Letter from France: May 2013

Whether you’re a novice or seasoned traveller, France will steal your heart. Each month, Frederic – our French correspondent – gives us the low-down on what to see and do across the channel

Bulgaria ancient treasures, current events and great value

Anthony reports on Bulgaria and an extraordinary memorial garden created by a Queen for herself and meets up with two famous footballers…

ABTA

From the website:

“Formed in 1950 by 22 leading travel companies, ABTA – The Travel Association – now represents over 5,000 travel agencies and more than 900 tour operations, throughout the British Isles. Our Members range from small, specialist tour operators and independent travel agencies through to publicly-listed companies and household names; from call centres to internet booking services to high street shops. All of them carry the ABTA logo, which means choice, value, and high levels of service. ”

One Woman and Her Dog (and this time her mother!)

The first opportunity to pack the dog (and this time my mother) and get away for a dog-friendly weekend arose at the end of March. Both my mother and I are avid Geologists, and after checking for recent storms and landslides (which mean higher likelihood of finding fossils), the Tide Time Tables and the last minute availability of dog-friendly B&Bs, luck was on our side, and we drove down to Lyme Regis slowly (road works EVERYWHERE) one Friday night.

Qatar airlines to unveil new Boeing 787

Qatar Airways will unveil its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner for the first time at the world’s largest aerospace event, Farnborough International Air Show, taking place in the UK between 9-15 July

Price is Everything

Given that newspapers seem to think they can print stories in the summer that they wouldn’t carry at other times, the last week or so has seen a flurry of tales that are so newsworthy, they will surprise you. No less than 3 surveys have come out all saying that price is the most important thing in choosing a holiday. Who would have thought it!
How many times have we been told that? And it is a complete surprise to you all isn’t it? And to think I believed it was the colour of the brochure or the fact that some 1970’s long forgotten soap star was plugging it. The research is so helpful that I’ll not even name those firms that commissioned it.
But does that tell the whole truth?

Changing Suitcases Saves Money

Now that no-frills airlines like Ryanair and easyJet charge you for placing luggage in the hold, people are looking for ways to save money on all the extra things that make a cheap fare, expensive. Many experts felt that customers would just put up with it but now comes evidence from a US company that suggests this may not be the case (no pun intended!). Suitcase.com is an American retail company which sells any variety of different types of bags and cases. It asked 21,000 people about their luggage purchasing habits and it has thrown up some interesting results.
Now Americans have had to put up with all these extra charges for longer than we have and even have to pay for luggage on the main carriers as well.