Archive for the ‘French Holidays’ Category

Airport operator BAA has struck a deal with trade union leaders to avert strike action that would have spelt chaos for thousands of travellers.

Workers at Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports had planned the walkouts after a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. The strikes would have caused massive travel disruption during one of the busiest periods for UK airports.

Thankfully, Britons planning a late-summer French holiday can now relax, as ground staff have accepted a new pay deal. According to Reuters, workers will receive a 2 per cent pay rise and a one-off payment of at least £500.

Terms were finally agreed after marathon 9-hour talks between the Unite union and BAA. Reuters report that negotiations were intense, but Unite officials are confident that its members will be satisfied with the new deal.

“The negotiations were tough but Unite has delivered a fair deal for BAA staff,” Unite national officers Brian Boyd and Brendan Gold were quoted as saying in a statement.

For their part, BAA apologised to passengers for the latest period of uncertainty, which came just months after strikes by cabin crew and major disruption caused by a volcanic ash cloud.

“All parties brought a constructive approach to negotiations and we are sorry for the uncertainty ahead of yesterday’s discussions,” a BAA spokesperson told The Independent.

“We now look forward to working with our people to improve the service we provide to passengers and airlines in the weeks and months ahead,” he added.

Britons embarking on a French holiday this summer have been warned to keep their clothes on or risk being charged a fine.

Walking around town topless or in a bikini has been banned in coastal resorts such as St Tropez and Cannes for many years now. However, inland cities are now following suit in a bid to maintain standards of hygiene and uphold ’public decency’.

According to the Independent, the southern city of Perpignan is the latest to clamp down on scantily-clad visitors, following the Provencal city of Cavaillon’s decision to introduce a similar ban earlier this year. 

Under the new rules, anyone who refuses to cover up after being approached by the police will now face a fine of up to €38 (£31). It is thought that Perpignan introduced the new law after some of its citizens complained at seeing a group of British rugby fans strip off in the town centre.

Perpignan’s head of security, Pierre Parrat, was keen to point out that the measures were a response to specific complaints rather than a reaction to a perceived fall in standards. “We’re not saying there’s been a general moral decline, but some people have complained,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

‘Decency of dress and behaviour’ is compulsory in Paris, but unlike in Perpignan and other cities, visitors are not fined if they are caught breaking the rules. Parisians are often considered more sensitive than most when it comes to flashing bare skin in public, with bare male torsos particularly frowned upon.

Justifying this stance, a waiter from Paris told Le Parisien: “A girl in a bikini in the centre of town is lovely, but children should not have to see hairy chests.”

The French government have unveiled a new multi-lingual tourist website, to coincide with the country’s national holiday, Bastille Day.

Tourists from around the world will be able to use the website before embarking on their impending French holiday, to find out what is going on around the country.

France.fr is available in English, German, Italian, Spanish and of course French. The government hope the site will be used not only by tourists, but also by the country’s residents needing practical information on a range of elements of French life.

The website will promote the country to tourists and provide information to those wanting to know more about studying, working, living and starting a business in France.

The new project, which is being managed by the Prime Minister’s office, will see the website continue to grow in the coming months. The website is expected to contain around 12,000 links to other online resources, which may be found useful. These include links to the country’s weather forecast office, Meteo France and to tourist offices in the country.

The website has launched today, as part of the country’s fête nationale celebrations. The day remembers the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison in Paris in 1789 and celebrations symbolise the uprising of the county’s modern state.

However, France’s English newspaper The Connexion reports that the country’s celebrations will be more low-key this year than in the past. Although the traditional Champs-Elysees parade will go ahead as usual, many other events including Nicolas Sarkozy’s garden party have been cancelled, due to the economic crisis.

Taking a French holiday is one of the most popular summer activities for British families and the Dordogne is no exception to the country’s convenient, cosmopolitan appeal. Yet though the region has plenty to offer all year round, for families with younger children then there are few better times than now – during the French school holiday.

Whilst parents and older children are well catered all year round by the Dordogne’s rich history, fine foods and vintage wines, over the next few weeks seasonal activities launched for younger children will give the region a special draw for a limited time. Online news website Sud-Ouest presents a list of some of the major events in the Dordogne’s major municipal centre, Perigueux.

Known for its sporting facilities, Perigueux is offering children between the age of seven and 12 discounted or free use of table tennis, mini hockey and handball facilities as well as access to canoeing and climbing courses. However the city council isn’t just hoping to boost access to physical past times but also to cultural activities.

Between July 15 and August 15 the Perigueux Tourist Office is offering children aged 6-12 the chance to explore the city through guided workshops. The programme sees kids visit the Mataguerre tower, the medival town, carry shields like the historic pages of the medieval era, before delivering a final report on the city’s history to the office.

The town’s museum, Vesunna, is also offering youngsters the chane to explore the archeological techniques that are used throughout the Dordogne to reveal the area’s rich heritage. Childreen betwen the ages of seven and 14 can take part in both workshops and laboratoy searches from 1600 onwards for an entrance fee of just one euro.

Home to a range of stunning waterways and canals, boating is a great holiday activity.

The River Lot is one of the best locations appealing not just to boating novices, but also to those more experienced in sailing. The river, which meanders through some of the country’s most breathtaking countryside, offers visitors the chance to see a wide range of plants and bird species. Read the rest of this entry »

Those about to embark on their annual French holiday are in for a treat, as the country prepares for the Fête de la Musique.

The festival started in France in 1982 and was instantly popular. This has led to it being celebrated in more than one hundred countries around the world including Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago and Australia.

The festival takes place on the longest day of summer each year and this year’s celebrations on June 21, will be the 29th time the event has taken place. Organisers say the theme of this year’s festival will be ‘Women in Music’ and nine young dancers from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, are set to travel to France for the event.

A cultural project was organised by the Beaconsfield Twinning Association, which saw Beaconsfield twinned with Langres, a town in the Dijon region of France. The group of girls aged between 11 and 15 will perform three dance pieces created by their ballet teacher as part of the celebrations in Langres.

Teacher and choreographer Annik Coatalen, was cited in the local paper Bucks Free Press as saying:”The girls have all worked very hard to pull together a demanding and exciting programme. We are very excited to have the opportunity to show what we can do before an international audience.”

Whilst in Langres, the girls from Baylins Ballet Barn, will stay with local families in the medieval walled town.

 Beaconsfield Twinning Association chairman, Deborah Sanders said: “The Twinning Association has a long history of promoting cultural exchanges and youth exchanges and this is a wonderful opportunity to do both.”

The recent flight suspensions because of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano may have hit airline’s hard, but it has brought a booking windfall for rail and ferry companies. 

As airports slowly resume to normal, French rail and ferry companies are hoping to turn the sudden rush of business, into prolonged growth, cashing in on the cynicism of flying.

Paul de Rosen, Lines Director for the biggest passenger ferry operator out of the port of Marseille, SNCM, told the BBC: “Normally, 10% of our customers are totally new to our database, which means they haven’t gone on a ferry of ours for at least six years. Now, in the weeks since the end of the ash cloud crisis, that figure is 20%.”

Mr de Rosen believes that even the threat of the returning ash clouds is enough to stop consumers using air travel to reach destinations. He said to the BBC: “Totally new customers are booking on ferries for summer holidays, because they want to travel with their car, which they believe is a way to maintain their autonomy on holiday if something should go wrong.”

Train operators are also optimistic that their recent business boost is here to stay. Michel Leboeuf, head of long distance projects at SNCF, the French national train operating company believes the high- speed TGV train is an effective competitor with planes, so those with French holidays booked need not worry.

One passenger told the BBC “It’s easier to get to the station than the airport. It’s fast, easier to work on board and more relaxing, usually with fewer delays.”

The European Commission admits that the ash cloud caught them out. “We saw that when one transport mode went down, passengers found it hard to shift to rail and boats. Anything we can do as regulators to open up options, for instance, make it easier to take a train instead of a plane we will be trying to do as an urgent priority,” said Helen Kearns, spokeswoman for transport at the Commission in Brussels.

Last Monday elected officials from the Dordogne‘s central municipal authority came together with others throughout the Green Perigord area to discuss the future of tourism in the Aquitaine region.

Attended by nearly 120 people and dozens of officials, the meeting laid out the concerns of many of those involved in the regions tourism industry. A key concern for many is the competition between local tourism offices and internet sites that market the regions attractions, such as the prehistoric artwork of the Lascaux caves or the many country and river side activities throughout the Dordogne’s idyllic valleys.

During the course of the meeting though several interesting figures were published – revealing just how popular the Dordogne is as a tourist destination. Each year nearly 2.9 million visitors visit the region, placing it firmly in top place for the position of Aquitaine’s most popular department among tourists.

The area’s natural beauty appears to attract visitors from France as well as those from further afield. Some 60% of these 2.9 million annual visitors are from France itself, demonstrating the rare beauty of the unspoiled and historic department.

The popularity of the Dordogne is largely responsible for keeping Aquitaine in the coveted position of Frances fifth most popular tourism area. In the wider region there are 179 tourist offices and 280 tourist sites, many of which are open all year around. Each year some 35 million euros is invested in the tourism trade by regional authorities, helping to develop and maintain the many attractions and keeping the countryside and towns in a state of picturesque perfection.

One of the Dordogne‘s greatest features is in its simple rural beauty and its rich heritage. Still although these attractions – or at the very least the fine foods and wine on offer – draw adults from across the world to a French holiday in the region, for the younger and more easily distracted generation they can wear a little thin.

So, families on a French holiday who are looking for ways to distract the kids in between trips to medieval châteaus or markets will be pleased to hear that Perigueux boasts a new activity.

From this week, visitors to the Dordogne’s departmental capital will be able to hunt each other down and trade fire as part of a friendly (or not so friendly) game of Laser Quest.

Laser Quest Perigueux, located at 39 Rue des Dames Combe, should be opening its doors later this month. Aimed at everyone from young teenagers to “team building” business outings,, the new attraction offers a startlingly futuristic form of entertainment for the otherwise bucolic department.

Decorated in a style described by Sud-Ouest as midway between Total Recall and 2001: A Space Odyssey, the new Laser Quest features 450 square meters of labyrinth game environment built on the grounds of a former supermarket. Up to twenty people can compete among the futuristic battlefield which features multiple levels and a maze of corridors and obstacles to take cover behind.

For 20 minutes of play the new attraction charges eight euros per player. There is no age limit for participants – upper or lower.

France is the second most popular destination for British tourists, according to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).

Despite a drop in the number of people looking to book a French holiday, the statistics show it is still a very popular area with tourists.

The most loved French destination was Paris, which draws tourists who are attracted by the culture and landmarks of the capital such as the Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysée and Arc de Triomphe.

Dordogne was another of the destinations noted for its popularity. Perhaps it’s the region’s picture-perfect countryside, its culinary heritage (fois gras and the black truffle hail from Dordogne) or the hundreds of castles that attract floods of visitors each year.

Another popular area attracting thousands of tourists is the Cote d’Azur. Known synonymously with the French Riviera, it’s still the playground of the rich and beautiful, bordering with St Tropez, Monte Carlo and Cannes. The lavish lifestyles of the past aristocracy also make the Loire Valley and appealing area for visitors, which has been listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO

ABTA believes people are still enamoured with France because of it’s diversity and good value for money; there are a number of destinations on offer to suit various budgets.

Sean Tipton, ABTA spokesman, said that passengers are likely to head to the south of France because it’s often less expensive to fly here than take a train. He said: “In terms of visitor numbers from the UK it”s only a few years ago that Spain overtook France as the number one most popular foreign holiday destination and it is still number two.”

In 2008, France was the most visited country in the world, with almost 80 million international tourists. Paris was the single most visited city in the world in the same year, with 15.6 million visitors.