Bonjour and Bon Weekend to you all…
A great big thank to all our new subscribers – so many of you, it is lovely to meet you. A huge thanks to everyone who has been sharing our newsletter and passing details of The Good Life France on to friends and family, it is truly appreciated.
As I’m writing this to you, the weather is utterly lovely. The sky is blue and the air is warm, France Meteo, the major French weather service shows a map of France that is almost entirely sunny for the next few days. Autumn has arrived though, and when I was walking in Paris on Monday morning, the leaves were falling gently from the trees of the Champs Elysée. Normally I go everywhere on foot or take the metro but this week I splashed out on a taxi to the Gare du Nord from my hotel at the Arc de Triomphe as my suitcase was so heavy. It was a real eye opener I can tell you. My taxi driver told me he’d been doing that job for 30 years and never had an accident as he weaved in an out of traffic, up on the pavement, round corners on 2 wheels. While we were driving he was pointing out tourist attractions (I kept thinking “just keep your eyes on the road”) and things he thought were amusing. We saw a man on a motor bike with two little dogs tucked into a bag at the back which he liked so much he followed them for a bit (free of charge!). He still got me to the station in double quick time so I was happy and it was a great ride!
Autumn is actually one of the nicest times to visit France and there are lots of deals to be had like this IDbus one from SCNF, £9 from London to Paris by coach.
P&O Ferries are also offering some great deals for travellers from Dover to Calais including 6 bottles of wine free for Day Trips by car.
Still on the travel theme – Eurostar have told us they are launching a new direct service from London to the south of France from May next year with a journey time of just over 6 hours. We’ll bring you more travel details as they become available.
With best wishes to you all where ever you are,
Bisous from France,
Janine
Editor
Top Features on The Good Life France website this week:
The Rocky Road to Rodez… via the gorgeous little village of Belcastel, so pretty our reporter Lucy Pitts said she had to pinch herself to believe it was real!
Conques – a little jewel of place on the famous French pilgrimage trail…
Conques photo gallery: Charming and quirky little Conques in the Aveyron in all its gloriousness as these lovely photos show…
Soulages Museum home to two giants of Rodez – the artist and the three Michelin star chef.
Want a taste of the Aveyron? Michael Bras, one of France’s top chefs, picks two dishes he feels are the flavour of the area – Aligot and Flaune recipes.
Villefrance-de-Rouergue Aveyron, has one of the prettiest markets we’ve ever seen in a fabulous old town square… a place where local life and local produce are truly celebrated…
Villefranche-de-Rouergue on the pilgrimage route, once the market is over we find a town of tranquility and calm beauty…
Property prices in France: An update from property experts on the state of the market in France. House prices are still falling and mortgage rates in France are at their lowest this century and the last…
Coach travel companies in the UK are continuing to focus on WW1 site visits for 2014 and 2015…
Competition Winners
Please would winners contact me via Facebook (timeline or message) or via the contact form on our website:
Perry Taylor’s lovely book “Petites Gasconneries”Chantal Woods from Hobart Tasmania is the lucky winner!
The House at Zaronza has been won by Chetan Doina of Bucharest.
Commiserations to everyone else, the good news is that we have more great prizes coming up very soon!
Thank you so much for sharing our articles on the website, we really appreciate it – so much so that there are handy buttons at the bottom of every one of them! You can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest too…
