For many of us, France is a summer destination, and those of us who do venture across the Channel in the winter, go predominantly to ski. Nothing could be better, however, in the run up to Christmas than a few days in one of the many French towns which host a Christmas market.

Traditionally, French housewives spent the weeks before Christmas baking and cooking traditional dishes for the festive season, and this was the genesis of the Christmas market which stocked all the special ingredients they would need. The markets now are full of local produce, including organic poultry and regional specialities, such as honey and olive oil, many of which make ideal Christmas presents for gourmets! The French are expert in wrapping sweets and chocolates as though creating a work of art, so if you have someone with a sweet tooth to buy for, this is your chance to impress.

If, like most of us, you are fed up with the awful summer weather we have and are wishing that you had a bolthole in the sun, you will envy Trish Purnell with her renovated flour mill in sunny Burgundy. Trish, a retired school teacher living in Cambridgeshire, with sons in their early thirties, had for a while been mulling over the idea of buying a holiday home in France and started investigating the market in May 2006. She chose the Burgundy area, not only for its good transport links making it drivable from the UK in a day, but also because it is an area which has not become a British enclave.  So many of our favourite holiday areas in France have lost their appeal with half of the Home Counties spending the summer there.

Even in the south of France you can have the odd wet day, so how do you keep the family amused?

Pack a rainy day holdall with jigsaws, board games, books, colouring books and crayons, play-dough and other craft stuff. Alternatively take a few simple recipes and have a baking afternoon. You can spin out the time this takes if you include a shopping trip for all the ingredients! Collect leaflets, fliers, entrance tickets etc and make a collage or keep a scrap book.

Before you go on holiday spend time on the internet looking up details of the local swimming pool, ice-rink and bowling alley so that you have all the necessary information at your finger tips. Failing that pay a visit to the local tourist information office to see what is on offer in the area.

I have a vegetarian friend who refuses to set foot in France on the basis that there would be nothing for her to eat. Her meat-eating husband asked me last Christmas to do a bit of menu-gazing to see whether her prejudices were ill-founded.

Vegetarians and vegans are certainly a tiny minority in France and generally not well catered for. When I was in Paris in April our hotel pointed me in the direction of a specialist vegetarian restaurant but to be honest it was more of a café with a hippy-feel and whilst OK for lunch would not be suitable for a special night out.

Much of the criminal activity in France that we hear about in the press takes place in the outer suburbs of the large cities where social problems exist. As a tourist you are unlikely to be in that sort of area but of course care needs to be taken just as at home in the UK.

Have your wits about you at airports and stations. People who are tired after travelling and busy struggling with suitcases make good targets for thieves. Ignore the taxi touts and head for the queue for the official ones. If possible keep your luggage near you on the train. If you have to use the racks at the end of compartments, secure your bags to the rack with a lightweight bicycle chain. If you are using the Metro in Paris, be aware that the lines serving tourist spots are most likely to be targeted by pick-pockets. A favourite technique is to grab a handbag just as the doors are closing so be particularly careful then.

If reading of the delights of St Malo has whetted your appetite for more of what the region has to offer, here are my suggestions for places to visit. On the assumption that you will be spending a lot of time in the car getting to your rental property, none of these involve driving more than twenty miles or so.

A trip to nearby Dinan (35 km from St Malo) is like a step back in time. The ramparts, higgledy-piggledy half-timbered houses and crooked, cobbled streets seem to be straight out of the Middle Ages. Sadly the number of tourists brings you back to the 21st century with a bump! The Rue du Jerzual and the Rue du Petit Fort are excellent for art galleries and antique shops but (and I speak from experience) beware of the steep slope especially when it is wet.

It's quite understandable that after the long ferry crossing to St Malo, UK visitors are tempted to hop in their cars and be on their way. It's a great shame, though, because St Malo is an attractive walled town and an excellent base for exploring the surrounding area. It is well worth tagging a few days on to the beginning or end of your holiday - doing this could even save you money, as mid-week travel tends to be cheaper. For ideas of where to stay in St Malo, see www.saint-malo.com

"It all became clear in a flash: there, right before me was the centre of the universe". So said the eccentric surrealist Salvador Dali, as he passed Perpignan's railway station in a taxi in 1963. This, in case you were wondering, is the reason for the benches in the shape of Mae West's lips in the road leading to the station and for the railway carriage suspended in mid-air in front of it. You will have to go to the Museum Ludwig in Cologne to see his work, The Railway Station at Perpignan, painted in 1965, but if you are a Dali fan, the trip from the Perpignan area to his home town of Figueres in Spain is an easy one. The coastal road (N114, becoming the N260 in Spain) is highly scenic, but not for the faint-hearted - twisting and turning like a corkscrew at times. Perhaps those prone to travel-sickness would be better off opting for the less attractive but straighter and far faster A9 (becoming the E15 IN Spain).

Sitting in the small French town of Ceret last week I could have been forgiven for thinking I was in Spain. The red and gold Catalan flags were fluttering, we were tucking into a delicious array of tapas washed down with a jug of sangria, and several small boys in Barca football shirts were kicking a ball around the square. Strange though it may seem, it was not a case of having had one glass too many, but rather that we were holidaying in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of Languedoc Roussillon.

Many people worry that a self-catering holiday will be nothing but a change of kitchen sink, and whilst it is not the same as being pampered in a five star hotel, it certainly has its benefits.

For far less than the cost of hotel accommodation you can have the privacy and space of your own villa or apartment. If you are a family rather than just a couple then the savings become even more attractive. There is no need for the whole family to squeeze into one room to keep the costs down, which can often be a temptation when staying in a hotel. If privacy and peace are not your priority, you should consider renting a property in a complex. Not only will you have the potential for company, particularly important if you have teenaged children, but many have swimming pools. All in all you may find it worth sacrificing the service provided by a hotel holiday to have plenty of bedrooms, your own living area and kitchen.

The arrival of children can throw a spanner in the holiday works of the most seasoned traveller. Packing for a holiday with young children is so gargantuan that flying seems out of the question, and yet with the vagaries of the British climate, a holiday in the UK can seem a bit of a gamble.

Where better to go therefore than France? Everything can be thrown in the car and you don't need to drive hundreds of miles to find a good holiday spot. If the weather's poor then at least the food and wine should provide some compensation.

Owners of rental properties often wonder how they can make theirs stand out from the rest. We have been renting holiday property for over 25 years and whilst some stand out for the best of reasons, others have stuck in our minds for all the wrong ones.

The best of the lot have always had swimming pools, not always big and seldom heated but they really are a bonus and can make a property far more attractive to holidaymakers and compensate for a property not being close to the sea. Games like table-tennis or snooker are also popular with families and even if there is no room indoors, a garage, barn or even car-port can be used. A collection of board games, jigsaws and books is always welcome and most people are happy to leave books behind that they have finished reading.

Holidays with children don't have to be of the traditional bucket and spade type to be a success. A lot of people thought we were very odd when we took our two children to the Loire Valley when they were about 5 and 8. Comments varied from "Poor kids being dragged round all these châteaux – they'll be bored stiff", to "It's not fair for them to miss out on the beach". Well the reality was that we were certainly not over-ambitious with our sight-seeing and they were never once bored. Neither did they miss out on the beach as we were staying near the attractive little riverside town of Montrichard with its lovely river-beach which ticked all the boxes. Now 15 years later facilities for children are even better in the region.

It doesn't matter whether you are phoning home to check that the kids haven't burned the house down, or just to let everyone know what they're missing; making calls from a foreign country can often be a frustrating experience.

With mobile phones often costing over a pound a minute, I make a point of never using them unless it's an emergency. If you absolutely have to use your mobile it makes financial sense to text rather than talk. Alternatively you can buy a French SIM card (a mobicarte) and put it in your own mobile. You may, however, find that your phone is locked, in which case you will have to go to a mobile phone shop in France.

If you like a holiday that has a good mix of lazy days on the beach and interesting towns with art galleries to visit, then the area around Collioure in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of Languedoc Roussillon is the place to be.

The father of Fauvism, Henri Matisse, arrived in Collioure in the summer of 1905 and later wrote "Working before a soul-stirring landscape, all I thought of was making my colours sing without paying any heed to rules and regulations" The Fauves, translated as "wild animals", used bold colour and brush strokes and although the movement was short-lived, it had a profound influence on the world of art. Matisse was joined later that summer by Andre Derain, and Collioure with its unique quality of light and colour of the sea became a mecca for artists. Later Picasso and Braque both painted in Collioure.

There comes a time with most teenagers when the thought of spending two weeks with Mum and Dad outweighs the good vibes generated by the thought of a free holiday, especially when they have been used to the freedom of having their own transport at home. Understandably most insurers are wary of extending cover to young drivers abroad, especially in a country whose accident rate is so much higher than in the UK. When I read last month about Ze Bus, it struck me that it could be the answer to the prayers of teenagers and parents alike, giving parents time to themselves and teenagers a chance to go off exploring.

When driving in France, bear in mind that car theft and break-ins are quite common, especially in quiet tourist areas. Always make sure that nothing of value is left in the car, particularly overnight. Foreign number plates are a give-away and it is amazing the number of people who, when having an overnight stop, don't bother to unload their car, leaving rich pickings for thieves. No matter how tired you are, take time to unload because if you have not taken reasonable care to look after your belongings you may well find that you are not covered by your insurance. Keep your car doors locked at all times when travelling, especially in the South, where thieves on motorbikes sometimes draw up beside you at red lights and grab whatever they can.

If you are holidaying in Brittany this summer you may be lucky enough to coincide with a pardon or fest noz. For hundreds of years, the people of Brittany have expressed their religious faith by building beautiful churches and creating exquisitely sculpted calvaries and crosses, and this religious belief which provides the backdrop to the tradition of pardons.

Pardons are annual festivals, normally commencing with a Mass (often starting as early as 4am) followed by a procession, to pay homage to the local saint who will invariably have one or more shrines in little chapels throughout the parish. The procession progresses around these shrines with the participants carrying colourfully embroidered banners and flags along with statues and relics of the saint. 

For the cost of a few nights in a hotel in Paris you can rent a whole apartment for a week. If you think that's too long in a city there are plenty places for days out and you don't need to have a car to make the most of these opportunities.

The Palace of Versailles is easily accessible in 35 to 40 minutes by RER line C from various stops on the left bank to Versailles Rive Gauche station, only 700 metres from the palace. When you get off the train there are plenty of signs to the palace and it is an easy walk or short bus ride. If you want to avoid the long queues (over an hour the last time I went), it is worth buying a One Day Pass for 25 Euros. Although this may sound expensive it is easy to spend a whole day at the château – bring a picnic or eat at one of the various outlets. It is possible to do an independent visit, an audio-guide or live guide. The château was built for Louis XIV in the mid seventeenth century by 30,000 workers and soldiers and is a highly impressive display of luxury. The Hall of Mirrors was closed for three years for renovation but has recently re-opened to the public. During the summer there are all sorts of evening attractions at Versailles, including fountain displays and fireworks. Check the website for details.

If you are a fan of the Eurostar service to Paris you will need no convincing of the many benefits of train travel. The annual summer service from London Waterloo direct to Avignon started on Saturday July 7th and continues until Saturday Sept 8th. It is a weekly service and ideal for those holidaymakers headed for Provence who want to avoid the hassles of summer airport hell and who don't want to have the 650 mile drive from Calais. Driving will take between nine and fifteen hours whereas the journey by Eurostar is a mere 6 hours 10 minutes, station to station, and can cost less than £200 return.

It's always tricky if you have a long drive to get to the port. You don't want to cut it too fine and risk missing the ferry but that often means having time to kill.

If you are an art lover and have a choice of port, there are good reasons to opt for Le Havre. Most of Le Havre was destroyed by bombing in World War II and has been rather unattractively rebuilt but all this can be forgiven when you discover the ultra-modern Le Musée des Beaux-Arts André Malraux. Constructed of glass and steel and situated close to the harbour this is one of the best museums in Normandy with its collection of Impressionist works by Monet, Sisley, Renoir and Boudin. Fauvist Raoul Dufy, who, like Boudin was born in Le Havre, is also well represented.

Many years ago we had a couple of hours in Bayeux before catching our ferry home from Caen and were really sorry that we had not allowed longer to explore the town. It is one of the few places in the area to have escaped the ravages of World War II, meaning that there are plenty of picture postcard buildings which, combined with its cobbled streets, make it the perfect sort of town just to wander around. The obvious attraction is of course the famous tapestry but there is so much more to Bayeux that it is an excellent choice for a few days tagged on to the beginning or end of a holiday or, as we later did, a place for a long weekend.

Thirty years on, I can still remember the look of bewilderment on the face of the French exchange student, as she walked into the archetypal 1970s cheese and wine party. I seem to recall that Cheddar figured largely – either in intimidating slabs straight from the supermarket wrapper or paired with a chunk of tinned pineapple perched on a cocktail stick. It was all too much for the girl whose native France can boast of almost five hundred varieties of cheese. Of course we Brits are often equally bewildered, when faced with the groaning cheese trolley in a restaurant or with the overwhelming choice on offer in a fromagerie.

2007 sees France playing host to the 6th Rugby World Cup which runs from 7th September 20th October. Twenty nations will be competing in 48 matches over 44 days and all but six will be played in ten French cities, the remainder being played in Cardiff and Edinburgh. The tournament is one of the largest sporting fixtures in the world and will be watched by millions in the UK since England's success in 2003.

Ski resorts are not just fun in winter but can be an excellent choice for a summer holiday too, especially if you like the outdoors and are looking for an action-packed break. We took our children aged 11 and 14 on one such holiday and despite several days of inclement weather (where there are mountains there is often rain!) everyone had a great time.

If you like hiking use the cable cars to get up to some of the more interesting trails. One particularly attractive route in the Alps is to Lac Blanc. The turquoise colour of the water easily competes with the more famous Lake Louise in the Rockies. For details of this and other hikes have a look at the website. If you are less energetic or have small children in tow, try the Parc de Merlet in Les Houches which has some trails navigable with pushchairs and lots of opportunities to see the animals of the region.

In less than two weeks the Pablo Casals Festival starts in Prades, a small town in South West France.

Casals, the world famous cellist, was born in Spain in 1876 and being an ardent Republican fled from his homeland when General Franco came to power, vowing never to return to Spain until democracy was restored. He became an exile in the small French Catalan town in the Tet Valley and spent a large part of the 1940s and 1950s there. He founded the music festival in 1951 and since its inception it has attracted world famous musicians. Even after he went to live in Puerto Rico he continued to direct the Prades Festival for a further ten years.

France has the reputation of being an expensive destination but it needn't be, especially if you self-cater.

First of all do your homework on ferry crossings. Routes with the most competition such as Dover to Calais tend to be the cheapest. It pays to book as far ahead as possible, especially if you are travelling in high season. If you are flexible with your dates, have a look at the ferry websites which give you comparisons of different dates and times, in a similar way to airlines. Discount-brokers such as Ferrycheap are worth a look. Depending on where you are headed, do some calculations to see whether a longer more expensive crossing could work out cheaper in the long run if it saves in terms of petrol, toll charges and overnight accommodation.

Most visitors to France take their own car across the Channel but with so many cheap air fares available it is often tempting to fly and hire a car at the airport. This makes particularly good sense if you are going to the South of France or just having a week's holiday.

Car hire is comparatively expensive in France so first of all think about whether you really need your own wheels. France has an excellent rail network, far cheaper and more extensive and efficient than ours in the UK. If you do not intend doing much exploring, the cost of train fares and a few taxis may work out to be a lot less than hiring a car.

I know someone who boasts that he made a lifelong friend of the French driver with whom he collided, when driving on the wrong side of the road, many years ago. Unfortunately it is easier than you think to end up driving on the left, especially when pulling away from petrol stations or restaurants on the left-hand side of the road when instinct tends to take over. Without wishing to sound off-putting, it can be stressful driving in France but there are many compensations and with a little planning it should not be a problem. The best advice is to find out as much as possible about their rules of the road, drive defensively, don't rush and take frequent rests.

It is all too easy when you have young children to be fazed by the prospect of taking them on holiday abroad but with a little planning there is no reason why a holiday in France should not be as successful as one in this country.

Why France and why self-catering?

With most families opting to take their own car to France, it has to be the ideal destination when travelling with all the paraphernalia required for young children. Push-chairs, travel-cots, little bikes and suitcases full of clothes and packs of nappies can all be accommodated (provided your car is big enough!) and if these are the things that will make life easy on holiday, why leave them at home? There is something for everyone in France: lakes, mountains, tranquil beaches, chic seaside resorts and interesting cities (although they have limited appeal for most families with young children) and best of all the French love children. Renting a holiday home will give you far more freedom than a hotel and of course is also better value.

Planning ahead and booking early guarantees you maximum choice and access to the optimal rental. Avoiding last minute bookings can also save you money. Last minute renters invariably have to settle for fewer amenities or a higher price. If you are booking last minute, make sure you review our Last Minute Offers section because this features some great properties that have had recent cancellations or have reduced their price to excellent value deals.

How much should you budget for your French holiday? These are some of the costs you should be prepared for…

Unless you are staying in a rented town house or city centre apartment - in which case you may have travelled by air, coach, ferry or Eurostar - it is more than likely that you will arrive at your rental property in a hire car or your own car.

The appeal of many out-of-town rental properties is their isolation, miles away from anywhere, including a bus stop or railway station. So a car is almost essential, not least of all because of the inevitable extra luggage you have to take for self-catering.