Jetsettersblog

A Tale Of Six Cities. Historic Or Hip? Opera Or Rock ‘N’ Roll? Michelin Stars Or Bistro Bargains? The Pays De La Loire’s Cities Have Surprises Up Their Charming Sleeves

The Pays de la Loire consists of five departments, each with its own ‘capital’, each with its own character and style. An international port for 500 years, bustling Nantes is the biggest. Only 40 miles apart, Angers and Saumur have been rivals for centuries. Le Mans boasts near perfect Roman walls, a superb car museum and world-famous race. More rural, Laval and Cholet both have corners to explore.

It takes more than an impressive cathedral, art gallery and château to be named the ‘best place to live in France’ by a French magazine. And Nantes, the administrative capital of the Pays de la Loire, has plenty to show off: an old quarter with stone-paved lanes, centuries old houses, a superb 18th-century opera house and chic shopping along Rue Crébillon. Over on the Ile Feydeau, 18th-century merchants’ homes recall the days of empire. But there is plenty of contemporary fun: the funky LU, the Lieu Unique arts centre, in a converted biscuit factory, and the Machines de l’Ile, the home of giant mechanical elephants and more.

www.nantes-tourisme.com

By contrast, Angers feels much older, with its cobbled streets, half-timbered houses and the dark, moody-looking castle. Defended by a moat and 17 towers, the jewel inside is the Apocalypse Tapestry.

The world’s largest medieval tapestry, it stretches for 107 metres – the length of a football pitch! On the River Maine, three miles from the Loire, this city also boasts a 12th-century cathedral and the 16th-century Maison d’Adam, covered in graphic wood carvings. More up-to-date is the buzz from the university students, the pedestrianised streets, the flashy new steel and glass TGV railway station and a host of galleries, museums, shops and restaurants.
www.angers-tourisme.com

Saumur is known as the ‘white town’, built from chalky limestone. On the bluff, the 13th-century chateau stands high above the medieval streets down by the river. Go for the atmosphere, the restaurants and the nearby cellars, where you can taste sparkling Saumur brut wines.

The Cadre Noir, the cavalry regiment, gives displays of horsemanship and outside the city is the Ecole Nationale d’Equitation, the national riding school, where you can watch horses training for the Olympics. Also minutes away is the Abbey of Fontevraud, one of the world’s largest monasteries which has now beautifully restored to its medieval magnificence.

A highlight for British visitors is the recumbent figures of Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and their son, Richard the Lion Heart – who were buried here 800 years ago.

www.ot-saumur.fr

Say Le Mans and motor-racing is the immediate response. But this is a city rich with heritage, from its 3rd-century Roman walls to St-Julien, one of the finest 12th-century cathedrals in France, complete with original stained glass. The cobbled streets and half-timbered houses are authentic enough to be used in films, such as The Three Musketeers and Cyrano de Bergerac.

In summer, don’t miss the Nuit des Chimères, colourful stories projected on to the ancient walls using the latest son et lumière techniques. But, Le Mans is also modern, boasting a myriad of delightful small restaurants and cafés, as well as a new, smooth and stylish tram system.

Due to open this year is the Maine Archaeology and Historical Museum. And, of course, on the outskirts is the circuit that petrol-heads adore, as well as a high-tech car museum and the roads that host the June Le Mans 24-Hour Race (June 13-14, 2009).
www.lemanstourisme.com

Deep in the Mayenne, it is easy to think that time has passed Laval by. And that is part of its charm: stroll through old town and on to the Perrine Gardens that lie along the banks of the Mayenne River.

Step aboard a boat – not any old boat, but a laundry boat. The medieval answer to a laundromat, the bateau-lavoir was a practical way to wash clothes. Guarding the Mayenne River and the Pont Vieux, a bridge that looks 1,000 years old, is the Château of the counts of Laval. Since Laval was the birthplace of naïve painter Henri Rousseau, (also called Le Douanier), the château holds a small museum of naïf art.
www.mairie-laval.fr

At the outskirts of Anjou Cholet used to be a sleepy rural town until shopping took it to the top of the French tourist charts. In La Séguinière, a few minutes from the town centre, Marques Avenue boasts about 40 factory outlet stores, including Kickers, Levi’s, Delsey, Mango, Morgan and Nike.
www.ot-cholet.fr

A Plant Lover’s Paradise

From early spring until late autumn the sweet, spicy scent of the maquis emanates from the wild shrubs and plants which cover much of Corsica, giving it the delightful title: The Perfumed Island.

Plant lovers visiting Corsica should put the Parc de Saleccia, (situated in the Balagne Region -known as the Garden of Corsica) on their itinerary. Seventeen acres include a magnificent arboretum, an olive grove with 15 varieties, a marquis walk and a wild plant walk.

For a selection of places to stay to suit all budgets visit www.directCorsica.com
Casa d’Hugo in Lumio or Apartment Battini in Sant’Ambroggio are particularly well placed for the Parc de Saleccia, as well as magnificent sandy beaches and the lively port of Calvi, with its magnificent 15th Century Citadel, and Ile Rousse.

Create a ‘Mediterranean theme’ to your garden with green flowered helleborus corsicus, the curry plant (Helychrysum italicum sun serotinum), wild or creeping thyme (thymus serpyllum), common sage (salvia officinalis), creeping Corsican mint, French lavender (lavandula stoechas), Cotton lavenders (santolina chamaecyparissus) and, if you have space, a Corsican pine – (Pinus nigra sub laricio).

Plants available from www.greenwheelbarrow.com

As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa and Hilton Vilamoura is trying to better cater to the business travel segment. The property was listed among the most luxurious hotels in the world in 2009 and considered the Best Luxury Hotel in Portugal by the Business Destinations magazine.

The Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa has 351 suites, which include hotel rooms, junior suites, the presidential suite and luxurious one- to four-bedroom suites.

The resort contains meeting, congress, and event venues and a Concierge Service dedicated exclusively to events.

The eight Hilton meeting rooms are equipped with advanced technology and Wi-Fi Internet access throughout the common areas, along with a Business Center. Restaurants, bars, six pools, a complementary shuttle service to the beach with a beach club and a location with five golf courses at its door-step.

While staying at the resort, guests may use an exclusive golf simulator which allows them to perfect their technique on any of the 35 international golf circuit courses, without leaving the Algarve, along with the 7 Seven Spa, the largest spa in the country.

For more information, visit www.ascascatasvilamoura.com

Gamewatchers Safaris and Porini Safari Camps reported an increase in lion population in the Selenkay Conservancy area near Amboseli National Park and in the Olare Orok and Ol Kinyei Conservancies adjacent to the Maasai Mara Reserve.

Two researchers from the University of Wisconsin, Leela Hazzah and Stephanie Dolreny, fitted a radio collar on Nosieki, a lioness associated with a small pride that has moved into the Selenkay area. Hazzah and Dolreny are working in cooperation with Amboseli Porini Camp guides, Selenkay Conservancy rangers and Lion Guardians, a community-based group of Maasai that monitors carnivore movements and assists communities in reducing lion-livestock conflict.

Tracking the lioness enabled the researchers to confirm the birth of Nosieki’s two cubs in June. This is in addition to three cubs born recently to another lioness in the pride. Guides from Porini Lion Camp in the Olare Orok Conservancy adjacent to the Maasai Mara Reserve, recently reported that a new pride of five lionesses is now regularly observed in the Olare Orok Conservancy. This new pride joins three resident prides — the Ridge Pride, the Enkuyanai Pride and the largest, the Moniko Pride of 22 lions.

Gamewatchers Safaris recently launched a new Lion Research Safari that provides insight into critical research being conducted by Ewaso Lions in the Samburu and Shaba National Reserves, and in the surrounding West Gate Community Conservancy.

This eight-night safari includes Joy’s Camp, Sasaab Camp and Porini Lion Camp. Guests will have an opportunity to participate in research activities including carnivore educational programs in local schools and communities, tracking collared lions, patrolling and recording data with Ewaso scouts and investigating lion-livestock confrontations.

Five percent of the safari cost will be donated to the Ewaso Lions project.

Details for this safari are available on the Gamewatchers Safaris website.

The conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitat, and the encouragement of increased bio-diversity is supported by Gamewatchers Safaris through the establishment of conservancies and by building relationships with local communities in wildlife dispersal areas near and adjacent to national parks and reserves in Kenya.

For more information, call Kate Daniel, the North American representative of Gamewatchers Safaris and Porini Safari Camps, at 303-886-6953 or 877-710-3014, e-mail kate@gamewatchers.co.ke  or visit www.porini.com .

Huge Savings For Irish Corporate Companies With Blue Insurances Unique New Website Businesstravelinsurance.ie

Blue Insurances Ireland’s leading supplier of Travel Insurance is launching an exclusive Annual Corporate Business Travel Insurance website www.businesstravelinsurance.ie , targeting the corporate Industry in Ireland.

Small Companies can save on their travel insurance costs by up to 50% by buying a new policy that is based on the number of business trips taken in a year by all employees in the company rather than purchasing indivudal policies per employee.

This unique Business Annual Travel Insurance policy provides cover for all Directors, management and employees on business trips as well as holiday trips by all Directors, their spouses/partners and children. Cover is superior to the standard holiday travel insurance with much higher levels of cover, a lot more flexibility and unusually the policy covers pre-existing medical conditions of employees provided they are fit to travel.

Ciaran Mulligan, Joint Managing Director, Blue Insurances says “For just €339.00 the policy covers corporate business trips from 25 up to 400 trips per annum, saving companies up to 50% on their current travel insurance costs. Which in the current economic climate is a valuable saving for all corporate travel”.
The policy benefits includes Personal Accident & Death €50,000, Medical €2,000,000, Baggage €2,500, Cancellation/Disruption €5,000, Business Equipment €3,000, Money €1,000, Liability €2,000,000 and legal Expenses €25,000.

This new Business Annual Travel Insurance product is available on www.businesstravelinsurance.ie

The policy is underwritten by ACE Europe, a leading worldwide Insurer based in the IFSC in Dublin. ACE is a global insurance and reinsurance company with offices in more than 50 countries and authority to operate in 140 around the world.

For further information contact :

Ciaran Mulligan or Maeve Slamon, Blue Insurances,
Tel 087 8222233 / 0818 484 484
Email :  ciaran@blueinsurance.ie

Receives $10 Billion Tourism Investment

Following on from the Royal Decree that foreign nationals are permitted to purchase land and property in Oman,

The Sultanate of Oman is investing $USD10bn in tourism projects, aiming to attract 12m visitors a year by 2020. Well positioned to capitalise on this cash injection, is Oman’s latest and most luxurious hotel and residential offering: The Malkai.

The development will offer an exclusive community, a Country Club and Resort that will compare to some of the best around the world.

The project, while clearly contemporary, remains rooted in the essence of Omani architecture and tradition, giving a strong sense of place. As one of the oldest civilisations in the Arabian Peninsular,

Oman offers foreign buyers and holidaymaker’s an exciting and diverse destination, as the country still retains a rich history and heritage.

Scheduled to complete in late 2011,

The Malkai will comprise 15 two-bedroom residences, 7 three-bedroom villas and 51 four-bedroom estates for sale, as well as a boutique hotel with 90 one-bedroom suites.

All residences and estates are to be interior designed by the renowned Jaya Ibrahim and will be delivered fully furnished. Each property will be fully landscaped and feature large swimming pools.

The UK sales are handled by International Chartered Surveyors and Property Consultants, Savills, while the developers are the respected Al Maeen real Estate Services Co. LLC and Hanscomb are the project managers.

The retained management company, GHM, bears the unmistakable imprint of legendary hotelier Adrian Zecha and will be setting new standard of style and service in one of the most beautiful and exciting areas of the world.

www.themalkai.com

The Montgomerie Links Vietnam, the first 18-hole course to open in Vietnam outside the orbits of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, completed its final four holes and will host an informal opening on Aug. 17.

Grand opening ceremonies are slated for March 2010. Two-plus years in the planning, design and construction, The Montgomerie Links brings a world-class layout to a country already booming as a golf destination.

“The course will take its place with the best and best-known courses, not just in Asia, but around the world,” said General Manager Jon Tomlinson.

“It was a long time coming, but as they say, ‘If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.’ We expect golfers to find it was done to perfection. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind venue.”

Designed by European Ryder Cup captain and eight-time European PGA Tour Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie, the layout capitalizes on the site’s natural, dune-strewn topography for a visually stunning, memorable golfing challenge.

Like classic links courses in Montgomerie’s native Scotland, the sandy soil, rolling contours and frequently blustery conditions make for hard-and-fast playing conditions.

Huge greens add to the effect. But wispy casuarina pines and other indigenous vegetation, along with strategically placed water features and paspalum turfgrass, put these features in a more modern and exotic context.

So do views of the Marble Mountains and South China Sea.

The last four holes to be readied for play are holes 3 through 6 — a microcosm of the variety evident throughout the entire layout.

Expanses of rice paddies and cloud-covered mountain ranges over either shoulder, however, vividly reinforce the Vietnamese context.

A manmade symbol of that context is the abandoned gun placement pillbox flanking the next tee box.

There is also a golf academy staffed by a team of international PGA golf professionals and equipped with video swing-analysis technology.

The academy is extending its hours of operation to 9 p.m., thanks to supplemental lighting, also the first of its kind in the Central Coast region.

The 70-plus hectare project includes a clubhouse and café with floor-to-ceiling windows at the practice facility. The first phase of the clubhouse — pro shop and locker rooms — will be ready along with the course.

The project is also the first in Vietnam to combine golf and real estate. Presently under construction are 54 villas, called The Estates at Montgomerie Links, situated on spacious lots. All villas feature heated swimming pools, contemporary American-style kitchens and expansive views of the course. Montgomerie Links’ owner, Indochina Capital, has committed $45 million to the project, and the exciting changes at the club are, in turn, but part of the travel-and-tourism revolution taking place in this most-promising region of Vietnam.

Less than two years ago, another Indochina Capital property, a luxury resort and spa dubbed The Nam Hai, opened on a site three miles south of The Montgomerie Links.

Some of the most prestigious hotel groups in the world, including Raffles, Banyan Tree, IHG and Hyatt, are also developing resorts in the region.

For more information, visit www.montgomerielinks.com

High Speed HiTours As Titan Introduces World’s Fastest Train To Its Mighty Yangtze & Best Of China Tour

Customers booking Titan HiTour’s 18-day Mighty Yangtze & Best of China itinerary will travel on the Shanghai Maglev, the world’s fastest train, for a thrilling finale to their holiday.

The Shanghai Maglev uses magnetic levitation to travel at speeds of up to 430km/hour. Powerful magnets lift the train about 10mm above a special track, so that it glides silently along as it transfers customers the 30km from Shanghai back to the airport, in just eight minutes.

This exciting new dimension to Titan HiTour’s inspirational China itinerary provides the finishing touch to a trip of a life time holiday.

Tour highlights include Beijing with visits to the Great Wall of China, the Ming Tombs and the Forbidden City, as well as Xian, home of the Terracotta Warriors.

The final part of the tour is a six-night cruise along the mighty Yangtze River on board the five-star Victoria Prince, sailing through the dramatic Yangtze Gorges and visiting the awesome Yellow Mountains and ancient Nanjing before arriving into Shanghai.

The Mighty Yangtze & Best of China tour costs from £2,075 per person for departures on 20 March 2010 and includes; VIP Home Departure Service, scheduled British Airways flights from London Heathrow to Beijing and from Shanghai back to London Heathrow, internal flights, hotel accommodation in Beijing, Xian, Guilin and Chongqing on a bed and breakfast basis and six nights full board accommodation on board the Victoria Prince, hotel transfers, services of a Titan tour manager throughout, guided excursions and the Shanghai Maglev airport transfer.

For more information or to book call Titan Travel on 0800 988 5858 or visit the website at www.titanhitours.co.uk

upmarket operator Exceptional Kangaroo Island is offering three tailor-made itineraries available daily on demand on a private charter basis:

“Epicurean Adventure“ has a seasonal menu of ‘meet the maker’ experiences that can include wild-catch seafood, honey, olive oil, marron (freshwater crayfish), wine, oysters, artisan cheeses and yoghurts.

“Art of Nature” takes in galleries and studios to meet local artists whose work includes bronzes, drawn glass, acrylic and oil paintings, photography, sculpture, ceramics and turned wood.

KI for Kids – with an echidna with Exceptional KI, South Australia“KI for Kids”, designed by local children with “fun” the top priority, offers a variety of activities including exploring the dunes at Little Sahara, snorkelling in rock pools, swimming with wild dolphins, cycling, farm visits, adventure caving, a day in the life of a wildlife researcher or quad bike touring.

www.exceptionalkangarooisland.com

The Sticky Rice Cooking School offers hands-on cooking classes led by professional chefs, followed by wining and dining in beautiful surroundings.

Visitors passionate about cooking can learn to master challenging, exotic cuisines such as Burmese and Moroccan.

www.stickyricecookingschool.com.au