French city of Nice becomes Unesco world heritage site

The United Nation's cultural organisation said on Tuesday that it had added the French Mediterranean city of Nice to its world heritage list.

Madrid’s Paseo del Prado and Retiro Park win Unesco World Heritage status

Lyniv becomes first woman conductor at Germany’s Bayreuth Festival

New guide to Paris museums – showing only the nudes

France’s ‘king of lighthouses’ wins Unesco heritage listing

Unesco adds spa towns in France, Germany and Austria to World Heritage list

Aberglaube: Eight strange Austrian superstitions foreigners should know about

Salzburg festival hall, a world temple in the sound of music

Nine things you might be surprised came from Germany

The new guide to Florence’s Uffizi Galleries – showing only the nudes

Nine things you might be surprised are actually Austrian

The dos and don’ts of communication in international workplaces

Trinkgeld: What you need to know about tipping culture in Germany

Seven strange Swiss superstitions foreigners should know about

French TV hit Call My Agent could be coming to America

Paris trial gig shows no increase in Covid infections among the (masked) concert-goers

Marseille: Why Hollywood can’t get enough of France’s ‘gritty city’

Six ways you might be annoying your neighbours (and not realising it) in Austria

Austrian clichés: How true are these ten stereotypes?

France restores one of world’s largest theatre festivals – with masks and health restrictions

Nine mistakes everyone makes when they first move to Austria

‘The pleasure of punctuality’: Why are the Swiss so obsessed with being on time?

No more passeggiata: Florence limits evening walks in city centre ‘to stop virus spread’

EXPLAINED: Why you won’t find many discounts on books in France

Kickstart your tech career at Stockholm’s new centre for digital culture

Apéro: All you need to know about the French evening ritual

Four tips to make sure you nail Switzerland’s quirky office culture

Buskers to return to Paris Metro after more than a year

Researchers seek volunteers for Covid trial in Paris nightclubs

Concerts, exhibitions and beaches – what’s on this summer in Paris

Goats, horses and fire: the weird ways Spain usually celebrates San Juan

IN PICTURES: Paris’ iconic Art Nouveau department store reopens after 16-year revamp

Italian ‘art squad’ police recover 800 illegally-excavated archaeological finds

What ‘Mahlzeit’ means and how to use it in Austria

The work culture in Norway foreigners should be aware of

13 unique French words that tell us something about France

7 things the Covid-19 crisis has taught us about Germany

French TV hit Lupin returns for second series

Tell us: What has the Covid-19 crisis taught you about Denmark?

French film screenings with English subtitles in June

12 of the best quotes about France and the French

Eight Covid-safe events not to miss in Germany in June 2021

EXPLAINED: A guide to the best international supermarkets in Berlin

French Rivera tourist businesses eagerly await return of Cannes film festival

Paris’ Louvre museum appoints its first female boss

Germany sets aside €2.5 billion to reboot pandemic-hit cultural events

Smoking features in 90 percent of all French films, study shows

French flock back to cinemas as doors reopen after lockdown

French teens to get €300 to spend on books, music, film or digital products

What you need to know about Germany’s four minority languages

From fish and chips to hot sauce: How foreigners in France preserve their food traditions

EXPLAINED: The rules for France’s reopened cafés, bars, restaurants, shops, cinemas and museums

Who is the ukulele-playing Hamburger representing Germany in Eurovision 2021?

‘Why is it funny to point out something that everyone already knows about Swedish culture?’

17 ways your eating and drinking habits change when you live in Italy

French cinemas face 400-film backlog as they prepare to reopen

Milan’s La Scala opera house to reopen to public after six months

Ask an expert: ‘How do I sauce pasta the Italian way?’

Muppets and free love: The bizarre documentary that shaped the image of Sweden

From music to fashion: how Stockholm’s creative talent will bounce back post-Covid

‘An attack on tradition’: Italian bar owners protest rule against drinking coffee at the counter

‘You might not want to stay here, it’s crazy’: What to expect when you work for an Italian company

ANALYSIS: Why is France so often misrepresented abroad?

Life in Italy: ‘How our shopping habits have changed since we moved from the US’

Cafés, shops, gyms and cinemas – what will be France’s timetable for reopening?

Italian expression of the day: ‘Ogni tanto’

CONFIRMED: Spain’s famous bull-running festival gets cancelled again

Why St George’s Day is marked in Catalonia with roses and books

Black ballet dancer wins payout in Berlin racism row

12 mistakes foreigners make when moving to Germany

Ten weird Austrian laws foreigners need to know about

Malafollá: Why are people from the Spanish city of Granada so moody?

The 10 biggest culture shocks experienced by foreigners in Austria

A homage to 10 classic Spanish bars and restaurants that have closed down due to the pandemic

From folk to techno: 13 German songs that never grow old

Easter in Germany: The very deutsch origins of the Easter Bunny

Doing business in Italy: The essential etiquette you need to know

Paris museum to be renamed for ex French president

Ten strange things you never knew about Dante

Dante Day: How Italy is celebrating its national poet

Commemoration begins of the bloody weeks of the Paris Commune of 1871

Tickets sell out in three minutes as Berlin Philharmonic reopens to public

QUIZ: Which of these ‘bucket list’ trips should you take next?

How to work 9-5 and travel the rest of the time

This summer, go on a Swedish design odyssey

Protesters occupy French theatres to demand an end to closure of cultural spaces

How has the coronavirus crisis changed Italy’s coffee culture?

Paris Latin Quarter booksellers feel the squeeze

Berlinale: Berlin Festival to award first ‘gender-neutral’ acting award on final day

Berlin gentrification takes spotlight in new film by actor Daniel Brühl

Covid-19: Cinemas and theatres set to reopen in Italy next month

Germany holds virtual Berlinale film festival

Eight things the year-long Covid crisis has taught us about Italy

Here’s how Germany’s sport and cultural venues plan to reopen safely

France to hold ‘experimental’ concerts in the spring

French court blocks museum openings in southern France, citing Covid rules

The A to Z guide to dating an Italian

Five things to know about Valentine’s Day in France

‘Germans are brutally honest’: How hard is it to date in Germany?

Berlinale: Famous Berlin film festival to spotlight pandemic-era movies

10 things the year-long Covid crisis has taught us about France

Milan reopens Last Supper and Duomo to visitors for first time in months

Oh fork: The German dining etiquette Americans might struggle with

French museums beg to reopen as blockbusters go unseen

‘No tourist pressure’: Rome’s biggest attractions reopen without the crowds

Philosophy, household chores and cheese – what might you be asked in the French citizenship interview?

La Chandeleur: The day the French get superstitious and go crazy over crepes

Paris Pompidou Centre to close for four-year refit

‘Important for our mental health’: Why Spanish culture has stayed open over winter

Life in Italy: ‘Local musicians are helping our Italian village look to the future’

Procida becomes first island to win Italy’s capital of culture

OPINION: Why arguing over the dinner table is a crucial skill in France

‘Macron’s beautiful blue eyes’ – Five things to know about the French finance minister’s new book

Would you spend a week on a remote Swedish island watching films? This festival needs you

Readers recommend: The best books, TV series and podcasts about France

How to embrace French culture in 2021

Ten Italian lifestyle habits to adopt immediately

Here’s why Italians eat lentils on New Year’s Eve

Seven good things that happened in France in 2020

Why you shouldn’t suck prawn heads during an Italian Christmas feast

Why this is Germany’s favourite Christmas movie

How Christmas dinner changes depending where you are in Italy

Burning question: Do the French really hate all spices?

Six culture clashes foreigners should prepare for when visiting French families

Venice praises UN listing for pandemic-hit glass bead makers

Art of Swiss watchmaking awarded UNESCO heritage status

Life in Italy: ‘Why I left Rome for a small lakeside village and never looked back’

Flamenco legend hopes new show will soothe pandemic-weary souls

How a nighttime bell has caused uproar in a Swiss village

‘Prisencolinensinainciusol’: Here’s what the nonsensical ‘English’ song actually means in Italy

The common Italian food myths you need to stop believing

The 12 ways speaking Italian will mess up your English

How to celebrate Diwali in Germany in 2020

Armistice 2020: How will France mark November 11th this year?

8 ways living in Germany will change you for good

How living in Berlin has changed me for life

German musicians hold silent protest over lockdowns

OPINION: Please stop saying that French people smell – we do wash every day

Eight American celebrities with surprising German roots

Au revoir to bonjour? Six alternative ways to say hello in France

Netflix apologises for ‘sexualising’ young girls in French film promo

French government defends allowing theme park’s 9,000-person show

‘Romanticised and commodified’ – why France is rejecting the ‘Paris woman’ cliché

What does the way you order a coffee in French say about you?

How Italian art experts solved the mystery of Raphael’s tomb – by reconstructing his face

Italian police track down tourist who snapped off statue’s toes taking selfie

‘Paradise inhabited by devils’: How Naples captured the world’s imagination

How this year’s Venice Film Festival was ‘saved’ by Italian cinema

What you need to know about the return of Italy’s summer concerts

It wasn’t the sex: bloodletting fatal for Raphael, Italian study claims

Les Cesars: ‘French Oscars’ usher in reforms in response to sexism row

Summer staycation: Where Germany’s politicians are spending their holidays

Remembering Morricone: Ten of the Italian composer’s greatest film scores

Famed Italian film composer Ennio Morricone dies

‘Il Covid’ or ‘la Covid’? Here’s what the Italian language police say

‘Why foreigners are just not funny in French – unless people are laughing at our mistakes’

Dark: Why it’s time to binge Netflix’s successful original German series

The 12 popular French films that teach you about France

Germany strives to kickstart culture in a world blighted by virus

Kissing is back in France – but only on film sets

Five things you never knew about France’s Charles de Gaulle

France maintains Fête de la Musique despite coronavirus

Timid reopening for France’s Loire Valley chateaux

Italy’s Venice film festival a ‘sign of hope’ for world cinema

France Louvre museum prepares to reopen after lockdown from the coronavirus

Plexiglass and staggered seating: How cinemas in Germany plan to reopen

Kiss off: Why the coronavirus could spell the end of ‘la bise’ in France

Paris’ last street singer and Edith Piaf contemporary dies aged 103

Your rights over tickets for cancelled events in France

Life in Italy: ‘How our village kept its sense of community throughout lockdown’

Polanski’s latest film to premier at Berlinale

Munich unveils latest cultural offering: portable opera

Eyes sewn shut – playing an emotional zombie

Vivienne Dick: ‘Experimentation becomes an important way to resist’

Imagining a new future for Berlin

Austria gives go-ahead for cultural events to restart

United We Stream: How Berlin’s clubs are coming together to survive the corona crisis

Weekend Wanderlust: How to travel the world without leaving Germany

Swords, immortality and wifi: Five things to know about the Academie française

These are the museums you can visit in France as lockdown lifts

Germany’s most popular baby names revealed

How to visit Stockholm without leaving your couch

Macron presents emergency plan to save France’s culture sector

Alone Together: How I had an unexpected night out at a German online bar

OPINION: How the coronavirus outbreak will change life in Italy forever

Italy urged to extend ‘cultural bonus’ payments to save bookshops

Norway gives green light for children’s free time activities

Watch: The biggest blockbusters that were censored or banned in Sweden

How to have a virtual night out in France during lockdown

Five ways to take a virtual trip around France

Ten movies and TV series that helped me learn what Swedishness means

How you can mark Italy’s Dante Day on March 25th

Here’s all the Italian culture you can enjoy at home for free

Ten top films and TV shows to discover Germany from your couch

Self-isolated? Keep up with Swedish culture from your couch

The show must go on: How cultural life has moved online in Germany

How to make the most of German culture while social distancing

Germany’s Big Brother contestants to be told about coronavirus pandemic on live TV

‘We’ve never had such a big threat’: Berlin clubs fear for their future

The seven best and seven ‘wurst’ German dishes

Coronavirus forces Italy to close its biggest tourist attractions

These are the events cancelled in Italy over coronavirus fears

‘It broke my ears’ – French culture minister’s verdict on country’s Eurovision song

Berlinale: Diversity and Nazi past in spotlight at 70th Berlin film festival

VIDEO: Why do Germans love getting naked?

For one week only, Raphael’s Sistine Chapel tapestries go on show in Rome

Eating well, driving badly, and daily naps: The habits you pick up in Italy

Italy’s Uffizi Gallery wins US court battle against ‘bloodsucking’ ticket touts

How a three-wheeled newsagent hopes to help keep Italians reading

Nine surprising facts about Rome in honour of the capital’s birthday

Netflix to open Italian base in Rome

Why parts of Israel, Germany, Italy and Britain are actually French

Meet the Beatles superfan keeping the Fab Four alive in Hamburg

How Brexit and a French mother-in-law led a British dominatrix to Paris

British actor Jeremy Irons to head 2020 Berlin film festival jury

Eight months after devastating blaze – what now for Paris’ Notre-Dame cathedral?

How Germany is celebrating 250-year-old ‘pop star’ Beethoven

Painting found in bin bag outside Italian museum could be missing Klimt

How AI is adding the final notes to German composer’s Beethoven’s Tenth Symphony

Tell us: What German habits have you picked up?

Why Italy thinks its coffee should get Unesco heritage status

‘Old fashioned and embarrassing’ – has the Miss France contest had its day?

Meet the British woman on a mission to shake up French theatre

‘The myth of Venice’: How the Venetian brand helps the city survive

Where lols outweigh likes: Behind the scenes of Cologne’s selfie museum

Life in Italy: How to spend 24 hours living the Italian way

Nine ways your socializing habits change after moving to Germany

Life in Italy: The ten things you’ll notice after moving from the US

Italian police bust smuggling gang looting ancient artefacts

Venice’s legendary ‘waterproof’ bookshop overwhelmed by floods

Newly-discovered Artemisia painting sells for record €4.8 million

Hamburg orchestra to perform climate change rework of Vivaldi classic

Newly discovered work by Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi up for auction

IN PHOTOS: Remembering the great flood of Florence

France’s top literary prize goes to novel about prisoner having imaginary conversations with the dead

French wartime Resistance hero Yvette Lundy dies aged 103

Why Elle Germany has been called out over ‘back to black’ issue

Five German lifestyle habits you should think about adopting

Rare Italian masterpiece found in French kitchen sold for €24 million

Rare Italian masterpiece found in French kitchen expected to sell for €6 million

A missing painting, crowd trouble and an international spat . . . but Da Vinci exhibition is now set to open in Paris

The truth laid bare: What you need to know about Germany’s sauna culture

‘A tenor with a golden voice’: Opera world mourns Italian singer Marcello Giordani

American artist’s tribute to terror victims finally unveiled in Paris

Italy’s free museum Sundays are making a comeback

French fashion house Saint Laurent unveils designer condoms

IN PICTURES: John Galliano’s anti Brexit fashion show in Paris

Europe & You newsletter: Government’s no-deal Brexit letters to Brits around Europe cause alarm

What will happen to Dinard’s very British Film Festival after Brexit?

Paris pays homage to India’s glamorous ‘golden couple’ of the 1920s and 30s

Old French lady discovers Italian Renaissance masterpiece in her kitchen

Paris Tutankhamun exhibition sets new all-time French record for visitors

Pumpkin risotto and the great wardrobe switch: How life in Italy changes when autumn arrives

Knife attacker badly damages artwork at Paris’ Pompidiou Centre

Leonardo da Vinci’s mechanical lion is now on display in Paris

10 weird taboos you should never break in Germany

France’s ‘painter of black’: Soulages exhibition opens in New York

Extension for Paris’ Tutankhamun exhibition after record visitor numbers

Banksy ‘rat’ artwork stolen in Paris

Mystery solved in the case of the one-legged French general who died 200 years ago

Book Club: Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekbäck

IN PICTURES: France celebrates 75 years since the liberation of Paris

Five amazing live music venues in Malmö

The hidden history that tells of Paris’ brutal and bloody WWII occupation

Depardieu’s new ‘reality’ project in an alcohol-free French spa

Daily dilemmas: Is it ever acceptable to cross the road at a red light in Germany?

How life on a tiny Aeolian island inspired Italy’s top female chef

Malmö’s first national museum to focus on ‘democracy and migration’

How Paris’ overcrowded Louvre is struggling to cope with the tourist tide

100 years since French daredevil pilot completed Arc de Triomphe stunt

‘Lost’ works from French literary giant Marcel Proust to be published in October

French producer who co-created gay icons the Village People has died

13 things foreigners do that make Germans really uncomfortable

The seven stats that reveal how Paris really is the world’s capital of culture

Post-mortem: Love letters and absinthe pile up at grave of French poet Rimbaud

Book Club: Never Stop Walking by Christina Rickardsson

QUIZ: How well do you know these famous French landmarks?

Five Netflix series that will teach you French as the locals speak it

What’s on: Ten must-do events in France this August

‘We will miss you’: Italian author Camilleri, creator of ‘Inspector Montalbano’, dies

Is New York becoming the new Paris for up-and-coming artists?

Texan widow gives massive donation of art to Musée d’Orsay in Paris

How to work 9-5 and travel the rest of the time

Woody Allen debuts at Milan’s La Scala opera house

Campaign launched to fund new Statue of Liberty in Brittany

Stockholm’s international library is moving and not everyone’s pleased

Caravaggio’s ‘lost masterpiece’ snapped up by unnamed buyer

Medieval French king died after ‘refusing to eat salad’ says doctor

Lost version of Delacroix’s ‘mythic’ masterpiece discovered in Paris

Eight signs summer has arrived in Germany

IN PICTURES: The painstaking restoration of the Royal Chapel of Versailles

Are Germans really rude or just avoiding politeness overload?

Ten must-see German films of past and present

Quiz: How well do you know your French food?

French film blog: How foreigners learn to romanticise Paris through film

France ramps up bid to return artwork stolen from Jewish families during WWII

Top ten events to celebrate Germany’s holiday weekend

VIDEO: Meet the politest new addition to the French rap scene

The forgotten emblem of French-American history that saved D-Day soldiers

IN PICS: Eight highlights from Madrid’s PhotoEspaña 2019

Travelling back in time: Five of the best old Italian travel books

Meet the British amputee set to be the new star of Paris’ Crazy Horse cabaret

Giant artwork created in Paris park before going on world tour

New Italian TV show to tell story of Rome’s birth… in Latin

IN PICTURES: Versailles hosts dazzling period costume homage to French royalty

France’s rock n’ roll icon Johnny Hallyday was indeed French, says court

Film blog: 10 quirky and charming French films

Germany to return stolen papers of Kafka’s friend Max Brod to Israel

The French taboos you should never break

How to make the most out of Saturday’s Long Night of Museums in France

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Benois Madonna to make rare return to Italy

Who is Bilal Hassani and why is he carrying the hopes of France?

Five of the best exhibitions in Paris this summer

IN PICTURES: Seven amazing ideas for the rebuilding of Notre-Dame

Paris’ riverside booksellers battle for survival as Unesco race heats up

Think the French aren’t funny? These five comedians may change your mind

IN PICTURES: France and Italy mark 500 years since Da Vinci’s death

Newly identified Leonardo da Vinci portrait on show in London

French film blog: France’s American-style romcom you need to see this month

France and Italy to mark 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death in Loire Valley

Experts to DNA test ‘Leonardo da Vinci’s hair’ found in the US

In the footsteps of genius: A travel guide to Leonardo Da Vinci’s Italy

Slow TV project follows Sweden’s elk for 450 hours

Italy offers to help rebuild Notre-Dame

Switzerland’s and world’s oldest surviving architecture plan from Middle Ages goes on public display

Paris’ Arc de Triomphe will be all wrapped up with special artwork

What’s on in Spain: Top twelve events in April

What you need to know about the first Swedish-language Netflix original series

New Paris exhibition uncovers trove of looted Nazi art in Louvre

Major Rome exhibition opens celebrating Leonardo Da Vinci

‘A slap in the face for human rights’: Should La Scala take Saudi money?

‘Nude Mona Lisa’: Art experts think they might have discovered a new Da Vinci

‘Lost’ Caravaggio to be unveiled in London – but is it a fake?

Welcome to The Local Sweden’s Book Club

In the first week of March, all Italy’s state museums are free

WHAT’S ON: Events for English speakers in Sweden in March

How can Stockholm’s cultural scene be more open to internationals?

‘It’s been disastrous’: How the pandemic hit performers in Sweden

Gilded world of French heritage slams ‘grotesque’ auditor’s report

Why Dutch fans are raising thousands of euros for Pippi Longstocking actress

How chopsticks showed me the difference between German and Chinese culture

Sanremo 2019: Andrea Bocelli’s duet with son brings down the house

Why Sweden marks Sami National Day today

From football to tiramisu: A look at Italy’s deepest rivalries

‘I have no idea what a lagom artist could possibly be’

What’s on in Spain: 15 and a half things to do in February

The American making ‘ice music’ in the Italian Alps

Els Castells: What you need to know about the human towers of Catalonia

New Elena Ferrante street art unveiled in Naples

Nine of Italy’s quirkiest festivals in 2019

Sweden allows culture and sports events for up to 300 people

Sights of Rome and Florence attract nearly 30 million visitors

Can Italy force a US museum to return this long-lost Ancient Greek sculpture?

New show in Milan displays Banksy’s rebel art

Opinion: How my perfect picture of Sweden needed adjustment

‘Erotic’ fresco of Leda and the Swan unearthed at Pompeii

Why are so many Germans obsessed with Sweden?

Italy to crack down on art crime after stolen artefacts recovered in USA

My Swedish Career: Meet the café owner bringing a slice of New York to Gothenburg

Interview: Claire Foy talks #MeToo, Lisbeth Salander and Stockholm

Lost murals by Italian Futurist rediscovered in Rome

16 things that happen only in Switzerland

Paris finally finds home for gift by American artist Jeff Koons

Why ‘made in Germany’ TV has captured the imagination of the world

Take a look inside Sweden’s newly renovated National Museum

Italy opens 700 hidden cultural treasures to the public this weekend

My best and worst days in Denmark

Sweden’s art scene shows its alternative side in Malmö

Ten things to do in Italy for the European Year of Cultural Heritage

Italy to offer €2 opera tickets for 18-25 year olds

Paris show blends happiness and melancholia of young Picasso

The tiny Italian town fighting a drugs epidemic with classical music

Four civilizations in Italy that pre-date the Roman Empire

Sweden to return artwork looted by Nazis to Jewish family

Hollywood legend Al Pacino to hit Paris stage in October

Jackpot: What you need to know about France’s new heritage lottery

Italy to scrap free monthly museum entry

‘Archaeological enigma’ accidentally uncovered in Rome during routine works

How a small alternative festival has grown to take over Munich

VIDEO: Champs-Elysées transformed into open-air cinema

Challenge: Are you as well read as a French high school student?

Flowers and fireworks: How Rome (usually) celebrates its patron saints’ day

Banksy takes aim at French government with migrant mural blitz in Paris

How to be a Viking in Stockholm: Where to go and what to do

Six addictive Swedish TV series to binge-watch that aren’t Nordic noir

Friendship in tumultuous times? Steinmeier opens Thomas Mann House in US

Champs-Elysées to be transformed into open air cinema for one night only

Why this French entrepreneur is helping Stockholm kids to find their perfect film role

One of Florence’s greatest spectacles is about to begin

The 18 endangered French monuments to be saved by new lottery

The surprising global cities where German food is considered a treat

Malmö is Sweden’s ‘gay heart that pumps love’

What stereotypes do other Europeans most associate with Germany?

‘Mad’ King Ludwig’s lost porcelain gift to Wagner gets rare show

‘Horror story for kids’: Italian director to remake Pinocchio

Paris: River bank booksellers seek World Heritage status

Netflix announces three original Italian projects

‘It’s about connection with other people’: Why Amazon won’t change Italy’s shopping culture

For the next four days, it costs €3 to go to the cinema in Italy

Prost! Why do Germans make eye contact when they clink glasses?

Map: The 250 crumbling French monuments set to be restored thanks to new lottery

Italy seeks Unesco status for transhumance, ancient tradition of seasonal migration

American tourist damaged Pompeii mosaic by shifting tiles ‘to get a good photo’

Italy opens 1,000 hidden cultural treasures to the public this weekend

10 modern German musicians you need to listen to before you die

Italy’s art police recover works stolen from quake-hit churches

Selfie ban as Swiss artist proves runaway success in Sydney

Five great reasons why Parma is Italy’s 2020 capital of culture

Carnivals, pancakes and excess: What Mardi Gras means in France

11 of the best romantic Italian films of all time

In Pictures: Paris Grand Palais to get €500 million revamp

US train attack heroes return to Paris for Clint Eastwood film opening

‘Confessions of the flesh’: French philosopher’s book to finally be published

Italy puts 200,000 classic Italian songs online for free

Facebook in French court for ‘censoring’ vagina painting

Italy’s literary superstar Elena Ferrante gets a newspaper column – in English

What Peter Mayle taught us about France, the French and Provence

‘A Year In Provence’ author Peter Mayle dies aged 78

‘Is it sperm or lollipops?’ Parisians don’t seem to want new Jeff Koons sculpture

What you need to know about the Bayeux Tapestry (and how will it get to Britain?)

France ready to loan Bayeux Tapestry to Britain – under certain conditions

Fresh claims around Emmanuel Macron’s erotic novel set tongues wagging in France

Italy’s biggest bank to invest €5 billion in tourism

Stockholm’s Vasa Museum sails into top spot on most-visited list

Skarsgård wins Golden Globe for ‘Big Little Lies’ performance

Christkind vs Santa: how Germans and Americans celebrate Christmas differently

Year in review: Italy’s major news stories from 2017

Seven inspiring people The Local interviewed in 2017

Italian hatmaker to the stars Borsalino declared bankrupt

France declares erotic masterpiece ‘120 Days of Sodom’ a national treasure to halt sale

Rome’s Pantheon to start charging visitors next May

Five things you never knew about French rock legend Johnny Hallyday

France’s ‘prince of letters’ Jean d’Ormesson dies aged 92

6,500 strangers club together to save crumbling French castle

Southern Swedish region Skåne’s flag gets official status

The Local’s Swedish film of the month: You, the Living

VIDEO: Is this Sweden’s ultimate weekend getaway?

France to launch special lottery to raise cash to save its crumbling heritage

Sweden vs Italy: A cultural head-to-head

‘Godfather’ of Italian cooking, Antonio Carluccio, dead at 80

Ten unusual Paris museums you should definitely visit

Why do the French still call us ‘Les Anglo-Saxons’?

The next Downton Abbey? Swedish postwar drama pulls in record viewing figures

Built by Caligula and smuggled to the US, a long-lost Roman mosaic finally returns to Italy

French rock magazine ‘regrets’ giving front cover to singer who killed girlfriend

Audrey Azoulay, France’s ‘passionate’ arts defender to Unesco chief

Ten must-visit places in the Paris theatre district

Italian cabinet sets quota for showing homegrown talent on Italian TV

This little country is possibly Europe’s best-kept secret

Eight-metre giant marionettes on parade in Geneva

Police end occupation of iconic left-wing Berlin theatre

‘French Banksy’ returns home for politically-charged project

Abba plot virtual reality ‘reunion’ tour

Banksy mural in Calais wiped out by house painters

Five ways to learn Swedish with legendary comedian Hasse Alfredson

Police arrest men suspected of stealing Space Invader mosaics from Paris walls

Switzerland celebrates cultural heritage with open weekend

The biggest Berlin fans live in China, but everyone’s in on the love

VIDEO: Watch the first trailer for the final season of The Bridge

Preview: India and Icona Pop take centre stage for Stockholm Culture Festival

Duisburg anti-litter campaign accused of racism over use of Turkish names

German ex-director of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum dies aged 62

Italy launches nationwide free wifi app

The Versace story: After its founder’s murder, how the luxury brand rediscovered its soul

Ten golden rules for cooking pasta like the Italians, from an artisan pasta maker

Italy just got two new Unesco World Heritage sites

Meeting Morricone: ‘It was essential that I change my style for every film’

Here’s how to do the Italian cheek kiss

Hundreds sign petition to kick male staff out of historic women-only baths

Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist’s life in pictures

Eight unmissable events taking place across Germany this July

‘Stop! This is what lagom truly means’

‘Mouxit’: Moutier’s decision highlights Switzerland’s cultural divide

Ten Instagram pictures that prove Sweden is the best summer country

Rome bans snacking tourists from its ancient fountains

Fellini’s La Strada: a vision of masculinity and femininity that still haunts us today

‘Parthenon’ made of books built at site of Nazi book burning

The Local’s Swedish film of the month: Zozo

Meet the designer turning forest mushrooms into shoes, plates, and furniture

Florence’s mayor pours water over church steps to banish snacking tourists

7 unmissable events in Germany this June

Italian court overturns appointment of museum directors

The US just returned $90,000 worth of stolen artefacts to Italy

Rome authorities defend controversial stage built amidst ruins for rock musical

Thieves steal 6th-century ornament from Pompeii

15 world records held by Italy and Italians

A follow-up to Sorrentino’s The Young Pope is coming

Bach vs burka: Germany debates identity ahead of election

How to sound cool on a night out in Spain

Why Italy is ‘giving away’ 100 historic buildings for free

Meet Italy’s Eurovision hopeful, the bookies’ favourite to win

Why this Italian island has revived its ancient currency

The Tuscan festival that celebrates vintage cycling and wine

Five Swiss folk festivals you just have to visit this summer

‘Italians always make you feel welcome – accommodating guests comes naturally’

The mobile Berlin brewery made out of shipping containers

It’s Rome’s birthday: 17 facts about the Eternal City

Stuffed frogs and sewing machines: Switzerland’s strangest museums

Italian arrested for nude Trevi Fountain swim

Five of the more peculiar Swiss Easter traditions