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News and editorial on life from the south of France, a regular series on how to move here and some random musings too.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'holidays'
Where would YOU go in an RV?
For me there can only be one place to go and that’s the wide open plains of the American wild west. Yup, the big country. Motorhomes aren’t things to confine to towns and cities but rather to use on the wide open road and few places get m...
A New York holiday
It’s been a long, long time since I was in New York and so it’s time that I was starting to consider it for a future trip once again. Funnily enough a flight to New York these days costs much the same as it did when I went the last time w...
Posers in the exercise stakes
We had a lovely day out at Tollymore forest park at the weekend (or “on the weekend” as Wendy says: is that an Australian thing?) and managed to get round almost all of one of the longer walks that they have marked out. Actually, as it tu...
Very busy then a sharp drop in holiday trade
What’s very striking is the sharp cut-off in guests at the end of the main European holiday season over here. You can find that you’re completely full one day and then there’s next to nobody for the following week. That’s refl...
Just how late do you book your holiday?
One of the hassles in the hotel trade is that people seem to be booking their holidays later every year so it’s really hard to plan. For example, a week ago we had hardly anyone booked for the coming week yet now we’re virtually full. Not...
The impact of GPS on the hotel trade
As I’m sure you noticed, all kinds of shops were stacked high with various satellite navigation units last year now that the prices have fallen into the “impulse buy” area. The impact of that is now being felt locally in a big way i...
Calais to the south of France in a day
It’s actually fairly doable these days although it’s a very, very long day and you need to pace yourself. Just a few years ago there was really only the one viable route which was by way of Lyon and ended up in the Cote d’Azur which...
Going on holiday just to see relatives?
If you’re going a fair distance and will be in a country where you have relatives then chances are that you’ll have to see them. However, don’t forget that this can substantially distort “your” holiday. For one thing, if...
Travelling “in reverse” to get cheaper fares
With flight prices so high these days it’s always useful to find ways to save money and one of the most effective is to travel “in reverse”. What’s that mean? Well, the number of people leaving on holiday is usually at its pea...
Just how long would YOU drive?
When we started running the place here, we were surprised to find that quite a lot of people will get into their car in Amsterdam at 4am and drive to the south of France, arriving around 8pm. Funnily enough, they’re still fairly sane when they ...
Prague - a fairytale city
Prague is one of those cities that you just have to see at some point and fortunately it’s one of the easiest to get to from virtually anywhere in Europe these days. Indeed, sometimes it seems like Prague city breaks are the only type of short ...
Travelling over a holiday weekend…
When a bank holiday weekend falls in the middle of your vacation then you need to check out what facilities are going to be available. For example, we’ve a group coming tonight who are relying on public transport. Their train gets in around 10....
Why do some people completely switch off their brains when they go on holiday?
We’ve had two separate groups booking with us recently who seemed to be experiencing senile dementia at a very early age indeed: their 20s! The first group was Australian so Wendy was quite keen on having them here as she always likes to chat t...
Where should we go on holiday?
That’s a question that’s even more difficult to answer this year as there’s not only the problem of the exchange rate making everywhere much more expensive but then there’s the oil price which can mean that your holiday increa...
What about cruising the Norfolk Broads this year?
Anything to do with boating is never cheap but if you want a holiday experience that you’ll really remember then a cruise down a canal in your own boat is hard to beat. A holiday on a canal boat (”barge” doesn’t really seem th...
A quick spin around Spain
One problem with Spain is that in the summer some areas are just way, way too hot. Madrid is one of those which means that the best time to see it is around now or if you can’t go soon then in late September when it’s cooled down again. T...
It’s vacation time: let’s close up!
Whilst we all love our vacation time, we all assume that places that thrive on tourist business will be open during the holidays. That’s not always the case in France where many attractions are closed today because it’s Labour Day (May 1s...
Tours of Paris
Paris is a wonderful city to explore but there’s so much to see that many people miss out on really fantastic experiences even if they’ve been to Paris quite often. Tours in Paris come in all shapes and sizes of course and you’ll fi...
Isn’t heli-skiing expensive?
Actually, not nearly as expensive as you’d think. In fact, there isn’t a whole lot of difference in the cost as compared to a normal ski trip once you count up all the costs and you get a whole lot more ski time than you would on a normal...
Thinking of going to Las Vegas?
If you’re thinking of heading for Vegas, then the sheer range of accommodation options and Las Vegas deals is often quite daunting. One of the best is one of the survivors: the Sahara, which is celebrating 55 years in Vegas this year. For any h...
