Bonne Année everyone. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are now ready to embrace a new year.
If you are in France you may have experienced the New Year celebrations or la Saint-Sylvestre with the most wonderful foods and maybe some champagne and foie gras. This of course is how most people will have celebrated the New Year, perhaps not in such an elaborate way but a joyous and happy celebration with friends and family.
In an exclusive deal for French Connections visitors, we're offering France Show tickets for just £7 instead of £10. Get your tickets now by using the promotional code FRC21 when you book at this address www.thefranceshow.com/pre-
The France Show, held annually in London, is the next best thing to a trip to France and a must for Francophiles. This year it's being held at Earls Court, from 18th to 20th January.
When a young lady of my acquaintance recently turned 18, her dad asked where she would like to go for a celebratory trip. Her immediate answer was Paris. When friends wanted a romantic weekend for their 30th wedding anniversary, their choice too was – Paris. The city of light is irresistible to all ages and outlooks. Everyone can find beauty, entertainment, adventure, history and unforgettable food to satisfy their longing for the romance and fun of this great city.
In the run up to Christmas, the city basks in even more light than usual, with street decorations and illuminations, shops stuffed with goodies, an air of anticipation and several enticing Paris Christmas markets. Don't you want to be there right now?
If you have ever visited France in December you will know what I mean when I say it is one of the most romantic times of year to visit this beautiful country.
France starts celebrating Christmas from the very beginning of December in some regions. It is a very big country and Metropolitan France is divided into twenty two regions. Some regions have different traditions of their own and this can be seen with the Christmas traditions in many areas.
One of the things that I have enjoyed about France over the years that I have travelled this country is the diversity of places to simply stop and enjoy the view.
It seems that each village has a national grant to supply a place where the traveller can pause, where he can sit with a sturdy table and where he can dispose of the wrappings of his BBQ or picnic with ease.
In summer the exploration of places like this are especially interesting for those of us who enjoy Nature. There are places on mountainsides, next to rivers or lakes and even in forests.
As a ski holiday location, France’s Savoie region really has got it all. This is a land of wild, majestic beauty dominated by the snow covered peaks of the Rhone Alps - especially Mont Blanc, the mother of all French mountains. Easy accessibility, miles of ski and snowboarding slopes, glorious scenery, friendly villages with cosy chalets and apartments, great apres-ski, fabulous food and wines exclusive to the area. No wonder the Savoie is our featured area of France this month.
It’s the magical Christmas market season! All over France cities stage these fabulous mixtures of shopping, community and carnival to capture the traditional magic of Christmas as a season of light, good food and family feeling. The markets are really worth a visit for both their atmosphere and the great shopping - no wonder so many Francophiles and lovers of traditional Christmas spirit go every year for a market mini-break. So where are this year’s Christmas market hotspots?
Strasbourg market is really the daddy of them all. Dating back to 1570, it’s the oldest Christmas market in France and one of the largest. As if that weren’t enough, the setting in front of Strasbourg Cathedral is quite breathtaking. A must-see on a visit to Strasbourg market is La Petite France, a cosy neighborhood of timbered fairy-tale buildings with Christmas shops and a gingerbread bakery.