Travel tips for friends
It's that time of year when old friends pop up and say hello... and ask for my advice. Here's what I shared with them, including accommodation, Paris, boating and south-west France.
The French seem to ‘do’ January better than we do. Firstly, they kick it off with the Galette des Rois to mark epiphany and everyone tucks into their frangipane-filled pithiviers with gusto. Then, they’re allowed to say ‘Bonne année’ until the very end of the month, which seems eminently sensible when January seems to last for 20 weeks. Why not keep the spirit of the festive season going as long as possible? Then in the shops, they have Les Soldes, the sales; because they only happen twice a year, it seems much more of an event than the British habit of having sales almost incessantly.
For me, it’s also the time of year when friends pop up on Whatsapp, or Facebook messaging to say, “We’re thinking of holidaying in France this year, what do you recommend?” It was partly this reason that I set up my website in such a way that people can dip into my articles and use them to plan their own trips. I can then send them a little prescription of links to click, and off they go to research their holidays. I rather enjoy sharing my favourite finds with them, as it gives me a chance to talk about France and also they will often come back and tell me what they thought too. In an ideal world - in which my Substack reaches thousands of paid subscribers and earns me a viable income - I could extend the favour to France Traveller readers but as we’re not quite there yet (I can dream…), I thought it might be worth sharing some of the tips I’ve given recently in case they’re useful to you too.
Accommodation
Where to stay tends to be the most frequently asked question; friends will have an area in mind but often feel bamboozled by the options available. This is when word of mouth comes in very handy. I recently wrote this article for The Times which allowed me to include some of my all-time favourite hotels for every budget. I wrote a similar article for The Guardian a few years ago too, which includes self-catering and B&Bs too. For villas, this is the link I usually share, which is a handy list of villa and gîte companies (I’ll update it for a future Substack newsletter). I’ve written a lot of articles for Detours section on the Sawday’s website, which might also provide inspiration and ideas on where to stay. Accommodation in Paris is, understandably, a FAQ, and this link comes in handy for them: Cheap hotels in Paris.
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