Bonne quatorze juillet! Today is France’s biggest national public holiday and major celebration of the storming of the Bastille and start of the French Revolution in 1789.
The Bastille was a notorious Paris prison that epitomised the arbitrary power of the French monarchy. Its storming in 1789 eventually led to the establishment of the Republic, with its principles of liberty, brotherhood and freedom.
Public and private celebrations are taking place all over France today. There’s a military parade in the Champs Elysees, Paris, along with some spectacular balls, dances and firework displays. You’ll also find concerts and other musical performances and see extended families coming together to enjoy good food and wine.
Banks, post offices, many shops and some restaurants are closed, but travel should not be much affected, although roads may be busy. Many will be cheering on French cyclists in the Tour de France, as they ride some hard hills.
In the UK, you’ll find celebrations mainly centred around French food cafes and restaurants, so it’s a great day to indulge in steak frites with vin rouge or a delicate patisserie with thé citron.
Want some reading to get you in the mood? Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos sets the scene of privilege, A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel highlights the main characters and Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities brings the drama of the revolution, of course featuring the dreaded Madame la Guillotine.
Inspired to visit France? We make it easy with our fabulous range of accommodation at B&Bs and holiday rentals, along with travel advice and booking.
During the next few weeks, thousands of holidaymakers will be loading up the car and setting off to France. If you’re taking your car from the UK, check out our great deals for discount ferry crossings on all routes.
Roads in France are generally high quality with little congestion outside big cities so driving can be a real pleasure, but some drivers may be daunted by the journey to reach their destination. Check out our helpful guide to driving in France, where you can also order European breakdown cover, and remember these key points:
• The excellent network of motorways or autoroutes are identified as A roads. Most are toll roads with fees payable by cash, credit card or electronic toll tags. The tags take you automatically through special barriers and can avoid queues. We've made it easy for you to order a Liber-T tag from Sanef in advance of your journey. The company has UK customer service, the tag keeps a record as you go and bills your UK bank account.
• Main non-motorway routes or routes nationales are identified as N roads. A good choice if you want a break from motorway driving or to see more small towns, villages and scenery. Road numbering can be confusing so best to follow destination signs.
• Avoid seasonal congestion at the beginning and end of August when most French people holiday en massse. Also avoid if possible the days around July 14th and August 15th, both big national holidays. HGVs are banned from the roads on Sundays all year round.
• Direction signs starting with Bis indicate bison futé, a holiday route avoiding crowded roads. Worth taking at busy times like summer Saturdays. Maps are available free from garages.
• Unless otherwise indicated, the speed limit is 50 kph in built up areas, 90 kph on other roads, (80 in the rain) and 130 kph on autoroutes (110 in the rain).
• Carry your insurance, car log book and driving license with you at all times whilst driving. It is an offence to not to do so. Also carry first aid kit, triangle, visibility jacket and two breathalysers. Be sure to use headlamp adjusters.
Manoir Savonniere is a large, luxurious manor house with stunning décor, an additional gite, private gardens and pool – and the owner is offering a discount of 30% on June and July weeks.
The Manoir is situated on the outskirts of the small wine-producing village of Les Verchers Sur Layon in the countryside of Maine-et-Loire and there are great wine tasting opportunities!
This period property has been beautifully converted to create dramatic, spacious rooms with loads of character and architectural features but a light, contemporary feel with all modern conveniences. The manoir and house together sleep up to twenty people, so they are ideal for large parties and families, anniversary and wedding celebrations and catering can be arranged.
Now is a great time to bag a last minute bargain for your summer holiday in France as our owners in lots of locations are making Special Offer discounts on their unsold summer weeks, many of 15% to 25%. Find a family villa with pool in the Vendee, close to the sea, a lovely country house in Aveyron, rural farmhouses and cottages in Normandy or the popular south west and even in Provence and the South of France.
France holiday rentals are already excellent value compared with other European countries, with lots of space for your money. Now we can help you reduce the cost of your holiday even further.
Our region of the month is the Morbihan department in southern Brittany, a charmed mix of coastline, countryside and ancient history. With its gentle, sunny micro-climate, clear light, sandy beaches, pretty villages and towns, this is a great holiday area for families, foodies, lovers of ancient history, artists and those who like messing about in boats.
The countryside is peaceful and the coastline is beautifully varied and sheltered, with a wealth of inlets and islets. You’ll find plenty of white-washed houses, sailing yachts, leisure craft and excellent food and drink, especially oysters.The Gulf of Morbihan is a lovely area of oyster beds, sea birds, coastal paths, yacht harbours and pine-lined beaches and the Pointe d’Arradon is known as the Riviera of the Gulf.
This is, too, a magical ancient land of dolmens, menhirs and standing stones, most spectacularly around Locmariaquer and the small town of Carnac, which has thousands of standing stone is spectacular rowws – ‘les alignements’.
Morbihan’s main towns include Lorient and its regional centre is the medeival city of Vannes. Here you’ll find fish and vegetable markets, Roman walls and well kept gardens, a Gothic cathedral, café-lined squares and superbly conserved timber framed houses. Vannes holds a jazz festival this month from 25 – 31 July.
We have a good range of holiday lets in Morbihan, some that still have summer availability. Also properties for sale. One holiday home and two houses for sale are featured in the current issue of French Property News magazine, in a three page article that highlights the houses and lifestyle of the Brittany area through French Connections properties. Read the article here.
If you’re looking for a little luxury this year, there’s still time to find a gorgeous villa in France for your holiday. Many of our owners have taken great care to create truly elegant and beautiful holiday homes – and are happy to share them with guests at rates that represent excellent value.
Most luxury villas are large, so can accommodate extended families, groups, two families holidaying together or couples who simply want to indulge themselves with space and privacy. Seclusion is a big factor at this end of the market, as luxury properties tend to have land or sheltered gardens to create that ‘get away from it all’ feel.
As you would expect, these homes have their own swimming pool – many integrated into the house with glass walls that open out for summer – along with a state of the art kitchen, opulent lounge and terrace and plenty of indulgent bathrooms.
The south of France has long been associated with holiday luxury and some of our fabulous modern villas are in glorious locations overlooking the Mediterranean. But you’ll also find gorgeous period homes in other parts of the country, like the Dordogne, Charente, Brittany and Cote d’Or wine country of Burgundy.
Our photo shows the large pool and garden of the lovely Villa Aix, which has panoramic views over the cultural city of Aix en Provence. This modern villa has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and plenty of space for up to eight people to enjoy.
There are still summer weeks available at our luxury holiday homes, but you’ll need to act fast. Search our top range accommodation by date, price, size and location to find your indulgent getaway this year.
Never mind the politics, let’s book a holiday. That’s the response of British people to recent events, as a massive jump in getaway bookings since last Friday has been reported by the travel industry.
And, of course, the love affair with France continues – and always will. It’s easily accessible with great value holiday homes from home. More than that, we love the food and wine, the language, history and culture, the beautiful countryside where community continues, where traditional farms sell fresh local food at market and festivals, fairs and concerts are held all summer long.
I reslish the sheer variety of landscapes and fascinating destinations. The Dordogne with its pastoral idyll, pre-historic museums and painted caves; the mind-blowing Ardeche gorge with Pont d’Arc and the replica of the Chauvet Cave. Closer to home I am always happy browsing Honfleur for the harbour, architecture, food and crazy art and Monet’s garden is heaven. For a quick hop across the Channel, I like Ardres and the beach at Wissant.
Recently I fulfilled a lifelong desire to visit the Camargue, inspired by the ‘White Horses’ TV series. I so enjoyed the fabulous flamingos and herons, the church at Saintes Maries de la Mer and throwing myself into warm sea off the little beach there.
Where next? A quiet spot off the tourist track on the Mediterranean coast, close to arty harbours and villages and accessible to a chic, historic town or city. Languedoc-Roussillon perhaps? There I would take a boat trip, go swimming, wander markets, vineyards and lavender fields. Can’t wait.
The Euro 2016 football tournament kicks off this week in France, putting the country firmly in the spotlight. Matches are to be played in ten different stadiums across the country for the next month. The final will be held in Paris at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis on 10th July.
Even if you don’t have tickets for a game, the football centres will be buzzing and, if you’re in France, you can follow matches along with the locals in bars and cafes, soaking up the atmosphere and excitement. It might pay to learn some of the more polite French football terms and the names of the country’s star players so you can really join in. The UEFA website (link below) even has a guide to the correct pronunciation of players' names!
For the first round, France is in group A, England and Wales in group B, Northern Ireland in group C and Republic of Ireland in group E, so France will not be meeting any of the UK or Irish teams, but after that anything could happen.
As a reminder, the countries that have qualified are: France (as hosts), England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany,Czech Republic, Belgium, Slovakia, Poland, Switzerland, Romania, Austria, Russia, Croatia, Portugal, Albania, Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Sweden.
The venues for matches will be:
Parc des Princes, Paris
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Stade des Lumières, Lyon
Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille
Matmut Atlantique, Bordeaux
Stadium Municipal, Toulouse
Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens
Allianz Riviera, Nice
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
Fixture dates are:
Group stage: 10-22 June
Round-of-16: 25-27 June
Quarter-finals: 30 June-3 July
Semi-finals: 6-7 July
Final: 10 July
For more details, check out the UEFA Euro 16 website and for accommodation in France, browse our holiday properties.