France
France - so many visits, where to start! As a 12 year old I started with a school exchange visit to St Cloud, Paris (which eventually transmogrified into a visit to grannie in Monaco via a train jouney from Paris right down to the Med and along the coast - but that`s a different webpage!). Then working visits to Normandy where my company had a factory at Bernay and weekends in Paris before moving on to the interior in the Vendee and Dordogne (where Gill`s cousin has lived for more than 30 years) and then calling into various Mediterranean ports on cruise ships. Cramming it all into this short webpage will be a challenge whether it`s about collecting sawdust with St Cloud scouts to stuff their judo mats, eating lunch halfway up the Eiffel Tower, supper with Gill`s mum on the Bateaux Mouches on the River Seine or even simply sitting drinking coffee in the outdoor cafes of Paris or Sarlaat. Once I even spent 33 hours fogbound at Orly airport having flown there by air taxi to avoid the UK fog! Driving around Paris on the Peripherique is an experience to avoid if possible but thence driving out to the Cherbourg ferry via Bayeux made it worthwhile. As did the sampling of local Calvados - apple brandy!. France is not all about wines you know.
And then there is the Mediterranean area of France with it`s many high class holiday resorts including Nice, Villefranche and Nice with the now extremely important film festival. Many household names from the film industry have left their hand prints outside the main theatre on the Cannes waterfront and it`s fun deciphering the signatures as you wander around. It goes without saying that they all have excellent fresh food markets and cafe life. Nice even has a small copy of the Statue of Liberty on the waterfront commemorating the original gift to the USA by the people of France. France has a huge spread of weather regions because of course as well as the beach resorts of the south if you head eastwards you can actually ski in the Alps where France meets Switzerland. When we were bringing the Fox and Tan cavies in from Switzerland we drove through east France and it is completely alpine right down to not only the geography but also the very buildings.
One thing you are always certain of in France is superb food and drink. Anywhere. Everywhere. Once you get out into the countryside away from Paris the prices drop to a sensible level and the food is to die for. In the Dordogne that we have visited many times in particular duck dishes reign supreme but all over France you will find high quality beef and seafood. Plus of course their wines. Fitou, St Emillion, Chateaux Cissac or pretty much any other on any menu is worth trying. OMG - I nearly forgot French cheeses!!! So many different and tasty ones. Before the EU we used to use the `booze cruise` cross Channel ferries more to buy and bring home French cheeses - back in the days before they were readily available in our supermarkets.The Dordogne is not just about eating duck though - the region is knee deep in the most stunning contryside and architecture with ancient towns, medieval buildings and market places. Try visiting Sarlat-la-Canéda the main town outside of Bergerac for the Saturday market and you will struggle to escape as there is just so much to see, do and eat! And nearby of course World Heritage site of the Lascaux Cave with it`s 600 fabulous cave paintings dating from 17,000 years ago. Bergerac itself is worth a visit and may well be your gateway to the Dordogne as it has an airport and flights to/from Southampton.
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