In summertime, each and every city in France hosts a Festival: historical, shipping festival, with animals...there are a lot to choose from .

Last Sunday we were in Richelieu city - the city built from scratch by the famous Cardinal of Richelieu. This famous personnage of the French history used to be the "Prime Minister" under Louis the 13th reign (17th century)....just before another famous Cardinal: Mazarin.



We can't say that he reminds in the French's heart because he was uncompromising and fought for the absolut power...not really in line with the French democracy principles set up 150 years after his death during the Revolution.

Anyway, Cardinal de Richelieu has built a city off plans: which is totally unusual in France. He made it impressive, and built the house (all the same) a way that neighbors could spy on each other...just to make sure that the religious principles were respected by all - even in the intimacy of the house.

Alexandre Dumas has written a lot about the machiavellian sides of Richelieu...and introduced us to the Musketeers: his "bodygards".

Which brings us to the "cape & swords" festival which have us come back to the 17th century...crossing Richelieu cardinal in the streets, surrounded by d'Artagnan, Athos, Portos and Aramis...the musketeers!! and also a lot of local people who enjoyed very much getting disguised for the occasion. A very nice event!!!

Even the King was there!!

France Just For You

Experts in self-drive tours in France

Travelers Reviews

5.0
Craig & Ginette
France Just For You, made going to France a seamless experience. They took care of all the arrangements: train, and car travel, tours and stays. The bed and breakfasts were hosted by delightful people who took an interest in you and had met and praised Emilie. Emilie tailored the trip to our specifications. Her organizational skills are unmatched …
David
Emilie was a joy to work with - we were completely pleased with our experience! Do not hesitate to use her services - she will do everything to make your trip perfect. We don't care for group/bus "one-size-fits-all" type of tours - but I didn't feel confident enough with my grasp of French to go it alone. France Just For You is the perfect solution …
Jennifer & Keith
Exceptional Trip to France We are posting this review with huge thanks to Laura and her colleagues. They planned a trip for us in June 2023 and created a perfect itinerary for our first time to France. We visited Paris, Burgundy, Provence and the Riviera. All accommodations were beautiful and their booking and recommendations for tours were …
Ed
This is the third year in a row that we have traveled to France, as part of a two country vacation. Because of our positive experiences with Emilie's help in the past, and our desire to be relatively independent, we chose to have her craft our French trip again this year. In a word, she is incredible! We have such a high level of confidence in her …
Natalie & Family
My husband was born in France and moved to Australia in 1970 when he was just 5. He went back for the last time in 1980 and had not returned since. In January 2017 I started to formulate an idea to surprise him with a trip back home. Being Australian, we love road trips but without his French language skills I felt a bit scared to start booking …
Brigitte
We want to thank you and Guillaume for a wonderful itinerary and such amazing personalized attention. Every touch was added with so much special care and your willingness to answer all of my questions in such detail ahead of time was truly amazing. The guidebook and ‘care package’ you sent was so exciting and really helped us a lot with every day …