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A new book is published on 11 June 2009 - a Guide to The Flea Markets of France by Sandy Price (”marche de puce”) :

A visit to a flea market can be the highlight of a trip to France: a lively encounter with everyday French culture, an exciting way to spend a few hours, and a chance to pick up a unique souvenir or add to a collection. The Flea Markets of France is the indispensable tool for getting the most out of your visit, whether you’re a first-time visitor or an experienced shopper. Conversational and comprehensive, this guide will tell you everything you need to know about exploring markets all over France. Descriptions of markets and their specialties, as well as practical advice on visiting them, is augmented by notes on regional items, tips on bargaining and collecting, a glossary of relevant French phrases, and a useful rating system which gives an overview of each market. Much more than a simple listing of French flea markets, Sandy Price’s warm suggestions of things to do nearby, places to eat, food specialties of the area, and local amenities are complemented by bits of history and cultural observations. Armed with this comprehensive guide, visitors to France will feel they are in good, reliable hands.

I remember a long hunt for an old-fashioned Ricard water bottle, which was eventually successful in the delightful town of l’Isle -sur-Sorgues in Provence - before it became famous as a mecca for antique dealers and hunters who arrive by the coachload. It also led  to discovering a few other gems in the midst of the piles of dross. A guide to where to find flea markets would have been useful.

Amongst the flea markets feature are Annecy (74 Hautre-Savoie), Antibes (06 Alpes-Maritimes), Arles (13 Bouches-du-Rhone), Avignon (84 Vaucluse), Bordeaux(33 Gironde), Belfort(90 Terrotoire de Belfort), Cannes(06 Alpes-Maritimes), Carpentras(84 Vaucluse), Grenoble(38 Isere), l’Isle-sur-Sorgues(84 Vaucluse), Lyon (69 Rhone), Menton(06 Alpes-Maritimes), Montpellier(34 Herault), Nantes (44 Loire-Atlantique), Nice(06 Alpes-Maritimes) , Orleans(42 Loiret), Paris (75 Ile de France), Rouen(76 Seine-Maritime), Strasbourg (67 Bas-Rhin), Toulouse (32 Haute-Garonne), Tours(37 Indre-et-Loire) - and many more.

For more info see a Guide to The Flea Markets of France

If you are looking for a delightful way of exploring deepest France then cycling has to be an attractive and cheap option. Throughout France there is a network of “Green Routes” (voies vertes) which can offer tranquil, flat(tish) pathways and minor roads which are ideal for walking and cycling etc and give you an opportunity to explore the depths of the French landscape and countryside away from the tyranny of the motor car. There is a national website with details of all the Voies Vertes at www.voies-vertes.info/ with a helpful location map (albeit in French). One route (of many) which looks interesting is the route from Beziers to Portiragnes-Plage in the Languedoc which runs for 15km alongside the Canal du Midi.
There is a good and well-illustrated guide (in French)La France des voies vertes : Cyclistes,

In English there is always the Lonley Planet Guide Cycling France (Cycling Guide)(new edition published July 2009) “Here’s a sampling: in Paris you can take the bike paths along the Seine or all the way to Monet’s gardens in Giverny. The Loire Valley offers intimate excursions by sandstone villages, magnificent chateaux and scenic waterways. Take the tiny, winding roads of Provence to see perched villages and spectacular panoramas of the Cote d’Azur, or dip into Champagne for the terraced vineyards of Dom Perignon. For those up to the challenge, there’s the dramatic volcanic landscape of the Massif Central, with its steep climbs and sweeping descents. The Guide includes a chapter on the island of Corsica with its rugged coastal scenery and prehistoric sites.”

As a great fan of Paris, I’m always on the look-out for new suggestions to help discover the essential heart of the city - I tend to avoid the crowds of tourists and despite many visits to the city, there are still some top landmarks which I have yet to visit! It is a great city for walking, and that is what I find most interesting, especially in some of the less overtly glamorous parts of the city.
So I was delighted to find another guidebook which will inspire further discovery of the nooks and crannies of Paris - Quiet Corners of Paris: Unexpected Hideaways, Secret Courtyards, Hidden Gardens

“Yes, noisy, bustling Paris has its quiet corners, and this attractive book describes them in loving detail. Most of the places mentioned here are out of doors and open to the public. The places range from museum courtyards and royal gardens to 15th Century cloisters and tiny passageways to the back streets and lanes of the various neighborhoods. Some famous sites are here (Luxembourg Gardens) but so are unknown treasures such as the Irish Cultural Center, housed in a townhouse used by the Irish Catholic collegiate community since 1775, or Paris’ lesser-known islands. And few places are as quiet as the city’s evocative cemeteries.” -The Chicago Tribune

Even if you can’t get there in the near future, it represents an interesting read which will doubtless set you planning your next trip.

Featured at the France Show was a fascinating display of images sponsored by the London College of Communication – University of the Arts London and Maison de la France representing the 22 French cities - which encouraged young photographers from the UK to take photos of French cities from a different perspective.

In April 2008, 22 students from the Photographic department were welcomed each in one of the 22 participating cities. The participants ranged in age between 20 and 35 years old, as well as originating from 15 different countries. Each student was given an “emotional passport” to express their own talent and sense and to capture the daily life of France. Their only requirement: let the dreams and emotions of the people and places be the guide!

The venues include Aix-en-Provence, Amiens, Angers, Avignon, Bordeaux, Dijon, Grenoble, Le Havre, Lille, Marseille, Metz, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Nancy, Nantes, Nice, Nimes, Reims. Rennes, Rouen, Toulouse and Versailles.

For more info see www.franceemotion.com/

Besançon Christmas Market (Doubs, Franche Comte) runs from 28 Nov - 24 Dec 2008.

Besancon the capital of Franche-Comté, has just been declared as a Unesco World Heritage site.
Fortified by Vauban, it has been recognised for its outstanding universal value by the World Heritage Committee.

The town’s Christmas Market offers carol singing, arts and crafts, local products, folk dancing and other street entertainment.

For more info see www.besancon-tourisme.com

Besancon is also famous for being the birthplace of celebrity chef Raymond Blanc, proprietor of the Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons in Oxfordshire and host of the BBC series “The Restaurant“.
Monsieur Blanc has just published a new book A Taste of My Life:

Raymond Blanc knows more about food and cooking than pretty much anyone else on earth, and his life to date has been a search for culinary perfection. Now, for the first time, he tells the story of that search and shares the secrets he has learned along the way.

Amanda Lawrence’s new bookWhite Stone, Black Wine: focuses on part of deepest South West France, and although subtitled ” Life Among the Ancient Vineyards of the Quercy Blanc” it is about so much more than wine, as important as this is. Quercy is the ancient name for an area which includes the departements of Lot (46) and Lot-et-Garonne(47) in the Midi-Pyrenees, with the town of Cahors at is heart. The white limestone of the area gives the landscape and buildings of the area their distinctive style. Much of the countryside is and was covered with various types of oak trees (latin:quercus) and the predominant wine is the deeply coloured (black) wine of Cahors.

The Quercy Blanc - named for its white stone - is a wild and sparsely populated area of rural France, squeezed between the great wine trading port of Bordeaux and the fizzing city of the south, Toulouse. It’s home to the goose and the grape, sumptuous foiegras, the mysterious black truffle and world famous Agen prunes. There are miles of walnut groves and, most important of all, acres of vines. The author introduces us to some colourful local characters, freezes from the kneecaps down whilst braving the famous winter truffle market in Lalbenque, throws herself with Gallic gusto into numerous fetes and uncovers traces of the luminaries who once called this place home. From Champollion, who translated the Rosetta stone, to the illustrious Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Henry Plantagenet brought the area to the English crown.

Ideal winter reading in the UK, conjuring up the warmth and richness of life in South West France.

For more info - White Stone, Black Wine: OR get an Amazon Gift Certificates.

The Truffle Market in Lalbenque (46 Lot, Midi-Pyrenees) takes place every Tuesday from the first Tuesday in December through to mid-March. For more info see www.lalbenque.net

For more on Quercy on FrenchDuck see http://frenchduck.com