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There are few things so evocative of summer than the strawberry – and of course in southern France summer comes earlier than it does in northern climes. Hence the village of Velleron (84 Vaucluse, Provence) holds its annual Fete de la Fraise on May 8th 2010.
Set in the heart of the Rhône Valley north of Avignon, the self-styled Capitale des Fraises (Strawberry Capital) indulges itself in everything to do with the Strawberry
 Come revel in the first warm spring days, and discover the charms of the village of Velleron, amidst gorgeous scents of strawberries. See the Confrérie de la Fraise (The Brotherhood of the Strawberry!) and attend the inductions of local and not-so-local celebrities Tastings, sales, concerts, flea market and rummage sale, nearly 150 stands, all the strawberries you could hope to see. A memorable day. Free entrance, free parking, and lots of free events and fun during the day throughout the village.
Velleron is also famous for its Farmers Market (Marché Agricole) held most evenings in Summer (Tuesday, Friday and Saturdays) from 4.30pm when local farmers and smallholders turn up with their battered vans and tractors and sell direct to the public from the tailgate or rickety table some of the freshest fruit, vegetables, oils, wines etc – well worth a visit and a great alternative to the hypermarket!
For more info on Velleron see www.velleron.fr
Within a short distance of the village is l’Isle-sur-Sorgues with its pretty canals encircling the town and its famouse Antiques market; Fontaine de Vaucluse – an impressive spring in the rocks (except there was a drought when I visited!) – Avignon, Chateauneuf-du-Pape etc
From 10 – 18 April 2010 the départment of the Somme (80, Picardie) celebrates its annual Festival des Oiseaux etde la Nature – Bird and Nature Festival.
Whilst the Somme is usually connected with sombre moments of our history, it is nevertheless an area of considerable natural beauty – from the many “étangs” or lakes inland, to the river valley iself which snakes across the landscape – to the Baie de la Somme, the Bay where the river meets the sea with its wide sandy flats proving to be a haven for birds – you can hardly fail to see a wide selection of wildlife if you take the time to stop and look. Or take advantage of the flat cycle and walking paths which are provided in abundance. The Somme Bay covers 7,000 hectares and is also known as “the Camargue of the North”.
The Bird and Nature Festival is held every year in April, a period which is favourable for observing birds in the Somme Bay.
It is an event for the general public offering activities for the whole family over a period of 9 days :
* Guided nature rambles,
* Screenings of ornithological, animal-related and environmental documentaries,
* Exhibitions of animal art or photos,
* Children’s workshops,
* Lectures,
* Photography and watercolour painting courses,
* Shows…
The Festival is the event offering the widest range of guided nature rambles over a 9-day period in France (over 200 rambles on foot, horseback, bicycle, in kayaks, etc.).
2 international competitions (a film competition and a photo competition) which are open both to professionals and amateurs, are held as part of the event.
There are just a couple of interesting villages in the area of the Bay – Le Crotoy and St Valery-sur-Somme which face each other across the sandy bay – linked in summer by a Tourist Steam Tran service.
Centrally situated just a few minutes walk from the town centre of St Valery-sur-Somme in the Rue des Moulins is the up-market Hotel des Corderies which offers 11 stylish rooms providing calm and comfort.
The area is just a short detour off the A16 autoroute near Abbeville between Boulogne and Rouen. For more info on the Bird Festival see www.bird-nature-festival.co.uk/
Arles (13 Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence) starts its bullfighting season with the Feria de Pâques (Easter Festival) from 2 – 5 April 2010.
Many visitors may feel squeamish or even disapproving about the spectacle of bull-fighting, but it is a long-maintained tradition in Provence and southern France, especially in the Camargue. You can however still enjoy the spectacle (and avoid the risk of any gore)by seeing the noisy and colourful parades and bull-running through the town. My view is that if you really object to this form of “entertainment” then avoid the area.
The bull-fighting (corrida) takes place in the spectacular Roman Arena in Arles, and there are other options such as the Course Camargaise, which is another local form of bullfighting without the drawing of any blood.
 About course camarguaise: It is a summer pastime practiced in many small towns around Arles and the area. There are local leagues which are reported in local newspapers..
This different kind of bullfighting is known alternately as “course libre” or “course camarguaise“. This is a bloodless spectacle (for the bulls) in which the objective is to snatch a rosette from the head of a young bull.
The participants, or raseteurs, begin training in their early teens against young bulls from the Camargue region before graduating to regular contests held principally in Arles and Nîmes but also in other Provençal and Languedoc towns and villages.
Before the course, anencierro — a “running” of the bulls in the streets — takes place, in which young men compete to outrun the charging bulls. The course itself takes place in a small (often portable) arena erected in a town square.
For a period of about 15–20 minutes, the raseteurs compete to snatch rosettes (cocarde) tied between the bulls’ horns. They don’t take the rosette with their bare hands but with a claw-shaped metal instrument called a raset or crochet(hook) in their hands, hence their name. Afterwards, the bulls are herded back to their pen by gardiens (Camarguais cowboys) in a bandido, amidst a great deal of ceremony. The star of these spectacles are the bulls, who get top billing and stand to gain fame and statues in their honor, and lucrative product endorsement contracts!
For more info on the Feria see www.arenes-arles.com
Arles is a UNESCO World Heritage site for its ancient Roman and medieval history: “It has some impressive Roman monuments, of which the earliest – the arena, the Roman theatre and the cryptoporticus (subterranean galleries) – date back to the 1st century B.C. During the 4th century Arles experienced a second golden age, as attested by the baths of Constantine and the necropolis of Alyscamps. In the 11th and12th centuries, Arles once again became one of the most attractive cities in the Mediterranean. Within the city walls, Saint-Trophime, with its cloister, is one of Provence’s major Romanesque monuments.”
Arles also has strong connections to Vincent Van Gogh who spent 15 months of his most productibe period in the town; also nearby is the Camargue, a largely unspoilt regional natural park lying between 2 arms of the Rhone delta. To the east are the charms of Les Baux de Provence, St Remy-de-Provence and the wines of Les Baux de Provence AC – where I would recommend a visit to Mas Ste Berthe to try (and buy) some of their wines and/or olive oil and to takes a walk around the signpost route around the vineyard.
For more info on Arles and the surrounding area see www.tourisme.ville-arles.fr
Arles is twinned with WISBECH in Cambridgeshire – although I doubt you will find much bull-running there! – although it is known as the Capital of the Fens which could be considered as comparable to the Camargue – flat, marshy and a haven for wild life.
Find best hotel rates in Arles
Corsica is considered to be one of the most beautiful of the Mediterranean islands, and whilst you can fly direct there is also the option of taking the ferry across from the south of France or Italian ports – and get a 10 hour mini-cruise into the bargain.
 Moby are introducing a new service from Toulon (83 Var, Provence, Alpes. Cote d’Azur) to Bastia from April 2010. Moby and other ferry operators also sail from Marseille, Nice and numerous points on the Italian coast. You can also go via Sardinia.
Corsica differs from the idea one has of the Mediterranean islands. In fact, no other island is as green as Corsica: from its Laricio pine forests and emerald-green mountain lakes, to its fragrant maquis [scrub], cooling high mountain pastures and wine-growing lands. If Corsica is an “emerald isle”, it owes it to its unique topography in the Mediterranean: this “mountain in the sea” is well deserving of its nickname, with 120 peaks above an altitude of 2 000 m, which remain snow-capped until the spring. The 25 watercourses that flow through it make the island the best irrigated in the Mediterranean Basin. To top it all, Corsica offers the luxury of 1 000 km of the richest, most varied coastline. With a “Parc Naturel Régional” [Regional Natural Park] that covers two-thirds of its surface area, Corsica is a well-preserved island divided between nature reserves and listed sites.
Other ferry operators to Corsica include
S.N.C.M
CORSICA FERRIES,
see also Corsica Tourist Office website
Book Ferry crossings on MOBY and throughout Europe –
Rain Heron of Sweet French Cottages near Entraygues-sur-Truyere (12 Aveyron, Midi-Pyrenees) shares her thoughts about France at Easter:
 Easter is known as Pâques in France. Although it is a religious holiday, nowadays, it is treated as mostly a secular holiday and enjoyed mainlyby the French children. The children— as in many other countries— receive a gift basket, resembling a bird’s nest, containing colourfully decorated eggs and chocolates.
The French like to begin their Easter season several weeks before Easter arrives. The shop windows, particularly those of chocolatiers and confiseries as well as patisseries and boulangeries, are adorned with elaborately decorated eggs (les œufs de Pâques). Shops, even the butcher and the fashion boutique, also display bunnies, chickens, bells and fish, often created as edible works of art in either white or dark chocolate.
The symbol of flying bells (cloche volant)is also part ofthe French Easter tradition. Most village churches, many of which date back to the 12th century, have a bell, which is rung throughout the year to mark certain events and the passage of time. However, on the Thursday before Good Friday (vendredi saint), all the church bells are silencedthroughout France in acknowledgement of Jesus’ death.
It is said that the bells fly away to the Vatican in Rome on Holy Thursday (jeudi saint),and the bells carry with them all the misery and grief of those who mourn Jesus’ crucifixion. On Easter morning, the bells return to France from Rome and ring out in celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, declaring that Jesus is alive again. In some villages, people kiss and embrace one another when they hear the bells ring out.
French children are told that the church bells miraculously fly to visit the Pope in Rome and that the cloche volant will return to the villages on Easter morning in time for the Easter festivities. Les enfants de France are also told that if they’ve been good all year, that the bells will bring them goodies such as decorated eggs and yummy chocolates.
Barely able to sleep, French children greatly anticipate Easter morning. Parents wake up early and hide les oeufs de Pâques for their children in the gardens, playgrounds or homes. The chocolates (and sometimes, other candies) are usually placed in the baskets, and are typically hollow and shaped as eggs, bunnies, chickens, bells or fish.
Most Easter games played by French children involve eggs. Some of the games include rolling raw eggs down a gentle mountain slope. The surviving egg is declared the victory egg. There is also the egg toss, which requires tossing raw eggs up into the air and catching them on their way down. The first child to drop and break his egg is the loser, and in some versions of the game, must pay a penalty by giving up a piece of his Easter candy to his brothers or sisters.
French Easter fish, known as poisson d’avril are often presented by village chocolatiers or confiseries who create delicious and decorative chocolate fish for Easter, although Poisson d’avril is celebrated on the first day of April and is the French equivalent of April Fool’s Day.
French children stick a paper fish onto the back of as many tolerant adults as possible and then run away shouting “Poisson d’avril!” which means, of course, “April Fish”! This ritual dates back many centuries to 1564, yet its true origin is not known. One popular belief is that it has evolved from a trick where an unknowing French person was sent off to market to purchase freshwater fish when it was not in season. (Proof that almost everything has to do with food in France!).
There is usually an elaborate lunch with family (or friends) on Easter Sunday. In this area of France, an Easter menu might include a starter of baked, poached or scrambled eggs followed by a main dish of roast leg of lamb (gigot d’agneau), served with new potatoes and early spring vegetables. A cheese platter with an assortment of local cheeses would follow the main dish. And, finally, to “cleanse the palate”, as the French like to say, the meal would finish with a wonderful dessert such as chocolate fondant or a fresh strawberry tart with a dollop of crème fraiche and a sprig of fresh mint.
The following day, Monday (Pâques de lundi), is declared as a national holiday in France so everybody enjoys a three-day weekend, which is time often spent with family. Schools observe a two-week spring holiday, usually around Pâques; however, the school holiday periods differ slightly for the children in accordance with their designated school zone.Since there are so many families taking holidays in France, the French have devised a special system where they stagger certain school holiday periods into three zones. Easter is one of these popular travel holidays so a child in the Aveyron enjoys a different holiday time than a child in the Loire. This, as the French rationalize, is done to share and manage the flow of French tourists!
Easter marks the beginning of the tourist season in many places in France with smaller hotels and restaurants making their annual debuts. While many restaurants in Paris and other large cities typically close for Easter, here in Entraygues-sur-Truyere and in other resort villages, many of the local restaurants open their doors for the first time in the new year and offer a special Easter menu to local families and tourists alike.
Plus, to tempt you to this enticing part of France, there is a special offer for Easter at one of the Sweet French Cottages
**SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER**
Book a Cottage for Easter Week (April 3 – April 10)
& receive 15% off our usual Holiday Rates!
Bonne Fête et Joyeuses Pâques!
For more info see www.frenchduck.co.uk
Just days after having written in glowing terms about the improving quality of Loire Valley wines the Independent publishes an article which makes my heart sink – instead of focussing on quality some of the producers are resorting to cheap gimmickery – “Loire wines rebranded as fashion item to appeal to women drinkers “. One of the producers cited is Lacheteau, a Loire valley negociant responsible for the bottles in the picture above. (A negociant sometimes markets the wines of individual chateau, or sometimes blends and brands wines under their own label.) Here marketing speak (especially when translated from French) comes to the fore – “B4 going out at Julie’s place, a trendy aperitif : a white wine. She knows what you MUST wear, and what you MUST drink. She chooses clear and differentiated messages.” – that’s for the white wine “Vague de Blanc – thirst-quenching wine” – although no other details such as classification, grapes or even TASTE etc are to be found. For the Pink (“Soupcon de Fruit” – a hint of fruit? “Perfume from the Loire”) we are offered “At Ingrid and Raphaël’s place, one has a sense of French-style refinement. When the fine weather arrives, she lunches outdoors with her best friends…” for what I assume to be a Cabernet Franc rose!
So, I’m obviously a “grumpy old former wine merchant” – but I do worry that this sort of “branding” and what I assume to be somewhat bland inoffensive wines from large negociants will overwhelm the efforts of inspired winemakers who are re-building the quality image of Loire wines with flavour, distinctiveness and passion. Look what happened to Beaujolais when Beaujolais Nouveau completely ruined the perception of Beaujolais as a good wine – or German wine’s reputation following the onslaught of Liebfraumilch.
Sure the gimmicks will sell some more bottles in the short term, but only at cheap prices, and those customers will find little incentive or information to try other Loire Valley wines – they are likely to be fickle and buy the next sexy bottle shape with meaningless silken words that comes along. See the article in the Independent here
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 A new record-breaking trip this week as a fully-loaded test run was made using the new but uncompleted Eurostar terminal at London St Pancras and the new line under the East of London to the Channel Tunnel and down to Paris – just 2hours and 4 minutes. (actually it ran from Paris to London, but I assume similar speeds are possible heading south). The current run from Waterloo is two hours and 35 minutes – and scheduled services from St Pancras should be 2 hours 15 minutes city centre to city centre, with similar time improvements to Lille and Brussels.
The new route is due to open on November 14th 2007 with a new station just off the M25 at Ebbsfleet near Dartford opening on 19 November 2007. Eventually there will also be a new International Station at Stratford in East London.
The new service and timings will make rail travel to Paris and much of France a more attractive option – and the move to St Pancras will make life much easier for rail connections from the north and midlands – St Pancras being within 5 minutes walk of both Kings Cross and Euston, and not much further from Marylebone.
Ebbsfleet will also suit car travellers from the North and East in particular.
There is a lot of background and useful information on the Eurostar website.with maps of the route etc.
Pity the French who must find it very difficult to understand the English language when it comes to food – we have mincemeat pies for Christmas which do not contain any minced meat – whereas in Pezenas (34 Herault, Languedoc) they do have small pies which contain a mincemeat of sweetened lamb rolled up in pastry – “Les Petits pâtés de Pézenas”. These sweet/salty concoctions in the form of a bobin are a speciality of the region, supposedly introduced by our Clive of India who stopped over in the town and his Indian cooks invented the pies from the available local ingredients. They are small pies usually served as a starter with a glass of wine.
Inevitably there is a “Confrérie du Petit Pâté de Pézenas” who have a ceremony every Ascension Day which gives them the excuse to dress up in extravagant gowns – but meantime you can always find a pie in any of the numerous Patisseries in this charming medieval town.
The town is in the middle of Languedoc wine country with some excellent Vins de Pays d’Oc and Coteaux du Languedoc, Picpoul de Pinet, and Muscat wines.
Nearby is a great villa for rental in the middle of the vines at Roujan – Clos Montels
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Also see our calendar of events in France
Another supposedly British tradition has been hijacked by those Frenchmen! – This time it is the veritable Black Pudding, previously thought to be the highlight of Scottish and northern breakfasts – but in its guise as Boudin Noir (a well-establshed French delicacy, the French town of Mortagne-sur-Perche (61 Orne, Normandie) is holding a Black Pudding Festival from 20-22 March 2010
 Those who thought black pudding was a purely Scottish affair need think again, as the international contest to find the best black pudding takes place next March in the historic French village of Mortagne-au-Perche in the Orne area of Normandy.
The 46th annual black pudding festival will celebrate the culinary traditions of the region, with local cook-offs, celebrity chefs as well as a host of gastronomic stalls and exhibits open to the public.
The main part of the festival is the black pudding competition which sees over 650 competitors from across Europe but there are also two fiercely fought culinary competitions open to professional and amateur chefs who reside in the Orne. They are charged with creating and cooking the best dish – fish-based for the professionals, and a desert for the amateurs – using local produce such as apples, calvados, cider, pommeau, cream, butter and cheese to create their dish.
Specialist butchers and delicatessens will be demonstrating the art of making a black pudding, and visitors may sample and be their own judge of the best recipe.
For more info see www.normandy-ornetourism.com
Where to stay (B&B) in Normandy?
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