Top 10 car games

Guide to CampingLeave a comment

Although there are an array of different electronic games and DVDs to keep children occupied on car journeys, playing games together can be fun and helps to break up the journey.

Here are some of our favourite games to keep children entertained on a car journey:

#1 Car colours

Each person is allocated a colour and has to count the number of cars they spot in their colour, gaining a point for each car. Each person can also be allocated a different bonus vehicle – e.g a fire engine or ambulance, which gets 3 points. The first person to 10 or 20 points wins.

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Top 5 historical attractions in the Vendée

France Places to go and things to do1 Comment

The Vendée on the Atlantic coast of France is a great location for a family camping holiday with miles and miles of sandy beaches, marked footpaths and cycle tracks.But there are also some lovely historical sites to visit in the area, here are a few of our favourites:

The Abbey of Nieul sur l’Autise or Saint Vincent as it’s also known, was founded in 1068, and was granted royal status by Eleanor of Aquitaine (then Queen of France and mother of Richard I of England). The abbey is one of the few remaining monastic churches which still contain a church, cloisters and monastic buildings almost intact, and it houses the only remaining Romanesque quarter in France. During the high season months of July and August there are tours in period costume for children and music events every Friday.

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Pasta pasta pasta!

Destinations Food & Drink Italy21 Comments

Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino with a simple dressing of olive oil, garlic and chilli, big fat rigatoni with a chunky tomato and meatballs sauce or penne with olive oil, cherry tomatoes, clams and parsley – I cannot get enough of pasta! I would be shockingly bad at keeping to any form of low carb diet but fortunately I live in Italy so have plenty of opportunity to indulge my cravings. And as my Italian sister-in-law once said when choosing what to eat in a restaurant “well, I’ve not had pasta yet today…”

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Joan of Arc – 600th anniversary

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The 6th January 2012 marked the 600th anniversary of the birth of Joan of Arc and the start of a year of celebrations.

Born in the village of Domrémy in Eastern France Joan led a simple life and claimed to have had her first religious vision at the age of 12 when she was instructed to drive the English out of France. At the age of 16 she was granted permission by the Dauphin Charles to head his army and be equipped for war. Her leadership is considered to have led the French to several important victories in the Hundred Years’ War which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII. Captured by the Burgundians who transferred her to the English for money, she was put on trial for heresy and was famously burned at the stake in Rouen when she was just 19 years old.

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5 unusual French tourist attractions

Places to go and things to doLeave a comment

If you’re after a camping holiday in France that’s slightly different from the usual French recipe of gourmet food and rolling vineyards, then take inspiration from some of these more unusual Gallic sites.

The Corkscrew Museum, Ménerbes

France is known for being one of the centres of the wine-producing world; however, were it not for the humble corkscrew then few of us could even attempt to open a bottle of the delectable French stuff. The trusty corkscrew is worthy of praise and Yves Rousset-Rouard has duly noted this fact and opened a museum to celebrate the invention of this trusty device. The museum is a must-visit and features over 1,500 different corkscrews, although the shop dedicated to all things corkscrew related is worth a visit on its own. After you’ve swotted up on how to open a bottle of wine, pop next door, to the Domaine de la Citadelle, for their free wine tasting sessions.

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Carnivals in Europe

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February is peak carnival time in Europe. With Ash Wednesday marking the start of Lent, Carnival was traditionally seen as the pre-Lenten period when homes had to purge themselves of any rich food and drink in preparation for 6 weeks of abstention and self-denial. The origins of the word carnival are thought to have emerged from the Italian “carne levare” to remove meat. Households would not eat meat during the Lenten period, and as the invention of the freezer was still a few hundred years off they’d have to make sure they’d cooked and eaten it all before Lent started. It was essentially a medieval version of the final festive blowout before the diet starts on 2nd January!

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Why we celebrate Valentine’s Day

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So I thought I’d do a quick bit of research and find out who exactly this St. Valentine chap was and why we celebrate all things love on 14th February. Well, as with many things in life it wasn’t quite that simple. Turns out that it’s not just a straightforward story of a saint who champions romance. The reason that we now celebrate love on Valentine’s day is due to a whole host of theories and legends with a few facts thrown in for good measure.

 

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Château de la Napoule – Côte d’Azur

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We came across the small Château de la Napoule quite by accident when driving from Cannes along the coastroad back to our campsite in St. Raphaël. Driving slowly past it looked so pretty that we took the spur of the moment decision to stop – the handily placed carpark a couple of hundred meters ahead and a quick glance in the back confirming that our 2 year old was asleep hastily confirming our decision. With sure handedness that would make any bomb disposal expert proud we transferred the 2 year old to his buggy without waking him up and high fived each other that we could actually do a little bit of sightseeing.

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