Think Belgium is flat fields and historic towns, think again; Tomas Mowlam heads into the wild in one Europe’s oldest forests, the Ardennes.

The Ardennes is an area of forests, hills and mountains that runs through Belgium, Luxembourg and stretches into France. A strategic battleground for centuries, including during WWI and WWII, the Ardennes is now home to less warlike pursuits.

The two largest cities in the Ardennes are Verviers in Belgium and Charleville-Mezieres in France, but consider basing yourself in a smaller village to really explore the area.

There are great camping opportunities through the Ardennes, including the small but beautiful camp ground at La Muree, just a few kilometres from the Meuse valley (above).

The rivers of the Ardennes, including the Meuse and its tributaries, provide some of the best fun to be had. You can fish on the lakes and rivers or canoe and kayak your way down them.

You can paddle the Lesse River, and Anseremme near Dinant makes a good starting point. To travel down the Ourthe River, the town of La Roche en Ardenne makes a great base to explore the countryside and its easy flowing rivers.

Cycling is just as popular here as in the rest of the Low Countries, but two wheeled activities are more likely to be mountain biking.

If climbing mountains, rather than hurtling down them, is more your thing, then the limestone cliffs of the Ardennes, especially around Freyr near Dinant, will keep you occupied.

There are opportunities to hunt wild game such as boar and deer, or just shoot photos if you’re after a less blood-thirsty time.

Let P&O Ferries get you there with the Hull to Zeebrugge or the Portsmouth to Calais service, both of which are just a short drive to the Ardennes region.

Image Credit: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, Wiki Commons

Tags: Belgium, France, P&O Ferries by tmowlam
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Calling all cheese lovers! Rosie Khdir ventures to the Normandy region of Orne to discover the history of Camembert, a cheese that went on to become a world favourite.

Once upon a time in a small village called Camembert in Normandy, lived a dairy farmer called Marie Harel. In 1791, in the midst of the French Revolution, Marie offered refuge to a priest from the Bouvoust Abbey in Brie.

In return for her hospitality the priest told her the secret of making cheese in his region and so Marie created her own and named it after the village. It was marketed at Vimoutier where many cheeses from the village had previously been sold.

The recipe was handed down through the generations and in 1890 Eugene Ridel invented the famous wooden box that we still package it in today. This packaging, along with the progresses of the industrial revolution saw Marie’s cheese reach ultimate commercial success.

It went on to inspire many artists, one of the most prominent being Dali’s, who used a melted Camembert as inspiration for his famous dripping clocks!

If you wish to learn more about the famous cheese “pie” that gets taste buds tingling the world over, why not visit La Maison du Camembert in the very village where it all began. The Museum itself is shaped like the circular cheese and visitors are able to sample fresh batches of this French delicacy.

Is you fancy a trip to the Orne region P&O Ferries can help you on you way, with Dover to Calais trips crossing starting at £30 for a car and up to nine people. From Calais it is just a short drive to Camembert.

Image credit: pdphoto.org

Tags: France, History, Lifestyle, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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The name Waterloo strikes up different images in people’s minds, maybe ABBA at the Eurovision song contest or a busy London tube station, but Rosie Khdir rediscovers the Waterloo that was scene of an epic European battle 195 years ago.

This year mark the 195th anniversary of Napoleon’s Defeat by the combined armies of the Seventh Coalition, and this weekend will see Belgium come alive with celebrations of this victory.

The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 was the last stand that saw Napoleon toppled from his position as ruler of the French empire.

The armies of the United Kingdom, Prussia, the United Provinces, Hanover, Nassau and Brunswick fought in the fields at Waterloo, in modern-day Belgium, and in three days defeated his army of 72,000 men.

The celebrations start with an hour-long Battle of Waterloo-inspired firework and light spectacle at 10 p.m. Then on Saturday visitors are able to travel to the Napoleonic bivouacs, to discover the everyday life of a typical soldier in the imperial army.

Also taking place during the weekend will be a full scale reenactment of the battle with over 3,000 soldiers and Napoleon himself – who is often played by an American actor. Access to these events is free.

Visitors can also learn more about the battle and its participants via the Wellington Museum, which used to be the Bodenghien Inn and former headquarters of the Duke of Wellington during the Battle of Waterloo.

For more information visit the official tourism site for the Waterloo region.

P&O Ferries does a great value service from Hull – Zeebrugge, or you can take the Dover – Calais route from where it is just a short drive along the E40 to the Belgian border. Prices start at just £30 for a car and up to nine people.

Painting by Robert Alexander Hillingford

Tags: Belgium, Britain, France, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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If you are visiting Paris this summer and are worried about the sweltering heat in the built up capital, fear not, as you can relax on the sands of the Paris Plage. Rosie Khdir discovers the summer tradition down by the shores of the Seine.

In the summer time, Paris is usually avoided due to the hot and humid weather and flood of tourists that take over the city. If you are a visitor this year, you can cool down from a day’s sightseeing or shopping on the sandy banks of the river Seine.

The Paris-Plages were trademarked in 2002 and are run by the mayor of Paris during the months of July and August. There was initially a single beach on the Rive Droite but on 2006 a second beach was added on the Rive Gauche.

These stretches of the river bank are coated in white sand and there are sunbeds and volleyball nets, comedy performers and even floating swimming pools. Every year new exciting features are added, attracting more and more visitors – in 2007 the figure topped four million.

The beach at La Villette Hosts a variety of water sports and boating, including Kayaks, pedalboats, sailboats, canoes, all available to the public at no charge until 9:00 p.m.

The more traditional beach stretches from Pont Neuf to Pont de Sully and features parasols and chaise longues, all free to rent as well as fountains and mini pools to help you cool off. Both beaches have waterside cafes for food and refreshments.

Topless sunbathing is not allowed and swimming in the Seine is not permitted due to safety reasons. The beach will be open from 20th July to 20th August 2010, daily from 8 a.m. to midnight.

Let P&O get you there; a crossing from Dover to Calais in a car with up to nine people starts from just £30.

Image credit: Jean-David et Anne-Laure

Tags: France, History, Lifestyle, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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John Hillman takes a wander around Biarritz and discovers the Imperial Resort & Spa known as the Hotel Du Palais one of the very finest hotels ever to grace a seafront holiday resort.

Those of you planning a trip to Europe this summer with P&O Ferries and in search of a little luxury along the way will find everything you could possibly wish for in Biarritz.

It was here, in 1854, that Napoléon III came with his new bride Eugénie. He fell in love with the fabulous coastline and immediately set about constructing a summer palace overlooking the ocean, on a piece of raised land, calling it La Ville Eugénie.

Today it is known as Hotel Du Palais, a palatial five star hotel that has played host to some of the most famous names of the last 200 years.

Hemingway, Stravinsky, Dali, Sinatra and an almost continuous stream of royals from the Windsors to the Habsburgs have stayed within this hotel’s sumptuous walls, today it still remains as one of the very best hotels in the whole of Europe.

Biarritz is a must-do on any itinerary that involves a drive around the Pyrenees Mountains and the Basque Country. Located in the French side of the mountains on the Atlantic Coast this superb town has everything.

Pretty streets are populated with small artisan shops, stunning coastal walks are broken up by the site of surfers riding one perfect wave after another. But no visit should really be considered complete without at least one night’s stay at the royal jewel in this town’s gentle old crown.

P&O Ferries’ passengers can plan a trip to Biarritz easily whether accessing the continent via the Portsmouth to Bilbao route or Dover to Calais.

Tags: France, P&O Ferries by John Hillman
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P&O’s brand new ferry floated out onto the water for the first time this week.

The 49,000 tonne Spirit of Britain, left the construction dock at STX Europe shipyard in Rauma, Finland.

The Spirit of Britain will serve the Dover – Calais route from January 2011. Construction will now also start on the second ferry the Spirit of France, due to operate from September 2011.

Helen Deeble, chief executive of P&O Ferries, said: “The two ships represent a major investment of more than €360 million by P&O Ferries and are designed for a life span of 25 years so we are taking a long term view.

“Their design incorporates a number of world firsts, particularly in terms of hull design and in being the first ferries to comply with new Safe Return to Port regulations.

“It was only last August that I attended the keel-laying of the first ship so to witness its float-out is breathtaking. We’re proud to be associated with everybody at STX Europe which is a truly world class operation.”

Image: Captain David Miller, senior master of the Spirit of Britain, celebrates the floating out of the new ship at STX Europe in Rauma, Finland.

Tags: P&O Ferries by tmowlam
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The 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Africa on 11 June, if you didn’t already know that (ahem). But what with volcanic ash clouds and BA strikes you might be wondering if there are any alternative routes to the Rainbow Nation. John Hillman looks at the options.

Getting to South Africa by land would constitute and adventure of such Livingstonian proportions, that only the very bravest consumer of Ray Mears survival DVDs would cogitate on an attempt at the 6000 miles between Dover and Cape Town.

The easy part is, of course, getting from England to the continent, via any one of P&O Ferries’ 25 crossings a day from Dover to Calais. From there it’s just a matter of heading down through France, across the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain and down, down, down all the way to the port town of Algeciras on the southern Atlantic coast. Then it gets interesting.

From here your journey will take you through at least ten separate countries, which include some of the poorest on the planet. You will possibly experience the unnerving sensation of driving through the middle of a country in the grips of civil war, encounter official corruption on a truly epic scale, and spend most of your time wondering where your next tank of petrol is coming from.

However, you’ll also discover that some of the happiest and friendliest people in the world are those who have very little, experience sights and sounds that will stay with you forever, and develop an arsenal of pub stories to rival even the combined force of Lord Nelson and Lemmy from Motorhead.

So in answer to the question, yes you can drive to South Africa 2010, you just should have started planning it a bit sooner than now. As far as we are aware no-one is actually driving from the UK to SA. However if you know of anyone en-route then please do let us know, just so we may marvel at their refreshing disregard for modern utilitarianism.

Image Credit: 300td.org

Tags: Lifestyle, P&O Ferries by John Hillman
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Barely 30 minutes from Paris there’s a unique and secluded camping experience. Tomas Mowlam gets the best of both worlds in Huttopia.

I love camping. Me and the outdoors get on well and I can put up with the minor inconveniences that sleeping under the stars brings. Not everyone shares my viewpoint however, so it’s always good to find a compromise between my love of nature with being able to sleep in a bed.

Huttopia is a company with several campsites across France and Canada, but one of the most intriguing is just outside Versailles, with it’s amazing sites like the Palace of Versailles (above). There are 180 pitches through four hectares of French forest, it’s quiet, leafy, secluded and comfortable.

So if you’re not camping or caravanning it Huttopia offers three different types of rented accommodation; cabanes (cabins), Roulottes (gypsy style caravans) and Canadiennes (ridge tents).

The cabins are made from Douglas fir, sustainably grown in France and will sleep up to six people. Each has shower and toilets facilities, a kitchen stove and fridge, though with good weather there’s no reason not to hit the BBQ, and sit out on the terraces with a glass of vino afterwards.

The words holiday caravans can bring up some bad notions; cramped, cold aluminium and plastic boxes in a field in some windblown British seaside town. The roulottes however are as far from that nightmare as it’s possible to get. They’re modelled on traditional wooden gypsy caravans and built from local materials. They sleep up to four people, come with a bathroom, kitchen with microwave and stove.

The Canadienne ridge tent sleeps up to five people in a spacious canvas tent that allows you to “sleep under canvas (on a comfortable mattress)”. Comes with beds and cooking facilities.

There’s the saffe d’eau, the spacious and clean washroom areas, the bivouac areas for BBQing and cleaning. There’s also grocery shop and swimming pool on site.

Huttopia Versailles, 31 rue Berthelot, 78000 Versailles (00 33 1 39 51 23 61; huttopia.com). Let P&O get you there; a crossing from Dover to Calais in a car with up to nine people starts from just £30.

Image Credit:R Etienne

Tags: France, P&O Ferries by Gabriel Grant
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