Latest updates on France, French Wine, Food, Travel, Holidays and Events
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French Flavour who specialise in French food and drink from Artisan producers will be one of the exhibitors at the imminent France Show in London 9-11 January 2009.
Amongst the gallic delights on offer on their website they include smoked and unsmoked garlic, Corsican Jams, Snails, Olive Oils and Tapenades as well as an interesting selection of ciders, wines and Champagne from France. The website is interesting with a recipe selection and an interesting article on the Tarte Tropezienne - a dessert tart from St Tropez, which Kimberley Lovato describes as
looking like a “custard hamburger”!
The France Show promises to be an exciting event for Francophiles - and for some of us may be the nearest we get to France this year, unless the exchange rate improves! And as well as visiting French Flavour on Stand L104 , you can also enjoy:=
An you can still book for just £10 per person - see www.thefranceshow.com/
LD Lines (and Transmanche Ferries) who run a cross-channel ferry service from Portsmouth to Le Havre and from Newhaven to Dieppe are offering substantial discounts to holders of tickets issued by defunct Speedferries.SPECIAL OFFER on LD Lines and Transmanche Ferries
for users of the Dover - Boulogne route.
Given the actual circumstances, a 75% discount on current fares (not valid on accommodation) will be given to customers upon presentation of a valid ticket booked on the Dover-Boulogne route (minimum £15 charge for 1 car + 2 passengers).
For travel after December 17th 2008, please contact our call centre at 0800 917 1201 from UK or 0800 650 100 from France or please send a mail at: reservation.tourisme@transmancheferries.com to arrange for the bookings. (new bookings only).
Offer subject to availability, valid for travel until June 30 2009 (to be booked before January 31th 2009).
From February 2nd 2009 customers will also have the possibility to book on Dieppe Dover route. (minimum £15 charge for 1 car + 2 passengers).
LD Lines are also opening a new Dover to Boulogne Ferry service from 1 July 2009.
For more info see www.ldlines.co.uk
Menton on the Riviera (06 Alpes-Maritimes, Provence Cote d-Azur) styles itself as the Lemon Capital of France, and every winter stages a wonderful Lemon Festival (Fete du Citron) - being colour and flavour to what can be a dull few weeks in February and early March (13 Feb - 04 Mar 2009) even on the Mediterranean coast.
Moonlit parades, Citrus Exhibition, Gardens of Light and a Sunday Parade of Golden Fruit all offer plenty to see and do in mid-winter.
For more info see www.feteducitron.com
The Administrators for the closed Speedferries Dover-Boulogne ferry service have now posted information on the Speedferries website on the status of customers with pre-booked tickets and vouchers - which essentially boils down to the fact that if you paid by credit card then you should contact your credit card company. Otherwise you join the queue of unsecured creditors for a share of any funds from the sale of assets (if any).
Meanwhile www.ferrycheap.com
reports that cross-channel ferry prices for 2009 are already starting to rise, but are also currently offering bookings from £25.
And Norfolkline has announced a special 20% discount for affected SpeedFerries customers who are able to provide proof of an existing reservation. This offer is bookable until the 31st December 2008 for all departures up until 17th December 2009 subject to availability.
LD Lines runs a ferry service from Portsmouth to Le Havre (76 Seine-Maritime, Normandy) and is currently offering Christmas Shopping trips for £10 each way (including reclingin seat).
Le Havre offers a variety of diversions over the Christmas season, the highlight of which is probably the Christmas Market in the square in front of Notre Dame Cathedral from 10-24 December 2008. But there is also a Christmas Exhibition, decorations and parades.
See http://oceanes.ville-lehavre.fr/ for more info on Le Havre
Yes the Official Tour de France is underway for 2006 - and unfortunately overshadowed by drug scandals and the withdrawal of most of the main contenders from last year. To be fair though, this is not a particularly French problem, but as the Tour de France is the biggest cycling event in the world, it does focus attention.
But then not everyone is keen on the Tour de France and the accompanying ballyhoo - the best thing to do is to follow it a few days later and enjoy some of the places the pass through in rather more peace and tranquility.
The Tour starts this year in Strasbourg, and on Sunday 2 July it passes through the northern part of the Alsace vineyard. Good cycling territory being quite hilly - and hence good for vines. Many of the villages are typically picture-book Alsatian - timber framed buildings with alpine roofs - really very attractive. The best wines tend to be a bit further south (around Riquewihr, Colmar) although Barr and Bergheim have some top producers. Our recommendation is Emile Boeckel at Mittelbergheim, just south of the Tour route.
The other Tour de France underway is the Tour de France à Voile - the sailing Tour de France which cast off in Dunkerque and will head for Saint-Quay Portrieux - Côtes d’Armor (Brittany) by the weekend of 8/9 July 2006 by way of Dieppe and Le Havre - for more info see www.tourvoile.fr
In deepest Southwest France you could be somewhat startled to discover a cricket match rather than a game of boules being played during the summer. In the sleepy village of Catus (46 Lot, Midi-Pyrenees) a few miles north west of Cahors, the local cricket club (Catus CC) has acquired a new cricket ground with the help of the local Mayor (Maire) who has helped the club get a loan to purchase some municipal land, and who will also open the new pitch.
We are in a tourist area and our little town relies on this summer trade to boost the local economy. The mayor is pro British and for integration so it becomes a win win situation for everyone if he can boast a cricket pitch in the town. I’m sure other communes in France could adopt the same route for the same reasons, which could help the sport to develop.
The Mayor will open our pitch officially next Sunday with a fundraising meal and match. So all in all I’m hopeful we will be going from strength to strength!
In many ways Cricket and Boules (or Petanque) are not so dissimilar - they are very sociable games which benefit from being played on hot, lazy afternoons at a gentle pace.
For more info on French cricket - see www.cricketeurope.net
Now this could be taken to indicate how much the Brits have infiltrated parts of the southwest - but also how well they have integrated. Certainly the Sunday markets at nearby Cazals and at Montcuq are very popular with the English tourists and expats - there’s even stall selling English second-hand books! Certainly the incomers have tended to push up property prices, but equally they do support the local economy - few young French people want to stay in the countryside - few jobs and few opportunities.
The other factor which is impressive is the existence in most French villages of municipal tennis courts, football pitches etc, which are recognised as an important community asset. The village hall, often next to the Mairie, is heavily used for local functions - for although the French enjoy the privacy of their own homes, they do come together for local events and celebrations, sometimes for no obvious reason!
Catus has a number of nearby attractions - the Lac Vert (Green Lake) is an oasis of quiet tranquility (except in mid-summer, when it is a popular day out for the children); at St Medard Catus is one my favourite restaurants - Le Gindreau - a little extravagance, but we enjoyed several memorable and lengthy lunches on the terrace in the middle of the countryside. Le Gindreau was converted into a restaurant from a former school, which was also the case at Les Arques 
few miles further north) where the La Récréation Restaurant was created.
This was the subject of the book by Michael Sanders From Here, You Can’t See Paris
The restaurant has a good reputation - but somehow I was expecting something less grand - with tables in the courtyard in summer they can seat 130 people! However, we cannot report on the food - due I suspect to the 35 hour week, the restaurant is closed for 2 whole days midweek even in summer!!
Michael Sanders’ two books (the other about winemaker families in Cahors) do offer a great insight into life in the rural southwest - and whilst they may not be racy reading, they are well-written and describe the locals and their way of life with great affection.
One of the growing band of British winemakers in France is the Quinney family at Chateau Bauduc near Creon (33 Gironde, Aquitaine).
As well as delivering to private customers in the UK, we supply some of the country’s leading chefs: our Bordeaux Blanc has been the house wine at all Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants for eight consecutive vintages and a bespoke Bauduc red is the top selling wine in his three Michelin star establishment – still the only London restaurant with that accolade. Our white is also a ‘special selection’ at Rick Stein’s.
Since they bought the Chateau in 1999 the reputation of the Chateau has grown, not an easy task in the competitive marketplace that is Bordeaux. There is a 4-bedroom farmhouse on the estate which
…. is rented out on a weekly basis, overlooks the vineyards and backs on to the farm buildings and chais where the wine is made and aged. This 18th century stone dwelling was completely restored in 2002 with painstaking attention to detail and is a great place to spend a week or two in lovely surroundings.
For more details see www.bauduc.com
Chateau Bauduc, Creon 33670, France T: 00 33 (0)5 56 23 06 05 Email: team@bauduc.com
In the midst of all the
doom and gloom a raw December and poor economic prospects comes the news that the pound has sunk to a record low against the €uro. The best tourist rate I can find (12 December 2008) is £1 = €1.0898 , (rates from the Post Office for online orders for amounts over £350).
Fortunately the fall in the oil price still means that unleaded petrol (85) at €1.089 and diesel at €0.967 is broadly the same as current UK prices, a welcome relief after prices earlier in the year of £1.30 or more per litre.
So what can you do? Currency speculation is a dangerous game, but if you kept your spare €uros from your last trip, they are worth more now than before. But buying €uros now for next year is pure speculation.
One option is to book your ferry or other travel soon - with the loss of Speedferries there will be less capacity across the Channel next summer, and on the back of the Speedferries experience, ferry companies may be wary of offering ultra cheap prices especially in the high season. There are still some cheap offers around, but in general I would expect the level of cross-channel fares to increase next year. Perhaps book soon or very late would be the best advice - there may also be some good late-booking offers if the poor economy and exchange rate make a big dent in European travel next year.
P&O Ferries are offering crossings Dover - Calais from £27 each way, whilst Norfolkline is offering fares from £19 each way Dover - Dunkerque for bookings by 31 January 2009
Another approach may be to look at self-catering and/or camp site holidays where you can have more control over your spend, especially if you shop and cook for yourselves. Whilst eating out in France can be a real joy, it is no longer such a cheap option. B&B (Chambres d’Hote) can often provide a great alternative to hotels at a bargain price - with all the advantages of a warm welcome and good local knowledge. It can be a not scary first time, but most people find it a real bonus - saving money and meeting local residents - and of course there are numerous British-owned B&Bs and gites throughout France where the language need not be a barrier.
Whilst the temptation may be to stay in the UK next year, that is also not a cheap option unless you literally stay at home. Visitors from France generally comment on how expensive the UK is, even with the stronger €uro.
The town of Laval (53 Mayenne, Pays de la Loire) celebrates the festive season with a Christmas market in Square de Boston, so named to celebrate Laval’s twinning with Boston in Lincolnshire UK, and Boston is also the guest of honour for this year!
Held over 4 days (11-14 December 2008) from morning to night the market will be the focus for Christmas stalls, music and “animations”
Laval is also well-known for the extravagance of its Christmas lights which adds a festive atmosphere to the town centre from 29 Nov 08 to 5 Jan 2009
For more info see www.laval-tourisme.com
In Menton (Alpes-Maritimes, Provence Cote d-Azur) the Christmas Market takes place rather later than elsewhere in France - from 19 Dec 2008 - 4 Jan 2009 In the Biovès Gardens and throughout the town.
The Christmas festival in this, one of the pleasantest Riviera towns and the self-styled capital of Lemons, features festive lights, shows, a Christmas market, nativity scene, a skating rink, nordic ski track and a Carousel.
The main theme is around music, especially traditional nursery rhymes (comptines) making the whole event very family-friendly.
For more info see www.menton.fr
Montélimar Christmas Market (Drome, Rhone-Alps) runs from 19 to 24 Dec 2008. Most of us zoom past on the Autoroute south to Provence, but it could provide a welcome break in the journey,
Montélimar, the capital of nougat and gateway to Provence, celebrates Christmas with a Christmas village and market in the St Martin quarter - with tourist train, christmas lights, christmas carols - and stalls to entice you with tastings of soup, tartiflette (a warming alpine dish of cheese, potatoes and bacon), French toasts or eggy bread (pains perdus), oysters, local wines from the Coteaux du Tricastin, roast chestnuts, mulled wine and, of course,nougat…
For more info see www.montelimar-tourisme.com/
Licques Christmas Market and Turkey Parade (Nord Pas-de-Calais) is held on 13 - 14 Dec 2008 between Calais and St Omer.
Licques Christmas Market is famous for its traditional turkey parade alongside a regional Christmas food market including high quality traditionally-reared organic poultry.
A group of the town’s VIPs parade the turkeys through the town and there is the opportunity to purchase various foodstuffs, regional produce, beautifully packaged sweets and chocolates, traditional decorations and local crafts.
Licques is also home to a special liqueur, the Licquoise, which is offered to visitors before the turkey procession. The birds are herded through the town on the Sunday morning, preceded by the Confrerie de Licques (local bigwigs and celebrities).
Throughout the weekend, there is also a regional food market (Marché du Terroir) and a dinner-dance.
For more info see www.licques-volailles.fr
Chartres Christmas Market (Eure-et-Loire, Loire Valley) runs from 8 - 24 Dec 2008
The town of Chartres is ablaze with festive lights for its fantastic Christmas market. The adults enjoy the stalls with local artisans displaying their goods as well as plenty of tasty treats of chocolate, chestnuts and cinnamon to tempt the taste buds.
The younger visitors can enjoy the manger scene, a welcome parade for Santa Claus and for both young and older there is the ice skating rink in the place des Epars.
For gourmets you can try “grandes spécialités chartraines” :such as Mentchikoffs (fine chocolate wrapped in Swiss meringue), sweet soft macaroons or le Cochelin, a delicious festive patisserie made from flaky pastry in the shape of a man which you dunk in choclate or jam!
For more info see www.chartres-tourisme.com