France

Exclusive guide to the best holiday destinations in France, independent reviews from award-winning travel writers

Six secret Paris treats

04/02/2016 by .
Paris from Cafe de lHomme

Paris, where you only need to stroll and dream and do no sightseeing at all, is nevertheless all the richer when seen through the eyes of insiders. Guides who know where to hunt down fashion in newly-chic arrondissements most travellers haven’t yet discovered, and where to find the best sweet treats, for example.Once, such gems of knowledge were a closely-guarded secret, but now Parisians are turning their insider knowledge into businesses, ferrying visitors around addresses they’d be unlikely to discover for themselves.

Even if guided tours don’t appeal, here are six secret Paris treats for those prepared to hop a Metro to less-travelled parts of the city or bag a perch offering a ringside view of the most famous landmark in the world.

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Chamonix for Non Skiers

03/02/2016 by .
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It is not often the French thank the English for anything, but  in the case of Chamonix for non skiers and good skiers alike, they cannot thank us enough. It was a bunch of intrepid Englishmen in the 1800s, men like Whymper, Kennedy, Ball, Wills and Tyndall, who, armed with precious little equipment, first explored the Alps and Mont Blanc in particular. They formed The Alpine Club and returned many times to climb the peaks.

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Slack Deux Caps Art Festival. Where beautiful art and nature merge.

23/06/2015 by .

The Loire Valley. Wine and castles

15/06/2015 by .

Les Angles ski resort. The French Pyrenees best value skiing.

13/01/2015 by .

Avignon at Christmas

17/12/2014This entry was posted in Avignon, Europe and Middle East, France, Newsletter, South of France and tagged on by .
marché Noël Ville dAvignon JP Campomar 8

Avignon celebrates catholic festivals the same way it celebrates its gastronomy and culture, with a genuine reverence for its past and a real enthusiasm for modernity. Next time you fancy a Christmas market with a soul, Avignon at Christmas is the place. 

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Languedoc wine tasting: B&B and Wine

07/11/2014This entry was posted in Europe and Middle East, France, Languedoc-Rousillon, Newsletter, South of France and tagged , , , on by .
Languedoc wine tasting 049

It was, it must be said, the perfect evening. Languedoc wine tasting with dark chocolate, a delicious regionally inspired dinner and then sleeping it all off in a 13th century chateau. Such is life these days in the Languedoc-Rousillon, a region reinventing itself from mediocre table wine producer into highly respected vintner of outstanding quality while at the same time embracing the tourism industry with arms open wide.

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A weekend wonder on the Calais Coast

27/03/2014 by .
wissant pano littoral

From his lofty perch some 53 metres up, Napoleon Bonaparte gazes across at what might have been. Back in 1804 over 100,000 men of his grand army stood alongside him right here at Boulogne sur Mer on the Calais coast poised to invade England.

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Walking the Camino de Santiago

30/01/2014 by .
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When I was walking the Camino de Santiago, my companion John was by all accounts not looking very well. To be fair, he had been walking solidly for the last two weeks and had completed nearly 500 kilometers. I suppose his generous girth and the fact that he had recently undergone bypass surgery didn’t help either.

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The Loire Valley: Enchanted gardens

16/01/2014 by .