Dinard in Brittany is a fantastic place to stay for a few days. The seaside promenade is an incredible walk, alongside a narrow winding pedestrian area, covering the beaches and rock formations. Dinard is located just a few kilometers from the more well known city of Saint Malo. They are divided by the “La Rance” […]

Transport Getting there Air: There is no airport at Saint-Jean-de-Luz, but the Biarritz/Bayonne airport is 20 minutes away. Ferry: There are no ferries operating to Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The closest city that offers international ferries is Bilbao, Spain. Within Saint-Jean-de-Luz The city is flat, with narrow streets. So you’ll not find an enormous public transportation network, since […]

Nestled close to the Southernmost border between Spain and France in the Basque area, Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a small city of some 15,000 inhabitant but with a big history. More about the history further on… Saint-Jean-de-Luz is located South of Biarritz and on the Atlantic coast. It has a large and long beach, which is quite […]

Transport Getting there There are several bus operators going to Biarritz from different cities in France (and Europe): By Air The Biarritz airport is an international airport serving mostly French and European flights (it’s also Bayonne’s airport). The big operators all fly here; EasyJet, Ryanair, Air France, Lufthansa, SAS, SwissAir etc. Click here to access […]

Biarritz, in the South of France along the Atlantic ocean, is a very special place to visit. It has been special for over a century and half, as you can see from the who-is-who of celebrities that have and still do visit. Biarritz is part of the Basque country, so much of its culture is […]

Arcachon is one of those French places that is pleasant to visit but quite far too reach. It’s on the Southern part of the French Atlantic coast, near all the Bordeaux wineries, and close enough to Bordeaux for weekend people to invade the area (in other words, many folks from Bordeaux come here for the […]

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 to Portsmouth in the UK in about 6 hours. That’s 21 ferries coming to […]

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 beach that day. To commemorate this occasion, a museum was erected to display and […]

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 World War II lead to this massive invasion, by sea and air, of occupied France. […]

The Cotes-d’Armor coastline around Perros-Guirec is rugged and made out of solid pink granite. This rocky surface made for great building materials for the construction of castles and fortresses. One of these castles can be found on an island a few meters off the coast; the Chateau de Costaeres. The castle is located on the […]

This is the first (actually, the second) sign that spring is here. First came the beach restaurants, all installed and serving food since 2 weeks. This weekend the second sign was there: the famous beach huts that are seen all over France’s beaches are being put down and installed by their eager owners. Once the beach […]

Transport Getting There Train. There is a train link between Paris and the shared railway station of Trouville-sur-Mer and Deauville. There are several daily direct (and ones where you need to change) trains. Fastest time is 2 hours. Ferry: Closest ferry harbours from the UK are Ouistreham (Caen) and Le Havre. There is an irregular […]

Deauville in Normandy is often considered the 21st district of Paris due to the large number of Parisians who have their weekend home there. Driving through any town in Normandy compared to driving through Deauville is the difference between day and night; average income places versus rich incomes, and it shows.   Deauville is one of […]

Transport Getting There Ferry: Closest ferry from the UK arrives regularly at Dieppe. Within Veules-Les-Roses Veules-Les-Roses is so small you’ll spend more time trying to park than you would walk from one end to the other. Restaurants There are several reasonable, even good, restaurants in the village. The old coach inn, the Douce France, has a […]

Veules-Les-Roses in Upper Normandy is one of the best kept secrets for most tourists, especially the foreign ones, but as a place to visit, it is most interesting and rewarding. It’s a very small village (some 600 inhabitants) that is foremost a beautiful, scenic and very photogenic village. Although notable visitors like Victor Hugo stayed here, you really […]

Marseilles is France’s 2nd largest city in population (over 800,000 inhabitants in the city), and France’s biggest harbour. It is also one of the oldest dwellings in France, with cave painting found dating back 30,000 years BC. It doesn’t get any older than that.   NOTE: Below you’ll find an impression of Marseilles, but it’s […]

The Brasserie du Sillon in St. Malo has one major thing going for it: it’s incredible location. The restaurant is not located in the walled city itself, but outside of it, alongside the beach promenade. The views inside, particularly when seated next to a window are fantastic. It’s even more dramatic when there’s a storm […]

St. Malo in Brittany is one of those cities (population around 50,000) that shows very well why France is the #1 tourist destination in the world. It’s a medieval city, well maintained with an enormous walled city, enormous fortress towers, a big harbour, many old and majestic houses and cobblestone streets lined with restaurants. Definitely […]

Transport Getting There Ferry: from the UK: Daily ferries from Portsmouth, Jersey, Guernsey, Weymouth and Poole. Air: The airport, close to Dinard, is shared with Saint-Malo and offers international flights, particularly those of Ryanair. Other international destinations will require changing in London. Click here to access the airport’s website. Restaurants More than you can handle. […]

Although Perros-Guirec is a real beachside resort, many people go there for the incredible and wild nature hikes alongside the picturesque seaside (English Channel). The town is cute but not exactly tourist worthy; you don’t go there to visit the town itself. The earliest recording in history of the town can be found in the […]

Transport Getting There Restaurants There are some nice restaurants, even one 2-star Michelin one (and a former 1 star one – Le Belouga), but surprisingly not that many eating places along the hiking path. It’s only when you arrive at the villages along the way that you will find some interesting restaurants. Hotels Though quite […]

Once a year, usually the first weekend of February (or last weekend of January), in the Northern beach resort of Le Touquet, a massive beach enduro is organised. This very heavily attended event consist of qauds and motorcycles racing alongside the very wide and long sandy beach of Le Touquet. This event, that on top of providing […]

Dormy House, a hotel and restaurant, is an institution in the beach town resort of Etretat, perched high up on the cliffs (just below the very old golf course) overlooking the beautiful town and sea. Even if you are not into good food (why come to France then?), eating at Dormy House is worth it just […]

Etretat is Upper Normandy’s most popular tourist destination, particularly with the Parisians and locals. It is a small town (some 1500 inhabitants), but very picturesque and it has survived World War II almost intact. Its age can not be determined, but it is believed that it was there before the Vikings. Like most coastal towns […]