Visit Normandy-Pays de Loire

Boules Rules – OK!

Published on 2012-02-04 03:32:14

BRIEF RULES OF PETANQUE or BOULES 1. Size of teams, number of boules The game is played between two teams with one, two or three players on each side. With teams of one or two, each player has 3 boules to throw; with teams of three, each has 2 boules. The “cochonnet” (or “but”) is [...]

Candlemas – La Fête de la Chandeleur

Published on 2012-01-27 08:15:22

La Fête de la Chandeleur Origin of La Chandeleur La Chandeleur (Candlemas in English) is a Christian religious holiday with pagan roots , falling just before the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia which was celebrated to avert evil spirits and purify the city.  It falls on 2nd February, 40 days after Christmas Day, and commemorates [...]

New Laws for Drivers and Motorcyclists in 2012

Published on 2012-01-09 07:49:19

New Driving Laws in France As of January 5, 2012, a number of new measures affecting motorists and bikers in France were announced by the Minister for the Interior. These driving law reforms were first announced by President Sarkozy on November 30, based on decisions made in spring 2011 by the Interministerial Committee for Road [...]

2011 in review

Published on 2012-01-01 03:39:41

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for Visit Normandy-Pays de la Loire blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 51,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 19 sold-out [...]

Le Mans Christmas Market 2011

Published on 2011-12-15 12:06:29

Le Mans Christmas Market Le Mans Christmas Market and many other festive celebrations are now in full swing and the Market will run daily until Christmas Eve. The Le Mans Christmas Market village is located in Place de la République and as well as dozens of artisanal produce and craft stalls it includes a number [...]

Château de Falaise – William the Conqueror’s Castle

Published on 2011-11-17 05:36:40

Château de Falaise – William the Conqueror’s Castle On the way home from a visit to Ikea at Caen this week, we stopped off at Falaise to visit the Château de Falaise. Falaise (meaning “cliff” in French) was the birthplace of William the Conqueror. The castle of Falaise overlooks the town from the high crag [...]

Jardin Retiré at Bagnoles-de-l’Orne

Published on 2011-10-04 13:37:41

Jardin Retiré at Bagnoles-de-l’Orne Tucked away in the Southern Normandy spa town of Bagnoles-de-l’Orne is a delightful little private garden that opens to the public at weekends from mid-April to end of September. “Le Jardin Retiré” is a beautiful garden that exploits its shady character as a virtue rather than a hindrance – if you’ve [...]

Black Saturday in France

Published on 2011-07-29 02:33:47

Saturday 30th July – Black Saturday If you’re travelling by car in France tomorrow (Saturday) look out, it’s the busiest day of the year – and traffic trouble starts today on main routes from big cities. With July holidaymakers returning home and August holidaymakers starting their holiday more than 600km of jams are forecast tomorrow, [...]

Eurolines Coach Services : Paris to Normandy/Pays de la Loire/Brittany

Published on 2011-07-20 11:03:04

Eurolines Coach Services between Paris and Pays de la Loire/Normandy/Brittany Eurolines, the biggest coach network in Europe, has won the right to transport passengers between a number of major towns in western France and Paris. In February this year a change was made to the restrictive laws on coach travel in France (which exist to [...]

Garden Plant Festival at Bagnoles de l’Orne

Published on 2011-05-26 12:07:35

Garden Plant Festival at Bagnoles de l’Orne Following great success in previous years, the garden plant festival and sale takes place this June at Bagnoles-de-l’Orne in southern Normandy. The garden show attracts nurserymen and plant growers from afar – last year we bought hostas and ornamental grasses from exhibitors hailing from Holland and  Belgium, as [...]