Travel to France

Travel to France for a Europe Tour with Joie de Vivre!
There’s a lot more to France than Paris and Provence. Travel to France involves a journey into the whole French way of looking at the world, and life. Not for nothing do we use the french words “savoir-faire” and “joie de vivre”!
France lies at the [...]

Useful facts for travel to France

Useful facts to help you plan your visit to France

Festivals
Public Holidays
Visas
Health
Language
Time
Electricity
Weights & Measures
Money, Banks etc.
Emergencies
Telephone, fax
Post
Museums and monuments

Festivals
Festivals, both traditional and modern (eg Avignon Theatre Festival in July) are not so plentiful as in Spain, but worth looking out for:
Festivals search on the French Tourist Office website, not great but…(new window):
French Public Holidays [...]

A Walking Tour of Paris’ Fascinating Latin Quarter

Get in on the secrets, myths and mystique of Paris Latin Quarter:
Paris’ history began on the Left Bank or Rive Gauche. The area, south of the River Seine,  has always attracted great artists, writers, philosophers, revolutionaries and musicians. Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Robespierre, Danton, Benjamin Franklin, Bonaparte, Victor Hugo, Verlaine, Musset, Oscar Wilde, Sartre and [...]

Rendez-vous at Paris Cafés Renowned for their Famous Clientele

Historic Cafés of Paris:
Paris is famous for its café scene and an enduring image is of Parisians passing time at a café reading their newspaper,  friends having a rendez-vous over a slow drink, businessmen and women discussing deals in a relaxed environment or people just chilling out and watching the world go by.
But for many [...]

Le Procope – the Oldest Café in the World

At Le Procope, the first literary coffeeshop was born:
Paris’ Left Bank area is full of interesting and historical coffeehouses and cafés and one of the most fascinating must be Café Procope.  It claims to be oldest coffeehouse in the world.
Le Procope is in rue d’lAnciennne Comédie which was previously called rue de Saint-Germain. It [...]

Canals of Paris

Discover the more intimate side of Paris on a Canal Cruise:
Everyone knows the River Seine and most visitors to Paris would no doubt have taken a Seine river cruise and enjoyed the sights of Paris from the river.
But Paris also has three other waterways – canals that were built on the orders of Napoleon I. [...]

Nîmes’ Remarkable Jardins de la Fontaine

A Visit to Jardins de la Fontaine or Fountain Gardens:
A delightful place to enjoy some quiet time in Nîmes is at the Jardin de la Fontaine or Fountain Gardens.  The Hotel Imperator, where are staying, is located on the Quais de la Fontaine, so we are within easy reach of the gardens.  The Quais de [...]

Les Arènes – Nîmes’ Roman Amphitheatre

Nimes’ amphitheatre is still as sturdy as the day it was built:
Built at the end of the first century AD, Nîmes’ amphitheatre, Les Arènes, was built from stone and designed mainly to cater for the battles of gladiators. Les Arènes may not be the largest amphitheatre of the Roman Empire but it is one [...]

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