France
Good, bad or ugly, everyone has something to say about France and the French: chic, smart, sexy, rude, racist, bureaucratic, bitchy as hell, pavements studded with dog poo, baguettes that dry out by lunchtime and a penchant for torching cars is some of the chitchat on the street. Spice up the cauldron with the odd urban riot, political scandal and a 35-hour working week - not to mention a massive box-office hit like The Da Vinci Code taking over Paris or superstar Angelina Jolie allegedly plumping for a chateau in Normandy to raise her kids - and the international media is all ears too.
This is, after all, that fabled land of good food and wine, of royal chateaux and perfectly restored farmhouses, of landmarks known the world over and hidden landscapes few really know. Savour art and romance in the shining capital on the River Seine. See glorious pasts blaze forth at Versailles. Travel south for Roman civilisation and the sparkling blue Med; indulge your jet-set fantasies in balmy Nice and St-Tropez. Ski the Alps. Sense the subtle infusion of language, music and mythology in Brittany brought by 5th-century Celtic invaders. Smell ignominy on the beaches of Normandy and battlefields of Verdun and the Somme. And know that this is but the tip of that gargantuan iceberg the French call culture.
Yes, this is that timeless land whose people have a natural joie de vivre and savoir- faire - and have for centuries. But change is afoot. France and the French are fed up - and inspired. It's on the tip of everyone's tongues.
Getting There
Air Travel
Budget carriers account for an increasing share of the flights into France, particularly from other European destinations, resulting in competitive fares from many major airlines. Most of the world’s major carriers including Aer Lingus and Ryanair serve Paris and most other significant French airports.
Airports
France has two major international airports in Paris: Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Orly, both run by Aéroports de Paris (www.adp.fr).
A number of other airports have significant international services (mainly within Europe), these are: Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Strasbourg & Toulouse.
Some carriers use small provincial airports for flights to/from the UK/Ireland, continental Europe and, sometimes, North Africa. Smaller airports with international flights include Biarritz, Brest, Caen, Carcassonne, Deauville, Dinard, La Rochelle, Metz–Nancy–Lorraine, Montpellier, Mulhouse–Basel (EuroAirport), Nîmes, Poitiers, Rennes, St-Étienne, and Tours.
Tickets
Calling around, checking internet sites, comparing the airline and travel agent prices, and scouring major newspapers’ travel sections can result in significant savings on your air ticket. Start early: some of the cheapest tickets have to be bought well in advance.
Most advertised fares don’t include taxes, which will add from around €25 for the shortest hauls to upwards of €120 for long-haul flights – check with the airlines or an online travel agent such as ebookers.ie.
From the UK & Ireland
Low-cost carriers offer astounding rates from the UK and Ireland to destinations throughout France, especially to destinations other than Paris. Prices vary wildly from a ridiculously low UK£23 between London and Paris. Aer Lingus flies from Dublin or Shannon to Paris for as low as €28.
Air France and British Airways link cities throughout the UK and France, fares are also often very reasonable. Look for special deals in the travel pages of the weekend broadsheet newspapers. You can save up to 84% if you fly during the week and buy your ticket three weeks in advance.
Getting Around
While the efficient train system can get you to major cities and towns, travel within rural regions on public bus services can be slow and infrequent – if not impossible. To visit rural areas and visit small towns off the major train routes, you really need your own wheels.
When to go & Weather
French pleasures can be indulged in any time, although many Francophiles swear spring is best. In the hot south sun-worshippers bake from June to early September (summer) while winter-sports enthusiasts soar down snow-covered mountains mid-December to late March (winter). Festivals and gastronomic temptations around which to plan a trip abound year-round.
School holidays – Christmas and New Year, mid-February to mid-March, Easter, July and August – see millions of French families descend on the coasts, mountains and other touristy areas. Traffic-clogged roads, sky-high accommodation prices and sardine-packed beaches and ski slopes are downside factors of these high-season periods. Many shops take their congé annuel (annual closure) in August; Sundays and public holidays are dead everywhere.
The French climate is temperate, although it gets nippy in mountainous areas and in Alsace and Lorraine. The northwest suffers from high humidity, rain and biting westerly winds, while the Mediterranean south enjoys hot summers and mild winters.
Practical Information
Travellers cheques
The most flexible travellers cheques are those issued by AmEx (in US dollars or euros) and Visa (in euros) because they can be changed at many post offices as well as commercial banks and exchange bureaux. Note that you will not be able to pay most merchants with travellers cheques directly. AmEx offices don’t charge commission on their own travellers cheques.
Moneychangers
Banks charge roughly €3.40 to €5.30 to cash travellers cheques (eg BNP Paribas charges 1.5%, with a minimum charge of €4). Post offices in Paris accept American Express and Visa travellers cheques. The commission for travellers cheques is 1.5% (minimum about €4).
Travel insurance
A travel-insurance policy to cover theft, loss and medical problems is a good idea. Some policies specifically exclude dangerous activities, which can include scuba diving, motorcycling, even trekking. Book cheap travel insurance here with
You may prefer a policy that pays doctors or hospitals directly rather than you having to pay on the spot and claim later. If you have to claim later ensure you keep all documentation. Check that the policy covers ambulances or an emergency flight home. Paying for your airline ticket with a credit card often provides limited travel accident insurance. Ask your credit card company what it’s prepared to cover.
Places in France on PropertySwap.ie!
PropertySwap.ie have many stunning French holiday properties for exchange and rent from beautiful destinations such as:
Cote d'Azur
The Côte d’Azur, otherwise known as the French Riviera, has been synonymous with chic elegance and lofty living for well over a century, however, its heyday was during the 1950s and ’60s, when practically everyone who was anyone seemed to have upped sticks and bought a duplex apartment along its pebble-strewn shores. It’s still a playground for the rich and beautiful, especially at stylish resorts such as Nice, Cannes, St-Tropez, and of course the epitome of extravagance, Monte Carlo – but less well-heeled visitors will find plenty to entertain them too. Elsewhere there are the perfumed streets of Grasse, the balmy beaches of Menton and the history stained cobbles of Fréjus & St-Raphaël to explore. (Also see Antibes-Juan-Les-Pins, Cannes and Nice below).
Antibes-Juan-Les-Pins
The contiguous towns of Antibes-Juan-les-Pins span a shimmering sweep of the Mediterranean, which unfurls like a bolt of breeze-ruffled lilac-hued silk. Antibes’ flower-filled cobblestone streets branch out from a central, covered marketplace, while Cap d’Antibes’ luxurious walled mansions are hidden amid dense pines. Juan-les-Pins sprawls along a 2km sandy beach.
Cannes
These days Cannes is tantamount to its International Film Festival, when it twinkles with a constellation of silver-screen stars, and a meteor shower of camera flashes. Though the festival lasts less than two weeks, the city basks in its aura for the rest of the year.
Cannes’ palatial hotels lining palm-shaded blvd de la Croisette, and the city’s chic boutiques cater to très affluent travellers, and/or delegates for an ever-increasing number of festivals and congresses such as January’s Shopping Festival.
Carcassonne
From afar, Carcassonne looks like some fairy-tale medieval city. Bathed in late-afternoon sunshine and highlighted by dark clouds, La Cité, as the old walled city is known, is truly breathtaking. But once you’re inside, La Cité loses its magic and mystery. Luring an estimated 3.5 million visitors annually, it can be a tourist hell in high summer. This said, you’ll have to be fairly stone-hearted not to be moved.
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon is a three-eyed hybrid, cobbled together in the 1980s by the merging of two historic regions. Bas-Languedoc (Lower Languedoc), land of bullfighting, rugby and robust red wines, looks towards the more-sedate Provence. On the plain are the major towns: Montpellier, the vibrant capital, sun-baked Nîmes with its fine Roman amphitheatre – and fairy-tale Carcassonne, with its witches’-hat turrets. On the coast, good beaches abound, old Agde lies somnolent beside the River Hérault and Sète, a thriving port, adds commercial vigour.
Deeper inland, Haut-Languedoc (Upper Languedoc) is quite distinct from the sunny lowlands. A continuation of the Massif Central, this sparsely populated mountainous terrain shares trekking, mountain pasture, forests and hearty cuisine with Auvergne, to its north. The small towns of Mende, Florac, Alès and Millau are like oases within the greater wilderness. The Parc National des Cévennes has long been the refuge of exiles and crisscrossed by marked trails. Trekking country too are the bare limestone plateaus of the Grands Causses, sliced through by deep canyons such as the Gorges du Tarn, perfect for a day’s canoeing.
Roussillon, abutting the Pyrenees, glances over the frontier to Catalonia, in Spain, with which it shares a common language and culture. Alongside the rocky coastline are attractive resorts such as Collioure, which drew the likes of Matisse and Picasso, while the gentle Têt and Tech Valleys stretch away inland. To their south, the Pic de Canigou, highest summit in the eastern Pyrenees and symbol of Catalan identity, pokes its nose to the clouds while, further east, the foothills are capped by stark, lonely Cathar fortresses.
But Carcassonne is more than La Cité. The Ville Basse (Lower Town), altogether more tranquil and established in the 13th century, is a more modest stepsister to camp Cinderella up the hill and also merits a browse.
Nice
It might be a cliché to say Nice has something for everyone, but the Côte d’Azur’s cosmopolitan capital pretty much does. Sure, sun seekers sip cocktails on parasoled lounges lining its polished pebbled shores, and kids splash in the azure sea, while bladers cruise the curved Baie des Anges (Bay of Angels) against a backdrop of fairy-lit palm trees flanking the promenade des Anglais.
But Nice is much more than just a place for fun in the sun. Art aficionados’ must-sees include major museums. Archaeological buffs ruminate over the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Cemenelum. Flaneurs ferret out secret passages leading to narrow pedestrian laneways in the romantic old town, lingering over the sights and scents of the colourful flower and produce markets, and trawling for antiques. Festival fans descend for animated events. Gastronomes go gaga over finely prepared food, from chic little bolt holes to family-style French cooking and Michelin-starred cuisine. Barflies flit to the perpetually-buzzing watering holes, and hipsters hop between ever-emerging hotspots. France’s fifth-largest city is naughty, it’s nice…and it’s everything in between.
Paris
Well informed, eloquent and oh-so-romantic, the ‘City of Light’ is a philosopher, a poet, a crooner. As it always has been, Paris is a million different things to a million different people.
Paris has all but exhausted the superlatives that can reasonably be applied to any city. Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower – at sunrise, at sunset, at night – have been described countless times, as have the Seine and the subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences between the Left and Right Banks. But what writers have been unable to capture is the grandness and even the magic.
Paris probably has more familiar landmarks than any other city in the world. As a result, first-time visitors often arrive in the French capital with all sorts of expectations: of grand vistas, of intellectuals discussing weighty matters in cafés, of romance along the Seine, of naughty nightclub revues, of rude people who won’t speak English. If you look hard enough, you can probably find all of those. But another approach is to set aside the preconceptions of Paris and to explore the city’s avenues and backstreets as if the tip of the Eiffel Tower or the spire of Notre Dame wasn’t about to pop into view at any moment.
You’ll soon discover (as so many others before you have) that Paris is enchanting almost everywhere, at any time, even ‘in the summer, when it sizzles’ and ‘in the winter, when it drizzles’, as Cole Porter put it. And you’ll be back. Trust us.
The Dordogne
The Dordogne département is for many people the picture-perfect image of the French countryside, a gentle landscape of patchwork fields, hilltop towns, turreted mansions and jade-green woods. Named after the most important of the region’s seven rivers, the Dordogne is better-known to the French as Périgord, spiritual home to two of the country’s enduring culinary passions – foie gras and the black truffle. The Dordogne is famous for its stunning cave paintings, as well as for its many fortified chateaux and bastide towns – reminders of the bloody battles waged here during the Middle Ages and the Hundred Years’ War.
Périgord has been divided into four colour-coded areas: in the centre, the area around the capital, Périgueux, is known as Périgord Blanc (white) after its pale limestone hills. The fields and forests to the north and northwest are known as Périgord Vert (green), while the wine-growing area of Périgord Pourpre (purple) lies to the southwest, around Bergerac. Périgord Noir (black) encompasses the Vézère Valley and the upper Dordogne Valley, as well as the beautiful medieval town of Sarlat-la-Canéda.
With such a rich variety of attractions, it’s hardly surprising that the Dordogne is crammed to bursting-point in the summer months, especially with holidaying Brits and French families during the grandes vacances. In winter the region goes into hibernation, and many hotels, restaurants and tourist sites close.
You can browse French properties for exchange on PropertySwap.ie here or for rental here
