THE TOUR GUIDE

We found in previous years we missed festivals, markets or events of potential interest that we could have been to, by arriving a day or two late. We have addressed this annoyance by appointing a 'Tour Guide'. After a very short discussion Margaret was elected by a unanimous vote to be the tour guide and so far it's working well.

The 'Tour Guide' relaxing at 'La Lucarne de Chouettes' in Villeneuve-sur-Yonne.

When not hard at it researching what's on via the internet or tourist offices Margaret finds the best restaurants, her preferred surroundings. Well you need to relax after all that conversation in the 'Office de Tourisme'. It can be quite taxing as they often have no idea or it appears no interest. A classic recently was in Auxerre. We knew the dates of the music festival, we even knew who was playing at what time. As it was a multiple venue festival we didn't know the location of the various venues in the town. We asked at the tourist office. They did not know! As we had to squeeze past a temporary raised stage outside their entrance we asked if that was one of the locations. She didn't know. We also both felt she had not even noticed the stage outside the front door. She certainly was not at all bothered as she stated she lived in a village 20km away and had no idea what was happening in Auxerre that weekend!!

Performance art in Sens, part of a pottery making demonstration? Don't you just love ochre!

One of numerous groups playing over the 2 day 'Musicsens' festival.

If you can track these festivals/events down, there is a lot on offer throughout France and they are usually free or if not at very little cost.