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

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Susan & Richard from the US
This trip was amazing, and Laura did such a fantastic job at planning it for us, with us. Wow, the detail and care the whole team put into our package was astonishing.
Martina & Simon from the UK
A fantastic well-planned self-drive tour We had the most amazing time on our 6 week self-drive tour designed by Laura, travelling through Brittany, Loire, Dordogne, Medoc, Basque France, Languedoc, Provence, the Alps, Alsace and Champagne. This was a big trip for us and it was everything I’d hoped and dreamed and even more besides. All our …
Sandy & Dennis
Emilie and Guillaume planned a wonderful trip for us. The B&Bs we stayed in were outstanding. Every recommendation -from restaurants to walks to things to do and see -was wonderful. They were very responsive to all our questions and concerns. I recommend them VERY highly and without reservation.
Robert
I can't say enough about how much we loved working with Emily and Laura. I am a wine geek and they put together a full day private tour of Burgundy (with a fantastic guide) and a half day visit and basket lunch at a wonderful winery in Provence. In addition there was a private half day walking tour of Paris and a private tour of the Palais des …
Tony & Carolyn
We had the most wonderful two week trip planned by France-Just For You and it delivered more than we expected The quality of the travel package was amazing and every detail was designed to be most helpful for us. We had never stayed in B&Bs before but this trip has opened up more exciting travel options for us than we could have imagined. I would …
Jena
Our trip was exactly as expected, planned perfectly with so many amazing tips on where and how to get around like a local. 25 days, with lots of driving and so much to see. Paris, Versailles, Normandy, Loire Valley, Sancerre, Dordogne and Bordeaux. We were warmly welcomed at all B&Bs and felt that we really got a local feel everywhere we went. All …