Exotic France

Marseille in the south of France is the country’s second largest city after Paris. Right on the Mediterranean coast it is one of France’s great historic cities.
An ancient city in the Bouches-du-Rhone ‘departement’ of Provence, Marseille is the largest French seaport and one of France’s great historic cities. It was functioning as a port even before Julius Casar conquered the Gauls.
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Because the sun appears less often here than in the south, some people think of Nord-Pas de Calais as a gloomy region. They have clearly never paid it a visit: it’s probably one of the jolliest regions in France, and always ready to celebrate. Parades, carnivals, fairs and fanfares – good habits endure in this land of memory, bristling with belfries. To get the right feel for the region’s spirit, you need to join the crowd during the great collective celebrations, and share their meals based on seafood – the famous moules-frites, the traditional waterzoï (a court-bouillon of fish and chicken) – washed down with some of the local beer. It’s a lively region where tradition is part of daily life – a region open to the major capitals cities of Europe such a short distance away! Read the rest of this entry »

Suddenly, I know how Posh feels – what to wear to the airport? Not, in my case, because I need to assemble yet another fabulous couture ensemble for the awaiting paparazzi, but because it’s one of those scorching late September days Britain sometimes serves up by way of apology for another underwhelming summer. And I’m going snowboarding.
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While Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a pretty hill town perched above the Côte d’Azur, it is filled with daytrippers. Its lesser-known neighbour, Vence, is a real town where you can happily spend a week dipping into the superb collection of patisseries and restaurants and the exquisite Matisse chapel, the artist’s self-proclaimed greatest work. The stained-glass windows in this perfect white, modernist chapel on the hill opposite Vence’s Roman walls flood the interior with coloured light, and wall-height line drawings cover the white ceramic tiles.
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