POLAND’S WINTER WILDLIFE
Go in search of bison, the large yet hard-to-spot mammals of Poland’s Biebrza Marshes and the Bialowieza Forest. On this guided tour, which departs the UK on 28 February, you will also be on the lookout for wild boar, wolves, elk, red deer and smaller species such as otter, beaver, red squirrel, pine marten and up to 10 species of bat.
PRICE £££ VISIT thetravelling naturalist.com
A memorable trip across the Channel sparked a love of European adventures for travel editor Elaine Griffiths 1978 THE TRIP THAT STARTED IT ALL
Flaky, buttery croissants and luxuriously thick hot chocolate served not in a mug, but a china bowl – how exotic this simple breakfast seemed to my 18-year-old self on my first trip to Paris. Oh, the glamour of announcing, in my finest French accent, that I’d be staying in a pension (aka boarding house). My room wasn’t glamorous but the windows had wooden shutters; and given that I’d only ever known net curtains, they symbolised everything that was different and sophisticated about ‘Continental Europe’. They opened to reveal a jumble of urban rooftops and the heart-stopping sight of the Eiffel Tower. This early experience of the City of Love, looking beautiful in the November drizzle, was where my lifelong love of Channel-hopping began…
2000 THE NOT-QUITEGLAMPING HOLIDAY
Our family road trip through rural France began with a frisson of excitement as we left Calais and drove south to the Périgord region, where we were off to stay with friends who were converting an old water tower into a glamping venue. They’d warned us it was basic and, as it turned out, it had no running water! We slept in a tent, caught fish from the river and ate fruit from the orchard. The kids loved that summer of living wild, and us grown-ups learned to appreciate the simpler things in life.
My room wasn’t glamorous but the shutters opened to reveal the heart-stopping sight of the Eiffel Tower
2008 THE ‘ACCIDENTAL’ FOODIE BREAK
It’s impossible to nominate just one region as a ‘foodie paradise’, but the Jura in eastern France definitely makes my top 10. I discovered it on a work trip to the town of Besançon – birthplace of Victor Hugo – and it’s home to superb rustic bistros serving croûte aux morilles (a classic Franche-comté mushroom dish), nutty Comté cheese and strawcoloured vin jaune. I’ve been back several times, both for the food and the stunning views of vineyard-clad hills and picturesque mountains.
2017 THE ‘SECRET’ SHOPPING DESTINATION
‘I love your jacket! Where’s it from?’ Despite being tempted to keep my new shopping hotspot to myself, I revealed to colleagues that it was from a market in Le Touquet, less than an hour’s drive from Calais. Having nipped to France via Le Shuttle for a weekend of café Salutations du culture and walks along the town’s famous beach, I returned feeling totally refreshed, full of fruits de mer, and with a new wardrobe from the Marché Couvert, where you can pick up fashion bargains alongside your fruit and veg.
2019 THE NO-FLY TUSCAN COOKERY COURSE
When a friend who hates flying but adores food begs you to join her on an Italian cookery course and you find out it will involve a 15-hour car journey, you seriously weigh up how much you love pasta. But I’m so glad I agreed to go Touquet with her. London to Folkestone, Folkestone to Calais and Calais to Florence was an amazing adventure; we had plenty of laughs along the way, and the memories of fragrant basil, juicy tomatoes and luscious Sangiovese will stay with me for ever.
I returned from Le Touquet feeling totally refreshed and with a whole new wardrobe