destination-france.co.uk | French Travel News

VFB Holidays is offering up to 25% off all cottage holidays in France, including school and bank holidays, for bookings received by 15 December 2008.  Every cottage, hand-selected from a variety of French regions, is reduced by either 10% for a one-week stay, 15% for a two-week stay, or 25% for a three-week stay. Holidays must be completed before 15 May 2009.

The longer your holiday, the better the savings!

For example:

A one-week holiday during April, in the warmer climes of the southern region of Provence, staying in a secluded and peaceful former farm building with superb views (sleeps two - search for property code MON.26), starts from just £257 (just £129 pp based on two sharing), a saving of £29.

A two-week family Easter holiday in the stunning wine-rich valleys of the Loire region, staying on the outskirts of the delightful village of La-Chapelle-Blanche-St Martin in a charming barn conversion with a private pool (sleeps four - search for property code ROU.37), starts from £838 (just £210 pp based on four sharing), a saving of £148.

A three-week spring break during March in France’s most westerly province, Brittany, staying in a former fisherman’s cottage in the hamlet of Rudevant just 20m from a quiet sandy beach (sleeps eight - search for property code AND.56), starts from £2,008 (just £251 pp based on eight sharing), a saving of £669.

Price includes accommodation only.

For further information, call VFB Holidays on 01452 716 833 or visit www.vfbholidays.co.uk.

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Say sacre bleu to seasonal stress and take a pre-Christmas cruise across the channel to the Château de Brélidy. This 16^th century château has been superbly restored to its former glory and stands on high-ground with commanding views across the undulating rural Brittany countryside.

Set in a small village, this historic gem is teeming with period character as well as modern touches, such as a heated swimming pool and Jacuzzi. The surrounding 70-acre parc contains woodland and two meandering rivers - perfect for relaxing walks. And, for those looking for further French charm, the resorts of Perros-Guirec and Trégastel are close by, as are the cathedral towns of Tréguier, Lannion and Guingamp.

A self-drive, three-night break starts from £252 pp (two sharing) and includes three nights’ accommodation with breakfast and dinner. For stays up to 23 December, a fourth night is free. Call  VFB Holidays on 01452 716831 (www.vfbholidays.co.uk)

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Eurostar is celebrating huge growth in traveller demand from the regions after its first year of operations at St Pancras International, the newly restored terminal for High Speed 1, the UK’s first high-speed line.

Traveller numbers from the regions north of London have increased by up to 150% in the year since Eurostar move to the new station, thanks to the introduction of through fares from more than 130 towns and cities.  In the first nine months of 2008 (Jan to Sept), Eurostar carried a total of 7.0 million travellers, up 13.9% on last year, with the value of ticket sales up 17.2% to £521.1 million.

The growth figures demonstrate that travellers are taking advantage of easy rail connections between domestic train operators and Eurostar services, and higher frequencies and better punctuality than regional air services.

Eurostar offers through fares to the Continent with First Great Western, National Express East Anglia, First Capital Connect, Virgin Trains, National Express East Coast, East Midlands Trains, London Midland, Chiltern Railways and Hull Trains. Return through fares range from just £67 from Luton to only £89 from Glasgow.

According to Richard Brown, Chief Executive, Eurostar travellers are switching to Eurostar for a variety of reasons including good value through fares, high frequencies of service to the Continent, and the much lower environmental impact of rail travel.

Rail travel is also being boosted by growing public concern about climate change. Since 14 November 2007 all Eurostar journeys have been carbon neutral at no extra cost to travellers when they book their tickets.  Independent research has shown that a Eurostar journey between London and Paris/Brussels generates 10 times less carbon dioxide than an equivalent flight.

Since 1 October, Eurostar has operated an amended timetable that makes best use of the reduced Channel tunnel capacity provided by Eurotunnel, the Channel tunnel operator. This timetable represents 93% of Eurostar capacity before the incident on 11 September 2008, and is expected to continue in force until after Eurotunnel restores full tunnel capacity next spring.
You can book Eurotunnel Tickets here or click on the image below.

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A right royal Christmas - Monaco from £264 pp

Wake up to the sun rising over the glistening Mediterranean in majestic Monaco this Christmas. Stay at the boutique Port Palace on the harbour’s edge and luxuriate in a jacuzzi (in all rooms) before enjoying a decadent Christmas Eve meal. Hang stockings from your elaborate Hermés headboard and keep fingers and toes crossed that Santa will know where to find you!

Two nights B&B at the Port Palace from 24^th- 26^th December is from £264 pp including a Christmas Eve dinner. Return flights with British Airways (Heathrow) from £104 pp including taxes. Go to www.visitmonaco.com for more details.

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We are delighted to have some excellent Paris travel books to give away in our latest competition. These are An Hour From Paris by Annabel Simms, and Parisians’ Paris by Bill Gillham. We have two copies of each to give away, so that is four prizes all together!

An Hour from Paris is a small classic:  written with passion, perfectionism and amusement, a guide that will make you see a Paris - and a France - you would never have suspected.  Now fully updated with extra walks.

A strength is that it focuses on relatively unknown places that you can reach by a local train ride from the centre of the capital - probably just as unknown to many Parisians.

Parisians’ Paris is a guide that will help you experience Paris like a true Parisian.

Bill Gillham has been visiting Paris for decades, immersing himself in a particular quartier of Paris, discovering its little shops and bistrots, its markets, parks, and local entertainments, all the little quirks and particularities of its day to day life.  In this guide, he takes you to seventeen of his favourite areas of Paris - some central, some suburban, mostly just off the beaten track - and shows you how to discover the real city.  Neglected, or completely ignored by ordinary guidebooks, these quartiers all have a purely individual, Parisian character.

To enter this free prize draw, all you need to do tell us to sign up to our newsletter here.

Ends Midnight 8th November.

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Would you like to perfect your French cookery skills?

Well, you can learn from top French celebrity chef, Jean-Christophe Novelli at his Novelli Academy cookery school in Hertfordshire.  You can choose from a tempting array of one and two day cookery classes.

The courses, which include lunch, wines and refreshments throughout the day make a fun social day out or a novel Christmas gift or outing for friends or colleagues, whatever the level of culinary ability. Classes can take groups of up to fourteen and are taught by either Novelli himself, first-rate resident Academy chef Steven Kitchen or popular guest chefs such as Manju Malhi and Laurie Gear. Details can be seen on the website www.jeanchristophenovelli.com

Whereas earlier courses were predominantly taken up by ladies keen to meet Novelli and observe his impressive gallic and culinary skills close-up, there has been an increasing uptake by men on the classes to the point that there is now generally a 50/50 male to female ratio and some courses now run with more men than women!

‘Everyday Novelli’ cookery classes teach some of Novelli’s famous Modern European classics, and would make an ideal special gift for someone wanting to learn to cook a la facon Novelli.

Jean Christophe Novelli is a Michelin and 5AA Rosette award winning French chef, whose attributes include AA Chef’s Chef of the Year, European Chef of the Year finalist representing Great Britain and the prestigious Egon Ronay Dessert of the Year. He won Restaurant of the Year on numerous occasions and many other awards for culinary excellence. His Novelli Academy Cookery School, where he personally teaches or appears at many of the courses, is ranked as one of the top in the world.

Each Novelli Academy course needs a minimum of ten guests to run, and can take a maximum of fourteen – ideal for Christmas parties - and costs from £150 per person upwards.   For more details and to book online check out www.jeanchristophenovelli.com or call Tina Carter on 01582-454070.

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Since 1996, Limoges has gone all out to celebrate Halloween. Around 30,000 people come into the city to watch a street parade of ghosts, ghouls and goblins carrying candlelit pumpkins, tell spine-chilling stories and to join the parties held at many of the town’s bars and cafés.

Why not combine the festivities with a gîte holiday in France? Stay in a charming converted stable, 40 km from Limoges, from £228. The price is for one week’s self-catering rental of the property from 25 October to 1 November and is based on two adults and two children sharing.

More information from VFB Holidays on 01242 240 310 or visit www.vfbholidays.co.uk and search for property VIE.87.

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Perfect for wildflower walks and meanders through mediaeval villages, the Quercy region of the Dordogne offers gastronomic ramblers a true taste of life in rural France.

Organised exclusively for Kirker clients, stride out on a seven-night tour that offers food, wine and walking in equal measure - combining cookery demonstrations, ‘truffleculture’ tips and fine wine tasting with gentle strolls through châteaux grounds, private garden picnics and visits on foot to the bastide town of Monpazier, the famous prehistoric caves of Lascaux, and the villages of Issigeac and Saussignac.

‘Discover the Dordogne’ costs £1,885 pp (two sharing), including return flights to Bordeaux (Gatwick), seven nights’ châteaux/manor house accommodation with most meals, wine at dinner, all entrance fees/gratuities and the services of specialist tour hosts James and Diana Tamlyn.

Departs 9 May and 17 October 2009. Call Kirker Holidays on 020 7593 2284 (www.kirkerholidays.com).

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Though landing up at France is a simple ball game, it’s every time advisable of having taken certain basic tips regarding travel on the destinations planned by you to visit. The country ‘France’ enjoys the reputation of being the most frequently traveled tourist destinations in world. Moreover, having traveled to France has been reported of being absolutely safe.

If you plan dream vacation of yours in France, you need to know certain useful travel tips of France for having made your journey fully hassle free. There are many travel agencies which go on to offer you certain useful tips of travel with regards to French vacation of yours. Let some light be thrown on certain useful tips of travel on France.

France has been known for spectacular and varied landscapes of it, containing some amongst the most splendid mountains, beaches, rivers, valleys, and glaciers of the world. In fact, France is a home to various well-known rivers-Garonne, Loire, Sienne, Saone, and Rhone, for naming a few.

The rivers which go on to form France’s water system’s backbone are inclusive of Seine (770 Km), Loire (1010 Km), Rhone (522 Km), and Garonne (650 Km). Loire is amongst the longest rivers in France; whereas Rhine goes on to form a border between Germany and France for distance of around 190 Km. Rhone goes on to flow for the distance of around 522 Km in French territory. The other main rivers here are Rhine, Dordogne, Saone, Somme, and Marne.

French rivers serve of being a significant medium for urban, and industrial development. They are also actively used as means of transport. Moreover, French rivers present perfect conditions for a spectrum of recreation like whitewater rafting, sailing, barge cruising, etc. The Siene, Saone, and Rhone rivers are the most suitable ones with regards to cruises here, i.e. in France. You would be finding the most spacious cities and regions of France while on the river cruising regions. While having cruised along Rhone and Saone rivers, you would be having an opportunity of having explored scenic ‘Burgundy’, Provence’s lavender-scented hills, and Ardeche region’s breathtaking region.

Most of the rivers of France have been grouped by ocean or sea. However, there are also rivers flowing in to the other rivers. In French, the rivers have been conventionally classified as ‘fleuves’ while having flown in to the sea, and as ‘rivieres’ while having flown in to the other river.

French rivers have been favorite picnic spots for people all over the world since ages. The ambience provided by French rivers is so good that it cannot be expressed in words. They would give you feeling of being in a paradise. What else to say? French rivers are unique in themselves. You won’t find such rivers anywhere else. So, go on to explore the beauty of French rivers! Do not look back! You would not find the thrill any where else. So, do not wait for anything now! Just pack your bags and visit France. Enjoy!

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