The deaths make 2024 the deadliest year on record for small boat Channel crossings Three people have died after falling from an overcrowded small boat trying to cross from France to the UK, as 2024 became the deadliest year on record for perilous sea crossings The boat ran into trouble at about 6am on Sunday near Blériot-Plage a public beach in Sangatte close to the French Channel port of Calais Several people fell into the water trying to board the overcrowded vessel The Calais prefect’s office and French maritime authorities said 48 people were rescued and 45 needed urgent medical help – the majority for hypothermia four of whom were urgently transferred to hospital was launched from the French coast as soon as the boat was seen in difficulty A French naval helicopter recovered the three people from the water who were pronounced dead by medical services An investigation has been opened by the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor’s office Operations continued along the French coast on Sunday morning to identify any other small boats in danger Attempted boardings of other small boats and dinghies were spotted at several locations After a lengthy gap in crossings due to bad weather conditions 1,485 people crossed by sea from the northern French coast to the UK between 25 and 28 December Dozens more are understood to have made the crossing successfully earlier on Sunday and have arrived in Dover The large number of recent crossings calls into question the UK government’s claim of disrupting the smugglers’ supply network in other European countries such as Germany by seizing dinghies destined for the French coast Favourable winds since last weekend have encouraged people seeking asylum in the UK to attempt the dangerous crossing French maritime authorities carried out 12 rescue operations along the coast of northern France on Christmas Day rescuing 107 people in distress from small boats trying to cross to the UK Charities in France had warned of a growing number of attempted departures at the end of December when the sea can appear calm but water temperatures are dangerously low and small inflatable boats are overloaded One asylum seeker from Lebanon said on Christmas Eve that, due to the poor weather and the harsh conditions in the makeshift camp in northern France that he was living in with evictions by the French police every 48 hours he had decided to abandon his plans to reach the UK “I have travelled to Germany and am planning to claim asylum there,” he said “The conditions in northern France are too bad.” Based on the numbers who have crossed the Channel in recent days many others chose to wait in camps in Calais and Dunkirk until the weather improved More than 150,000 people have crossed the Channel in small vessels since records began in January 2018 with more than 36,000 so far this year – a 23% increase on last year The UK government has pledged to crack down on people-smuggling gangs Keir Starmer called for greater international cooperation against the gangs which he described as a “global security threat similar to terrorism” Western governments and their intelligence services today seem to have broadened the scope of what they mean by “extremism” to encompass all ideologies and political movements that are somehow deemed “too dangerous” to exist it is the time to put aside our differences to defend the nation.” who fled Nazi Germany with his family as a teen became a dominating force in foreign policy for decades A migrant reacts after boarding a smuggler’s inflatable dinghy in an attempt to cross the English Channel The number of migrants crossing the English Channel to the UK surged by 25% in 2024 This marks the second-highest annual total since records began in 2018 and reflects a stark failure to curb illegal migration under the leadership of both the Labour and Conservative parties Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, slammed the current government’s approach, accusing it of exacerbating the crisis. “Only by sending people back do we stop them coming,” Farage told GB News He called for a “turn back the boats” strategy akin to Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders.  “Tony Abbott in Australia was told he couldn’t do anything about the boats coming from Indonesia dismissing Labour’s reliance on targeting smuggling gangs as insufficient Immigration is fast becoming one of the biggest political issues in the UK Observers linked the previous Conservative government’s huge defeat in the July 2024 election with their inability to control Britain’s borders That election also saw the rise of Reform UK which campaigned for much tougher policies Labour’s focus on international co-operation and law enforcement has yet to produce results Starmer acknowledged inheriting a “bad position” but critics argue his policies are making matters even worse with 2024 being the most lethal year on record At least 77 people died attempting the journey according to the International Organisation for Migration Farage concluded: “We are full of arguments about why we can’t act It’s time for arguments on why we can.”  Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Authorities in northern France issued red alerts as floods described as "exceptional" hit a number of towns in the region leading to severe road disruptions and school closures with warnings remaining in place on Wednesday Up to 60 towns were affected by heavy rainfall on Tuesday resulting in top-level flood alerts for the Aa and the Liane rivers both of which had previously burst their banks last week due to Storm Ciaran and Storm Domingos Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reported seven injuries and the mobilization of more than 1,500 firefighters in the region was reduced from a tier-four red to a tier-three orange alert by the national meteorological service Meteo France on Tuesday evening though residents were still being advised to remain cautious The two rivers run through some main towns in the department French news website Connexion reported that a number of other rivers in the department are either on tier-three orange or tier-two yellow warnings due to high water levels Floods have caused "significant "damage in many northern municipalities adding that dozens of schools have been closed Official river flooding watchdog Vigicrues described Tuesday's floods as "exceptional" It added that the floods had surpassed the historic levels of 2002 the previous benchmark for river levels in the department Some rivers could be on a red alert for flooding until at least Wednesday evening The watchdog's website said the Liane's water level could rise up to 560 centimeters above its normal level nearly a meter above its previous record high of 481 cm The flooding was expected to spread downstream to Wizernes where widespread and very damaging overflows were likely a town previously struck by flooding last year A local resident told AFP there was nothing that could be done to prevent the flooding "Everything has to be repaired again," said Ludovic Provence The vice-president of the Hauts-de-France region was cited by Connexion saying that officials were "very worried" the flooding could worsen throughout the week "The rains have been accumulating for over 20 days they can no longer absorb anything," said Dhersin in the Pas-de-Calais department described the situation as a "catastrophe" on Monday evening before another intense spell of heavy rain struck the area overnight are also still facing tier-three orange warnings due to river flooding Please note that this is an automated translation and it will not be perfect All articles have been written in English and if anything appears to not make sense Tour organizers have unveiled details of the first three stages of the 2025 edition of the race The last time the Tour peloton visited Lille was during the 2022 Tour de France First three stages of 2025 Tour to take place in north of France The 2025 Tour de France will not be heading over the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix despite its Grand Départ taking place in Lille and the Nord Department Stage one will be a loop from Lille to Lille and early classified climbs en route: Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Mont Cassel (via its cobbled side) and Mont Noir With the last of these 40km from the finish it will probably be one for the sprinters back in the largest city in the Hauts-de-France The second stage is from Lauwin-Planque to Boulougne-sur-Mer on the Channel coast with climbs at Saint-Etienne-au-Mont and Outreau in the final 10km It might well be a stage in the sights of Wout van Aert who won the last time the Tour finished on this coastline The third stage sees the race return inland to Valenciennes but the route heads northwest to Dunkerque for another finish by the sea There will be an intermediate sprint at Isbergues and a climb on the Côte de Cassel before an ending almost in view of the Channel after its time in the Hauts-de-France region it is thought that the Tour will head to Normandy and Brittany on its journey towards the Pyrenees and Alps There was speculation that cobbles would feature as they normally accompany the Tour when it heads to Lille The gravel stage in the 2024 Tour might have prevented the route directors from heading off-asphalt again so quickly Both the 2023 and 2024 routes largely ignored the north of the country with the most northerly place being Paris in the former This was partly due to both having Grand Départs in countries to the south of France: Spain and Italy respectively 2025 will also mark the first time in four years that the Tour actually begins in France After a run of three in a row outside of France - Copenhagen and Florence next - it is a return to tradition Lille hosted the Grand Départ once before when Chris Boardman won the prologue before Djamolidine Abduzhaparov won a sprinter friendly stage one the Tour ended up jumping into the south of England for two stages in the opening week The Tour last started in the Nord de France area in 2001 when Christophe Moreau won the prologue time trial and pulled on the first yellow jersey 2025 will also represent a return to normality in another way, as the race will conclude in Paris on the Champs-Élysées after a hiatus in 2024, when the Tour is concluding in Nice Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1 *Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1 Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds Before cycling took over his professional life he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes Five departments continue to face heightened weather alerts for river flooding a week after Storm Ciaran battered the country Four of the departments are in the west of France however in the northern Pas-de-Calais department severe flooding has affected dozens of communes The Aa and Liane rivers were on red alert for flooding yesterday (November 7) and a tier-two yellow warning continues today The Canche river in the south of the department remains at a heightened tier-three orange level and there are fears other warning levels could rise again if more rain falls today Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and Minister for Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu visited Saint-Étienne-au-Mont in the department this morning to assess some of the damage Mr Béchu said that the department "could reach a red alert level" by the end of the day and that six months worth of rain had fallen in the department over the last 30 days a dozen departments – mostly in the west of France – are facing tier-two yellow warnings for other weather phenomena including strong winds and heavy rain The situation at ground level is calmer than yesterday but people in the areas are still advised to be careful The Liane and Aa saw historic rises in their water level – almost a metre higher than previous records from 2002’s floods – but these have begun to slowly fall back to average levels today Read more: Red alert for flooding as rivers burst banks in north France “We had five streets totally flooded and around 50 affected [since the beginning of the week],” said the mayor of Arques Benoît Roussel “What we've noticed since yesterday evening and this morning is that the water is receding and the roads are reappearing,” he added Excess water from the rivers was transported to nearby areas to prevent further flooding in the worst-hit areas however rainfall predicted for later today is of concern but we're afraid that this afternoon… it will come back,” said the mayor The department is facing a tier-two yellow warning for heavy rain with rain falling almost non-stop since the start of the passage of Storm Ciaran on Wednesday evening With the soil completely saturated with water any further rain that falls is remaining lodged at ground level (or raising the level of rivers) and contributing to the difficulty of tackling the floods A brief respite is currently being felt in the north Residents should keep up to date with local weather reports in case warnings increase again Schools in the department were closed yesterday There will be no blanket closure of schools today in the worst-hit areas it will be up to local officials if schools are partially or completely closed The departmental prefecture said establishments in certain communes will be able to choose on a “case-by-case basis,” if they open today Transport in the region will definitely remain restricted Trains between Boulougne-sur-Mer and Étaples (on the Calais-Amiens line) will not run until at least tomorrow morning with disruptions potentially stretching later into the week 🔴15h04Axe : Calais ↔ Amiens Interruption des circulations dans les 2 sens entre Boulogne et Etaples jusqu'au jeudi 9 novembre dans la matinée à cause d’inondations sur les voies. pic.twitter.com/cSTAIsP5xU It is looking likely that the worst effects of Storms Domingos and Ciaran will be over by the end of the day in the west and Charente-Maritime - are on a tier-three orange warning for river flooding and Dronne rivers in the departments are facing tier-three orange alerts along certain stretches for flooding (although the warnings do not apply to the entire length of the rivers) A handful of other departments in the area are also facing tier-two yellow warnings for flooding. You can see which rivers are affected using the official Vigicrues website Early forecasts for Thursday (November 9) are that less than 10 departments will be facing warnings of any type and that none will be higher than a tier-two yellow alert These departments are mostly situated on the western coast but the risks are much lower than at the start of the week As a reminder, alert levels are issued by Météo France and subject to change throughout the day. You can keep up to date with accurate reports on the official website SEE: Dramatic scenes of storm Ciaran battering north-west France What to do (and not do) during heavy rain and flood alerts in France Recent power cut in Spain and Portugal is warning to holidaymakers to ensure they are prepared for worst-case scenario The resort is set to remain open to the public and not only to professionals Storms from the weekend will persist across some areas The music of the reclusive composer and keyboard virtuoso Charles-Valentin Alkan "has transformed my musical life for the better" originality and appealing music of Charles-Valentin Alkan rivals the state of Western Australia for being a well-kept secret from the world I had vaguely heard of Alkan, but knew virtually nothing about him or his music. This was to change drastically in 2018 when I received an email from Steve Long, the Managing Director of Signum Classics. I have been a long-standing recording artist for Signum since my first recording for them featuring the Grand Ballroom Organ in Buckingham Palace in 2007 I have recorded the complete organ works of Widor as well as individual disks from St Sulpice It has been an amazing journey with Signum and I am truly grateful to Steve Long for his ongoing support of my career The email Steve received was from an admirer of my Widor cycle by the name of Seth Blacklock Seth believed that my Widor playing indicated that I might prove to be a natural interpreter of the organ music of Charles Valentin Alkan Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Contribute to Limelight and support independent arts journalism The award-winning British-Australian organist tells us about the music of French composer Charles-Valentin Alkan Australian-born Paul Wee has taken time out from the bar to record two of the most daunting works in the Romantic repertoire Clive Paget talks to him about his singular career path and his fascination with the eccentric and reclusive Charles-Valentin Alkan Check out our playlists from our latest issue Our free Weekly Newsletter delivers the latest arts news reviews and features to your inbox each Saturday The renowned English-born Australian organist and conductor describes the experience of playing in St Michaelis Limelight has hailed Dr Joseph Nolan as one of the world’s finest organists he performed at the Hamburger Orgelsommer (Organ City Hamburg Festival) one of the world’s great organ festivals He describes the experience of performing in St Michaelis church Travelling on an ICE train from Hamburg to Cologne culminating in giving a concert for the Hamburger Orgelsommer I will do my best to tell the story of this unique experience for Limelight and its readers I was invited to perform at the most famous church in Hamburg it is considered the most important Baroque church in Northern Germany Both Mendelssohn and Reger have close connections to St Michaelis Mendelssohn lived near the church and Reger (2023 is his 150th-anniversary year) often used to play his own compositions on its former Walcher organ The Steinmeyer organ is the central instrument at the back.. JS Bach regularly tops polls as the greatest composer of all time Today we celebrate his 335th birthday by asking some of our top Bach performers why he's so extraordinary Dr Nolan discusses Bach's jubilant festive work as St George's Concert Series prepares to present it in Perth Ahead of his performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion the organist and director explains why he ditched the Mendelssohn to edit his own version of the ‘greatest story ever told’ for Perth The soprano and mezzo pair – who are close friends off stage – return to St George's Cathedral in a much-anticipated follow up to their Diva’s Delight concert two years ago Joseph Nolan saw colleagues’ jaws drop when he decided to move from London to Perth in 2008 but thanks to some enlightened West Australians The Perth-based organist's album Midnight at St Etienne du Mont is Limelight's Recording of the Month for March Our free Weekly Newsletter delivers the latest arts news, reviews and features to your inbox each Saturday. As of 6.07am on Thursday, Météo-France issued a bulletin forecasting a continuation of intense rain, following the already exceptional rainfall experienced in recent days. This rainfall, occasionally accompanied by thunderstorms, is expected to persist until late morning on Friday, according to the weather service. Pas-de-Calais is currently under a red flood watch for the Liane and Aa rivers, with a red alert for rain and floods effective from 2pm. Meanwhile, the neighbouring Nord department is under an orange alert for rain and flooding. Vigicrues, France's national information service flood risks, reports red flood alerts for the Liane and Aa rivers in Pas-de-Calais, with the Hem, Canche, and Lys amont-Laquette rivers under an orange alert. In the western part of Pas-de-Calais, rainfall totals are expected to range from 50 to 70 mm, reaching 80 to 100 mm locally in the Boulonnais and Montreuillois areas, as per Météo-France. In the Nord department, rainfall totals will vary from 20 to 40 mm, with up to 50 mm in the west of the department. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, in a statement on X (formerly Twitter), expressed the unwavering commitment of safety and emergency services, urging citizens to remain vigilant. Darmanin, alongside Christophe Béchu, the Minister for Ecological Transition, visited the affected commune of Saint-Etienne-au-Mont near Boulogne-sur-Mer on Wednesday. In response to the crisis, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture has declared the closure of schools in 74 communes, particularly those around Saint-Omer, Boulogne-sur-Mer, and Montreuil-sur-Mer, on Thursday and Friday. This decision follows the closure of schools in the Aa and Liane river basins on Tuesday. Darmanin announced plans to declare a state of natural disaster for the affected towns in the Pas-de-Calais and Nord departments during a scheduled meeting on 14 November. In Estréelles, in the Canche basin, the town hall told AFP that some residents have been evacuated due to fears that a dyke upstream might give way, which would "completely flood certain streets in the commune with one big wave." In nearby Montreuil-sur-Mer, the local council is ready to receive disaster victims in a sports hall near the town hall. The Canche, the Aa, the Hem, and the Liane are experiencing "historic" floods, stressed prefect Jacques Billant. According to Météo-France, "some stations have recorded rainfall totals that only occur on average once a century." Up to 275 mm of rain in a fortnight was recorded at Bainghen, between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Saint-Omer. The flooding has affected almost 200,000 people and left 5,200 without running water since Tuesday evening, according to the prefecture. One person suffered a knee injury on Wednesday, bringing the total to three minor injuries in the department since Monday. At Arques, near Saint-Omer, a mega-pump was deployed by the French civil defence agency to pump excess water from the Aa river into a nearby canal in order to "protect a dyke put under pressure by the water level," Béchu said. Before being placed under red flood alert for the first time on Monday afternoon, the Pas-de-Calais department had already been hit by flooding during storm Ciarán last week. In the space of 30 days, "the equivalent of six months' rainfall" has fallen in the department, with the last week alone accounting for "three months' rainfall," according to Béchu. On X, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne expressed her "support for the injured, residents, and public servants who are working day and night" to mitigate the damage. Borne called for "caution (…) in the face of danger." Charente-Maritime is also under an orange flood alert. On Tuesday, a 70-year-old man died after falling into the Charente river at Fontclaireau, in a flooded area, according to the Angoulême public prosecutor's office. The Seine-Maritime region was placed under an orange alert for rain and flooding on Thursday morning due to a "significant rainfall episode" with rainfall totals of 50 to 70 mm in general and 80 to 90 mm on the coast. shows you exactly where to look to experience one of European history’s longest and bloodiest periods of civil unrest in just two days Day 1 – Two raids and an execution Morning – July 12 to July 14 We begin at the Palais Royal and two days before the storming of the Bastille Its arcades were a popular hangout for radicals and on July 12 riled by the sacking of Chief Minister Jacques Necker the day before Camille Desmoulins gave a rabble-rousing speech from a tabletop outside the Café Foy at 57-60 Galerie Montpensier that set the next few days’ events in motion There’s no plaque to mark its spot – nor outside 177 Galerie Valois where a certain assassin bought the knife that changed the course of the Revolution – but the courtyard remains almost exactly as it was in 1789 Arcades of the Palais Royal │ | © Guilhem Vellut / Wikimedia Commons Heading south out of the Palais Royal pass through the Louvre and into the Jardin des Tuileries disgruntled citizens seized a royal store of weapons and rained stones down on the palace guards – the first of many brutal skirmishes the garden would witness Following the river west on either side will bring you to Les Invalides in half an hour Cour d’Honneur des Invalides │ | © EduardoVieira88 / Wikimedia Commons On the morning of July 14, with the city in a state of panic, several thousand men plundered the military complex’s store of 30,000 muskets. However, days before, 250 barrels of gunpowder had been moved to the Bastille for safekeeping. After a tour of the relevant exhibits of the Musée de l’Armée You can either follow in the mob’s footsteps for an hour or hop on the 87 bus at Saint-François-Xavier and arrive at the Place de la Bastille in half the time gold statue-topped July Column that is of interest to us here (it commemorates the Revolution of 1830) but the brown brick outlines on the Boulevard Henri IV and Rue Saint-Antoine that show the perimeter of the fortress prison After a brief negotiation and a four-hour battle Place de la Bastille │ | © Mbzt / Wikimedia Commons His bad day then took a turn for the worse where he was beaten to within an inch of his life (You can get here far more comfortably on the M1 in just six minutes.) Finally Let me die!’ and landed a kick squarely in the crotch of one of his attackers de Launay was stabbed to death and his decapitated head was paraded around the square on a pike Sign up to our newsletter to save up to $800 on our unique trips See privacy policy Hôtel de Ville │ | © wagner51 / Wikimedia Commons With this unsavory image in mind, pop over the Pont d’Arcole to the Île de la Cité and the Square Jean XXIII for a spot of lunch The garden offers great views of Notre-Dame which was transformed into the Temple of Reason and later a wine storehouse during the Revolution After lunch, we fast-forward three years to Marie Antoinette’s execution. Her last day started at the Conciergerie a palace-turned-prison that became known as a ‘vast antechamber of death.’ The grim misery of the Revolution seeps out from the walls of this museum which contains fascinating rooms and objects like the queen’s eleven-by-six-foot (3.3 by 1.8 meters) cell and the bell that announced the arrival of her tumbrel in the May Courtyard Conciergerie │ | © Rafesmar / Wikimedia Commons You can retrace her final journey by exiting the Conciergerie Block out the luxury boutiques and imagine how she must have felt that day – the back of her head shaved and the people she once ruled cursing her from the roadside the Revolutionary artist Jacques-Louis David sketched the queen staring off into space A left turn will take you onto the Rue Royale and the Place de la Concorde, the square which didn’t claim the most heads but definitely the most famous ones, including those of Louis XVI substantially alter the feel of the square but the Pont de la Concorde that leads off it was so that ‘the people could forever trample the ruins of the old fortress.’ Pont de la Concorde and the Assemblée nationale │ | © Jebulon / Wikimedia Commons For dinner, head back on foot or on the M1 to the Rue Saint Honoré and Au Chien Qui Fume this seafood restaurant retains many original features and is the perfect place to absorb a sense of Paris during the Revolution Au chien qui fume │ | © Denis.deruel / Wikimedia Commons Day 2 – One murder and 1300 more executions Morning – July 13 Our second day starts as many a Parisian day at the end of the 18th century would have done – with a dramatic assassination. The Musée Grévin might seem like an odd place to go looking for the French Revolution but hardly anywhere allows you to get closer to genuine artefacts from this time – namely the shoe-shaped copper-lined bathtub in which pamphleteer Jean-Paul Marat was murdered and the knife Charlotte Corday used to do it One of the most radical voices of the day Marat had to retire from public life due to a terrible skin disease and spent most of his days writing in a medicinal bath he permitted Corday to enter because he believed she had sensitive information for him Corday drew a five-inch (12-centimeter) knife from her corset that she’d bought that day at the Palais Royal and plunged it into Marat’s carotid artery Corday was guillotined on the Place de la Concorde Detail from The Death of Marat by David │ | © Jacques-Louis David / Wikimedia Commons After passing through various private owners the tub came into the possession of the Musée Grévin in the 1880s where it is displayed with a wax work of Marat inspired by David’s famous (and romanticized) painting Marat’s apartment was just three doors down from the Couvent des Cordeliers where he and his fellow revolutionaries had a base His rapidly decaying body was displayed here in the days after his death and he was buried (for the first time) under a weeping willow in the garden with the entire National Convention in attendance and the Marquis de Sade delivering the eulogy On November 25, his remains were transferred the 12 minutes along the Boulevard Saint-Michel and Rue Cujas to the Panthéon which had been finished in 1790 as the Abbey of Sainte-Genevieve and shortly thereafter converted into a mausoleum for great citizens of the Republic Panthéon │ | © Sergey Galyonkin / Wikimedia Commons Marat’s reputation was tarnished and his coffin was removed from the Panthéon and laid to rest (for the third and final time) in the cemetery of the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont next door To mull over this unusual fate and enjoy a picnic lunch walk the six minutes downhill to the Jardin du Luxembourg was a makeshift prison during the Revolution The last period to discover is the final weeks of the Reign of Terror take the half-hour journey from Luxembourg to Nation on the RER B and RER A and walk the short distance to the Cimitière de Picpus private cemetery contains two mass graves in which the bodies of 1306 people are interred They were the last victims of Paris’ bloodiest chapter was himself beheaded on the Place de la Concorde on July 28 Cimetière Picpus │ | © LPLT / Wikimedia Commons The graveyard is also the final resting place of Général Lafayette who is known as the ‘hero of two worlds,’ referring to his involvement in the revolutionary wars of both America and France To finish this 48-hours immersion, jump on the 86 bus at Nation for the 15-minute ride to Odéon, where you’ll find the Café Procope at 13 Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie. Opened in 1686, it was here that Voltaire, Rousseau and among its incredible artefacts is a postcard signed by Marie Antoinette Café Procope │ | © sergemelki / Wikimedia Commons If you have more time in Paris, consider checking out the Louvre’s collection of 18th-century paintings, sculptures, and furniture to mark the first anniversary of the royal couple’s arrest on August 13 and the abolition of the monarchy a month later Paul is a trained journalist who spent many years living and writing in Paris immersing himself in the city’s rich history and art scenes Art The Best Photography Galleries in Paris See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in October Guides & Tips This Is Europe's Ultimate Road Trip Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in December See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Autumn See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in September See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in July See & Do Hacks Every Tourist Should Know When Visiting the Eiffel Tower Guides & Tips Scenic Road Trips to Take From Biarritz Guides & Tips The Best European Cities to Visit in November See & Do 10 French Theme Parks You Should Be Visiting Instead of Disney See & Do The Best European Cities to Visit in Summer US: +1 (678) 967 4965 | UK: +44 (0)1630 35000 tripssupport@theculturetrip.com © Copyright 2025 The Culture Trip Ltd It is often said that God moves in mysterious ways Reflecting on my journey from Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal I was examining for the Associated Board in Kuala Lumpur when He and his wife would soon be in the UK for a wedding; could we meet up A chat with Tallis Scholars conductor Peter Phillips (whose son was in the Chapel Royal Choir) confirmed Dr Shepherd was no ordinary man two doctorates in music and had been chaplain at Christ Church We met and agreed I’d come “for a look around Perth” This casual invitation involved my being interviewed by many people including members of the Cathedral Chapter playing the organ to a selection committee conducting a boys’ rehearsal and conducting the Duruflé Requiem with the Cathedral Choir for All Souls.. John Maidment laments the absence of a grand organ in Melbourne’s Hamer Hall The French organ maestro battled blindness addiction and adultery only to keel over in the saddle Perth Cathedral's Master of Music will finesse the Town Hall's mighty instrument for a whole week of French organ grandeur What do you get when you place nuts and bolts on the keys of an organ (apart from a smack on the wrist from the organist) Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber The Wagnerian soprano who thought she'd never sing again is looking at a fuller diary than ever ABC Classic FM’s Julian Day spoke to all-round musician Bryce Dessner ahead of his Perth Festival classical gig This small modified keyboard instrument invented by Percy Grainger Australia’s most eccentric composer (1882-1961) is tuned in sixth-tones to produce a microtonal effect of an even It was one of several so-called “free music machines” that Grainger developed throughout a lifetime of experimentation (we’ll encounter more in the pages that follow) Several of his instruments are on display at the Grainger Museum in Melbourne metallic instruments were dreamt up by Paris-based Greek composer Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) for his 1978 percussion magnum opus Pleiades was designed to bring out the clashing harmonic overtones between notes Australian percussion group Synergy performed Pleiades with six instruments they had built to Xenakis’s specifications They spent months scavenging in scrap yards to source metal that could produce the right timbre Icelandic pop songstress Björk commissioned several new instruments for her latest album Biophilia is a cross between gamelan-like bronze bars and a celeste casing British percussionist Matt Nolan and Icelandic organ craftsman Björgvin Tómasson collaborated on the project crystalline sound showcased on songs like… Well Stravinsky was no big fan of the organ – “the beast never breathes!” he said The first pyrophone was described in 1875 by the French physicist George Frédéric Eugène Kastner in an essay entitled Les flammes chantantes Modern specimens are powered by controlled propane or gasoline combustion taking place inside each pipe Developed by Hubbub Music out of recycled car parts it is 10 metres high and generally requires five performers to tame it “I am not an instrument builder,” said Harry Partch (1901-1974) “only a philosophic man seduced into carpentry.” The American iconoclast developed many unusual instruments to realise his unique sound-world based on a 43-note octave and they sound like things you would find in a Lewis Carroll nonsense poem: the Quadrangularis Reversum Spoils of War (actually a whole arsenal of instruments) The Cloud-Chamber Bowls is a set of percussive pyrex bowls first built around 1950 using cloud chamber carboys suspended in a frame It is played on the edges and flat tops with small soft mallets to give a bell-like tone and each bowl has at least one inharmonic overtone When one of them breaks you’re in trouble: it is almost impossible to find an exact duplicate Another ripper from Australian composer Percy Grainger who tinkered with developing what he called “free music machines” uses paper rolls to operate a set of oscillators producing what has been described as the sound of “four air-raid sirens going on at different pitches.” A far cry from the composer’s arrangement of Country Gardens… As if the theremin wasn’t weird enough… Here it is in a supersized street-art version created by Robin Fox Like Léon Theremin’s less successful electronic instrument its antenna senses the players’ body movements Its appearance on the streets of Melbourne in 2011 was celebrated with music and dance collaborations featuring Chunky Move inventor and artist Colin Offord draws on traditional instruments of indigenous cultures the Pacific Islands and Asia as inspiration for his own creations he has developed his unique concept of an “Australasian sound” often as an archery bow used for music rather than as a weapon Offord adapted this ancient model with added objects and resonators to expand its sonic and expressive possibilities: the result is a variety of elaborate stringed instruments he has named the Great Island Mouthbow This space-age “instrument” is based on Tesla coils a kind of resonant transformer circuit developed in 1891 to produce high-voltage alternating current electricity modulating the system’s break rate with MIDI data and a control unit The name of the ensuing device is a play on words combining Zeus And what to do with all that raw electronic power Enterprising multi-instrumentalist Diego Stocco was expelled from music school for sawing his violin in half Now that’s pretty much all the Italian sound artist does – so well that he was handpicked by film composer Hans Zimmer to play his DIY Experibass (essentially conjoined string instruments) on the soundtrack to Hollywood blockbuster Sherlock Holmes deep in the Kingswood forest near Kent in England Jem Finer’s Score for a Hole in the Ground is a musical instrument with an ecological outlook The horn-like contraption stands some five metres above ground Its gramophone-like head captures and amplifies the sounds of the forest in which it is “planted” The well contains a water system creating random droplets that fall and strike a series of metallic structures below The ensuing tones reverberate up the shaft of the instrument A dew pond collects the water that feeds the instrument Australia’s Garry Greenwood creates wind string and percussion instruments of all sizes made of leather using a wet moulding technique His collection includes an “ostrich bowhorn” and “dragon didjeridu” but the most impressive item by far is the 6-metre windform horn Connor D'Netto unveils himself as a synthesist in his new four-track EP which fuses contemporary classical with experimental electronics And what does it take to be HIP in classical music brings synthesizer and orchestra into harmony one moment and into stark opposition the next The modular mogul talks about his latest album composed on a 1975 Serge Paperface synth and facing the musical unknown As the Australian Chamber Orchestra prepares to explore it we examine the groundbreaking music of Wendy Carlos and her trailblazing career We talk to the playwright as she prepares to make her mainstage debut in her own play immersive work by the adventurous ensemble has been fashioned from hours of field recordings and requires custom instruments and an inflatable performance space Pianist Hannah Shin auditioned for the International Piano-e-Competition in Alaska The bouffant-sporting virtuoso reveals the secrets of the one-finger method Barry Morgan has vivid memories of the first organ he ever heard It was like listening to a whole orchestra in a way.” It’s a revelation that has stayed with Morgan (the alter-ego of musician and storeowner Stephen Teakle) throughout his life and given rise to the stage persona that has made him an unlikely hit around the country and on TV shows such as Spicks and Specks But he is outraged when I ask him if the character of Barry Morgan – the safari-suited purveyor of vintage organs with the sparkling grin – is a gimmick where he also shops for his ubiquitous safari suits His obsession with the electric household variety of organ began in childhood when he was introduced to the Lowery Teenie Genie model Morgan’s debut instrumental album The Touch of You,.. Adelaide has a magnificent and unique new music venue He discusses his new project at The Lab in Adelaide Adelaide Cabaret Festival’s new Artistic Director talks COVID and connection embarrassed at constantly being compared to Marlene Dietrich She talks about the extraordinary three-hour phone call that followed has led to the German-born cabaret star’s latest show The irrepressible mezzo tells us about her latest album Limelight's Recording of the Month in March Charting her personal journey with the great 50s songstress in a new show McGregor talks about why Sumac’s story is particularly relevant this year The cellist and curator of UKARIA 24 talks about his love of chamber music and what working with living composers can teach us about the music of the past Ahead of her appearance at the Adelaide French Festival Nin talks about the inspiration behind her show Last Updated on 28th February 2024 by Sophie Nadeau As a big capital city which sometimes feels more akin to an outdoor museum than urban metropolis it can be hard to pinpoint exactly which point of the city you’ll want to see next: it’s just all so endearing But if you’re looking to do a spot of shopping while visiting one of the oldest streets in Paris then you need to look no further than rue Mouffetard As well as being one of the oldest streets in Paris, rue Mouffetard (or la Mouffe as some locals like to call it), rue Mouffetard is located in the 5th arrondissement, which is also sometimes referred to as the Latin Quarter thanks to the fact that students of the Sorbonne University used to converse with one another in Latin during the Middle Ages Rue Mouffetard is also on a sloping hill as much of the more famous parts of the Latin Quarter (such as the Paris Pantheon and Eglise Saint Etienne du Mont) are both situated at the top of a hill which one stood around 180 feet above sea level This is one of my personal favourite streets in Paris as I love the local vibe and how despite being so close to major attractions in the Latin Quarter rue Mouffetard still feels a little bit off the beaten path and less touristic There has been a street on the spot of rue Mouffetard for at least 2000 years when the Romans (known as Lutetia during this epoch) referred to the road as mont Cetardus on account of a close by hill. Nearby, vestiges of Roman Paris can still be spied in the former Roman arena and in the former bath complex The name Mouffetard probably derives from the French word Mouffet This could well be because during the Middle Ages the street was inhabited by many animal skinners The word mofettes means ‘odours of pestilence,’ and just means that the road was really smelly the road has been known as many names including  Montfétard, Maufetard, Mofetard Mouflard, Moufetard, Moftard, and Mostard escaped the Baron Haussmann overhauls that created the iconic Paris of zinc rooftops and grand boulevards that are so synonymous with the French capital today Rue Mouffetard didn’t entirely escape the overhaul, as it was originally much longer and actually cut in half by Haussmannian renovations to create the Avenue des Gobelins of the 13th arrondissement and you’ll still be able to feel the ambiance of medieval Paris thanks to its many stores spilling out onto the street and cobbled nature the iconic street was even described by Ernest Hemingway in A Moveable Feast as “that wonderful narrow crowded market street which led into the Place Contrescarpe” it’s possible to follow in the footstep of famous figures a nearby hotel on rue Pot de Fer was where George Orwell called home in the mid 20th-century and rue Mouffetard itself was said to be one of the favourite market streets of Julia Child when she lived and cooked in Paris which means that produce growers bring their wares directly into Paris from the countryside to sell them On certain days of the week (between Tuesday and Sunday) sellers from outside the city will head to the street in the mornings to sell offerings such as fruits and vegetables The road is also a street market, meaning that many of the shops along the road are permanent stores open most days of the week (though a lot of food stores are closed on Sundays in Paris) A lot of French people enjoy buying each of their groceries from different stores What this means is that they’ll head to a cheese monger for their dairy products (such as speciality butter) and cheeses, head to the patisserie shop for pastries, head to the butcher for their meat, and boulangerie/ bakery for their breadstuffs- you get the point One of the more delightful squares in the Latin Quarter is the Place de la Contrescarpe Constrescarpe was a term used in medieval French to denote the outer edge of a moat that surrounded a fortified city (this area of the city would have been just next to the original moat of Paris) the centre of this circular piazza boasts a fountain while the outskirts are surrounded by bars and cafés which offer street side terraces in the warmer months of the year It’s a particularly popular spot among students who want to hang out after university classes in the summer There are several buildings of note which make a stroll along rue Mouffetard particularly enjoyable 6 which is crowned with a pair of oxen reliefs and the fountain in the middle of the street (La Fontaine du Pot au Fer) which was built at the behest of Marie de Medicis in the first half of the 17th-century When heading to the base of rue Mouffetard you’ll find the church of Saint Medard This small ecclesiastical building was constructed in the 15th-century in the Gothic Flamboyant style and is free to enter Though a little on the touristy side when it comes to cafés in Paris and not just because it is named for the French poet Verlaine which is on the continuation of rue Mouffetard when heading towards the Seine The eponymous poet spent time in the building plaques on the wall commemorate these two men and the restaurant itself serves classic French dishes such as tarte tatin and escargots Sophie Nadeau is a full time travel writer and photographer focused on cultural experiences in Europe and beyond When she's not chasing after the sunset (or cute dogs she sees on her travels) she can be found reading and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. I started this site back in 2015 with one mission in mind: I wanted to create useful travel guides with a historical and cultural focus Today it has blossomed into my full time job and together with a small team of writers (including my husband and sister) we craft articles to help you travel better throughout Europe © 2015- 2025 Sophie Nadeau. Nadeau Pasquier LTD. All Rights Reserved. solosophie participates in various affiliate marketing programs. solosophie is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Privacy Policy