This French Life

Summer sale dates published

IF you are looking to pick up a bargain then the dates for the summer sales across France have been published.

The sales often produce quite dramatic price cuts, but they are limited to twice a year and can only run for a maximum of six weeks.

Say hello to Coral

THE more observant amongst you will have noticed the addition of a few new articles on the site yesterday, well these have been written by the site's newest recruit Coral Luke.

Coral has written the occasional article for This French Life in the past and helped with the setting up of a site on Burgundy, but now her work will be appearing here bringing her knowledge of the Côte d'Or, as well as offering an insight on French life and health issues, to readers.

To find out more about Coral and her husband Georges' move to France, read her introductory article.

One hundred up for pétanque

THIS weekend sees that most quintessential French game pétanque celebrates its official centenary.

Although a form of pétanque was believed to be played in ancient Egypt, it is accepted that today’s game started in La Ciotat near Marseilles in 1907.

TripAdvisor goes French

ONE of the most popular travel based websites is dipping its toe into France, offering people the chance to give the thumbs up, or down, to hotels, B&Bs and restaurants.

TripAdvisor has launched a French language version of its site featuring localised travel information, reviews and forum postings, in addition to the website's existing five million reviews and opinions from travellers worldwide.

Camping is in-tents!

The Brits are coming! That is the cry of campsite owners in France.

After years of holidaying abroad Britons are heading back to France and some regions are finding their sales up by 36%.

Eurocamp, who have provided family camping holidays for 30 years, have shown that Brittany and the Pyrénées are the most popular destinations. Brittany Ferries are also showing an increase in bookings.

AOL helpline in English

A COMMENT was recently left on the site from a reader outlining her experiences of different broadband providers, see Broadband access in France.

There was mention of AOL France's telephone helpline that was available in English, so I took a quick look on their site to see if I could find out more.

France welcomes Australian Cricket Team

The world famous Crusaders Australian cricket team will be playing a 50 over match at Saumur, the nearest turf wicket to Paris, on Wednesday 27th June.

The Crusaders, international ambassadors for cricket, arrive in Europe on 8th June for a 42 day tour that will take in 31 cricket matches in six European countries.

Honorary Patrons of the Crusaders include Australian Prime Minister John Howard, and English chat show host Michael Parkinson.

Rain, rules and God in France

IT has been a weekend of wild weather across most of France with heavy downpours, violent storms and strong winds battering the country.

The photograph featured right was taken by Alice who lives in the small village of Arradon on the southern coast of Brittany and shows the sea whipped up by the winds.

Is it the end of the café culture in Cote d'Or?

Following an investigation by France Boisson-Gira, it appears that the number of cafés in the Cote d'Or department is falling. With an 18% drop in the last three years the days of sitting with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine outside a café watching the world go by could be a thing of the past.

Brittany link from Ryanair

LOW-COST operator Ryanair is to offer a link between Bristol and Dinard, with the first flights set to take off on November 8.

The airline will operate three flights a week to Dinard Airport, offering a regular service to the northern Brittany coast with one-way tickets starting at £10, inclusive of fees.