Posts in category France


Hôtel de la Beursaudièr, Chablis, France
ExploreFrance

Driving through France

We have driven through France, north to south and back, (about 1000km each way), more times than I can remember. As children, both our families took holidays driving through France, often headed for Spain. Slightly crammed between siblings, before cars …

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The graves at the Canadien Normandy memorial near Arromanche
EuropeExploreFrance

Arromanches and The Memorials of Normandy

The Floating Harbours at Arromanches There were many factors contributing to the success of D-Day. Strategic planning, deception and the successful outcome of some of the initial targets was critical, such as Pegasus Bridge, and Point du Hoc. But the …

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Gold beach, Normandy site of the British troop Landings on D-Day, June 6th 1944
EuropeExploreFrance

D-Day: Operation Overlord ~ The Normandy Beaches

D-Day, June 6 1944, known by the brilliant strategists that oversaw it as ‘Operation Overlord’, is perhaps one of the most meticulously researched and planned military operations ever executed. An immortal day, forever written in the sands of time that …

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France

The Knights Templars and cheese of the Aveyron

We continued our exploration of the Aveyron, weaving our way through the lush countryside with its deep red earth. We stopped off in more of the region’s story book villages, (all one of ‘Les Plus Beau Villages de France’ ) …

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France

A viaduct, fairy-tale chateaux and the medieval villages of the Aveyron

Just under a three hours drive north west of Lourmarin lies the Aveyron region of southern France. A place of mystical fairy-tale châteaux, (we were fortunate enough to stay in one), medieval villages, gothic cathedrals, and a past where swash …

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Trenches of World War I
France

The Battle of the Somme, lest we forget…..

It seems extraordinarily fitting that today November 11th, Remembrance Day, I should be writing about our recent visit to World War I memorials of the Somme in northern France. Thinking there was little time to spare I’m ashamed that we’ve …

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Chateau of Monbazillac, near Bergerac, Perigord, France
ExploreFrance

Fairy tale châteaux, medieval villages and wine in France’s Dordogne!

Turreted medieval castles towering over hillsides which tumble down into bountiful plateaus resplendent with vineyards, along which is threaded a mighty, twisting river peppered with a collection of picturesque, medieval villages. The former stage for swashbuckling adventurers, elegant ladies in …

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70th anniversary of DDay at the Normandy Beaches, France
EuropeExploreFrance

D-Day: The Normandy Beaches, June 6th 1944

“We shall fight on the beaches……..but we shall never surrender” the immortal words of Sir Winston Churchill. And fight on the beaches is what thousands of brave Allied troops, did. Under the joint command of Generals Montgomery and Eisenhower, thousands of men …

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Square in Oradour-sur-glane, World War II village destroyed by the Nazis
EuropeExploreFrance

The Tragedy of Oradour-Sur-Glane

This is another piece of French history, but one that is both disturbing and distressing, the story of a sleepy little town, Oradour-Sur-Glane, just north of Limoges. A World War II tragedy, one of the horrific legacies of the Nazi Regime. A regime …

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