Are your children (or even you) a Star Wars enthusiast?
If so a visit to the small village of Matamata in Tunisia just might be the holiday for you! The hotel ‘Sidi Driss’ has been nicknamed the Star Wars hotel because George Lucas used it as a set for Lars homestead on the dessert planet of ‘Tatooine’ (in the original Star Wars movie when Luke Skywalker gazed at the two suns, and used again for the more recent ‘Attack of the Clones’). In fact Tataouine does exist – it’s a town a few miles south of the filming location.
The Sidi Driss hotel is a traditional Berber house, built centuries ago with interior underground courtyards, or pits. The hotel has 5 pits and the one used in the film now houses a small bar and rooms used for serving breakfast. The guest rooms are situated in caves off other pits. Being in caves means that the rooms have no windows, but the temperature stays comfortable night and day. The interiors are basic (matching the price), painted white and have electricity and toilets and showers are shared. If you prefer a little more luxury you could stay nearby and make a day-trip to the hotel (coaches do turn up regularly) but you won’t experience the same solitude and photo opportunities without other people in the middle of them!.
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Posted by Jill Bowen on Sat 14th April 2007 at 11:44 PM, Filed in Europe, September
Fly me to the moon…or maybe just a few feet into the air – if I’m very lucky!
The Icarus Cup (Coupe Icarus) is held at the end of each summer at St Hilaire du Touvet – this year 20th September – 23rd September 2007. A truly spectacular event, the biggest free flight event in the world that attracts over 8,000 pilots and 75,000 visitors each year. Totally motor- free bids for the skies that attracts the most amazing ‘flights of fancy’
Competitors spend months designing their elaborate machines, attached to para-gliders. The judges award points for the length of the flights, the ergonomics, and the design of the machine. The competition for the best disguise is the highpoint of the Coupe Icare. Just imagine a six metre long dragonfly, a four metre high Eiffel Tower and a giant magic carpet…. this will give you an idea of the imagination of the competitors! We will have to wait until September to what incredible ideas this year’s entrants have in store for us, each year they are more complex and astounding. No wonder the population increases from its normal 1300 inhabitants to 20 times this amount during the four days of the event!
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Posted by Jill Bowen on Thu 12th April 2007 at 08:12 PM, Filed in Europe
There’s a lot more to do on Lanzarote than simply soak up the sun, drink and eat. This list of must see’s can be seen in a single day and is a common itinerary on day trips from Fuerteventura.
(The ferry crossing from Fuerteventura takes about 25 –40 minutes and arrives at the town of Playa Blanca). On a Wednesday or Saturday there is a market at the Marina Rubicon, about a kilometre from the harbour selling the usual range of leather goods, cheap clothing and souvenirs (that can also be bought in all the markets on the Canaries – so don’t make a special journey just for this purpose).
However, an organised day trip will give you time to see most of the major attractions on the island (this will usually include the market)….I will mention a few of the not to be missed sights.
The relatively young Montanas del Fuego (fire mountains) were created between 1730 and 1736, when more than 100 volcanoes, covering more than 50 square kilometres rose up and totally devastated this part of the island. Many villages were destroyed, the last recorded eruptions were in 1824, and because of the low rainfall the area has not changed since this time. It was designated a national park in 1968.
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Posted by Jackie Hewett on Mon 9th April 2007 at 08:43 PM, Filed in June
Every June since 1983, in a small town about 40 miles south of Paris, a three day music festival that show cases a particular ‘flavour’ of jazz music.
It is in Samois-sur-Seine that Django Reinhardt died whilst fishing in 1953 at the age of 42, having settled there 2 years previously. This gypsy festival attracts many Romany caravans with many making a sort of pilgrimage to commemorate and celebrate the life and unique style of Django’s music.
To use a clichéd pop-idol term, Django made the gypsy style of jazz guitar ‘his own’. This style features primarily acoustic guitar and violin, which are used in a very distinctive percussion-like style. Django frequently use to ‘pair-up’ with Stephane Grappelli for live performances and in the recording studio. Amazingly Django still managed to play well after losing 2 fingers on his left hand in a fire.
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