# Ideas please



## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

I’m looking for ideas 

I’m beginning to collect some thoughts for my next year’s bimble to France (May/June).
I’ve been many times and visited loads of places: big cities, beaches, mountains and rural hamlets.
I walk, cycle and generally enjoy the countryside but I’m looking for ideas for a theme of some sort for next year rather than just wander around like I usually do.
I’m not interested in fishing or water activities. I take photos but am not a Photographer. I don’t do pets.
I have a few caves (as in grottos  ) on my to-do list and am looking forward to that.

So guys, some suggestions please – what rocks your boat enough to spend your French trip doing it.

Food and wine go without saying.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

You don't have to go too far Tony................................

http://www.bellefrance.co.uk/destinations/normandy-mayenne

Ray.


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

> raynipper............You don't have to go too far Tony................................http://www.bellefrance.co.uk/destinations/normandy-mayenne Ray.


Well you would say that, wouldn't you! :lol:


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Brits Are Targets When They Travel Abroad, Foreign Office Warns



The Huffington Post UK 


Posted: 01/11/2014 10:33 GMT Updated: 4 hours ago 


Britons travelling abroad are being warned that they could be targeted by terrorists seeking revenge for UK air strikes against Islamic State (IS) extremists.

The Foreign Office (FCO) has updated its travel advice for all destinations across the globe that British nationals faced a "heightened threat" of attack from "groups or individuals motivated by the conflict in Iraq and Syria".

It urges all Britons living or travelling overseas to be "vigilant" at the current time. 

airport security uk


Britons travelling abroad are being warned that they could be targeted

The FCO said that it was responding to the "generalised threat" rather than warnings of a specific attack.

The move comes after Home Secretary Theresa May announced in August that the UK national terror threat level had been raised from "substantial" to "severe", meaning an attack is considered ''highly likely''.

Last month, Parliament gave the go-ahead for the RAF to carry out air strikes against IS forces in Iraq and the Government has been supplying arms to the Kurdish peshmerga militias fighting the extremists.

The updated FCO advice states: "There is considered to be a heightened threat of terrorist attack globally against UK interests and British nationals from groups or individuals motivated by the conflict in Iraq and Syria. You should be vigilant at this time."
•Our Unwillingness to Understand More About Radicalisation Risks Failing Our Youth
•Portsmouth's ISIS Crisis: Full Story of IS Fighter Mehdi Hassan
•Arming the Kurds and the Law of Unintended Consequences
•Can Qatar Find a Diplomatic Solution for Isis? 
The increased threat means a heightened security presence is planned for next week’s Remembrance Day events.
The FCO advises against all travel to most parts of Iraq, and all of Syria, where it says it is unable to provide assistance to any British citizen in leaving the country. There is also advice not to travel within 10km of the border of Syria, within Turkey.

In that region, Iraqi peshmerga fighters are getting ready for the battle against Islamic State group extremists in the border town of Kobane.

Some 150 peshmerga fighters entered Kobane on Friday night to fight the extremist group that controls parts of the town.

The force brought in badly needed heavy weapons including artillery, heavy machine guns and anti-tank missiles, material that could tip the balance of power in favor of the Kurds.

Islamic State group positions in Kobane also have been targeted US-led airstrikes. British airstrikes on IS targets are currently restricted to Iraq.

The Islamic State group has alarmed the international community with its recent seizure of a third of Iraq's territory and parts of neighboring Syria. On Friday evening, the UN Security Council released a statement expressing its "deep outrage" at the killings, kidnapping, rapes and torture by the Islamic State group in Iraq.

The statement urges the international community to increase its support of Iraq's government and security forces.

The council also welcomes the appointments of Iraq's defense and interior ministers and the swearing-in of Kurdish ministers, "which completed the formation of an inclusive Government that represents all segments of the Iraqi population."


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Art and architecture Tony ?

Art Nouveau ( as in Nancy etc), Art Deco (as in Bordeaux, Paris etc) 

One little gem that we discovered this time is Jules Verne's house in Amiens. 

G


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

Thanks G

I think I'm probably looking for something new like that. I'm a bit bored with my current interests and looking for new things.

I'm leaning towards using my camera a bit more and I'd like to link that to a new interest. So far it's only been used at African waterholes! (real ones not pubs!)

I was in Toledo some years ago and met a Kiwi who was wandering Europe taking pictures of bridges - just bridges. Sounds daft and boring at first but having looked at some of his pics it was quite fascinating.

Anyway, something like that - maybe Roman ruins or standing stones or church spires - who knows!


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Not an easy one for several reasons but, as a theme for photographs, how about " faces " ? 

From the painted ladies of Paris, the toothless old men outside village pubs in the Languedoc, the movers and shakers in back street Marseilles, fishermen in La Rochelle...so many fascinating faces. The change from north to south, east to west is remarkable. 

G


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## Gretchibald (Jul 22, 2011)

Churches? - You might get some inspiration by watching a few ' Peter Marshall's France ' videos on You tube. This old chap seems to have traveled to every region of France with his trusty old video camera, mostly by train or coach, and made little home made documentaries. Primarily interested in Churches where he seems to be something of a historian , he gives a very brief description of the history and architecture of the buildings he has targeted, however he is not above having the odd conversation with 'pussychats' he encounters along the way. Charming humorous and enlightening documentaries , made me more interested to properly research each old church/building we came across this year.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I could highly recommend the main theme behind our trip this year which was to do the Tour de France route of the Pyrenees and a few other bits.

We ended up spending 6 weeks in the mountains, did about 14 Cols and ended the whole thing with 10 days of hot sunshine along the stretch between San Sebastian and Biarittz but staying in the lower mountains still on the Spanish border. Some great opportunities for photography if your into wildlife and scenery. 

Soon I will be writing a proper downloadable guide to the whole trip. Where we stayed, places to see etc. I never thought I would enjoy it as much as the alps but I reckon it was our best mountain adventure yet.


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## Gretchibald (Jul 22, 2011)

Churches? - You might get some inspiration by watching a few ' Peter Marshall's France ' videos on You tube. This old chap seems to have traveled to every region of France with his trusty old video camera, mostly by train or coach, and made little home made documentaries. Primarily interested in Churches where he seems to be something of a historian , he gives a very brief description of the history and architecture of the buildings he has targeted, however he is not above having the odd conversation with 'pussychats' he encounters along the way. Charming humorous and enlightening documentaries , made me more interested to properly research each old church/building we came across this year.


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

I agree with Grizzly - Art and Architecture is one of the main things we look out for wherever we're going. We loved Nancy for the Art Deco architecture and the Musée des Beaux-Arts and the Musée de l'Ecole de Nancy are both great. There are two botanical gardens in Nancy too, which is another interest of ours.

My own preference is for paintings, particularly anything since Impressionism up until now. We've visited the Musée Eugene Boudin in Honfleur twice this year and the Erik Satie Museum there was good fun too.

Even when we don't find a gallery it's interesting to visit places where artists have congregated or painted. Close to Honfleur there was Trouville and Deauville, and at Pont Aven, where Gauguin and others painted we hoped to see some paintings of the Pont Aven school in the Musée but it was closed for refurbishment. Last year it was Arles (Van Gogh and Gauguin connections), and some great walks in the area of Mont Ste Victoire where Cezanne painted. Giverny combines art and garden interests, as do many chateaux. The gardens at Chaumont have an International Garden Festival from April to November. This year's ends tomorrow. We've twice called in when passing but only in September - it would be good to see how the gardens change over the seasons.

Railways stations are also worth looking at though so far we haven't made a point of visiting them but have been impressed with those at - Limoges, Metz, Deauville-Trouville, Angers, Amiens, Tours - and we keep missing Gare St Nazare so must go next time we're near Paris.


Any other ideas for art related are very welcome.



Chris


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

barryd said:


> I could highly recommend the main theme behind our trip this year which was to do the Tour de France route of the Pyrenees and a few other bits.
> 
> We ended up spending 6 weeks in the mountains, did about 14 Cols and ended the whole thing with 10 days of hot sunshine along the stretch between San Sebastian and Biarittz but staying in the lower mountains still on the Spanish border. Some great opportunities for photography if your into wildlife and scenery.
> 
> Soon I will be writing a proper downloadable guide to the whole trip. Where we stayed, places to see etc. I never thought I would enjoy it as much as the alps but I reckon it was our best mountain adventure yet.


Hurry up then Barryd we leave Spain via Pyrenees and col du Bonnette Friday morning.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

ChrisandJohn said:


> Any other ideas for art related are very welcome.
> 
> Chris


Chris...have you been to the Louvre at Lens ? What we like about it is that, instead of the whole being divided by period into separate paintings, sculpture, artefacts and so on galleries, the whole exhibition space is a massive time line. You can see what was going on at any point in time in Europe, the Americas, Near and Far East, Africa and so on. Fascinating and so many treasures. The buildings themselves are pretty good too.

Good aire nearby - see MHF database.

G

Edit to add :

 I forgot to add the aire to the database. This is the thread that describes how to get there:

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-139889-lens.html+louvre


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## WiltonShagpile (Apr 10, 2008)

Hi,

Doors..... There seem to be no 2 residential doors that are the same. Lots of colours. New, old, rotting with fungal infections, lots of fun!!

All the best Wilt. 8O


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Hey Hogan. Dont want to worry you but isnt the Col de La Bonnette in the French Alps?  At over 9000ft it may have snow on it by now an all!

Not sure I will have it done by Friday though


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## daffodil (Aug 7, 2014)

Come to the Creuse its got some of the most impressive granite buildings anywhere in France .Paris was literally built by Creusois masons and when they retired they came back and built their homes here some are simply breathtaking ,also Crozant is famous for artists like Monet etc, and because of all the lakes and rivers there are loads of bridges of all types and its a joy to drive your motorhome here very little traffic and very friendly people


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Just some thoughts;

1. follow a canal or river from source to the end and see how it changes along the route,

2. explore the routes that e.g. the WW1 troops took or the WW2 invasion forces....... visiting some of the major centres such as Ypres, Canadian Ridge and so on, or the "Bulge", "A Bridge Too Far" and so on....

3. explore some of the Bastide towns (there are literally thousands of them...)

4. visit the sites of the major France v England battles of the 100 years war, Crecy, Azincourt and so on....

5. explore one regions vineyards (always good fun)

6. visit the major culinary centres of France where famous chefs have started their work.....

7. visit Cathedrals - once again there are a great many of them....

8. follow the path that was taken during the destruction of the Knights Templar or during the Cathar destruction and see how the places have been revived since then,

9. follow the pilgrimage route;

http://www.csj.org.uk/routes.htm

10. visit the different wine AOC groups within a department or region.....

Just some thoughts.....

Dave


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## JackieP (Oct 15, 2006)

WiltonShagpile said:


> Hi,
> 
> Doors..... There seem to be no 2 residential doors that are the same. Lots of colours. New, old, rotting with fungal infections, lots of fun!!
> 
> All the best Wilt. 8O


I love this suggestion and it also made me smile. I've just been sorting through our photos from our travels and we seem to have an inordinate amount of pictures of doors and most of them from France!


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## homenaway (Jul 27, 2005)

Hi Tony,

I know what you mean about needing a focus or theme for a trip.

I'm always taking photos of doors in french villages.

What about searching out quirky museums such as the beret one - can't remember where that was  and we've found several naive art places - one in a back garden in Chartres and of course the Palais Ideal at Hauterives in Drome.

I keep meaning to stop and photo all the roundabouts we pass with interesting objects on them - helicopters, old fighter planes, traction engines and locos, farm machinery as well as the large floral displays.

That's a few the many things we like about France.  

Steve


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Yeeeeees!! Go on a cheese tour!

Jura. Comte and Morbier (cheap as chips as well)
Meux east of Paris. Brie de Meux and Melun

There are actually quite a few cheese routes you can do that the local Ti offices will tell you about or you can google them. You could combine this with a cheese and wine trip.

You will come back as fat as a pig but who cares?


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## rotorywing (Jul 19, 2010)

Doors, Doors, Doors

My Mrs thinks I'm a lunatic when I stop to look at residential doors, I find them fasinating.

Martin


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## JackieP (Oct 15, 2006)

Ha ha. I thought it was just us!


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Tony

When you say 'not interested in water activities' does that mean only participating therein? Would it rule out the theme of canals, locks and canal boats as an observer/photographer? I find it very restful just sitting watching the pace of life around canals - could also be good for sketching/painting a a secondary theme.

There are a lot of aires and other parking places next to canals and rivers in France, especially Burgundy, which we did this year. Fortunately many areas coincide with wine areas.

One place I can recommend for visiting, but it is a one-off, so not a theme, is Guedelon - which is a project of building a medieval castle using only techniques available at the time and it is a work in progress project where you can see the craftsmen working. It is about half-built so a good time to go.

Here at

www.guedelon.fr

Geoff


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Have you read Susie Kelly's book " Travels With Tinkerbelle " ? She takes off, with husband and two dogs, in an elderly motorhome to travel round the edge of France. They visit many quirky places en route and have given us much inspiration for places to visit. 

G

Edit to add There are two versions of the book : the actual paper book was published as A Perfect Circle and is the version I would read for preference. The Kindle edition is not quite the same and is called Travels With Tinkerbelle.


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## bizro (Feb 13, 2011)

We seem to have a fixation of taking pictures of the Lavoirs when in France, no two are ever the same and while taking the pictures l try to think how it would look in the early days with the women toiling over the washing. There are some very beautiful ones adorned with flowers etc, some in decay and others bought back to their former glory. Anyone else photograph them ?


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

> bizro....We seem to have a fixation of taking pictures of the Lavoirs when in France, no two are ever the same and while taking the pictures l try to think how it would look in the early days with the women toiling over the washing. There are some very beautiful ones adorned with flowers etc, some in decay and others bought back to their former glory. Anyone else photograph them ?


Not sure about "in the early days". The aire at Riantec is a frequent stop for me and every time I'm there it's busy with washing activities. It's not unusual to see women dropped off by cars and then collected again when the washing is finished (and they seem to take ages and great care with it).


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

The lavoir at Honfleur, below.

We also photographed a few recently at Villedieu-les-Poêles. but I'm not pushing my luck with the uploads.


Chris


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

> Grizzly.....Have you read Susie Kelly's book " Travels With Tinkerbelle " ? She takes off, with husband and two dogs, in an elderly motorhome to travel round the edge of France. They visit many quirky places en route and have given us much inspiration for places to visit.G


Well it had better be a good read cos I've just snapped up a copy off Ebay :lol: :lol:


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

I've enjoyed all her books Tony. The last one, I Wish I Could Say I Was Sorry, is particularly moving and deals with her early life in Kenya.

Let me know how you get on travelling with Tinkerbelle !

G


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## blaine (May 1, 2005)

Are you interested in a Country's industrial past?

Last winter we wanted a focus for a couple of weeks in the Northern France area. As we are from South Wales and had often noticed the "spoil tips" en route to Arras etc. We did a little background research and found that Lens was a major coal mining area.

We headed to the Aire at the Stade Bolleart.
We caught a bus nearby and went into the centre, having picked up leaflets at the tourist information. It was a fascinating area with the Winding gear of the mines, many tributes to victims of disasters, a school built especially for the miners children preserved along with many other buildings. In the surrounding area there were many "cities" which were housing developments for the miners and their families. We took a local bus that appeared to drive around most of them. Each development was in its own house design. 
There was a fantastic restored mine building now used as an office complex, but you could walk around and identify the shower areas etc.

We also went to the "boat lift" in Arques having seen the Falkirk Wheel and the "Anderton boat lift Northwich.

We plan to research other areas Industrial Heritage and use it as a plan for yet another French tour or any other country


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hey up Tony.

The only thing that I can think of as something "Completely Different" is..

Why don't you do a tour of all the Brothels scattered around France..

You could come back and give us all the low down, and of course some nice pictures :wink: :lol: :lol: :lol: 

ray.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

blaine said:


> We plan to research other areas Industrial Heritage and use it as a plan for yet another French tour or any other country


Have you visited Mulhouse ? That started life as a cotton processing town and went on to build both railway trains and automobiles. You can see the various grades of housing in the town, from worker's cottages to rich merchants villas. This museum is also very well worth a visit both for the hisotry and the practicalities involved in design and printing of textiles:

http://www.musee-impression.com/gb/default.html

We stay at the Camping de I'll, which doesn't get an ace rating from the CC but we have always found fine. It's a walk or cycle along the river to town.

http://www.camping-de-lill.net/

Also we would strongly recommend Nancy both for the Art Nouveau styling of the place and for the decorative glass works. The basement of the Museum of Fine Arts has a stunningly presented exhibition of Daum glass and Majorelle lamps. This museum is not to be missed either:

http://www.ecole-de-nancy.com/web/index.php?page=presentation-men-en

The campsite at Nancy is very good and convenient as the city bus stops outside.

http://www.uk.camping-brabois.com/

G

Edit to add: if you then go north and to Vienna then you will be totally blown out of your mind by the decorative arts found there !


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

> rayrecrok................Hey up Tony.
> 
> The only thing that I can think of as something "Completely Different" is..
> Why don't you do a tour of all the Brothels scattered around France..
> ray.


Ray, I'm surprised at you!  You of all people 

You've been a member here long enough to know about the Useful Guides downloads here - what you suggest has been sitting there for yonks and you must be the last member to know about it. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## blaine (May 1, 2005)

Thanks Grizzly, will make a note for our next trip.
Anyone else any suggestions please?


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

> Grizzly.........................Have you read Susie Kelly's book " Travels With Tinkerbelle " ? She takes off, with husband and two dogs, in an elderly motorhome to travel round the edge of France. They visit many quirky places en route and have given us much inspiration for places to visit. G


Thanks G.

I received the book and have now read it. Not quite as I imagined, more like a blog/journal than a book but quite enjoyable.

It's now up for grabs for anyone else who might like to read it.

All I need is the £1.50 postage (in stamps) and I'll stick it in the post for the first taker to PM me.


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## daffodil (Aug 7, 2014)

bizro said:


> We seem to have a fixation of taking pictures of the Lavoirs when in France, no two are ever the same and while taking the pictures l try to think how it would look in the early days with the women toiling over the washing. There are some very beautiful ones adorned with flowers etc, some in decay and others bought back to their former glory. Anyone else photograph them ?


We have a magnificent Lavoir virtually opposite my Barn/home/shop it has been painstakingly restored to its former glory by the local commune ,next to it is a large Fleur du lisle shaped cattle drinking trough with fountain ,which was brought from a chateau by a team of 20 oxen ,right after the owners were be headed in the revolution, it took them 25 days to drag it using a roller system as they needed it to keep the cattle away from the Lavoir as the woman complained about Kneeling in cow dung :lol: :lol:


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