Paul heads to France for a taste of the Gallic lifestyle. In the town of Fontainebleau just outside Paris, Paul attends a show jumping event. There he meets Mathieu Nassif and his curious team of horsemen. Mathieu’s lads have stunned the jumping fraternity with their unbelievable feat of completing the jumps without horses! Next Paul heads to the romantic boulevards of Paris, where his guide Olivier takes him on an alternative tour of the city. Paul meets playwright Norbert Aboudarham, who in 2006 lived with a panda in a zoo in order to research his play ‘The Panda’s Flea’. He also hears the story of brokenhearted artist Jean Luc Duez, who started writing the word ‘amour’ in white ink all over the city after his girlfriend left him. In the process, Duez has captured the heart of the locals and gained quite a following on the streets of the capital.

Departing Paris, Olivier takes Paul to the Champagne region to learn about a story that is typically French. An intrigued Paul is delighted to meet Pierre Emmanuel Taittinger, the head of one of the oldest champagne houses in the region. However, the real story is that for the first time in nearly a century, the boundaries of the region are being redrawn. Soaring demand for champagne abroad has forced the authorities to expand the area in which producers are allowed to make the drink.

For the local community this has the promise of making ordinary folk rich beyond their wildest dreams. The Henry family, for example, have discovered that some of their wheat fields may fall within the lucrative Champagne zone. But while some may be winners, others are not. The village of Serval has learned it may be excluded altogether from the region...

Leaving the rolling vineyards of Champagne behind, Paul heads to Lyon, France’s second city, and to the sleepy village of Saint Romain au Montd’Or, where a very controversial figure has set up a business. Internet billionaire Thierry Ehrmann has created the Abode of Chaos. He has turned a historic coaching inn into a place that embodies the horrors of the world – from crashed planes and cars to a recreation of the wreckage of 9/11 in the courtyard. The walls of the exhibition are painted black and emblazoned with violent images and notorious figures of modern history. The local community, it seems, is less than thrilled with Ehrmann’s unconventional gallery.

Escaping into the Auvergne region, Paul arrives on market day in the town of Le Puy-en-Velay, where he meets the Brotherhood of the Puy Lentil – a group that worships and protects the lentil. At a meeting later that day Paul discovers he has been invited to witness the latest induction. He also learns there are over 500 similar brotherhoods across France devoted to everything from the oyster to the omelette.

Reaching the foothills of the Alps, Paul meets an inventor called Jean-Yves Blondeau who has spent the last 15 years developing the world’s only fullbody rollersuit. Jean-Yves is determined to prove that people can rollerblade in any position, and his suit boasts 31 wheels on different contact points, including the elbows, knees and chest. The inventor proudly puts his creation through its
paces in front of a mesmerised Merton...