The Good Life France Magazine May/June 2015 | Page 26

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New Train services to Lyon, Avignon and Marseille from London

Eurostar has launched a new year-round service direct from London to Lyon, Avignon and Marseille. Passengers can now speed across the French countryside to reach the gastronomy, lavender fields and sunshine of these new destinations. Letting the train take strain gets travellers to the centre of Lyon in just over four and a half hours, the sunny Provencal lavender fields (see page 42 for our guide to Provence) in under six hours and the sunny coastline of cosmopolitan Marseille in just over six hours.

Tickets can be booked for the Eurostar service and throughout Europe from www.voyages-sncf.com

French law - changes and proposals for change

French MPs have been proposing and voting on a raft of updates to legalities that could bring major changes to life in France.

Here are just a few of the reforms that have got everyone talking in France...

Smoking crackdown: In an attempt to take some of the glamour out of smoking, colourful branding and logos will be removed from cigarette packs by 2016. It will also be illegal to smoke in cars with children in. 73,000 deaths a year from smoking tarnish France’s reputation for healthy living.

Electronic cigarettes which have become hugely popular in France, will no longer be allowed in closed collective spaces or places where children are present.

Skinny models are to be banned - ultra-thin skinny models whose BMI is deemed too low according to new official guidelines will be banned from catwalks in France.

Tanning sunbeds must not be advertised and sessions must not be sold to minors. More training is to be provided to those who operate the machine.

'Soda fountains' bill – there will be a ban on unlimited refills of soft drinks from soda fountains in a move aimed at tackling obesity.

New driving laws being considered

- increased use of cameras to detect red light offences

- wider use of mobile radar speed detection - drivers prohibited from wearing headphones