Her husband has said it’s a miracle. 61 year old Breton woman, called Thérèse was found alive after 11 days alone and without food in the Spanish Pyrenees. According to Le Parisien, she had been with 12 friends, hill walking, when she got separated from the group. Helicopters eventually found her thanks to a red t-shirt she had placed on the ground. Her husband says her calm mind and determination saved her despite the fact that he had given up hope of finding Thérèse alive. The rescue team said she was extremely weak, had lost weight and was covered with bruises.


Also in le Parisien, a report about hundreds of families who were conned online into booking villas in Spain that didn’t exist or were not available for rent, as they discovered on arrival. A number of websites were used by the fraudsters, one was called Homeaway.com. Sylvain Leseur tells Le Parisien that he had paid 3,500 euros for a villa on the Costa Blanca for three weeks. When he got there the villa in question was up for sale with a price tag of €1.5 million. Initial investigations indicate the fraudsters were operating from India. Around 150 families were affected in the UK and a similar number in France. What’s more, the paper says, this is far from being an isolated incident.


Now we’ve all heard about the nouveau riche - people rising through the social ranks to become wealthier than their parents - but what about the “formerly rich”? Le Monde reports that one quarter of French thirtysomethings and fortysomethings say they cannot maintain the standard of living that their parents enjoyed. According to a government report, that’s between 3.5 and 7 percent more than 20 years ago. While it is true that statistics show some have a lower standard of living than their parents, a far greater percentage of people believe this to be the case where it might not be. However the article says it’s still only a quarter on that age group. What certainly is true though is if you just have the Bac (end of school diploma) for instance, you won’t have the same standard of living as your parent who may have had the Bac. Another reason: in 1984 you spent 10% of your income on rent or mortgage, now its 20%.


Carla Bruni has had brisk relations with Silvio Berlusconi in the past. She reportedly said that she’s “happy to have become French” – this after Silvio Berlusconi made a reference to Barack Obama’s “tan”. Le Figaro says her absence from the guided visit of l’Aquila at this year’s G8 Summit has been noted and criticised by the Italian media. Il Giornale, run by Silvio Berlusconi’s brother Paulo had an article headlined, “She who doesn’t want to mix with others”. The French First Lady’s excuse is that she wants to bring attention to her separate role as Ambassador for the International Fund for the Fight Against Aids. This hasn’t stopped some in the Italian press calling her “Lady Snob”.