Experience Ardèche

Jane Egginton discovers a strong identity and villages of character in a hidden but much loved corner of France

Top 10 Valentine’s breaks

Boutique hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith have sifted through the schmaltz to find Valentine’s packages that will really set hearts aflutter (and won’t involve soggy petals clogging the plughole). Here are 10 hot properties that offer something a little bit different…

Citizens Advice

From the website:

“The Adviceguide website is the main public information service of Citizens Advice, providing people with round-the-clock access to CAB information on their rights – including benefits, housing and employment, and on debt, consumer and legal issues.”

Stirling Castle Palace Re-Opens

This weekend sees the re-opening of one of the most important sites in Scottish history – the palace at Stirling Castle. To celebrate this Historic Scotland is putting an extra effort with festivities and events.
On Saturday, the splender kicks off at 11.45 with a royal procession whih will include Mary, Queen of Scots and Mary of Guise and the rest of the “royal” party to be welcomed by cannon fire.

Lufthansa, British Airways & French Air Traffic Controllers

Firstly, the good news. the Lufthansa strike was called off last night as pilots and management agreed to talk to each other again. It may mean that some aircraft are out of place this morning so check with Lufthansa to see if there are any problems.
The first bit of bad news is that British Airways’ cabin crew members of Unite have voted overwhelmingly for strike action. You might remember that they voted for action before Christmas but BA management won a court action which said the ballot hadn’t been operated properly. (see CD-Traveller 21 January and 15 December). No dates have been announced for the strike and it may be significant that Unite have said that they want to talk to BA management first. (For a view from the inside see Ian’s comments at the end of the piece on 21st January.)
The second piece of bad news is that, from today, French air traffic controllers start a 4 day strike which will affect flights throughout French air space. About 50% of flights in and out of Paris Orly are expected to be cancelled and a quarter through Paris Charles de Gaulle. The strike coincides with French school holidays.

Hotel Reading Courtesy of Eurostars Hotels

Last year, (CD-Traveller 10 Nov 2009), I wrote about The Eurostars Hotels Travel Narrative Award. You might remember that this award means that the winning title gets distributed to every single hotel room that Eurostars Hotels have. The Barcelona based group has 53 hotels. (but not one in the UK/Ireland yet.) This means that in over 4200 rooms the winning book is there to be read by any guest.

This year the winner is Paco Nadal

Travel Talk: where the experts holiday- Vanessa Collingridge

Vanessa Collingridge has travelled the world from the frozen Antarctic to Tahiti. Here, the renowned geographer, explorer, author and presenter shares her experiences with CD Traveller and reveals why Scotland will always hold a special place in her heart