This French Life

Beckham's last PSG match is against FC Lorient not Leyton Orient

Already had a few phone calls but to clear things up Beckham's last game is against FC Lorient not us.

— Leyton Orient (@leytonorientfc) May 16, 2013

SPARE a thought for the staff at Leyton Orient Football Club who have found themselves inadvertently caught up in the news of David Beckham's retirement.

The club has had to tell people that the former England captain, and current Paris Saint-Germain player, will be playing his last competitive match against FC Lorient and not Leyton Orient on May 26.

And as a final little twist, David Beckham was born not far from Leyton Orient's ground and the club gave the future world footballing star a trial as a schoolboy.

The Grappe de Cyrano roars through the Dordogne

IF you are around the Dordogne over the Easter weekend keep your eyes open for mud splattered motorcyclists taking part in the Grappe de Cyrano.

The motocross race takes a tour around the southern and central reaches of the département on Saturday, March 30 and Sunday, March 31.

This year makes the 26th occasion of the race, and will feature more than 600 riders, who head out of Bergerac taking them across the countryside towards the southern tip of the Dordogne, before heading north across the river.

The race covers a total of 400km and expect large crowds along the route as around 25,000 spectators are set to be catered for.

Former Tour de France cyclist Laurent Jalabert injured in bike crash

FORMER professional cyclist and popular Tour de France television journalist, Laurent Jalabert, has been badly injured whilst cycling on roads near Montauban in south west France.

France 3 reports that he was hit by a car and taken to hospital suffering multiple fractures.

Laurent Jalabert is popular amongst cycling fans having competed in the Tour de France, winning the green jersey twice, and since retiring from the sport he reports on the race from the back of television motorbikes bringing expert insight and commentary.

Triathlon de Paris cancelled as River Seine deemed unhealthy

THE 2013 edition of the Triathlon de Paris has been cancelled due to the poor quality of the water in the River Seine.

The Fédération Française de Triathlon (FFT) said that a report from the local health authorities classed the Seine as being 'unfit' for the competition to take place.

The race, which was going to take place in July, was set to attract around 5,000 competitors and the FFT said it would work to ensure that the 2014 version of the triathlon would go ahead.

Yorkshire to host Grand Départ of Tour de France 2014

It’s official. The Grand Départ is coming to Yorkshire in 2014 #AllezYorkshire #TDF2014

— Le Tour Yorkshire (@letouryorkshire) December 14, 2012

YORKSHIRE will host the Grand Départ of the 101st Tour de France, taking place on July 5, 2014 in Leeds.

In total three stages will be staged in the UK, with one of the finishes set for London, more details will be announced in mid-January.

Keith Charge - our rugby man in Brive

ANY rugby fan in France is sure to cast an envious eye at Keith Charge who has volunteered his time in a unique way down at his local club.

Keith is the officier de liaison avec la communauté britannique for CA Brive Rugby club, who compete in the Pro D2 league, and has recognised the value of working with the local community.

From strongly established connections with Brive and the surrounding Corrèze department, the club has turned to Keith to help establish links with English fans of the sport in the area.

But as the club has become more established within European competitions Keith's work has seen him help teams in the UK and Ireland, and their fans, enjoy their time in Brive, although hopefully leaving with just fond memories and not a victory.

Hear Keith chat about how he got the liaison officer role at Brive and his experiences of French rugby:

Keith Charge can be contacted via email: keith.charge@cabrive-rugby.com

Follow the Vendee Globe without getting your feet wet

Départ du Vendée Globe 2012-2013 par VendeeGlobeTV
THE competitors in the Vendee Globe solo non-stop around-the-world race are just heading past Lisbon as I write this.

And you can follow their progress online as they undertake a three month, 25,000-mile epic journey that takes them through the Atlantic, then the Southern Ocean, round Cape Horn and back through the Atlantic to the finish at Les Sables d'Olonne, in the Vendée.

The Vendee Globe website offers a real behind the scenes service for those keen to follow every twist and turn of the race, or for those who want to find out a little more about the so-called Marathon of the Seas.

Watching the Paralympic Games on France Television

IT will be possible to follow the Paralympic Games from London, which run from August 29 to September 9, on France Television but you'll have to search around a bit.

The opening ceremony takes place today, with the main competition starting tomorrow featuring wheelchair basketball, archery and powerlifting amongst the many sports on offer.

France Television will not be offering the same wall-to-wall coverage it provided for the Olympics, but the opening and closing ceremonies will be on France Ô, which is free to watch and can usually be found on channel 19 of the TNT freeview style service in France.

France leaves Olympics with 11 golds

FRANCE will take some consolation from its handball team, les experts, defending its Olympic title and winning one of the last gold medals of the London 2012 games.

The president of the French Olympic and sports committee, Denis Masseglia, said that overall there was satisfaction with the country's performance, and he praised the atmosphere in the stadiums, the organisation of the games and he was proud of the French athletes.

Overall the French team came away with 34 medals, 11 of which were gold, this final total is lower than the 2008 Olympics in China, but the number of gold winners was an improvement on the seven won in Beijing.

Watch Olympic video feeds on the web

YOU can watch all the London Olympic 2012 video feeds on the special France TV Sport website, letting you pick and choose your favourite competitions.

The site shows the sports taking place back in the UK, letting you click through everything from rowing to weightlifting, and if you want to catch up on the latest about the French competitors there is a section set aside for that as well.

And some might say it's an advantage, but the feeds have no commentary letting you just enjoy the competition and dodge some of the inane sentences put forward by television pundits.