10 Inspiring French Women

Triple world champion in para-athletics (100 m, 400 m and long jump), with nine medals including three gold at the Paralympic Games, what do you think makes Marie-Amélie Le Fur run? A tremendous energy urges the young woman, now retired from competitions, to continuously act and share the sporting flame of the youngest and shift the glance of others on disabilities. President of the French Paralympic, Sports Committee and co-president of the Athletes' Committee Paris 2024, the champ from the Loire Valley played a central role in the organisation of the Paralympic Games, the popular and media success of which exceeded all expectations: 2.5 million tickets sold, 49 million French television viewers guaranteeing a festive atmosphere and communion with the para-athletes in the stadiums and celebration venues.

The new President of the French National Sports Agency intends to capitalise on this spectacular success to keep disabled sport in the spotlight and drive forward inclusion in France in the run-up to the Paralympic Winter Games to be held in the French Alps in 2030. Making a success of the legacy of the Paralympic Games is yet another challenge for the woman who dreamed of becoming a professional firefighter, but who has found another way to give hope.

Read more:

The playlist that will help you relive Paris 2024 
Top sites to visit in France after the Paris Games

Find out more:

French Paralympic and Sports Committee

Villa Medici, Palazzo Grassi - Pinault Collection, Venice Biennale, Yuz Museum, Château La Coste, Centre Pompidou... Claire Tabouret's portraits and figurative sculptures inspired by Claude Monet's Water Lilies have already conquered the greatest museums and art galleries in France and around the world. By the end of 2026, art lovers will be able to admire her creations in the iconic Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, which has been reopened to the public since December 2024. The French artist has been chosen to create the six contemporary stained glass windows that will adorn the chapels on the south aisle of the nave of this French architectural gem.

In the meantime, we invite you to discover this Parisian monument by following our advice. 

As a child, when she competed against boys and had her first cycling club license at the age of 6, Marion Rousse carefully followed the Tour de France on television, without imagining that cycling would become her whole life. Daughter of an amateur cyclist, this young woman with a bright stare inherited from her northern origins, has become an icon of women's cycling. At the helm of the women's Tour de France with Zwift, the second tournament of which will take place this year from July 23rd to the 30th. Following her career as a television consultant, the former French road cycling champion in the U23 category (at 20 years old!) intends to inspire others to join her. With this 100% female edition, little girls can finally dream of completing the Tour de France!

Follow the second edition of the Tour de France for women

From 23 to 26 July 2025, Lyon will be hosting the EuroGames. Several thousand LGBTQIA+ athletes from all over Europe will be competing in around thirty disciplines, including Dragon Boat, a sport that holds no secrets (or almost none) for Hélène Germain, President of the Fédération des Sports LGBTQIA+ and an experienced paddler. Drawing on her experience and militant commitment, she is counting on this event to encourage and advance diversity and inclusion in sport in France. 

Bold, modern, self-taught and a lover of freedom, Suzanne Valadon could be considered a feminist of her time. She became the first woman to paint a frontal male nude, transgressing the social and artistic conventions of the time. For a long time, her work remained in the shadow of male artists such as Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, her husband André Utter and her son Maurice Utrillo, who were also painters. In 2025, the Centre Pompidou will be reminding visitors of her rightful place in the history of art. This is an exhibition not to be missed before the Centre Pompidou closes for five years at the end of September 2025. During the renovation work, the collections will be on display in other museums in Paris and several other French cities. A new centre for conservation and creation, the Centre Pompidou francilien will open its doors in 2026 in Massy, south of Paris.

Read: Exhibitions to see in Paris 

On the edge of the Serres d'Auteuil gardens at the entrance to the Bois de Boulogne, the green lung of western Paris, the iconic Stade Roland-Garros plays host every year to the French Open tennis tournament, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments led since 2021 by Amélie Mauresmo. 15 years after leaving the courts and the WTA women's tour, the former world number 1 continues to inspire younger generations as the first woman to head the prestigious Roland-Garros tennis tournament. Committed to equality between men and women, Amélie Mauresmo is also one of the faces behind the modernisation of the sports venue, which hosted the tennis, wheelchair tennis and boxing events at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. If you are lucky enough to attend one or more matches, you will discover new facilities such as the Simonne-Matthieu court in the heart of the redeveloped Serres d'Auteuil Gardens or the retractable roof of the Philippe-Chatrier centre court. 

White sandy beaches as far as the eye can see, the Remblai promenade, salt marshes, the fishing village of La Chaume... On the Atlantic coast, Les Sables d'Olonne is a popular destination for holidaymakers... and sports enthusiasts! Every four years, crowds of enthusiasts gather along the 2-kilometre-long channel to celebrate the skippers of the Vendée Globe.

In the 2024-2025 edition, Violette Dorange, the youngest entrant from Rochefort in Charente-Maritime, stole the show from the more seasoned sailors by completing her first solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the globe in 90 days, 22 hours and 37 minutes. A little girl's dream shared day by day with her... 650,000 admirers on the social network Instagram.

At 23, the young French sailing prodigy has no intention of stopping there. Keeping her feet firmly on the ground, she is already thinking about the next races, with her sights set on the Transat Café l'Or (formerly the Transat Jacques Vabre), the famous transatlantic race linking Le Havre in Normandy to Fort-de-France in Martinique. It's a new challenge that she'll be sharing with her idol, British yachtswoman Samantha Davies, aboard the yacht Initiatives-Cœur. A humanitarian and sporting project to help children with heart disease. Violette Dorange continues to inspire us.

Read more: not-to-be-missed sporting events in France 

Immersed in the world of music but aware of the negative environmental impact of festivals? Marie Sabot has found the answer: in 2011, this well-known producer and programmer founded the first eco-friendly festival, We Love Green. A popular musical event attracting thousands of festival-goers each year in June in the Bois de Vincennes. Sustainable practices (solar panels, waste sorting, recycled furniture, compostable tableware, locavore and fair trade catering with redistribution of unsold goods, etc.), social mix, conferences and the "greenausore" as the Provencal woman attached to the land humorously calls it. It is still an ongoing process but it all sounds very promising!

Participate in the We Love Green festival (the 2023 edition takes place from June 2 to 4)

When she started her culinary blog My Little Spoon, Bénédicte Baggio had no idea that it would take her so far! Passionate about gastronomy since a young age, this native of La Rochelle left her job in communications and digital marketing to invest in local products, co-creating Fumette, the first artisanal smokehouse in the Archachon Bay in 2019. Selection of wild smoked fish caught locally from the Ile de Ré salt marshes and beech wood from naturally managed forests. It was enough to invent new locavore recipes for this mother of three who defines herself as an artisan (smoked) fisherman!

Discover Fumette, artisanal fish smoker in Cap Ferret

Born in Taiwan, lived in Great Britain, Italy and Germany, it’s in the wine region of Bordeaux, France, that the multilingual ex-sales manager (speaking fluently Chinese, English and French!) settled down to create her one of a kind company. An avid solo traveler since she was 17 years old - she has travelled to more than 30 countries, mostly staying with locals. With a wealth of happy but occasionally unhappy experiences, Christina Boixière launched NomadSisters in 2019. A platform that connects travellers with trusted hosts. More than 1,500 have been validated in France, ready to host solo female travellers for free in complete safety. Trusted people ready to open their doors and welcome you with open arms.

Discover NomadSister, the community of solo travelers

Can we travel sustainably? For Aurore Sterling, founder of the start up platform Hortense.green, gathering high-end eco-responsible accommodations, mainly located in France, the answer is definitely... yes! With a master's degree in finance from the University of Paris Dauphine, the travel enthusiast has envisioned a virtuous model based on a rating tool for accommodations (150 questions!) and a backing to the eco-friendly transition. Her motto: "Let's carry on traveling but in a more conscious and mindful way!

Find an eco-responsible accommodation on the Hortense.green platform

She is the eighth cellar master of the house Perrier-Jouët. The first woman to hold this position since the founding of this prestigious champagne house by Rose-Adelaïde Jouët and Pierre-Nicolas Perrier in 1811! A logical succession for this native of the Champagne region, with a degree in oenology, whose sensitivity to textures, touch and the relationship with living beings is in line with the house's natural imprint. Her objective: to reinforce the good practices of this vineyard, which is certified as a high environmental quality agriculture and sustainable viticulture in Champagne. Didn't she receive the keys to Eden, the mythical cellar where the most precious bottles are kept?

Visit the Perrier-Jouët Champagne House

"Mindful of the earth, mindful of the people" is a house slogan that seems to have been tailor-made for Linda Hazi, the new general manager of Domaines de Fontenille. A collection of eco-friendly hotels created in the Luberon around a manor house and a sustainably cultivated educational vegetable garden. Sensitive to the new challenges of the hotel industry, this former sales director of the beauty and cosmetics brand Sephora France, she will be competent enough to develop her expertise. In addition to the opening of Domaine de Chalamon in Saint-Rémy de Provence in May, the group is preparing to inaugurate Fontenille Bien-Etre in Oppède-le-Vieux, in the Luberon, a new concept with activities such as yoga, wellbeing treatments, and locavore cuisine with menus prepared by a naturopath. A return to her roots for the woman who began her career at L'Occitane Provence!

Staying at the Domaines de Fontenille