The Good Life France Magazine brings you the best of France - inspirational and exclusive features, fabulous photos, mouth-watering recipes, tips, guides, ideas and much more...
Chock-full of fantastic features and stunning photographs. You'll find inspiring, entertaining & informative destination features - French Riviera, Provence, Loire Valley, Mont-Saint-Michel, Alpine villages and secret places, recipes from French foodie legends, culture and history and much, much more... Bringing France to you wherever you are!
e France is brimming
e France is brimming with romantic villages and castles and medieval gems that have somehow managed to withstand the passing of time. Janine Marsh joined a barge cruise from Sens in Burgundy to the heart of Paris and visited some of the most ravishing sites of France en route… I have to be honest, I didn’t know much (ok nothing) about Sens in Burgundy, but this was my starting point for a CroisiEurope cruise to Paris on a beautiful barge called the MS Deborah. Sens is incredibly just an hour from Paris by train, but oh so different from the capital. It’s a sleepy sort of place on the edge of the Yonne River, an important waterway since the middle ages when boats carried Burgundy wines and wood from the forests to Paris as the Yonne flows into the Seine. Sens isn’t a big tourist attraction, but it is a pretty little town and is known in France for two things. First, its ancient cathedral which is even older than Notre-Dame in Paris, begun in 1130 AD. And second, it was from here that the warrior Brennus, chieftain of the Gallic Senon tribe, departed for Rome – and conquered it around 390 BC. The Gauls only left after being paid off. Sens was an important religious centre since the 3rd century, and its Cathedral was the first to feature vaulting in its design and is considered to be the very first of the great Gothic Cathedrals in France. Opposite the Cathedral is a lovely covered market, and there is a museum next to the Cathedral which has an eclectic collection including the hat Napoleon Bonaparte wore at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Apparently it was damaged by rain so he gave it to his hatmakers in Paris to repair, but was exiled to St. Helena before he got it back. Medieval marvel Provins This is cruising at its slow tourism best. The boat holds just 22 passengers, and everything is inclusive from food to wine and spirits, plus all excursions. The Yonne is a working river, we passed pleasure ships and cargo barges The MS Deborah Vaux-le-Vicomte 8 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 9
