This week saw 190 articles about France. Here is a selection of some articles which appeared in National publications from 12th to 18th March.
Reims – The Sunday Telegraph
Reims is often an excuse for a quick tour of a champagne house and the purchase of a case of bubbly. However, Paul Wade gives us an essential cultural guide to the city that has much more to deliver. From the purely Gothic cathedral where most French kings were crowned, to the fine museums, and a revamped city centre.
Beneath the skin of Birdsong Country – The Mail on Sunday
Frank Barrett explores the Picardy region, in northern France, in light of one of Britain’s favourite novels Birdsong. The article goes through famous First World War sites from the haunting tunnels of the Somme battlefields to the Lochnager crater near La Boisselle. The charming city of Amiens also has many old attractive neighbourhoods that survived the war, and France’s largest cathedral. The Bay of the Somme, celebrated by writers like Jules Verne and Colette, is also a very good reason to visit the region, for the opaque quality of its light captured by artists like Degas and Seurat.
Crossing the yawning gap – The Times
Brittany is the perfect destination for family holidays. John Wellman describes the region’s attraction: the medieval towns and villages, still intact, with their markets and tiny shops; the seafood; the crêpes; and the good cheap wine and cider. The original mix of Frenchness, with a Celtic twist leads to a very friendly region.
Slope off while the sun shines – Telegraph Travel
Thanks to the excellent snow cover this winter, late-season skiing holidays in Rhone-Alps is not just limited to a few high-altitude resorts. Peter Hardy has experimented in some of those places where snow cover will be good until at least mid-April: Val d’Isère, Tignes, Les Arcs, La Rosière or Les Deux Alpes in particular.