Pellicano Articles
Unless your head has been buried in the sand for the past 12 months, you’ve probably noticed we’ve been struggling through a fairly horrid recession. Everywhere you looked there were high street stores going out of business. You only had to scratch around in your purse or wallet to notice the impact. Times were, and still are, a little bit hard.
When times are hard and we need to be more frugal with our money, luxuries are usually the first to go. This usually means sacrificing that dream holiday to the Carribean for a ’staycation’ – going somewhere slightly less glamorous and much more affordable.
I guess the good news, is taking a trip abroad or going on a day-trip doesn’t need to break the bank. Travel, via plane, road or sea is becoming increasingly more competitive. As this happens, travel not only becomes more accessible, it also becomes cheaper.
I’m not suggesting for a moment that you can travel the globe on a shoestring budget, but that you look at what’s available just across the pond. There are a host of great attractions and things to do, practically on our own doorstep – in France.
Beyond the obvious attractions, such as Disneyland Paris, The Louvre, Mont St-Michel and Avignon, there are countless, lesser known gems perfect for the whole family, including:
• Bagatelle Amusement Park
Only a 45 minute drive from the Eurotunnel Calais terminal, Bagatelle is an amusement park where all the family are sure to enjoy the thrills and fun, with 18 attractions
• Wallonia
Rolling farmland, wooded peaks, fast-flowing rivers, but also scenic drives, good food and quality lodging from friendly guest houses to five star hotels – makes Wallonia the perfect getaway!.
• Calaid Cote d’Opale
Calais Cote d’Opale is also a region offering a great amount of warm and festive events all year round! Sound and light shows, historic pageants, fairytales, legendary celebrities, twilight walks, a fascinating heritage, artists and aficionados there’s always a fantastic festive air in the Calais Cote d’Opale!
• Shopping in Calais at Cite Europe
With more than 200 shops including well known high street names and a supermarket, Cite Europe is ideal if you want everything under one roof. Cite Europe is approximately 5 minutes from the Eurotunnel exit, and only 4km from Calais. It has over 200 shops including well known English shops like Tesco Wines, Tie Rack, Toys R Us, as well as the best French high street brands. Carrefour, the large hypermarket within the shopping centre has a superb range of foods, groceries, cookware and electrical goods, plus many many more.
• La Coupole
Situated 5km from the town of Saint-Omer, La Coupole is a gigantic underground bunker designed by the Nazis, in 1943-1944. It is one of the great relics of the Second World War in Europe, a History and Remembrance Centre, now a respected tourist attraction. The underground bunker was used to store, prepare and launch the V2 rockets, the secret weapon that Hitler was counting on to destroy London.
So there you have it. A few suggestions for enjoying an affordable trip abroad, and doing something a little bit different. You may have to put off your holiday, but you can still enjoy a short break or day trip with the family to help soften the blow.
For further information on Channel Tunnel prices, or Disneyland Paris tickets, visit Eurotunnel.com.
Tags: calais shopping, channel tunnel prices, disneyland paris, things to do in france
Posted in Holidays · July 22nd, 2010 · Comments (0)
It can be difficult to come up with something good to get your loved ones for Christmas, particularly if they already have everything they need. A lot of people also find certain members of the family tougher to buy for, with dads often cropping up as a more difficult one.
But there are plenty of great and unusual Christmas gifts out there, you just need to be able to think outside of the box a little bit.
The experience market is a good place to start, as the trips offered often make excellent Christmas gifts, and they often get totally overlooked. Admittedly, some of them can be expensive, but generally speaking they’re not really any more expensive that most modern technology.
For a male, you could consider experience days out involving fishing, golf, driving, even sky diving depending on the person you’re buying for, have a look online at what’s available and you’ll no doubt find the ideal Christmas gifts for him.
If it’s a woman you’re looking for gifts for, then there are lots of experience available. You can opt for wine tasting, full make-overs, spa treatments or even a hot air balloon ride. What’s really good about these kinds of gifts is that not only can they be unwrapped on Xmas morning, but they can then be shared and remembered.
If these kind of experiences are not in your price rang, you don’t need to fret. There are several other creative ways you can put together a memorable gift for your relatives.
Photographs are always a very good choice if you can do them well. If the person you’re buying for has a favourite place, memory, person, etc. then go and take (or find) relevant, good photos and get them framed by a professional. An alternative to framing is to get them blown up to a larger size and placed onto a canvas. It’s not particularly expensive, relatively easy to do and will give you a thoughtful, memorable present to give to your loved one.
Just those two ideas should give you an idea of how creative you can get with presents for Christmas, you don’t need to just go into town with a few hundred pounds and buy everything from the high street. Spend some time thinking about what you think your loved one would really like, it shouldn’t take you too long to come up with some creative ideas to make their Christmas just that little more special.
Tags: Christmas, Gifts, present, unusual xmas gifts
Posted in Christmas · July 21st, 2010 · Comments (0)