Spain and France

Step aboard in Southampton & straight into that holiday feeling. No flights, no hassle. Just the excitement of the days ahead and the promise of memorable moment. So, relax and raise a toast as the UK drifts from sight. Before you know it, you'll be watching your destination come into view. But where will it be ?

The scenic Spanish city of Gijon is capital of the Asturias region of northern Spain, and looks over the beautiful Bay of Biscay, with the grand Picos de Europa mountain range as its inland backdrop. Fringed by attractive beaches, the city has its fair share of grand architecture, sculptures and museums, including one devoted solely to bagpipes from around the world.

La Rochelle is nearly the midpoint of France’s western coast and is known as the ‘White City’ for the light reflecting from its limestone buildings. From here, you’re near the Cognac region and town. Centuries-old timbered and flower-decked stone houses promise a wonderful stroll, and a call to the Hennessy Distillery is a must; it will reveal the secrets of the distillation of white wines from the Charente region, and the story of an Irish army captain who established it in the mid 1700s.

Military port, Cherbourg has also become, thanks to its privileged location at the tip of the Cotentin and its harbor almost always in calm waters, a traditional stopover for transatlantic ships, such as the Queen Elisabeth II - but also the Titanic which embarked a few there. travelers before its fatal inaugural crossing. TO HAVE Thomas-Henry Museum This museum houses collections of paintings centered on the theme of Cherbourg and the sea. In the other rooms, art collections from the 15th to the 19th century: Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Murillo, Poussin, Rigaud are some of the stars, in the company of neoclassical painters from the 19C. Canvases by local painters: Guillaume Fouace, Millet (yes, the author of the Angelus) and sculptures by Armand Le Véel (1821-1905).

Step aboard in Southampton & straight into that holiday feeling. No flights, no hassle. Just the excitement of the days ahead and the promise of memorable moment. So, relax and raise a toast as the UK drifts from sight. Before you know it, you'll be watching your destination come into view. But where will it be ?