france

This past weekend, France celebrated Bastille Day with a bang, and it was an especially momentous holiday for France's new "unofficial" first lady, Valérie Trierweiler. The 47-year-old partner of recently elected president François Hollande is a working journalist and mother of three. Valérie's also France's first unmarried first lady, thus the unofficial title, and she's openly expressed her desire to be independent.

Over the weekend, Valérie was busy taking part in Bastille Day festivities, like the traditional Bastille Day military parade in Paris and the shipping festival event, Tonnerres de Brest, with her partner and the wives of other French political leaders. See Valérie enjoy her first Bastille Day as first lady and ogle the breathtaking fireworks beside the Eiffel Tower now!

Happy Bastille Day! And if you're engaged, then félicitations! (That means congrats in French.) For your big day, have your guests saying "oh, la la" with chic French details. Cartes postales, lavender, French signs, and, of course, Champagne will do the trick. Here are more ideas for your wedding.

Are the yé-yé girls having a resurgence? First there was Megan's infamous Mad Men song and dance number, and then they came up again in Wes Anderson's latest film, Moonrise Kingdom. In the film — set in 1965, a year before this season of Mad Men — Suzy Bishop is one half of the lovesick preteen couple at the center of the movie. While her style is clearly fashioned after the yé-yé girls, Suzy's interest in the pop singers is brought up at one point when she shows her love interest, Sam Shakusky, her favorite album, Tous les Garçons et les Filles by yé-yé girl Françoise Hardy. Later in the movie, Sam and Suzy have a very entertaining dance scene on the beach in their underwear to her song "Le Temps de l'Amour" ("The Time of Love").

Derived from "yeah! yeah!", the yé-yé movement was comprised of female pop singers from France, Québec, Italy, and Spain. The themes and lyrics of the songs, often written by men like Serge Gainsbourg, were deceptively innocent, as the girls beamed sexy naiveté. One not-so-innocent song Serge wrote for yé-yé singer France Gall was "Les Sucettes" ("Lollipops"), which was really referring to oral sex. It included the line, "Annie loves lollipops, aniseed lollipops, when the sweet liquid runs down Annie's throat, she is in paradise." In honor of France's Bastille Day holiday tomorrow, learn more about other popular yé-yé girls like Gillian Hills, Sylvie Vartan, and Sheila.

Mama Shelter Marseilles follows Mama Shelter Paris as the second hotel in the Mama Shelter brand designed by Philippe Starck. Starck, the Trigano family (who were cofounders of Club Med), and French philosopher Cyril Aouizerate worked together to launch the Mama Shelter brand, and the hotel's decor reflects the diversity of this collaboration.

This is not a hotel for minimalists or the morose. Patterns are vibrant and nearly cacophonous in public, shared spaces, and the best words to sum up the effect are fun, irreverent, and energetic. With 127 rooms spread over six floors and an affordable starting rate of 69 euros, the hotel provides a hip, vibrant spot to rest your head while traveling in France.

Starck, the Trigano family, and Aouizerate plan to open more Mama Shelter hotels in 2013, in cities including Bordeaux, Lyon, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles. Keep reading to take a closer look at the hotel, which just recently opened.

Outgoing French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, 44, is a singer/songwriter, actress, former international supermodel, and mother of two. But we already know about Carla, who even made a cameo in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. France's new "unofficial" first lady, Valérie Trierweiler, will bring a different flavor to the Elysée Palace. She's 47, a working journalist, a graduate of the Sorbonne, a mother of three teenage sons, and the unmarried companion of the president elect, François Hollande. She's written about politics since 1989, but moved to arts and culture last year after François Hollande began campaigning. Valérie says she will keep working when her partner becomes president on May 15.

While Americans are just getting to know her, Valérie has made headlines for speaking up for women's rights. She once slapped another journalist after he made a sexist comment, and after her employer, Paris Match, published a photo of her on its cover, calling her François Hollande's "charm asset," she tweeted: "Bravo Paris Match for its sexism on international women's day. Thoughts to all angry women." If you want an excuse to practice your high school French, you can follow the soon-to-be first lady @valtrier.

Valérie seems like a reluctant political spouse, something she shares with Carla, who once said she wished her husband wouldn't seek reelection, explaining, "Perhaps I wish to live what time we have left in some peace?" Valérie has admitted, "What I'm scared of is losing my liberty. I am not seeking notoriety and I am not seeking to grab the limelight." And like Carla, who became the second first lady under Sarkozy after she married the newly divorced president after a short courtship, Valérie offers some relationship intrigue. Valérie and François became a public item in 2007, shortly after his partner of 30 years, Ségolène Royal, lost to Nicolas Sarkozy. Check out photos of Valérie out on the campaign trail with her partner François now.

This weekend, France will vote for its next president. After a first round, it's down to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and his socialist challenger Francois Hollande. Since Sarkozy was elected in 2007, a lot has changed. One of the most intriguing evolutions has been the love connections among the politicians.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is technically the second first lady France has known under Sarkozy. When he was elected, he was married to his second wife ‪Cécilia Sarkozy (now Attias)‬. In 1983, then mayor Sarkozy conducted Cécilia's first wedding and reportedly fell in love with her that day. She left her husband in 1988 to live with Sarkozy, who didn't divorce his first wife until 1996, the same year he married Cécilia. They remained married during his first campaign. But only a few months after his May 2007 election, they announced their divorce and Cécilia confessed that she had run away with another man. Could you imagine Michelle Obama doing this months into Barack Obama's first term? Soon after the split, France would get another first lady in the form of Italian-born singer/supermodel Carla Bruni. Sarkozy met Carla Bruni a month after his split at a dinner party, and after a quick romance they married in Feb. 2008. They went on to have a daughter last year.

So what about Francois Hollande, the man who could beat Sarkozy and become France's next president? His love life actually has a Sarkozy connection. His partner from 1973 to 2007, Ségolène Royal was the person to go head-to-head against Sarkozy in the last presidential election. Ségolène and Francois were partners for more than 30 years and have four children together. Both are major figures in the country's Socialist Party, but a month after her 2007 loss to Sarkozy, they announced their separation. Soon, France learned the details of Francois Hollande's relationship with journalist Valérie Trierweiler, whom he's still with today. Without any hurt feelings, Ségolène has backed her ex-partner, who is now trying to accomplish something she couldn't: beating Nicolas Sarkozy.

See some photos of all the parties involved now.

How do you say Ms. in French? You can't. There's no French equivalent to the neutral title. Depending on her marital status, a woman is either Mademoiselle, "my young lady," or Madame, which means simply "my lady." This means women are compelled to disclose their marital status with their name, and it gives a not-so-young unmarried lady a title that lacks appropriate gravitas. Today, France's Prime Minister Francois Fillon announced a plan to drop Mademoiselle from official documents, and make Madame the generic title for women, just like Monsieur is the generic title for Frenchmen.

Feminist activists sparked this change. Getting rid of Mademoiselle was high on the agenda, along with issues like equal pay, abortion and birth control rights, and sexist advertising. Osez le Féminisme, one of the groups behind the anti-Mademoiselle movement, claimed the title is condescending to unmarried women. The group's leader has said, "It may seem like a detail, but it’s very symbolic of (wider) inequalities." But the consequences of the two titles go beyond the symbolic. if you're an unmarried professional woman applying for a job or a loan; for example, having to identify yourself as Mademoiselle may prompt people to take you less seriously, even subconsciously. That has prompted some women to mark Madame even if they're not married. The new rule will also give women a choice to list "maiden name" or "spouse's name," rather than "family name" on official paperwork.

The government's move suggests feminist action is alive and well in France. Click through to see some of its more spirited recent protests now.

Carla Bruni gave birth to a baby girl in Paris today. It's the first child the first couple of France has had together, although they both have children from previous relationships and Nicolas Sarkozy is also a grandfather. Nicolas married Carla, a singer and former Italian top model, in 2008 at the Élysée Palace. He was already president, and recently divorced, when they began dating, and their brief courtship grabbed headlines. Even so, they don't plan on being public with their new addition. Carla has said they won't release a picture of their daughter, something she doesn't believe the French public is interested in anyway. Despite their preference for some privacy, we have seen the two enjoying their newlywed glow and official engagements together. Let's check out some of their chicest and sweetest moments now.

With blue, white, and red filling the skies and the streets of France, the country celebrates its revolution on Bastille Day or La Fête Nationale today. On the July 14 holiday, Frenchmen and Frenchwomen attend parades, watch fireworks, and enjoy air shows to remember the storming of the Bastille in 1789. See more pictures from the festivities, including gorgeous fireworks over the Eiffel Tower, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy attending the Champs-Elysees parade, and a flag performance by some scantily clad Parisian firemen not afraid to show their colors along with a little skin for the celebrations.