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Over 11 million British holiday makers head to France each year, with many of those packing a tent or towing a caravan to provide their accommodation for the week or two that they’re en France!

Whether you’re heading for the sun drenched beaches of the south of France, the rural charm of Provence or the wine filled vineyards of the Loire there are a few essential items that are important to include before you leave home.

1. Spare wheel – make sure yours is legal and that you have the relevant jack and wrench – and the locking wheel nut tool if you have one. There’s only one thing worse than a flat tyre while you’re on holiday and that’s not having a spare!
2. A Liber  t-tag.  Keep on trucking with a pre bought and registered French tolls t-tag. When all you want to do is get to your pitch, pop the tent up and start enjoying your holiday, the last thing you want to do is queue up with all the other non-French tourists at the Autoroute toll booths. Well now you don’t have to as – for the very first time – the Liber – t tag can be ordered and paid for in the UK, using your UK bank account and the good old British pound. Paying French tolls has never been quicker or easier.
3. Sat Nav including French Maps – AND a map. Many of us have a Sat Nav for the UK and some of us just assume that it will carry on working whilst we’re aboard. But this is not the case, you need to get French mapping software and make sure you know how to use it before you go away. You also need a map – just in case the Sat Nav fails, gets stolen or suddenly decides you’re actually in Italy and not in France – it does happen!
4. A good cooker and a kettle. We Brits don’t half like our tea and in my experience – the French don’t. So it’s essential for the good of all to be able to brew up whenever the mood takes us. From beside the road on a break from driving to every lovely, lazy and relaxed morning of the holiday – there’s nothing like a good cup of tea.
5. A big cool box. No matter how precious you think the space is in your car, caravan, camper van etc. In our experience a nice big cool box is essential for keeping water and juice cold while you’re traveling and beer and wine chilled for when you get there and start unwinding.

As a regular traveller to France, Rachel Wheats makes use of Sanef Tollings Liber-t tag to take the hassle out of paying French tolls.

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Most impressive and largest aqueduct at that time was undoubtedly the Pont du Gard in Provence, in southern France. It dates from Roman times – was built 2000 years ago. It is not only beneficial structure, but also an architectural gem. It can certainly be called wonder of the ancient world. This building has been preserved almost in working conditions until today.

Aqueduct transferred water from the Eure spring to the wells in Nimes (48 km). Noteworthy is that the height difference between spring and wells is only 17 m, which proves truly outstanding calculations of the whole system.

A part of the aqueduct is a huge, three-storey bridge over the river Gard, which is also the most interesting part. The bridge is 275 meters long, 49 meters high and at the highest part it is 3 meters wide. It consists of three rows of arches – the arcades. Blocks of stone are embedded into each other with millimeter accuracy while no fasteners were used.

At the time of the Roman Empire the city of Nimes had approximately 50 000 inhabitants. Aqueduct was able to supply about 400 liters of water daily for each person.

The bridge is now a major tourist attraction and one of the most visited monuments in France with more than 2 million tourists per year. In 1985 it was included in UNESCO World Heritage Site.

You can even stay in camping which is situated right bellow the Aqueduct.

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Christine Jewell

The village is built around white rocky hills and has a terraced structure. This strategically advantageous location has been inhabited since prehistoric times. During the Roman occupation, Oppidum was built here and in the Middle Ages the local fort became a haven for people from far afield. The village has never been conquered, even during the bloody religious wars in the 16th century. The worst period for Gordes was the beginning of the 20th century, when many of its inhabitants moved to work out in industrial cities.

The village has been finally saved from decline thanks to the modern art. In 1938 Gordes has been discovered by André Lhote – a French sculptor and painter, who invited here well-known artists such as Marc Chagall, Victor Vasarely and other involved in contemporary art. All of them spent a lot of time here, however their quiet creative period was interrupted by war. In 1944 the village was invaded by German troops, who wanted to revenge for the attack of the French resistance, and thus they destroyed more than a half of the village with its monuments. One monk from the nearby Sénanque monastery tried to intervene against this destruction, but he was killed.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Giovanni

Anyway the village managed to retain its ancient charm. Gordes is in fact a labyrinth of cobbled streets that are lined with beautiful houses. Many of them are souvenir shops, but also cafes and wine bars, where the more affluent tourists can enjoy the right muscat wine. All houses in the village were built of the traditional Provencal materials – stone and terracotta plate used on the roofs.

At the highest point of the village there is a Renaissance castle, which was built on the site of the original medieval fortress. From the outside of the castle you can explore beautiful Renaissance windows. In the past, the only access to this point was through very steep, almost vertical stairs carved into the rock. The castle now houses a museum of contemporary French art. If you want to see the beautiful Renaissance fireplace in the main hall, you must purchase a ticket to the Musée Pol Mara. Pol Mara was an important Flemish artist.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Thierry

Not far away there is the Eglise Saint-Firmin Church from the 18th century. You can then proceed down the aisle Rue de l’Eglise, which will take you to the Rue du Belvédère – a lookout offering a spectacular view of the surroundings.

The beauty of this place attracted famous people, film directors, painters, musicians and of course the crowds of tourists. However in the main summer season it is better to avoid it. The roads are usually totally congested and it is almost impossible to get here. The best time for a visit is spring or autumn.

Near Gordes, you can visit Sénanque monastery, one of the three great Cistercian abbeys in Provence. It is well known for its Romanesque architecture and the cultivation of lavender.

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Saint-Tropez is located on the French Riviera, and it is known today for its famous and extremely wealthy summertime guests. It has been dubbed the ‘playground to jetsetters, fashion models, and millionaires’, and it is most-enduringly known as the place the iconic Brigitte Bardot “discovered” and for its role in the liberation of southern France during World War II. During the 1960s and the 1970s, the famous film series Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez with Louis de Funès further contributed to the town’s reputation.

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The port is now primarily a tourist spot besides being a base for many well know sail regattas.

The inhabitants of Saint-Tropez are called Tropéziens[1], and the town is familiarly called “St-Trop”.

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