The start of the cycling season in France is marked by the somewhat mis-named Paris-Nice race which runs from 3 - 10 March 2024 . Mis-named because although it does…
BBC2's final of MasterChef 2008 (Thursday 28 Feb 2008) takes the finalists to work in some of France's best restaurants. The other challenges for the 3 finalists have included cooking…
The Aude département (11 Languedoc-Roussillon) straddles the Autouroute des Deux Mers (A62) as it heads east from Narbonne towards Toulouse and eventually Bordeaux. The autoroute follows the flattish valley bottom…
Poitiers (86 Vienne, Nouvelle Aquitaine) is a bit of a contradiction - laden with history (such as the Battle of Poitiers in the 100 years war) and yet host (on…
The Cahors region was a little isolated and very traditional when I first started to get to know it in the 1970s. It produced a somewhat rustic style of Malbec…
A small wine producing area to the south east of Bordeaux
A browse through the local travel bookshop in midwinter is always enjoyable, especially when you find something new. Hence Mireille Guiliano's French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating…
Try the east for a change? One area well known to British wine drinkers but less well known to Britons is Burgundy. Only 5 - 6 hours from the Channel…
The iconic Citroen 2CV (2 Chevaux or 2 horses or "deuch" or "umbrella on four wheels") was launched in 1948 at the Paris Motor Show and went on to sell…
For all that Bordeaux is synonymous with fine wine around the world, the city has not had a decent wine museum in recent years. To some extent you could argue…
The Spring Festival (Fete de Printemps) takes place in the medieval town of St Emilion (33 Gironde, Aquitaine), one of the best appellations for Bordeaux red wines. There is always…
Jurade de Saint Emilion Open Doors Weekend Spring Festival Summer Celebration Autumn Harvest I have previously been a little cynical about the tendancy of the French to imbue elements of…
The predominant image of Picardy tends to be the poppy and images of the First World War. Yet this region has so much more to offer, not least its stunning…
One way to make the best of winter could be to head to the ski resort of Isola 2000 (06 Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur) where they hold an annual snowball fight…