 |
Everything you always wanted to know about France |
|
|
France Voila - Newsletter #55 Nizas France September 27 2001 1. The Future 2. Canal Cruising Holidays 3. Tour Business for Sale 4. Insurance 5. Special Offers 6. Mobile Phone Rentals 7. Photo Tips 8. Paintings and painting Holidays 9. Nizas - harvest and festivals Plus - Pen Pals - Questions - Information - help ===== Our main (very useful) website is... http://rentalsfrance.com/ The (fascinating) archives for this newsletter are at... http://francevoila.com/ ===== 1. The Future Pictures can show quickly what we often find difficult to say. This month we saw images which will never be forgotten and where words were not enough. Four of the strongest pictures I have ever seen have been of the American flag. At Iwo Jima in 1944, on the moon in 1969 and from New York and Washington September 2001. The horrific images of the aircraft impact and the collapse of the World Trade center will always haunt us, but the pictures of those flags offer us a future and give us hope. My national flag represents the unity of the United Kingdoms of Ireland, Scotland and England. The American flag shows the unity of the 50 states and the 13 original states. The European flag shows each country of the European Union as a star in a circle of stars. All represent liberty and freedom. Let us hope that these symbols of cooperation, unity and liberty can encourage us all to work together for a better future. Let us hope. ===== FREE ADVERT: You might like to go to... http://www.media-cartes.fr/ ...and take a look at "Paris Through the Ages", a series of mini pocket-guides to nine period- and theme-specific itineraries ranging from "Lutetia: Roman Paris" to "Smiling Architecture: Parisian Art Nouveau." Published in English and French, they enable the autonomous stroller to find his/her way through good chunks of Paris history. ===== 2. Canal Cruising Holidays The Canal du Midi is a world heritage site, we are associated with a specialist boat rental company... http://MinervoisCruisers.com/ They specialise in renting traditional "narrow boats", their boats have polished wood and brass instead of boring plastic. You can arrange a week in a Gite or villa plus a week on the canal through us, or we can combine a tour in Paris or the Cathar country with a canal trip. Here is a recent mail from a reader about their canal trip (I don't think they went with Minervois Cruisers) = Tony: Last year we (6 of us) had the great fortune to be able to cruise the Canal du Midi. We found everything just wonderful and local people were so helpful.This was a beautiful way to see the countryside. I will be posting a travel log and pictures of the cruise on... http://www.worldisround.com/ Its a wonderful site and some of the articles really want to make you visit. Au revoir, Renee' Jolley - New Jersey, US ===== CAR RENTAL WARNINGS (AGAIN) Dear Tony, I've just returned from a delightful 7 weeks in Provence and have a tip for those who might be renting a car for their stay. We rented from Eurocar and had been told to return the car with a full tank of gas. We filled the tank just before heading to the airport in Marseilles. After returning home, we received a bill for 9 liters of gas which they claimed they'd had to add to our tank! One liter I would have understood, but 9! Our travel agent tells us this is commonly done by rental companies. I recommend that anyone who rents a car, ask the agent to look at the fuel meter and mark on your receipt that the tank was full when you returned the car. In fairness to Europcar, when we called them to complain, they removed the charge. Joan, Los Angeles ===== 3. Tour Business for Sale If anyone is interested in spending a lot of time in Paris (who isn't) and building a business at the same time, perhaps this is for you... "Tour Operation for Sale in Paris: successful tour operation offering custom-designed tours of Paris and France. Immediate, steady clientele and very nice income. To be featured this fall in American Airlines' first class magazine and on the Discovery Channel. For more information: +33 (0)1.43.73.72.33 or email... mailto:lgreene@noos.fr ===== CLASSIFIED ADS You can place free classified adverts about Paris and France on-line at... http://Paris-Exchange.com/ ===== 4. Insurance We always recommend that you take out travel insurance which covers not only health and other risks, but cancellations, lost deposits and many other things which can ruin a vacation. We have some sites which offer good services from our pages at... http://goto-france.com/insurance/ However, many of these policies do not cover "acts of terrorism" and it seems that this can be interpreted in a "flexible" manner, so always check, in writing, exactly what you do have cover for. Due to the disruption of flights and apprehension of flying, we have had some cancellations this month, in every case we have refunded the money or cancelled any bookings without question and without penalties. We have also encouraged all our private owners to do the same. ===== PEN-PALS I have a number of people looking for e-mail "pen"-pals... If you would like to write to any of these readers, or your would like me to list you in the next newsletter, please send me your e-mail and I will pass on your messages... mailto:penpal@nizas.com == Hi Tony, My grandaughter would like to be a pen pal . Her name is Elena . Joyce (QUOTE PP1) == I am a senior married lady, soon to be 70, with various interests, and can write in French (preferably) or English, and would like penpals say between 60 and 75. If you can assist in any way, I would appreciate it. (QUOTE PP2) == I am interested in a penpal from France. I will be planning a trip to France within the next year or two. Staci; New Jersey, USA (QUOTE PP3) == Hi Tony, I have written to folks in France and Spain over the years trying to learn a little culture and a little language. In most cases the pen pal just runs out of ink and poof! But if you have someone who would like a pen pal or American pen pal I'm a 53 year old male living in Atlanta, GA (QUOTE PP4) == I am a 54 year old male who is learning French on my own, I would love a pen pal to correspond with to practice my French, and learn more about the country and it's culture. Harold (QUOTE PP5) == Hi, from Monterey, California. last summer I was in Paris and St. Raphael area and would like to communicate with anyone from either region. I am a school psychologist here, but I welcome any correspondence. :) enjoy the newsletter immensely...thanks, Marcia (QUOTE PP6) == Hi Tony, I am interested in a women key pal. My husband came by and met you and also dropped Mel off (from Australia) at your place. I am from Marysville , WA. thanks for helping with this, Ariane (QUOTE PP7) ===== 5. Special Offers The airlines are offering fantastic deals at present, transatlantic flights for $149 (Virgin) and many others are in the pipeline. With cancellations and the reduction in numbers of people traveling, now is the time to look for special offers, especially until next March 2002. Here in our own apartments in Nizas we have a number of weeks now free and will give a discount of 20% off our listed prices for bookings we receive in October. This applies to our own properties at... http://goto-france.com/vigne/ and http://goto-france.com/villette/ If other owners would like me to publicise any special offers, please write to me at... mailto:tony@nizas.com ===== FREE ADVERT: Responsible, financially secure American woman looking for a furnished apartment for sublet September 15, 2001 through May 15, 2002. Prefer 6th, 5th, 4th or 11th arrondissement. Must be at least 1 bedroom plus sofabed for occasional guests. Must have oven. 40M2 or larger. References available. Please email mailto:box21@nizas.com ===== 6. Mobile Phone Rentals Recently I wrote about deals getting a "free" mobile phone with your car rental. It seems these may not be as good as they sound. Although the phone is "free" the calls are often routed back through your domestic line at home, so every "local" call you make in France will be charged at high premium rates for International calls. I have had reports where these calls ran up horrific bills which you only find out about after you get back home. here is a letter from a reader with her experience... == Dear Tony: I am very much enjoying your newsletters. I need to give you the following information.Last year we did a very rental through AutoEurope. It sounded like it was going to be really cheap- free phone, free delivery, etc. What we didn't know is that they routed all the calls through Great Britain, which levied HUGE taxes on top of what seemed like reasonable minutes. Our bill was outlandish. The previous year we had rented through World Cell, which although was pricey, was much less than the one above.This year we bit the bullet and bought an international Nextel phone. The reception was outstanding, it worked everywhere, and the cost was reasonable. I would highly recommend that your readers investigate that option. For the investment it is a phone you can use everywhere in the world. Colleen Hawes == In France I use the pre-paid "Carte Nomad", you can find details at.. www.nomad.tm.fr There are cheaper deals, but this way it is all paid up-front and no nasty surprises. ===== FREE PLUG: Dear Tony, I am involved with a great site... http://www.bparis.com/ Maybe you should list it as an info source! The chats are usually very interesting . There are French Language chats; French Lit , Wine and Movies, and I am involved in the French Kitchen Chat on Thursday nights from 9 to 11 EST. Guess that is a little late for you!(or early!) The discussion boards are very lively and informative as well as the articles. The developer of the site, Karen Fawcett is the hardest working Francophile I know of. She watches all the discussion boards and answers all questions personally. Very nice person too. She doesn't live too far from you(in the SE) Thanks for the newsletter! Maryvonne Kutsch ===== 7. Photo Tips I am guessing that the increased airline security will give a boost to digital camera sales. Heavier and more frequent x-ray scanning, hand inspection of cameras and possibly even the film cassettes themselves. The lead lined boxes and pouches for films may be opened and given extra scrutiny, so what can you do to protect your irreplaceable pictures? With digital you can go to a local cyber cafe and send all your images back home to you own computer or save them to another server, you can also make back-up disk of your pictures and mail one home. The alternative is to get your films processed before you fly home. In France this is a little more expensive than many other countries, but it is really a very small price to pay for peace of mind and a saved film. I have found the quality of processors is as good as anywhere else I have traveled. ===== IS IT SAFE TO TRAVEL Q. Hi Tony, We are very uncertain about traveling at this time. We are deeply conflicted due to all that has just happened. What are your thoughts on travel safety for Americans abroad? How to you measure the temperature of the French citizens towards these heinous acts? We are clearly concerned about sticking out as Americans at this particular point in time. What would you consider the current risk? [I do expect some bias towards the travel positive, but we would appreciate your candid thoughts]. Sincerely, Robert and Cynthia A. Hi Robert and Cynthia I see three questions in your mail 1. Is it now safe to travel by air 2. What is the attitude towards Americans in France 3. Is France a safe place for Americans to travel in I will answer as best I can and with no conscious bias. 1. Statistically air travel has always been presented as very safe. Four simultaneous hi-jacks are unprecedented and the present consciousness of the need for the highest level of security will, I believe, make all air travel safer in the future. I personally welcome these new stringent regulations and feel more secure about air travel than I have ever done previously.. 2. Everyone I have met in London, Paris and our home village during the last weeks has been deeply shocked and feels a sincere grief for those lost and their families. This is not a shallow feeling, but a sincere and lasting sorrow. I was in the Paris metro at 12 noon on that Friday when everyone in Europe stopped still and reflected on this tragedy. The French people are very private and polite, this is sometimes seen as a cold indifference, but in fact they are as warm and helpful as any country I have been in. We have an American couple staying with us at this moment, they have only seen a genuine sympathy and consideration. The ceremony here in the village square for those lost and suffering in this tragedy showed them the strength of the feeling in France and they said it helped them. 3. Security has always been very strong in France. The reaction was immediate with all schools and public places given extra protection. France has had terrorist attacks before and there are the resources here to deal with this menace. What I think is very important is to show the resilience and the strength of the American people to these evil cowards. You will be always be welcome in Europe, perhaps more so now so we can show our respect. Life will never be the same, but it will go on and we will must work together to ensure the triumph of good over evil. Should you come to France? Only you can answer that question. We would welcome you to our home and share a glass of wine with you, as would many millions of other Europeans. I cannot calculate the risk but I do not believe that it is any more dangerous to travel now than it was a few weeks ago. Tony ===== 8. Paintings and Painting Holidays The south of France is a magicians playground for artists. The reason is the light, the quality of the light is something photographers measure and painters "feel". Our next door neighbour in Nizas is a painter (a very good painter), for the next two weeks we are hosts to many of the students which she will be helping to discover the moods and ambience of our region. It is always exciting to see the change that happens over a week or so as they absorb the local colour and light in their work. There are a number of sites offering special painting vacations, one near us which is run by a very talented and most "impressive" Scotsman you can see at... http://paintfrance.com/ There is also an interesting site by an American artist who offers you a "painting of the Week", his recent series has been of our region in the south of France, do have a look at Dan Cooper at... http://www.dancooperart.com/ ===== VIVE LA FRANCE A Newsletter which covers a variety of topics, ranging from day-to-day living in Paris, cultural and linguistic "clashes" between French & foreigners, unusual travel destinations in France, and more! To subscribe send an e-mail to: mailto:vive-la-france-subscribe@topica.com ===== 9. Nizas - Harvest and Festivals There was a short and moving service in the village square last month, the mayor made a short speech, expressing his sympathy over the killings in New York. We had an American couple staying with us and it meant a lot to them, as it did us all. When they left Nizas the mayor gave them a medal on a tricolor ribbon as a small gesture to all the American people. The harvest, the "vendange" is well advanced, it looks like a magnificent local harvest for grapes, the vintage this year could be very special. Olives were badly affected by the weather in the spring, something to do with the pollination. If you want to see a professional opinion about our wine and Nizas in particular, do subscribe to the surreal newsletter "Wine Iconoclast". The Summer 2001 issue has a feature which includes Carole and I at a dinner party with the publisher who goes by a number of different names, the nearest to the truth seems to be "Rupert Mayfluff", but it may be "Robert Mayfield. I got suspicious when I saw the photo credits were to "Antsy Adams" and they have a staff writer called "Luigi Bord" good reading... mailto:wineicon@aol.com So now the grapes are nearly in, we wait with baited breath (what exactly is baited breath?) for the wine festivals. A continuous series of overindulging in speeches by every Mayor in the region and all the officials from every winery plus all their assistants, various other people wearing very bad suits and atrocious ties, some almost sober entertainers and more speeches. This will happen in every one of hundreds of villages in the south of France from mid October for about eight weeks. After these illuminating speeches there is unlimited food and drink supplied free for all who remained awake. The trick is to arrive not too late to be rude, but late enough to miss at least a couple of hours of speaking. My friend and Jazz saxophone player, Terry Thompson, has this technique of optimum arrival time down to a fine art. It is important to get to the groaning tables at just the right time. The wiser and older villagers know which bottles are worth drinking and you see them sidle up to these with deft movements they flick the best bottles closer to their reach so that when the talking has ceased and the applause had subsided, they are in position to get the first of the best. Fortunately these festivals are staggered (a very apt word) so you can go from one festival to the next for almost two months and eat, drink and be "merry" to your hearts content. Then there are the new year celebrations to prepare for. ===== This newsletter took longer to get out than usual, but it has been a very unusual month. I really do try to answer all the mail, but I know it gets behind and unfortunately some gets "archived". If you have written to me and not received a reply, please write in again. See you in France with a glass of local wine soon I hope. Our main website is... http://rentalsfrance.com/ The archives for this newsletter are at... http:/francevoila.com/ Tony Tidswell |