah well, "pépère" is only living up to his reputation of not wanting to offend anyone isn't he?
It bodes well for his planned live interview with TV news anchor David Pujadas on France 2 on Thursday evening.
As you go about your business this week, spare a thought for Zlatan Ibrahimović.
For those of you not so familiar with French football, he's the striker for whom the owners of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the Qatar Investment Authority, splashed out a hefty €23 million in transfer fees to AC Milan back in July and whose take home pay is said to be as much as €14 million annually (although it has recently been revised downwards to a mere nine million euros)
After a slow start, the investment is beginning to pay off - well at least in terms of his performance on the pitch.
The 30-year-old has scored seven goals so far in the team's first six games in Ligue 1 and his presence at the club has undoubtedly captured the imagination of many a fan and sent politicians and the media into a predictable frenzy.
But while he's initially living up to his starring role in the multi-million euro set-up, away from the pitch, not everything appears to be as it should.
Why?
Well it's simple really. With so much lovely take home pay, Ibrahimović hasn't actually got a home to which he can take it.
That's right - he's currently homeless - or in French "Sans domicile fixe".
Along with his other half, actress-model Helena Seger and their two young children, the Swedish international is apparently having problems finding a suitable pad in the French capital and instead is having to "slum" it at a place which is described in its own blurb as "representing the ultimate in French luxury and refinement".
Hardly what could be described as a half-way house, the prestigious Hôtel Le Bristol with the "cheapest" (inverted commas definitely needed) room costing €850 a night (download the PDF file of room rates for a real shock) and a continental breakfast setting back those with more money than sense €35, is the temporary abode for the family of four with PSG footing (ouch - sorry) the bill.
Of course for some extra much-needed publicity, Ibrahimović could call on the services of French telly's best-known estate agent Stéphane Plaza whose programme on M6 "Recherche appartement ou maison" regularly helps families find the "property of their dreams"
But for the moment "Ibracadabra" as he's often nicknamed, doesn't seem in too much of a hurry.
"Paris is a fantastic city with plenty of history," he said wisely at a recent press conference.
"And if things continue as they've started with my living in the hotel, I'll perhaps end up by buying it," he continued none too seriously when the subject of house hunting was broached.
"Or I'll live in the Eiffel Tower and arrive at training sessions by parachute."
Aha, the man seems to have just right sort of preposterous solution to his housing needs.
You would think being a sports journalist would carry few risks.
It's not as though reporters are putting their lives on the line covering wars or getting a little too close to violent demonstrations
And after a team or an athlete has won something the atmosphere is usually a joyful one as the inevitable questions will be trotted out about "How do you feel?" "What did you think of the game?" and "How are you going to celebrate?"
But among the obvious euphoria, the unpredictable can happen, as BFM TV journalist, Nicolas Jamain discovered while trying to interview two members of the gold-winning men's handball team at the London Olympics last weekend.
French handballers Nikola Karabatic (left) and Xavier Barachet help BFM TV reporter Nicolas Jamain bare his chest live (screenshot BFM TV)
Jamain, the channel's special correspondent during the games in London, was trying his best to remain "professional" in front team members, Nikola Karabatic and Xavier Barachet, at Le Club France the evening after Les Experts had beaten Sweden in a closely contested final 22-21 to retain their gold medal.
Somehow though things didn't quite go as Jamain planned because as he tried to pose that award-winning question to both of the players as to how it felt to win a gold medal (duh) they proceeded to pull at his jacket and shirt, leaving him almost completely topless.
Jamain persisted in spite of the jeering and cheering in the background, taking it all with good humour and finally getting both men to calm down enough to be able to have them thank their fans back in France.
It was, as the anchor back in the Paris studio said at the end of the report, an example of the delight everyone had at Les Experts winning.
And bravo to Jamain for managing to hold it all together.
So after 17 days of almost continuous live coverage of the London 2012 Olympics, it's back to normal service as far as the country's public national television broadcaster France Télévisions is concerned.
Its channels, France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô will be serving up more or less the same sort of summer fare you would expect from them if you're a regular viewer.
Until the Paralympic Games begin on August 29, designed to "Inspire a generation" in much the same was (if not more) as the Olympics Games which closed on Sunday.
So France Télévisions is once again clearing its schedules to bring viewers live coverage of what's happening - right?
Wrong.
Television executives in their infinite wisdom have decided that very few people in this country actually give a damn and have confined the Paralympics to a less than secondary role.
Tune into the national channel France 2 from August 29 and you'll see...well absolutely no special programming.
Over on the regional channel France 3, there'll be coverage - recorded highlights lasting for around 90 minutes every day.
The opening and closing ceremonies? Well you'll be able to see them live...on France Ô - if you can find it - the channel that features programming from the French overseas départéments and collectivities.
Outrage from the government with the minister of sport, Valérie Fourneyron, and the junior minister for the disabled Marie-Arlette Carlotti, issuing statements telling France Télevisions exactly what they think?
Nope.
Nothing as yet.
Of course it's not the place of public television to inform, enlighten and provide a platform for all sectors of society.
And as one comment (very much in the minority it should be said) left on radio journalist Jean-Marc Morandini's blog so eloquently put it, "Nobody has anything against the disabled but let's stop all this hypocrisy; the sporting performances of the handicapped simply don't interest anyone."
That's all right then.
Sod the Paralympics!
That's certainly seems to be what France Télévisions' sports schedules are telling us.
Or perhaps the broadcaster felt it had done more than its fair share in granting the South African athlete Oscar Pistorius an interview during its live coverage of the past 17 days.
Just for the record and if anyone is interested, a local private broadcaster TV8 Mont-Blanc will apparently be showing a far portion of the Paralympics - live.
When Christophe Lemaitre first burst on to the scene a couple of years ago the French media heralded him - without even the flutter of an eyelid - as "the world's fastest white man" over 100 metres and the "first white man to run under 10 seconds".
Christophe Lemaitre (screenshot TF1 news report)
It was true and he has since run even faster, breaking his own national record a couple more times in the 100 metres (it now stands at 9.92 seconds) and doing the same in the 200 metres at 19.80 seconds.
So far the 22-year-old has picked up four gold and one bronze medal at European Championships and one silver and a bronze at the World Championships in Daegu South Korea in 2011.
Lemaitre arrived in London for the Olympics with high expectations, choosing to miss the 100 metres and instead concentrating on the 200 metres.
As his coach Pierre Carraz told the French sports daily L'Équipe, it was the event in which they both reckoned Lemaitre stood more of a chance of getting a medal.
Not gold - because to all intents and purposes that was (as with the 100 metres) already "reserved" for Jamaica's Usain Bolt - but at worst a bronze and who knew, maybe even a silver.
The 200 metres was also the event in which Lemaitre won bronze at those World Championships last year.
So there were high hopes of a repeat performance.
And therein lay the problem, as far as media expectations in France were concerned.
In the days running up to the heats and the semi-finals Lemaitre's face was plastered all over the sports pages. He had become the great media hope for some sort of glory in an Olympic games which were fast becoming ones reporters in France would probably prefer to forget.
And after he qualified for the finals, he not surprisingly also became the main headline on television and radio news.
"Christophe Lemaitre goes up against Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake," announced, among many others, Julien Arnaud on TF1's Le Journal a couple of hours before the race.
"Does he have a shot at a medal?"
A good question.
On paper he certainly did, and if you had followed all the interviews with those who knew him there was a belief that a medal was possible, so high were the hopes of those singing his sporting praises.
After his semi-final, while Lemaitre was waiting so see whether he had qualified for Thursday's final as a fastest runner-up, the ever-annoying Nelson Monfort was also trackside thrusting a microphone in his face, and forcing the man with the slightest of lisps and almost childlike voice to relive his semi, predict his chances and answer any other inane question that entered the veteran journalist's head.
As all that was happening, Bolt walked by having just run and won his semi and Monfort directed his microphone towards the Jamaican.
"Usain - hi," shrieked Monfort in his one-tone nasal voice.
"What's does Christophe have to do to beat you in Thursday's final (repeated by Monfort in French of course because viewers are totally unable to understand such a simple question).
Bolt looked at Monfort and then at Lemaitre before saying without the slightest touch of arrogance (this was in his pre-legend days remember) "He needs to run faster than me."
Sadly he didn't. Nor, as we now know, did he beat Blake for silver and in fact, it was another Jamaican, Warren Weir who took bronze.
Lemaitre, running in lane 2 and therefore having to cope with his weak point of running the bend on the inside lane (er...in a race which is run on the bend) could in fact only manage sixth, in a time that was far slower than his fastest.
"I didn't manage to run the sort of race I wanted," he explained afterwards.
"I'm disappointed but there's perhaps still the chance of a medal in the 4x100 metres relay".
And the French media was disappointed.
Its hero hadn't managed to deliver the expected and desired-for goods.
But hey...it has a new potential target for Friday and this time the chances of a track and field gold medal in the shape of Renaud Lavillenie in the pole vault.
He's one of the favourites for the event having put in some of the best performances this year.
But the French media seems to be a little more circumspect in predicting the outcome...with the wind conditions in the Olympic stadium already being proposed as a potential spoiler to the event.
In other words if it's not the bend (for Lemaitre) then perhaps it'll be the wind for Lavillenie.
So sometimes, as British poet Lord Byron and US writer Mark Twain (among others probably) wrote "Truth" really "is stranger than fiction".
Earlier this week there was a spoof piece here "Incomplete Olympic faction", in which special mention was made to France's most annoying sports journalist Nelson Monfort, and his excrutiating poolside interview with women's relay swimmer Ophélie-Cyrielle Etienne.
Nelson Monfort (screenshot TV interview)
Well (cue Twilight Zone music please) the Wall Street Journal has now published a piece, giving gold in terms of OTT sports broadcasting enthusiasm to none other than...Nelson Monfort.
All right so the author of the WSJ piece got his facts wrong - to fit his theory so it seems: admitting his error of "reporting" that Monfort had been commentating from the Olympic pool and amending the post somewhat (although not sufficiently) to reflect that the squeals and Marseillaise-style references had been coming from Roxana Maracineanu and Alexandre Boyon respectively and not Monfort.
But the gist of the whole piece was how sports journalists from around the world reacted when their athletes won, with the French veteran perhaps being "awarded gold" for his broadcast enthusiasm - read "chauvinism".
Monfort of course claims he's not at all "chauvinistic" but rather a "citizen of the world."
To show that has something of a hollow ring to it, here's a clip from those masters of French satire, Les Guignols de l'info.
It might be a couple of years old, but it mixes Monfort's habit of slipping from French to English with his unbridled and excessive enthusiasm for the country's sporting...um...prowess.
There have been more gold medals to add to the French haul at the London 2012 Olympics after the Independent Olympics Observers Committee awarded the country three special awards for fairplay, sportsmanship and broadcasting excellence.
The awards were handed out on Sunday evening at a special gala dinner in the presence of the guest of honour Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM who opened and closed the proceedings with yet another inevitable rendition of "Hey Jude".
In the category Best Reporter, the gold went to France 2's omnipresent Nelson Monfort for his excellent interview of the French women's 4 x 200 metres relay swimming team after they had won the bronze medal.
"Delicacy and tact were the trademarks of yet another fine moment in television sports journalism," the Committee noted, praising Monfort for the way in which he had managed to make one of the team, Ophélie-Cyrielle Etienne, feel completely at ease by reminding her that her mother had died recently.
Monfort, renowned for his one-note intonation and simultaneous translations skills when interviewing English-speaking athletes showed particular empathy when it came to questioning Etienne.
"We love your sensitivity," Monfort said. "You have suffered over the past year after a family bereavement. I imagine that's who you would like to dedicate this medal to tonight?"
Monford wasn't the only winner representing France Télévisions on the night though.
The whole organisation was honoured with a gold for the way in which it has so far provided balanced and objective coverage of the London Olympics, regularly interrupting events to inform viewers and commentators that the remainder of a match, bout, heat or whatever would now be continued on one of its other channels - either France 2 or France 3, depending on the schedules.
"Channel hopping has brought a delight and pleasure to millions of viewers in France," the Committee said.
"And it has ensured that no crucial moments have been missed while those at home have scrambled to find the remote control to avoid the closing credits on one channel before being treated to the opening ones on another."
Special mention was made for the way in which the men's doubles final - which featured the French pair of Michael Llodra, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga losing to the American twins Mike and Bob Bryan was shown to the exclusion of the women's singles being played at the same time.
While the odd mention was made of the manner in which Serena Williams was hammering Maria Sharapova in straight sets, the only glimpse of the game French viewers were treated to was that of Williams receiving her medal.
But the night's top award for Best Loser went to French rowers Jérémie Azou and Stany Delayre.
They were competing in the final of the men's lightweight double skulls and had reportedly made an excellent start to the race when it was brought to a halt suddenly because the British duo of Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase had problems with their boat.
Purchase's seat had slipped and as is traditional and part of the rules of rowing, he raised his hand and all the other teams stopped too.
After the restart the British went on to finish second, just behind the Danish pair of Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist, while the French missed out on the podium finishing fourth behind the bronze medallists Storm Uru and Peter Taylor from New Zealand.
And it was then that the French showed their true sporting colours and sense of fair play, blaming the incident on the failure of the British team for "misaligning their boat initially because of the wind" and criticising the jury's decision "for abiding by the rules and interrupting the race."
"The other teams were stronger when the race was restarted," explained Delayre
"It's always frustrating finishing fourth and is perhaps down to us being less experienced than the other teams in appearing in an Olympic final."
Which surely brings us to the time for a song, doesn't it?
And the 25-year-old didn't only agree to quite literally get his kit off (well some of it) to pose for the camera, he also gave an interview in which he said he "would be delighted if his gesture could help change the mentality of some involved in the game."
"I don't see any difference between a gay person and a straight one," he told the magazine, whose readers had already voted him the game's sexiest player back in January.
And he saw no problem in posing for Têtu which he described as "a magazine just like any other".
All right so, the world of (French) football probably isn't going to change dramatically because Giroud strikes a few topless poses and appears comfortable saying something others involved in the game wouldn't, won't or can't.
But surely it sends out all sorts of positive signals.
After all not only is Giroud a French international (with three caps so far and recently named by coach Laurent Blanc as a member of the provisional squad to take part in Euro 2012), he's also part of this season's championship winning team Montpellier and was Ligue 1's leading goal scorer.
He found the back of the net 21 times - equal with Paris-Saint Germain's Brazilian-born winger Nenê.
But as fewer of his goals came from the penalty spot (just two compared to Nenê's nine) it was Giroud who was "crowned" the Ligue's top scorer.
Homosexuality is still very much a taboo subject in football in France and in spite of campaign to combat it, homophobia remain an integral part of the mindset.
On more than one occasion Montpellier's team owner, Louis Nicollin, has made blatantly homophobic statements.
In 2010 amateur football club FC Chooz refused to renew Yoann Lemaire's contract after he came out even though the mayor of the village in eastern France had signed the "Charter against homophobia".
And in the 2011 book "Sexe football club" a top-ranked player, on condition of anonymity, describedto journalists Bruno Godard and Jérôme Jessel the difficulties involved for him in coming out publicly and how widespread homophobia was in the game.
Montpellier have proven that the so-called Beautiful Game isn't all about money by winning the French Ligue title.
They came from behind to beat already-relegated Auxerre 2-1 in their last match of the season, clinching the title three points ahead of their nearest rivals Paris-Saint Germain, PSG.
Montpellier supporters celebrate (screenshot France 24 match report)
In doing so, Montpellier not only rewrote club history by winning the championship for the first time, they also delivered an important reminder that seems to be forgotten in these days where cash speaks.
Football, soccer, call it what you will, doesn't just have to be all about money. It can still be about team spirit.
You see in a game which sees top players earning obscene amounts and often having little or no loyalty to a club, preferring instead to chase the big bucks, Montpellier are something of an anomaly or maybe even an anachronism.
Owned since 1974 by the somewhat larger-than-life French businessmen Laurent Nicollin, Montpellier Hérault Sport Club, to give them their full name, have a less than glowing history.
Sure they've produced some famous players - such as current national manager and former World Cup and Euro 2000 winner Laurent Blanc - and seen the likes of Eric Cantona or Cameroon's Roger Milla take to the field in their colours
But their sporting success to date has been somewhat modest.
On the domestic front they've been division two champions three times, twice French Cup winners (1929 and 1990) and once Coupe de la Ligue winners (1992). Internationally - well their only claim to fame was as one of three winners now defunct UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1999.
When it comes to money, Montpellier simply can't splash out as much as many other clubs in the French Ligue.
Of the 20 teams, They ranked only 13th in terms of spending in this year's transfer market.
Spend wisely, nurture talent nobody else seems to want such as striker Olivier Giroud and build a team spirit seem to have been the real keys to success which as manager René Girard says produce a club which, "invests in its players, is a squad of friends and proves that money cannot buy happiness."
And the irony of the whole thing is that PSG, runners-up this year, are everything that Montpellier aren't.
Last year Qatar Investment Authority became PSG's controlling shareholder in the club, and since then they sunk millions into the club.
They've hired big names such as former Brazil international Leonardo as director of football and Italian Carlo Ancelotti as manager to run the club and spent invested heavily in recruiting players.
In the process of trying to make PSG a world class side in terms of results, QIA managed to make the club the third biggest spender in the world.
The latter doesn't always ensure the former - not immediately at least - as PSG have learned this season.
And that's why Montpellier's title is so bloody refreshing.
It might not last and the team nicknamed La Paillade could well struggle in the the Champions League next season - but what the heck. They've got the title and PSG haven't;
The tale started back at the end of February when Cazes, from the village of Belmont in the southwestern French département of Gers, noticed that some of the boules he left outside at night had started "disappearing".
It didn't stop there though and over the course of the next couple of months, a grand total of 38 boules were taken.
Children in the village messing around and hiding them somewhere else?
That's what Casez thought and, in an effort to catch the culprits he decided to install an infra-red camera on his bowling pitch.
And the video he took and posted on YouTube revealed that the felon was anything other than human but rather fox.
It was a discovery which surprised Casez because as he says there was apparently more interesting fare just a few metres from his private boulodrome.
"There's a henhouse and also some ducks right next to it," he says.
"From the look of things, the fox is a young female," he continued still nonplussed by its behaviour.
"A male would have a sturdier build."
Denis-Richard Blackbourne, an expert in animal behaviour based in Paris was also surprised by the fox's penchant for boules although he admits he has heard of them stealing golf balls.
"What's amazing is that the fox has done this several times," he says.
"Especially as the fox has had the time to realise they cannot be eaten."
As for Casez's hopes of finding the missing 38 boules, Blackbourne is sceptical.
"It'll be difficult as foxes tend to bury what they 'steal'," he says.
"And in addition they don't hide everything in one place."
One things for sure - female or male, this is one fox with balls!
And just as every year since 1960, the BBC broadcast the race live.
In France it could be seen on...er the equine sporting channel Equidia live TV and there was a special reason for the French to be in front of their screens applauding because for the second time in four years a French-bred horse won.
Back in 2009 it was 100-1 outsider Mon Mome who won by 12 lengths.
This time around it was a much closer affair with another French-bred, British-trained horse, the 11-year-old grey thoroughbred Neptune Collonges putting in an amazing turn of speed to beat Sunnyhillboy by a nose in a photo finish.
And that after four miles and four furlongs of what is arguably the most gruelling of horse races.
Neptune Collonges in photo finish with Sunnyhillboy (screenshot Racing UK TV)
But somewhat overshadowing the thrill of the win has been the death of another of horse in the race, Synchronised.
Before the field was underway this year's Gold Cup winner had provided and made quite a spectacle of himself unseating his rider, champion jockey AP McCoy, but being passed fit by course vets to race once he had calmed down.
Everyone knew and knows how dangerous horseracing is and perhaps the Grand National is the most challenging race there is.
But safety measures have been tightened over the years and officials have made changes to the course and size of some of the fences and the infamous Becher's Brook, although still surely the most frightening of obstacles, isn't quite what it once was.
And it was to be Becher's that would prove to be the undoing of the nine-year-old Synchronised when he fell and unseated McCoy on the first circuit.
These horses are bred to race and jump though. They love it and live it, don't they?
That's the argument put forward by many and indeed the way the riderless Synchronised continued jumping certainly seemed to add weight to that argument.
Except five fences he fractured a leg as a result of jumping and had to be put down.
And he wasn't the only fatality during this year's race.
According to Pete, suffered the same demise after he was brought down at Becher's second time around.
In fact, a quick look at recent statistics from the British Horseracing Authority shows that 20 horses have died in races over Grand National fences since 2001 and 10 have died in the race itself in the last 12 years.
Yes the day was a great result for French-bred horses but as a sporting event - was it really worth it?
Saturday was the 165th running of what is for many in the United Kingdom a national institution; the Grand National at Aintree.
And just as every year since 1960, the BBC broadcast the race live.
In France it could be seen on...er the equine sporting channel Equidia live TV and their was a special reason for the French to be in front of their screens applauding because for the second time in four years a French-bred horse won.
Back in 2009 it was 100-1 outsider Mon Mome who won by 12 lengths.
This time around it was a much closer affair with another French-bred, British-trained horse, the 11-year-old grey thoroughbred Neptune Collonges putting in an amazing turn of speed to beat Sunnyhillboy by a nose in a photo finish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur_hgbhX5gg
And that after four miles and four furlongs of what is arguably the most gruelling of horse races.
But somewhat overshadowing the thrill of the win has been the death of another of horse in the race, Synchronised.
Before the field was underway this year's Gold Cup winner had provided and made quite a spectacle of himself unseating his rider, champion jockey AP McCoy, but being passed fit by course vets to race once he had calmed down.
Everyone knew and knows how dangerous horseracing is and perhaps the Grand National is the most challenging race there is.
But safety measures have been tightened over the years and officials have made changes to the course and size of some of the fences and the infamous Becher's Brook, although still surely the most frightening of obstacles, isn't quite what it once was.
And it was to be Becher's that would prove to be the undoing of the nine-year-old Synchronised when he fell and unseated McCoy on the first circuit.
These horses are bred to race and jump though. They love it and live it, don't they?
That's the argument put forward by many and indeed the way the riderless Synchronised continued jumping certainly seemed to add weight to that argument.
Except five fences he fractured a leg as a result of jumping and had to be put down.
And he wasn't the only fatality during this year's race.
According to Pete, suffered the same demise after he was brought down at Becher's second time around.
In fact, a quick look at recent statistics shows that 20 horses have died in races over Grand National fences since 2001 and 10 have died in the race itself in the last 12 years.
It was the stuff of dreams as the then fourth division side took on the giants of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), dreaming of a place in the final.
Les Canaris from the suburbs of the northern French city of Rouen had already beaten three higher-ranked teams before their semi-final appearance, but in spite of a brave performance their efforts were not rewarded and they lost 1-0 to PSG, the team that would go on to win the competition.
So no fairytale ending to a marvellous cup run back in 2010 and the hopes of making only their second cup final appearance (the first and only one was back in 1927) dashed.
But guess what.
Union Sportive Quevillaise have made it through to the final this time around after stunning first division side Stade Rennes 2-1 in the semis.
And they did it the hard way, coming from a goal down and scoring a late winner into stoppage time to book their place in this year's final against Olympique Lyonnais.
"After scoring I was on cloud nine," Anthony Laup, the man who sent Quevilly into the final, told reporters.
Anthony Laup - the man who scored the winner (screenshot BFM TV)
"But I'm sure the best is still to come - that's a promise," he said.
The team, currently lying 14th in the 20-strong National, the country's third division, had already beaten another of France's most titled sides, Olympique de Marseille, in the quarter-finals.
And Rennes knew exactly what to expect from the team that had knocked them out of the competition in the last-sixteen stage two years ago.
At a press conference after the game, their manager Frédéric Antonetti congratulated Quevilly on a deserved win but he couldn't hide his disappointment.
"It was the kind of game that was lost psychologically," he told reporters.
"Fear crept into our game and although we scored first, we just lacked any sort of personality on the field."
That, of course, was far from the feeling in the Quevilly dressing room or the Stade Michel-d'Ornano in the northern French city of Caen, where the game was played.
The players were already dreaming of their appearance at Stade de France in Paris on April
And a firework display lit the night sky to celebrate what one of the regional newspapers described as the incredible exploits of the side.
The final against Lyon will be played at Stade de France in Paris on April 28.
There's no more emotional way of showing feelings than a kiss - is there?
Well not if you happen to be a football player where kissing a fellow player could be misinterpreted.
After all there's something of a taboo surrounding homosexuality in the so-called Beautiful Game, and although Uefa has thrown its weight behind national campaigns to stamp out homophobia, most would agree there's still a lot of work that needs to be done.
Just last month for example, Uefa was urged to take action over Real Madrid manager José Mourinho's apparent homophobic slur before his side's Champions League match against CSKA Moscow.
But that's all rather an aside to an event that occurred last week during a friendly international between Germany and France.
It concerned the 25-year-old Ligue 1 Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud, making only his third appearance for Les Bleus in a game which would see him score his first international goal.
Giroud netted the ball after another relative newcomer to the team, Mathieu Debuchy a 26-year old midfielder from the current French champions Lille, passed to him.
And what happened next was a clear show of camaraderie and excitement as the two men shared a full-on smacker.
Well from the camera angle it seemed to be more Giroud kissing Debuchy than the other way round.
It was a moment which, while it left the German commentators completely unfazed - as you can tell (if you speak the language) they just kept on talking, wondering how Germany would react...to the goal that is - seems to have plenty of "tongues wagging" on the Net.
Some of the headlines and comments were perhaps only to be expected and included phrases such as "French kissing" (yawn) or "Gay celebration" (even bigger yawn).
But any idea that the gesture was anything other than a complete expression of joy, especially on the part of Giroud, are surely wildly exaggerated.
Kissing another man in France - or in much of mainland Europe come to that - doesn't have the same sort of schoolboy-giggly innuendo it might have in say the United States or Britain.
It's just...well "normal" for want of a better word and definitely acceptable.
No big deal really and quite endearing - n'est-ce pas?
Smutty probably isn't the right word to describe the latest advertising spot that went online just a week ago and is, according to the national daily Libération, under attack from some French feminists for being sexist.
Soft porn would be nearer the mark as once again a company is creating a stir by using that age-old advertising tool to sell - sex.
It's for 11footballclub, a French online store specialising in football garb - mainly the sort you can wear - and which is planning to open its first retail outlet shortly in the western French city of Nantes.
Time then for a spot of publicity - anything will do, as long as it gets the company noticed and everyone talking about it.
And the commercial certainly does that.
It features a sexy (of course) red headed woman on her knees apparently - so the ambiguity of the camera angle would have you believe - about to give a man oral sex.
Of course that's what you're meant to think because as the camera pans out out you see that in fact she's helping a customer try on a pair of shoes.
There are the customary sexual groans and moans (because the shoes are too tight - naturally) , very little dialogue (after all who needs it in erotica) and mood-setting background music.
Highly creative - not.
It's meant to be amusing, as Benoît Defois, co-manager of the company told the free daily newspaper 20 minutes.
"The message of the ad isn't to denigrate women, but just to say we take care of our customers," he said.
"The next episode in the the series - which might run to four or five in total - could well see a man kneeling in front of a woman," he continued.
"We might release it just before the Euro 2012 (scheduled to take place in Poland and Ukraine from June 8 - July 1) to promote women's football."
Yes that would seem entirely logical.
The intended humour though isn't how one feminist group sees it.
For the Nantes-based "Collectif radical anti-sexisme et homophobie" (Crash) it's both sexist and offensive.
"We can't constantly laugh at sexism and machismo, when we know that a woman is raped every five hours in France," a member of the group told 20 minutes.
"If a black man were in the place of women, I don't think it would make many people laugh."
Sometimes a commercial just makes you sit up and pay attention, brings a smile to your face and stops you from popping off to do something else when the advertising break kicks in.
And occasionally it might just be a good deal more entertaining than the actual programme you were watching in the first place.
Such is surely the case of one spot currently running on French TV for the Contrex brand of mineral water.
It's a perfect fit between product and message with humour, entertainment and a great soundtrack - the music from "Comment te dire adieu", a song made famous in the 1960s by French singer Françoise Hardy.
It features women (and some men) "discovering" the joys of sport with them pedalling exercise bikes frantically and in the process lighting up a giant neon light male stripper.
The more they pedal the more he reveals until finally he's in the all together with just a board to cover his unmentionables, a board congratulating everyone for just having used 2,000 calories.
It all began on Friday when the sports daily L'Équipereportedthat Longo faced a possible suspension for having missed a series of random drugs tests by giving the Agence Française de Lutte contre le Dopage (the French Anti-Doping Agency, AFDL) insufficient information as to her wherereabouts.
The 52-year-old is a sporting phenomenon who just a couple of months ago won her 59th national title and whose exploits over a long career have seen her win 13 world championships and four Olympic medals, including Gold in the 1996 Road Race at the Atlanta Games.
Not surprisingly she is widely considered to be one of the greatest women cyclists of all time and in a survey conducted in August by L'Équipe magazine, the weekly supplement to the sports daily, Longo topped the list as France's favourite practising sports personality.
On Saturday though another report appeared in L'Équipe.
This time it involved Longo's husband and trainer Patrice Ciprelli who, the paper revealed, had apparently bought the banned performance enhancing drug EPO back in 2007.
The accusations were based on evidence supplied to the paper Joseph (Joe) Papp, described in the French media as an "obscure and second rate former professional road racing cyclist from the United States."
Indeed Papp is hardly an angel. He served a two-year suspension after testing positive for testosterone in 2006 and after he retired, appeared as a witness in the case against the former Tour de France winner and fellow countryman Floyd Landis.
In an interview with L'Équipe, Papp said he had sold EPO to Ciprelli but had no direct contact with Longo.
"He (Ciprelli) didn't mention her by name but I figured out the drugs were for her," he told the paper.
"In one email he said he wanted EPO for his wife, stressing all the time that he would pay for it himself and he wanted it delivered to a third party."
The paper also published copies of an alleged email exchange between the two men in which Papp appeared as the intermediary for Ciprelli in his ordering and purchasing of EPO from China.
The accusations have been taken seriously by the governing body for cycling in France, Fédération Française de Cyclisme, FFC.
On Tuesday its president, David Lappartient, announced that Ciprelli was being suspended while an investigation was launched.
"The accusations are ones that cannot be taken lightly and I think that for the sake of the French team it's important to relieve Ciprelli of his duties temporarily," he told BFM TV.
"I cannot comment on the accuracy of the so-called evidence and claims, but it seemed logical to me to take this step especially as the team is due to compete in the World Championships next week."
Those World Championships take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Longo is due to represent France in the time trials...unless the AFDL decides to open an investigation.
It was match point against her when French tennis player Alizé Cornet's mobile 'phone stared ringing.
Caroline Wozniacki serving for the match when Alizé Cornet's 'phone rings (screenshot from YouTube video)
We've all heard those announcements at the theatre, the cinema, a classical music concert, a live sporting event or whatever.
The reminder to those present to (if the organisers are feeling particularly polite) "Please turn off you mobile 'phones". Or at least put the ruddy thing on mute.
Ho hum.
No sooner said than done. And woe betide you should you fail to do so.
But what happens when it's not a member of the public but one of those being watched or listened to, who forgets?
This.
It was a first round match at the Swedish Open in Bastad between the world's number one ranked woman player, Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark and France's Alizé Cornet.
At 6-4, 5-3 and 40:30 up, Wozniacki was serving for the match when she - and everybody else present - heard a 'phone ring.
Wozniacki kept her cool and prepared to serve again, but once more the wretched thing went off.
Bemusement from Wozniacki and then a huge smile and laughter from everyone as the camera focused on her opponent who, realising she was in fact the offender, hurried to her kitbag to turn the thing off.
Applause and more laughter all round although it was hardly the "tremendous stuff" as suggested by the commentator on the accompanying video.
Wozniacki lost the game but went on to win the match 6-4, 6-4.
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