Café in Gascony

News & Features

Fallen idol Sixty-four years ago next month, the most famous book by arguably France’s most famous writer, was published neither in French nor in France. Antoine-Marie-Roger de Saint-Exupéry, known universally as Saint-Ex, brought out ‘The Little Prince’ in English and in New York, where he was marooned on Long Island for the early part of the Second World War, unable to choose between the Vichy government of southern France and de Gaulle’s government in exile. Find out more >>

Making space for opera When the summer sun scorches the open air tiers of seats in the Roman theatre of Orange, it is easy to see how they acquired the name ‘bleachers’, bleached white by its fierce rays. They began to be rebuilt in the early 1800s, but were completed only just in time for the opening of the first festival in 1860, the oldest in France.    Find out more >>

Night riders The most famous cycle race in the world, the Tour de France, starts in London for the first time in its 104 year history, although stages of the race have come to Britain twice before, in 1974 and 1994. An estimated two billion are expected to watch the Tour on TV and more than 15 million spectators will turn out by the roadside as the race winds its way around France, including gruelling stages across spectacular mountain passes. Find out more >>

Forbidden fruit The best known of the personal digital assistants (PDAs), the BlackBerry, produced by the Ontario company Research in Motion (RIM), has received damaging criticism from the French government. Such has been the growth of these handheld devices in the corporate environment since 1999, they were dubbed ‘Crackberry’ because so many users found them addictive, and could not survive without one. Find out more >>

First rule of the road Flers in Normandy is an old textile manufacturing centre, best known these days for its cider and Calvados. Its Saturday market beneath the medieval walls could not be more typical of rural France. But Flers is less French than it used to be: mainly because of its proximity to the Channel, about 3,000 people, perhaps one-sixth of the population, are from the UK, and some of the new arrivals have apparently forgotten that France drives on the right. Find out more >>

Missing herbivore Marseille and Cow is an exhibition of 65 decorated fibre cows held in the old quarter of the city, where anyone can ‘adopt’ a cow for 7,500 Euros and have it decorated by the artist of their choice, with designs that no doubt, judging by past such events, will range from the bizarre to the brilliant. 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 >>
  
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  New this month - save up to 40% on SIGNAL BOOKS