Five choices for a cheap holiday in France
April 26, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
This is a quick look at the options available to holidaymakers visiting France, focussing on deciding which type of vacation / holiday is most suitable for you.
1) Gites / holiday rentals
Self-catering accommodation has long been a popular choice for visitors to France, and with French themselves. Either cook for yourselves or go to restaurants, and YOU choose what time you want breakfast. Sitting on your peaceful terrace enjoying a glass of wine can be much more pleasant than sitting in your hotel bar. The accommodation comes in every level of standards and will give you a great insight into what it is like living in a French house.
Top choices: Interhome or Hoseasons.
2) Camping holidays
I’m talking here about organised campsites, with pools, activities and zillions of other young familes rather than a small canvas tent next to a stream. Got children with you? You might feel a bit left out if not…but if you have, they will be happy as can be. And so will you be, because they will be off enjoying themselves all the time, making more friends than they can count. Tents or mobile homes are both possible – either way you won’t be erecting a tent yourself, you will find it all in place when you arrive.
Top choices: KeyCamp and EuroCamp both have a wide selection of campsites across France.
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Gateway to the south
April 11, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
It’s hard to say where in your journey through France you cross the ‘border’ and enter into what we would call southern France.
For sure, it is not defined very well by regional boundaries. Although Aquitaine, Provence, Languedoc and Midi-Pyrenees would certainly be considered as south of France, the regions just north of these also claim, with some cause, to be part of the south.
On a recent trip I passed through Correze in the southern Limousin department, and through Puy-de-Dome in the Auvergne . These fall just north of the Dordogne and Languedoc regions respectively.
Aubeterre-sur-Dronne
April 1, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Aubeterre sur Dronne is a remarkable village about 20 km west of Riberac.
The most fascinating thing about it is its underground church, the Eglise souterraine Saint Jean. This has been hewn out of the rock and is 20 metres high at its highest point. It is the tallest of its kind in the world – entering the church really is an incredible experience.
As well as the main nave which has a full-immersion baptismal font and a reliquary which is said to have once contained a holy relic, there is a burial chamber containing over 80 sarcophagi. These burial holes have all been hewn out in such a way that the heads all point to Jerusalem.
As well as the church, the village itself is charming. It is listed as one of ‘the most beautiful villages of France’, and rightly so.
