Welcome to Travel in France Tips. To look at a closer geographical area of France, you will find a drop down menu on the top right, for mobile phone users it’s at the bottom, (“Area of France” – “Select Category”). The drop down is categorised West, North, East, South and Centre, followed by the region, followed by the city. You will also find a section for restaurants, castles and for annual events. On the top menu you will also find a blog, used for personal chatter when I usually go to some place to discover. There is also on the right the next three events in France, plus the ability to see all upcoming events. The events are major events, not small local ones.
This site deals with all of France, except Paris. If you are interested in more information about Paris, check out Colleen’s Paris for an insider’s view.
Each photo at the top of a post is just a header, but you can click on it for a bigger version. Usually a clickable map follows which can be zoomed in & out and you can click on icons on the map that will bring you directly to the page containing the pertinent info. Any photos below the map can be clicked on for a bigger version (if your screen is big enough). All photos are mine (unless stated otherwise) and they are copyrighted. Use of the photos are governed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Any comments, criticism, applause – we would love to hear it. We thrive on comments! Below each post is a comment box (although you need to go through a simple registration process, it can be as a “guest” so the email can be false. If you plan to return with comments, then register properly), please let us know what you think of the site, the article, the photos, the information, etc. And yes, there is advertising on this site. I’m trying to keep it to a minimum, but the site needs to pay for itself.
Here are the latest 10 updates on the site, and below that is a map with the cities covered so far:
You will see map marker clusters in the map above. The number indicates how many articles are to be found in that cluster area. CLICK on the cluster for the map to zoom in to show you the map markers in question, or more clusters.
Remember that an icon on the map above can hide others icons. If you are interested in a particular area, zoom in (using the “+” on the map) and dragging your mouse to your desired location.
Here are the recent articles:
A few years back (2015), when the current President of France, Emmanuel Macron, was the Minister of Economy, he made it possible for scheduled bus services between cities in France at low cost. The idea was to make intercity travel...
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If you are not someone who likes or wants to climb stairs, this article is not for you. On the other hand, if you like a physical challenge, read on. The city of Le Havre is built partially at sea-level...
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The city of Dieppe has quite an active ferry activity. Up to 3 sailings per day, for the four hour crossing (it used to be half the time when they were operating a fast ferry, but those days are gone)....
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Le Havre used to be a busy ferry station, with two ferry operators going to the UK and Ireland. But that has been reduced to one operator going to Portsmouth in the UK. Which is strange, since Le Havre lies...
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The Ouistreham ferry is the ferry operating for the city of Caen, which lies some 15 kilometres away. There is a whole section of the rather small harbour of Ouistreham dedicated to the ferry. There are 3 sailings daily, taking you...
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If there was one essential and strategic point during the invasion of Normandy, also known as D-Day, by the Allied troops, it would have been the capture of the two bridges in Benouville and the neighbouring Ranville. The two bridges were...
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2017 is a very special year for the harbour city of Le Havre in Normandy. 500 years earlier, the French King Francois I ordered a city and its associated harbour to be built at the mouth of the Seine river....
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The Utah Beach was one of the D-Day landing beaches, this one mostly staffed with US Army soldiers. It was on the Western edge of the D-Day beaches, and the beach consisted of deep sand and dunes. 3200 soldiers died on the...
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The names Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno are names that many WWII buffs will know very well since those are the names of the landing beaches during the D-Day, the Allied invasion of German occupied Europe. 4 years of...
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Normally speaking the village of Sainte-Mere-Eglise should mean nothing to most people. Unless you are a WWII buff or a movie buff. The movie in question is "The Longest Day" starring none other than John Wayne trying to get to...
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Transport Getting There There is a direct rail line Cherbourg - Paris which makes getting there easy and fast if you are arriving from the capital. By Air Cherbourg has a small airport (Maupertus Airport) but there are no scheduled flights in...
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One of the few things that are worth a visit in Cherbourg, or even doing a detour to visit, is the Cite de le Mer museum. The museum is quite recent, it opened its doors in the year 2002. But...
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Cherbourg, or as it is known officially Cherbourg-Octeville (after having merged with its neighbouring town), can be described as "quaint". That's the word I would use if I were to be positive. The real words that come to my mind...
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For people who love great food, the name Paul Bocuse is as synonymous to food as the Eiffel Tower is to French landmarks. In other words, the 3 star Michelin chef is a name revered amongst foodies and he is considered...
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Dieppe is a city that was exposed early on to the WWII invasion when the Canadians attempted an invasion called the "Dieppe Raid", also known as "Operation Jubilee". It was a sort of "test case" to see if it could...
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Although the Lower part of Normandy saw the biggest brunt of the WWII battles, with D-Day and the immediate battles that followed, the Upper part of Normandy saw its fair share of fighting. And during WWI, it was one of...
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Deep in the rich and wealthy city of Sainte-Adresse, next to the city of Le Havre, there are a few luxurious "villas" from yesteryear. Many of these mansions date back to the days that wealthy people came here for their...
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In a small 800 person village close to Lisieux is a castle that looks like a fairytale castle, the kind kids would draw. The village is called Saint-Germain-de -Livet, and the castle dates back to the 15th century. The castle was donated to...
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Transport Getting There Pont l'Eveque lies just alongside the main North-South motorway on the West coast of France. So by car it's very easy to get there from one of the ferry crossings. By Air There is no airport, the closest...
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Pont l'Eveque had been badly destroyed towards the end of World War II, and that went doubly so for the Saint-Michel church. But the town rebuilt their beautiful city, and the 15th century church was restored to its former glory....
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Pont L'Eveque in the Calvados region of Normandy is mostly know for two things; its epic 2-3 day battle just after D-Day in WWII and its cheese. But both things are no longer there; the WWII battle is over and...
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Transport Getting There For such a small town, they have a small railway station that receives a very comfortable TGV (high speed train) from Paris and Lyon. Not bad way to get to Burgundy. By Air There is no airport,...
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The city of Montbard is bigger than what you might think at first glance, but it's not a big tourist-worthy city. Montbard is a sleeping city, a one-horse town. But it's still worth a half-day walk-through since it is quite...
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The Fontenay Abbey, located next to the city of Montbard in Burgundy, is part of the Unesco World Heritage sites. Therefore you can expect something that is out of the ordinary, and you'll not be disappointed. The Cistercian Abbey is old,...
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My name is Mike Werner, Dutch, lived in 22 countries and finally settled with my Irish wife in France.
I worked several jobs, the last one for 10 years as a motorcycle, travel & tourism journalist.
A few years back (2015), when the current President of...
What was once a big and far reaching rail network has...
The High Speed Train (TGV) is the premium fast rail service...
© 2018 — Mickel Werner
