Château de Vincennes

News & Features

Quiet little nun sets Pope John Paul II on the way to sainthood Two years after his death, Pope John Paul II has taken his first firm step on the road to sainthood, thanks to the apparently miraculous recovery from Parkinson’s Disease of Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, a ‘quiet little nun’ from Aix-en-Provence. Find out more >>

The oldest Tour de France The first recorded Compagnons du Devoir, Maître Jacques and Père Soubise, are believed to have directed the stonemasons who built King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, around 950 B.C. They began a tradition of itinerant workers, whom every six months or so would deliberately uproot themselves and go on a new journey of spiritual refreshment.  Find out more >>

Street walkers Behind every French street sign lies a story, be it of triumph, tragedy or travesty. Almost every French town has a rue Jean Jaurès, an unlikely hero: radical socialist and pacifist. Intermittent member of the chamber of deputies, he was a lecturer in philosophy at the university of Toulouse. Find out more >>

Agrippine, Reine d’Angleterre ? Claire Bretécher has recently acquired an international reputation as the cartoon creator of the truly horrendous teenager, Agrippine, both pecularly French and universally recognisable as an enfante terrible.  First making an appearance aged 13 or 14, Agrippine is nauseatingly streetwise, able to manipulate father, mother and boyfriend with equal dexterity. Find out more >>

Splashing out in Avignon An archeological dig near Avignon discovered a large pool that originally stood in the centre of a huge Roman garden. The pool, 65 metres in length, is entirely lined with tiny bricks in an ingenious herringbone design, the first of its kind discovered in Roman Gaul and clearly the centerpiece of the villa. Find out more >>

It’s a Rap The 24-year-old captain of the French national basketball team, Tony Parker, who plays in the US for the leading National Basketball Association club, the San Antonio Spurs, has just revealed his hidden talents as a rap star by releasing an album. Find out more >>

Even motoring for dummies Last year the French motor manufacturer Peugeot-Citroen was forced to discount heavily to maintain its world car sales at 3,365,900, resulting in a drop in profits from 1.03bn Euros to only 176m Euros. In Europe itself a 348m Euro profit in 2005 turned into a net loss of 127m Euros for 2006, reflecting the loss of appeal of Peugeot’s ageing vehicle fleet. Find out more >>

You could save up to 12.5% in 2007

If you* have travelled with us since 2004 you are entitled to the following financial benefits:

• A reduction of 5% on your 2007 booking
• Plus another 2.5% if your first 2007 booking does not include
  the period between 30 June and 1 September 2007
• A 5% reduction will apply as well to a second booking taken in any one season 
  
      * You qualify if you were a member of a party, not necessarily the person who booked
  
  Reductions apply to the villa portion only of the holiday 
  Reductions do not apply to bookings made via Travel Agents
  
  More offers for our Villa Club members >>