La Bougie du Sapeur: The newspaper that only comes out once every four years
Styling itself as anti-politically correct, La Bougie is organised like a regular newspaper, with sections on politics, sport, international affairs, arts, puzzles and celebrity gossip.
In 1980, a group of friends looking to kill time came up with the idea to publish a 'fake' newspaper full of humour and parody news. They followed through the idea and put it on the newsstand. To their surprise, it sold.
La Bougie du Sapeur (The Sapper's Candle), the said French satirical newspaper which likes to parody current events mixing the true and the false, has been coming out every 29 February since then.
This 29 February, the 20-page tabloid's 200,000 copies of the 12th issue hit the stands in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland, according to BBC.
The last edition, which came out 4 years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic, sold 120,000 copies.
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"We almost stopped everything. 10 days after the release, we were in full lockdown with the closure of the relay stores and it was clearly not time for jokes. However, we still sold everything," Jean d'Indy told France Info.
Part of the funds raised is used to finance the next issue, the majority goes to the association A tire d'aile, which supports autistic and epileptic people and manages a reception centre in La Châtre in Indre.
It is priced at €4.90 (£4.20), and more than meets its costs.
"After the first issue sold out in two days, the newsagents were clamouring for more copies - so we said fine, but only in four years' time!", editor Jean d'Indy, whose main job is running the French equivalent of the Jockey Club, told BBC.
"The paper's still put out by a few pals. We meet in a bar and toss around ideas over drinks. We have a lot of fun, and if the reader does too, that's the icing on the cake," Mr d'Indy said.
Styling itself as anti-politically correct, La Bougie is organised like a regular newspaper, with sections on politics, sport, international affairs, arts, puzzles and celebrity gossip.
But the articles are designed as humorous commentaries.
This year's edition's headline - We will all be intelligent - is above a story about how exams and intellectual attainment are being made redundant by AI.
The second lead story - titled "What men need to know before becoming women" - explains what it describes as "challenges" facing men wanting to transition.
"It is French humour, and it does not translate into other languages," says d'Indy. "We try to be silly but not nasty. To poke fun without being cruel."
On the international pages, there is a short piece reminding the French who was the most "forgettable" of modern British prime ministers - Liz Truss.
In the sport section, the editors recommend the creation of a Winston Churchill award for the first person to be eliminated in the Olympic Games. This on the basis that Churchill's motto - according to the paper - was "No Sport."
There is also a serialised story - The Drowning in the Pool - whose next instalment will be in 2028.
La Bougie du Sapeur is named after one of France's earliest cartoon figures, Le Sapeur Camembert. He was a soldier simpleton who appeared in comic drawings about life in the army in the 1890s.
The paper does not appear online and can only be bought at newsagents and newspaper kiosks.
"I hope we are a bit of fresh air every four years," says d'Indy. "These days people need to be able to laugh."
