Although no great fan of Ryanair’s outrageous pricing policy which ends up charging you extra for almost anything they can think of, such as luggage, payment by credit card etc – the airline has enabled many Brits to access parts of France by air which might not have been possible. So, you could spice up a stay in Poitou-Charentes with a few days in Spain – and Barcelona is well worth a visit with its architecture, proximity to the Mediterranean and vibrant day and night life!

Unlike some airline destinations, Poitiers-Biard Airport is close to the centre of the town

There is also a new route starting in March 2010 from Pau (64 Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Aquitaine) in the foothills of the Pyrenees to Beauvais (60 Oise, Picardie), north of Paris. – which takes just 90 minutes in the air! – and Edinburgh to Bordeaux (33 Gironde, Aquitaine) from March 2010

For more info see www.ryanair.com

This comes at the same time as Ryanair has also announced the cancelling of many flights from Stansted over this winter.

So, much will depend on when you want to fly and how much you are willing to pay – and as always with Ryanair make sure that you take into account the additional costs that will be added to the headline price – i.e for online booking, baggage, priority boarding etc. However, the new Ryanair destination airports are local to the named city – but some airports can be some distance from the named city- e.g. Paris Beauvais is 50 miles (80km) north of Paris and takes about an hour and 15 minutes by bus.

For more info on Ryanair flights and destinations see www.ryanair.com
Air routes to France

Trogneux Chocolate

However a recent visit (in summer) there were 2 other discoveries – firstly a superb Chocolatier at Jean Trogneux where delicious chocolate and biscuit creations are made, including the famous Macaroons of Amiens and wafer-thin biscuits called “Tuiles”.
Trogneux, 1 rue Delambre – Zone piétonne – BP 20823 – 80008 AMIENS

Amiens Tourist Office Website

The Somme is of course closely associated with the First World War and is littered with many war cemeteries and memorials. On this ocassion we headed for the Australianand New Zealand War Memorial at Villers-Brettoneux a few kilometres due east of Amiens. Visiting war cemeteries is inevitably a little sombre, but this one was striking. Although the memorial looked a but stumpy and monolithic from a distance, closer to, and within the context of the rest of the cemetery it was much more graceful. The place had a sense of peace and tranquility about it – and as an added bonus a climb to the top of the tower offers some stunning views over the landscape – and that too looks beautiful.

Strangely enough, more Australians and New Zealanders (ANZACs) were killed in France in WWI, but Gallipolli is more keenly remembered and commemorated with Anzac Day.

11,000 Australians and New Zealanders with no known grave are commemorated at Villers-Bretonneux – and the village is proud of its connection with Australia.

There is another memorial to British and Australian victims of WWI at Fromelles (59 Nord, Nord-Pas de Calais) just west of Lille.

See more on Villers-Bretonneux
Find the best rates for Hotels in Amiens

However, Dieppe was (and is) a pleasant and less-crowded destination and did provide a useful start point for western France – or for exploring Picardie and the Seine Valley. You can still get a ferry to Dieppe from Newhaven on Transmanche ferries (also part of LD  Lines) – the crossing takes about 4 hours, but Newhaven is not so well connected to the motorway network.

Find the best rates for Hotels in Dieppe
There is a webcam overlooking Dieppe harbour and a motorhome parking area at www.dieppe.fr/webcams

Capital of the Picardy region, Amiens will surprise you with its mix of audacity, art and history! Notre-Dame d’Amiens, the Gothic Cathedral, is listed in UNESCO’s World Heritage and will amaze the visitors with its polychronic portals. Other treasures to discover are the first French Museum built to house the exhibition of Fine Arts, the first European skycraper designed by Perret and one of the first French belfries. Visitors can also enjoy a stroll down Amiens’s canal and waterborne markets before indulging in macaroons, ficelle picarde (savoury pancake) and gateau battu (sugared brioche).Do not wait any longer to discover the relaxing, medieval and pioneering Amiens!

“Amiens Cathedral in colour” takes place from 15 June to 19 September 2009:

The magical effect of coloured lighting on the façade of the cathedral provides visitors with an original view of medieval architecture.

For more info see www.visit-amiens.com/

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/

Said to be the biggest and greatest Christmas market in Northern France, Amiens town centre is converted into a festive Christmas scene. Look our for stalls offering local eel, shrimp, duck and trout, as well as Beauvais chocolate and Amiens macaroons

This year Amiens will be hosting 125 woodstalls which will extend from rue de Noyon to the Hôtel de ville (city hall) and the Halles du Beffroi (Belfry covered market). From France and elsewhere, these chalets will provide you with many gift ideas – crafts, decorations and gourmet products – in an atmosphere filled with the sweet aromas and flavours of the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

More colourful than ever, these chalets will set the scene of this key event for young and old to enjoy! A huge arch set up on rue de Noyon is the entrance to the market and its magical village.

For the occasion the entire city centre will be immersed in the imaginary world of Jules Verne and invites visitors to explore this world of dreams and festivities.

Also throughout December the fine gothic cathedral is the centre of a dramatic light show each evening which illuminates the building and brings out is architectural splendour with la cathédrale en couleurs - the Cathedral of Notre Dame in colour!

For more info see www.visit-amiens.com

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

The Rederies in Amiens – Sunday 5 October 2008

Amiens is not only a great city to visit with its fine Gothic cathedral, it also holds one of the best markets in northern France. IndOver 2000 stall holders, professionals and Amiens inhabitants take part in the “Réderies”.which attracts visitors from all over northern Europe.

Fouquerolles (near Laon) hosts an annual Book Festival (Fete du Livre) from 20-28 September 2008 which celebrates the written word in all its forms. There are about 10,000 people every year participating in this event with second hand books, rare books, 40 to 50 writers meeting the public and signing their books and participating in conferences. There will also be entertainment for the whole family thorough the day: street entertainers, musicians and story tellers, everything you need to spend an excellent weekend.

The Garlic bulbs are UK Grade 1 and are supplied in strings of 5, 10 and 20 heads, although larger sizes of up to 45 bulbs per string can be ordered.
Harvested at the end of each July, dried in the French sunshine and then smoked ntensively for 10 days, the Garlic string, if hung in a normal Kitchen environment will be remain in a good state until well into the following year. The Garlic Bulbs are large, strong flavoured and will remain edible well into 2009.

FrenchFlavour is now offering New Season Garlic from Picardie in addition to its other specialist offerings such as snails, pates, wine and champage, prepared meals, french cider. olives and tapenade etc.

There are passions about Garlic in France, whether you prefer the white, pink or purple garlic (each has its own proponents) – and of course there are numerous Garlic festivals such as St Clar (32 Gers, Midi-Pyrenees) and Lautrec (81 Tarn, Midi-Pyrenees) – see more about French Garlic here

An opportunity to visit France’s rich heritage of Gardens is offered for the weekend of 29 May – 1 June 2008 with the “Rendezvous des Jardins” (meetings with gardens).

Sponsored by the French Ministry of Culture, more than 2000 private and public parks and gardens across France will be open to the public.

On the Culture Ministry’s website (only in French) there is a clickable map to select the region you are visiting – and details of the gardens open and what they are offering – open visits, guided tours, music, photographic exhibitions, lectures etc. Many are open until dusk on the Saturday.

The fun thing is that there is such a range available – for example in Picardie you can visit the Vegetable Garden (potager) of the Princes at Chantilly (60 Oise, Picardie), and also an artist’s private garden near Beauvais (60 Oise, Picardie) where painter Andre van Beck uses the plants as subjects of his paintings and where he will be showing some of his floral pictures alongside the garden which inspired them! (see le Jardin Du Peintre Andre Van Beek
- see our customised map of the Oise département.
Meanwhile in the Charente, you can visit the medieval Pilgrim Hospital Garden (Hopital des Pelerins) at Pons (17 Charentes-Maritimes, Poitou-Charentes) – a stop on one of routes to St Jean de Compostelle (Halte sur les chemins de St Jean). Whilst at St Andre de Lidon (17 Charentes-Maritimes, Poitou-Charentes) the Cognac and Pineau des Charentes producer J M Deau will be opening their Botanic Garden to the public – plus the opportunity to taste or buy some Cognac!

Chaalis Abbey was a French Cistercian abbey founded in 1136 by Louis VI of Franc. There had previously been a Benedictine monastery in the same place.

The Journees de la Rose festival runs from 6-8 June in the delightful (and usually peaceful) gardens of the abbey – you’ll be greeted by a vast display of roses, be able to talk to rose experts, see an exhibition of photos and attend workshops on perfume and flower arranging.

See map and more info on the Oise département

As these are racing bikes rather than all-terrain or mountain bikes, so comfortable sadles, thick rugged tyres and dual wheel suspension makes this a real bone- and frame-shaking ride under pressure.

For more info see the official site at www.letour.fr and an enthusiasts’ site at www.lesamisdeparisroubaix.com/

For somewhere a little different to stay in Picardie you could try the Belle Dune self-catering Holiday Village.

Belle Dune is one of Pierre & Vacances’ most popular self catering holiday villages in France. Built in the 20th Century style of the Picardy region, the village nestles in a preserved natural area of sand dunes, is surrounded by a large lake and flanked by one of France’s finest golf courses. On-site activities are numerous, the beach is accessible by train plus a mini-market and an English pub.

For more info and special offers see P&V

Book your cross-channel ferry online -

However there are significant sections of autoroute which are toll free – most often these are around major towns and Cities (Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon etc).

In the North, the A16 is toll-free from Boulogne (J29) to the Belgian border (J36) via Calais and Dunkerque. The A25 from Dunkerque (J20) to Lille is free, so you can reach Lille from the main Channel ports without paying a toll!. Also all routes from Lille to the Belgian border.
The following autoroutes are toll free (as at September 2007)
A16 (part of the Autoroute des Estuaires (estuaries)) from Boulogne-sur-Mer (J29) to the Belgian border(J36)
A20 (L’Occitane) from Vierzon (J6 junction with A71) to Brive-la-Gaillarde (J53) via Chateauroux, Argenton and Limoges
A25 from Dunkerque (J20 with A16) to Lille
A28 from Abbeville (J1) to Rouen (J14)
A30/A31 (Autoroute de la Vallée de la Fensch) from Thionville (J1) to Toul (J12) via Metz and Nancy
A38 from Dijon (J33) to Pouilly-sur-Auxois (J24 and the junction with the A6)
A63 (Autoroute de la Cote Basque) from Bordeaux to Bellin-Bellet (J20)
A64 (la Pyreneenne) from St Martory (J20) to Muret (J25)
A68 (la Tarnaise) from Monastruc (J3 NE of Toulouse) to Albi (J11) via Gaillac
A75 (la Meridienne) from Clermont-Ferrand (J15) to Pezenas (J59) (except for the Millau Bridge) via Issoire
A77 (Autoroute de l’Arbre (trees)) from Pouilly (J26) to Nevers (J37)
A84 from Caen (J46) to Rennes (J25) via Avranches

for more info click here

Compiegne is perhaps best known as the location of the Wagon-Lits carriage where both Germany and France humiliated each other at the end of the First World War and 20 odd years later when Hitler accepted the French capitulation. A replica of the famous railway carriage can be seen in a museum (Musee de l’Armistice) in the middle of a clearing in the impressive Foret de Compiegne near Rethondes, about 6km east of the town. For fans of art deco there are two important landmarks to visit near the route – In Lille there is a famous (and expensive but exquisite) Fish restaurant (L’Huitrière), and in nearby Roubaix there is an art deco swimming pool which has been converted into a Museum of Arts and Industry

For cheap cross-channel ferry crossings see Cheap4Ferries.com

Keywords: France, Cycle,Compiegne,Paris,Roubaix,Lille,St Quentin,Nord, Picardie