Champagne-Ardenne

The 12th RALLYE MONTE-CARLO HISTORIQUE will be held from 29 January to 4 February 2009.

There are numerous starting points ranging from Oslo to Barcelona and Turin. finally coming together for the last section down across the Alps to Monte Carlo. Strasbourg, Reims, Perpignan, Narbonne, Beaune and Avignon are all on one of the various routes which the classic cars will pass through - the cars all being models which participated in the Monte Carlo Rally proper between 1955 and 1980.

Over 120 cars will leave the Cathedral Square in Reims on the evening of Friday 30 January 2009.

For more info see www.acm.mc

For Reims see www.reims-tourism.com/

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/

Reims (Marne, Champagne)  is famous for Champagne, its Cathedral and its Christmas market.

A weekend here between 21 Nov and 28 Dec 2008 will offer an opportunity to indulge in all three.

During the run-up to Christmas, Reims’ Christmas Village combines street entertainment, magicians, carol singers and market stalls selling Christmas gifts, decorations and food.

110 wooden huts form the Christmas Market inPlace d’Erlon and along the rue Condorcet and rue Théodore Dubois. There will be numerous events held each weekend including parades, as well as orchestra and brass band concerts. You can also listen to live jazz performed every Wednesday and Friday afternoon. There will be a special visit with St. Nicolas on the 6 December, but Father Christmas welcomes the children every day in his chalet. For more information, visit the Reims tourist office website at www.reims-tourisme.com.

The town of Laon (02 Aisne, Picardie) is always an impressive sight, situated on the rocky promontory overlooking the plains of Picardy and Champagne, with the 12th Century Cathedral of Notre Dame as its focal point - a landmark on the otherwise rather uninspiring autoroute A26 from Calais to Reims.

View of Laon in Picardie

The town holds its Christmas Market (Marché de Noel) in the streets around the medieval Cathedral on 6, 7 and 10 Decembre 2008.

St Quentin (02 Aisne, Picardie) further north up the A26 autoroute holds its Christmas Market rather later - from 22 December 2008 to 4 January 2009 around the rather flamboyant gothic Hotel de Ville - and in addition offers a skating rink and a nordic skiing course with real snow!!

For more info on Laon see Office de Tourisme du Pays de Laon

For more info on St Quentin see Office de Tourisme de St Quentin

Buy at AllPosters.com

Information on domestic flights in France is not easy to come by, one reason being that Air France has such a dominant position in France and already have flights on most internal routes.
Plus the French market is not as competitive. The French Railway system between major cities is both fast and competitive, especially if starting from Paris.
I have only been able to uncover a couple of airlines which offer domestic flights in France:-
http://www.easyjet.com/ - Toulouse to Lyon, Paris, Nice to Paris; Lyon to Biarritz, Bordeaux; Biarritz to Paris

http://www.twinjet.net/
Toulouse (32 Haute-Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees) to Metz/Nancy, Mulhouse, Brest; Marseille to Metz/Nancy, Mulhouse; Paris - Perigueux, Cherbourg

http://www.airlinair.fr/ Brest,(29 Finistere, Brittany) Bordeaux (33 Gironde, Aquitaine), Agen (47 Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine), Lyon (69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes), Poitiers (86 Vienne, Poitou-Charentes), Brive (19 Correze, Limousin) Beziers (34 Herault, Languedoc-Roussillon) etc

http://www.ryanair.com/ now also has links from Marseille (13 Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence) to Lille (59 Nord, Nord-Pas de Calais) and Brest (29 Finistere, Brittany)

You can try sites like http://www.expedia.fr/ but even a price comparison site like http://www.baisse-de-prix.com/voyages.php seems to offer little new – it looks like Air France have cornered the market with little opportunity for discounting.

The Vignerons Independents, the body representing independent winemakers, holds a number of wine fairs (Salons) in Spring and Autumn each year, which are open to the public and give you the opportunity to taste from a wide selection of vineyards from every region of France, meet the winemakers and purchase wines at cellar door prices.

For autumn 2009 the dates are as follows:-

29 Oct - 2 Nov 2009 - Lyon (69 Rhone, Rhone-Alpes) - Hall Tony Garnier

6 - 9 Nov 08 - Reims ( 51 Marne, Champagne) - Parc des Expositions

20-23 Nov 2009 - Lille (59 Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais) - Grand Palais

26 -30 Nov - Paris (75 Paris, Ile de France) - Porte de Versailles

For more info see www.vigneron-independant.com (in French) There is also a video on YouTube (also in French)

If you are visiting Lille, there is a good B&B on the tram route to the city centre - see Alix’s Garden