Just a twenty minute train ride from the UK, France is our
closest neighbour, the butt of many a joke, France has long since been the
country we have loved to hate, but I wonder if the joke might actually be on
us? The reason I say this is because, for
me France just about has it all: spectacular mountains, wonderful countryside,
chic city life, and stylish beach resorts.
And if that’s not enough, the roads are practically empty and the food
is superlative. If you don't believe me, you'll just have to try it out for yourself...
So where to go in France?
The answer is just about anywhere! Put a pin in a map of France and away you go.
We did just that a couple of years ago and the pin landed on Limoges in
the Auvergne region, so we booked a cheap flight and hired a car from the
airport. Equipped with just a map and a ‘Where
to stay’ guidebook, we proceeded to get lost in France (Didn’t Bonnie Tyler do
a song about that?)
Uzerche
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| Medieval Town of Uzerche |
First stop was the medieval town of Uzerche, looking like an
out-take from a Harry Potter movie, this Hogwarthian village nestled on
the top of a small hill is absolutely charming.
Having searched high and low for somewhere to eat, we wandered past what
looked like the open doors of a small bar, thinking we might get a drink and
ask for somewhere where we might be able to get something to eat we walked in
and found that it was a veritable tardis of a place, which served the most
delightful of local dishes whilst we sat on their balcony looking down at the
river passing by below. A few glasses of
excellent table wine later we sauntered back to our hotel for a good night's sleep.
Tulle
Day two took us to Tulle, home of the famous lace, we
dropped down into the town early before anything much was open, as a result we
found ourselves looking around the cemetery – I know, its a very strange
activity, but we often find ourselves doing this on holiday, it's amazing how much you can learn about a place by spending a couple of hours wandering around their cemetry. Tulle's cemetry turned out to be something of a find however, as
it is known as the Martyrs Cemetery. On the 9th June 1944, 99 men
were killed by the Nazis and strung up around the city from lamp posts and
balconies in retaliation for a number of German soliders having been
killed. Apparently a further 149
civillians were also sent to Germany as slave labour, of which, 101 never returned. The town has produced a
fitting memorial to those who died in this terrible event. Oradour-sur-Glane
For an even more harrowing experience along these lines, you might like to visit
Oradour-sur-Glane which is just north of Limoges airport. This is the site of a much larger massacre
taking place just one day after the Tulle massacre. Here a whole village was rounded up and
killed. 642 men, women and children were
killed by the German SS and the ruined village now stands as a visitor centre
and memorial to those who died. Be
warned. I left sobbing… Don't say I didn't warn you.Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne
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| Beaulieu sur Dordogne |
Day three took us to Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, this village is
absolutely charming, set unsurprisingly on the Dordogne, there is a veritable cornucopia
of activities to delight everyone and which is why we stayed here more than one
night. Whether you like messing about on
the water, camping walking or just plain eating, everything here will delight you. We spent a lively couple of hours watching the locals play boules in the Market place and I wouldn't have needed much persuasion to join in.
Carcassonne
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| Carcassonne |
Back on the road after again, we headed for Carcassonne another fortified medieval
town, which has been occupied by man since the 6th century B.C, so there is plenty
here for the history buff. Carcassonne is now a designated world heritage site. Surrounded by the Canal du midi there are plenty of ways for
boat lovers to sample the delights of this region too.
The Hotel La Chapelle St-Martin
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| The Hotel La Chapelle St-Martin |
Finally we headed back towards Limoges and found a beautiful
chateau just a ten minute drive from the airport. The Hotel La Chapelle St-Martin was extremely
tolerant of us turning up out of the blue having just kayaked around a local
lake and thus looking a little frayed around the edges.
At dinner, the waiter steered me diplomatically away
from the local delicacy ‘eel’ and on to safer territory for British tastes, but
if you want to be a little more adventurous, you will certainly find something interesting on the menu.
As we
checked out, I noted a letter from Hillary Clinton’s security staff thanking
the hotel for their hospitality. Well if
it's good enough for Mrs Clinton, it’s probably good enough for me...
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I know that this should have been an article on the whole of
France but I think it's just impossible without writting a book. So much has already been
written about the key tourist areas, that I’m not convinced that I would be
able to add much of value to the discussion.
However, if you really do want a list of must do’s to tick off, here are
a few more for you:
A weekend in Paris –
TimeOut will help you plan your weekend:
A walk around the walled town of St Malo – The Independent
will help you plan your activities. http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/48-hours-in/48-hours-in-stmalo-1973058.html
People watch in St Tropez – Cool Hunting will give you the
down and low on all things cool in St Tropez:http://www.coolhunting.com/travel/word-of-mouth-saint-tropez.php
Pose in Cannes at the Film festival – visit the official
website for details:
Camp in the Vendée – for more information visit:
Visit the amphitheatre in Nimes – for more information on
the history of this amazing site visit:http://www.historvius.com/nimes-arena-1335/
Thanks for reading, see you next week and in the meantime, I hope that you can take sometime to check out LotusTravelEssentials.co.uk happy & safe travelling.
