A castle of your own? A treehouse just for two? A private castaway island? Aoife O’Riordain reveals that small is beautiful when it comes to romantic retreats

Father ran on to pitch in Paris to celebrate his son's try

Bradley Wiggins' chances of becoming Britain's first Paris-Nice winner in more than four decades got off to a near-perfect start as he took second place in the race's opening time trial, one second off the pace.

Swim, golf, surf – or just Basque in the sunshine. The revamped, cliff-top La Réserve is full of patriotic local colour – and don't miss the chef's l'oeuf piperade

Wladimir Klitschko will be aiming for his 50th career knockout when he defends his world heavyweight titles against French challenger Jean-Marc Mormeck tonight.

France's RBS 6 Nations hopes have been rocked by the news that full-back Maxime Medard has been ruled out for up to nine months with a serious knee ligament injury.

Whatever the true risks and benefits of these implants, this does not inspire confidence in the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) – the body charged with ensuring medical devices are safe. Why did it take a television programme and the British Medical Journal to prod it into action over this latest threat?

Remember the clamour for Blair to be installed at No 10?

St Helens 32 Catalan Dragons 34

Bargain of the week: Dover-Calais

Fashion: Clarks goes back to the bronze age

Jim French, Flybe's founder and chief executive, was nursing losses of more than £550,000 yesterday as the regional airline's second profit warning in three months sent the shares to a record low.

The French manufacturer of defective breast implants had tried to set up a new factory

When Patrice Evra starts talking about Manchester United's "team spirit", he is usually up to something. Last season he ramped up the pressure on the pretenders to their title, Manchester City, and with Boxing Day's 5-0 dismantling of Wigan evidence that United have turned the corner of an underwhelming season, he did it again, claiming United will finish top of the pile come May.