France Travel Blog:

Biarritz

Back to my theme of writing travel blogs on places I have been in the past, I have never done blogs on France, Germany, Spain or Portugal. In fact, there are many more I need to get to. I’ve decided to start with France as it is one of the countries I have visited most often. As far as I can recall, I have visited every region except Normandy. So the question is where to start? I’m tempted to just go with a series of anecdotal experiences and then try to summarise. But this would probably take me into stereotypes and I want to avoid that at all cost.

When I wrote my travel blog on Italy, I stated at the outset that ‘I didn’t get it,’ meaning I could not understand why Italy is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. With France, I do get it. Apart from the UK, it was the first foreign country I visited; I have been back many times and never tire of it. Perhaps the reason is that (sorry Italian friends) Italy has a sameness to it while France is a land of infinite contrasts. From the vibrant activity of cities like Paris, Marseilles and Nice, to the absolute peace and tranquility of Provence; the wildness of the western coast; the magnificence of the Alps and the Pyrenees mountains; the charm of the Riviera and all the marvelous pristine and picturesque little towns and villages in between. If I sound like an ad for the French tourist board, I’m not going to apologise. France is a beautiful country and is in my experience beautifully maintained and cultured.

You can drive for weeks in France and never see a large town. You won’t need to because the small villages have everything you need. I remember once driving through Burgundy and almost every small village we encountered was the name of a famous wine. I also once drove from Calais in the north to St Tropez on the Riviera without ever using a main road. If you want to use their motorways or autoroutes, they are available and the network is quite superb. It’s expensive though so unless you are in a hurry, use normal roads. The TGV rail network is also superb and connects all the main cities. It is so good that internal air travel in France has diminished considerably.

Near the village of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Provence.

It is difficult to pick a region in France and to say it is your favourite, so I won’t. Burgundy and Bordeaux are both beautiful but so is the Basque country around Perpignan and Biarritz. Carcassonne, one of only three European cities to still have its city walls intact is a must see. There is a list available of the top twenty villages in France. All are beautiful but to me, astonishingly, the villages of ‘Fontaine-de-Vaucluse and ‘Ile-de-Sognol’, both in Provence, are not included. I should also mention Avignon and Aix-en-Provence. I could mention the sights of Paris and other major cities but I feel they are well documented and have been seen by most seasoned travelers. So, I will concentrate on perhaps lesser known regions.

Of course, as with every country, not all is perfect. I have eaten some of my best ever meals in France. Surprisingly, I have also eaten some of the worst. It abounds with Michelin starred restaurants but you don’t have to spend a fortune to eat well. Choose wisely though. French food is very good but I wish they would vary it a little bit. Every restaurant seems to serve the same dishes. I think you need to choose a reasonably decent restaurant as some of my worst experiences have been in budget places.

While most accommodation in France, whether hotels or pensions, is quite good, there are some places that seem to still be in the 19th Century. I recall the small town of Luchon in the French Pyrenees. I spent several days there walking in the mountains, which was awesome with some beautiful scenery but the entire town seemed to be in a time warp. Shops all looked ancient and could do with a make-over; the products they were selling seemed to be from another time. The pensions had no en-suite rooms; one shared toilet per floor; a tiny shared shower; no soap or shampoo or towels provided; and speaking of being on a budget, it was not cheap. But this is rural France; well, some of it; most places are better. Also in Luchon, the local restaurant is friendly but they won’t take a food order before 7pm. They say the workers eat from 6–7. I asked if the workers could not eat before they came to work, as most workers do? The manager looked at me in horror and said, ‘we must respect the workers Monsieur; without them, we have no business.’ I said, fair enough and I like the fact that they not only respected their workers but also fed them. It might be better though if this wasn’t done by disrespecting the clients? Maybe a happy medium could be found, but I better not stray into the area of Industrial Relations. I mention it merely to demonstrate that in many places in France, old customs still apply so don’t expect to find businesses open for the same periods as in Ireland or elsewhere.

Bordeaux

This brings me to the French people themselves; again, no stereotypes but I have to mention that while in general French people are welcoming, I have encountered rudeness, and not just in the big cities; it was almost a sense of some people not wanting tourists. One time, we were in a holiday camp in central France and we encountered incredible rudeness; after three days, we realised that we were the only foreigners there — everyone else was French. We first noticed the car registrations were all local.

Many people complain that French people want you to speak their language; I guess many of these are English? I must say I don’t have a problem with this custom as many nations like you to converse a little in their native tongue. I can’t speak French but I will always have a few phrases wherever I go and I find that it works when you make the effort. Some experiences I have had were close to absurd though, if not outright funny. Once, many years ago, on an educational trip, the Mayor of Rennes gave us a lecture about his city — it lasted for forty minutes; was entirely in French (no interpreter) and none of the thirty of us students understood one word. Afterwards, he hosted a reception for us and was very amiable and of course, he spoke perfect English.

For many years, I visited Cannes annually for the duty free exhibition. It was glitzy, glamorous, in a French sort of way, but always interesting and well organised but as duty-free is a global industry, I could never figure why they held it in the same place each year and didn’t move it around. When I suggested this once to one of the (French) organisers, he looked at me like I had insulted his Mother and possibly his entire family — he could not conceive of holding it anywhere but Cannes. So, in a word, French people can be ‘emotional.’

While I’m at it, let me recall a hilarious experience at one of those exhibitions. We were in a restaurant and the waiter wouldn’t serve us any drink apart from French wine; he then got all our food orders mixed up; he insulted us and our host; then when our host complained to the manager, he protested that this guy was his best waiter. J

But let me finish on a positive note. The wine we were served was superb, as is almost all French wine. Some of the best holidays I have had have involved visiting various chateaux and touring the wine regions. The cheese is not bad either. Enjoy and bon voyage.