Sian Griffiths Travel & Tours

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Sian Griffiths Travel & Tours

Sian Griffiths Travel & Tours Based in Nimes in southern France, I'm a French Government-licensed tour guide and owner of charming vacation let "Au Coeur de Nimes".

I look forward to helping you to discover the south of France!

16/03/2025

💙 OUT OF THE BLUE.....
It's Mars Bleu, or Blue March, highlighting colorectal cancer and the need to get regular testing.

💙 France has 43,000 patients with the disease, and almost 120 new cases diagnosed each day).

💙 The Maison Carrée is bathed in deep blue light this month as a reminder - so go get tested!

14/03/2025

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
"C'est parti!", as the French say - today's the launch of the 28th Ecrans Britanniques & Irlandais Nîmes / British & Irish Screens Nîmes festival and so it's full speed ahead for 10 days of the very best British and Irish films!

EBIS is the second oldest British film festival in France, the second most prestigious, by far the longest at 10 days, and - amazingly enough, still entirely run by volunteers!

I'm in charge of English-language PR, communications and outreach to the English-speaking community here. I'm also the official es**rt to VIP guest Chris Larkin, celebrated actor (Master & Commander, Outlander and more) and son of Dame Maggie Smith, so am looking forward to that!

With over 50 films on offer, including 10 never before seen in France, five premières, a ciné-concert of silent movies with live music, tributes to Dame Maggie Smith and Marianne Faithfull, and more, much more, it's an action-packed 10 days ahead!

01/03/2025

🌼 DDYD GŴYL DEWI HAPUS.....
That's "Happy Saint David's Day", if you don't speak Welsh - which sadly I don't, despite my father's family being Welsh-speaking.

The two symbols of Wales are the leek and the daffodil, so this March 1st I've gone for the more aesthetic of the two!

27/02/2025

It's mimosa time at Arles' gorgeous florist Aromatics - and this magnificent Weimaraner is obviously a fan too!

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26/02/2025

🛍 THE SCENT OF SUCCESS.....
Fragonard, the Grasse perfumers and one of my favourite stores, is on a roll.....

The brand is opening a shop in Nîmes shortly, a mere perfume bottle's throw from the Maison Carrée, while over in Arles, in addition to their existing shop, their new Musée de la Mode et du Costume opens on 6 July.

In the beautifully restored Hôtel Bouchard mansion just down from the Arènes, it celebrates traditional Arlesienne dress, and promises to be a stunning addition to the Fragonard collection - and another fascinating part of Arles' heritage!

21/02/2025

🚩 FOLLOW THE GUIDE! 🚩
Today's International Tourist Guide Day, celebrating the role of guides in bringing destinations to life for their clients - history & heritage, food, lifestyle & more, much more!

Of course you can always use a book or an app, but nothing beats a living, breathing human to help you explore a place in depth.

I'm still loving my career change from a busy corporate life in luxury hotel marketing communications to guide - still very busy, still working with amazing clients, and still learning as much as possible to help you discover the very best of this stunning area!

Contact me by DM if I can help you with a visit!

📷 French Soul Studio

14/02/2025

❤️ AMAZING BUT TRUE!

❤️ Today's St Valentine's day, so a shout-out to star-crossed lovers everywhere!

❤️ But did you know that St Valentine himself has a VERY local connection?

❤️ He was a Christian priest in the 3rd century under Roman Emperor Claude ll, who forbade weddings as young men were too distracted by their new wives to go to war.

❤️ However Valentine continued to marry young couples in secret, with the result that he was arrested and beheaded - on 14 February!

❤️ But the story doesn't end there, as in 1868, a rich winemaker from the little village of Roquemaure in the Gard (just 45 minutes drive from Nîmes!) purchased the bones of St Valentine and brought the relics back to protect his vines from disease!

06/02/2025

Restoration work continues apace on Nîmes' Arènes - started in 2009, this 25-year project is scheduled to end in 2034, costing €54 million.

The Roman amphitheatre was originally France’s biggest restoration project until Notre Dame burned down, when it moved to second place. However now that Notre Dame is completed, we're back on top!

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04/02/2025

Late-night dogwalk opposite my apartment building - empty streets, the beautiful Saint Baudile church and lamplight through the trees....

01/02/2025

BLACK GOLD.....
It's the Truffle Festival this weekend in the Place du Marché, and despite the rain, the trufficulteurs, or truffle farmers, are busy!

Alongside truffles are local cheeses, charcuterie, preserves, snacks and much more - everything you need for a fabulous French-style feast!

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30/01/2025

🥐 LET THEM EAT... CROISSANTS!
Today's International Croissant Day, in honour of the iconic French breakfast pastry - buttery, crumbly, hugely calorific & absolutely delicious!

🥐 However did you know that the croissant was actually invented in Vienna in the 13th century? Originally known as "kipferl" or crescent due to its shape (and of course the French word "croissant" also means crescent), an invasion by Turkish troops was thwarted when the alarm was raised by overnight bakers - the city was saved and the kipferl/croissant was born!

🥐 The Austrian connection continued with the arrival in 1770 of Marie Antoinette to marry French King Louis XVI - the kipferl was her favourite pastry, and so French bakers started to make them too - et voilà, croissants!

🥐 Here are some of Nîmes' best croissants, from the award-winning bakery Le Petrin Nimois - bon appétit!

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30/01/2025

I still have lots of lovely Chinese New Year cards from Japan, from when I used to travel to Tokyo on business in my former corporate life. Here's the Year of the Snake - I love red & gold on cream!

Happy Lunar New Year!

29/01/2025

🧧 KUNG HEI FAT CHOY! 🧧
Piaff and Cristal wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Snake 🐍!

28/01/2025

🎬 THEY'RE BAAACK......!
After "Vu en Terrasse", Perrier's successful first international ad campaign shot in Nîmes and featuring a collection of fun vignettes of café life (filmed Dec 2023, launched Apr 2024), the Perrier crew is back filming once again at the iconic La Bourse bar/café.

Will they re-name it "La Source" ("the spring", after Perrier's famous spring) as they did last time? Will they pan out to the stunning Roman Arènes right across the street, as they didn't last time 🤞?

We'll have to wait and see - but in the meantime, check out the first campaign on YouTube!

27/01/2025

🎨 COUNTDOWN TO FERIA.....
This year's Feria is 4-9 June, and one iconic feature is the hand-painted banners across the streets.

The creations are by local artists - 50 adults and 30 children - and so if you fancy seeing your handiwork on high, head to the Hôtel de Ville now to pick up your canvas and paints and get working!

Paintings are displayed on the railings of the Arènes for the public to vote - and then the 80 winning works are strung along the streets during Feria!

24/01/2025

📚 BY THE BOOK....
One thing I love about France is the obsession with books and reading - bookshops all over the place and people reading everywhere, including young people who you'd expect to be scrolling on their mobiles.

📚 It's book season right now - 23-26 Jan sees the 9th edition of Les Nuits de la Lecture ( = Literary Nights), organised by the Ministry of Culture to celebrate the pleasure of reading. A nationwide programme of events, readings, literary occasions & more takes "Heritage" as this year's theme.

📚 Meanwhile (and closer to home), 24-26 Jan is Nîmes' Festival de la Biographie, held at the Norman Foster-designed Carré d'Art. Now in its 23rd year and with "Explorers' Memories" as 2025's theme, the festival welcomes over 100 authors and around 30,000 book lovers over three days of signings, readings, concerts and lots more besides.

📚 Here's the sale table at Nîmes' fabulous Au Bon Livre rare book shop - so it's time to hit the books!

18/01/2025

Shout-out to Le Coin restaurant in Nîmes, where host Nicolas creates a beautiful hand-drawn personalised name sign for each reserved table - on arrival, we thought it was just us as it was a birthday celebration dinner, but no, he takes the time to do it for each reservation.

Attention to detail taken to the next level - oh, and the meal was fabulous too!

15/01/2025

🎨 24 HOURS OF VINCENT - ONCE IN A LIFETIME.....
The blockbuster "Van Gogh Poets & Lovers" exhibit at London's National Gallery ends this Sunday 19 January - and due to its popularity, the Gallery just announced it's staying open overnight on 17 January to accommodate the enormous crowds of visitors!.

With over 60 of Vincent's works, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see so many of his works gathered in one place.

I headed to London before Christmas just to see the exhibition - it'd opened on 14 September, and even when I was there, it was extremely busy, so goodness knows what it's like now in its last few days!

Nevertheless, even despite the crowds, it was absolutely amazing - a stunning experience (and pretty emotional too) to actually see the original paintings that I talk about during my Arles visits, and so many more besides. The excellent brochure and audio tour really added to the adventure, and I spent almost five hours there!

If you're in London before Sunday, brave the crowds - it's well worth it.

🎨 So very special - and truly once in a lifetime.

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💃FLAMENCO FRIDAY.... As the 35th Nîmes International Flamenco Festival draws to a close tomorrow, the "Off" Festival is still going strong, with pop-up performances all across town in bars, restaurants and public spaces. On our way to dinner this evening, we came across this troupe of dancers and musicians performing at Café Marius in the Place du Marché - a touch of Hispanic warmth and passion on a VERY cold Nîmes evening! #nimes #nîmes #flamencofestival #flamencofestivalnimes #siangriffithstours #nimestours #nimestour #nimestourguide #aucoeurdenimes #insideraccessfrance

🎄 IT'S CHRISTMAAAAAASS! 🎄 (to quote Slade's Noddy Holder in "Merry Christmas Everybody" - my favourite Christmas pop song!) 🎄 Wishing you and yours a magical Christmas celebration today and beyond - have a wonderful time, wherever you may be..... 🎄 In the meantime, here's a festive snippet from the recent lightshow on Nîmes' Maison Carrée, the UNESCO-listed and best-preserved Roman temple in the world - enjoy! 🎄 Happy Christmas! #nimes #nîmes #nimesanoel #nîmesànoël #nimestours #nimestour #siangriffithstours #christmasinnimes #nimesbesttourguide #aucoeurdenimes #insideraccessfrance

🪗 Nîmes' bustling Place de l'Horloge, with music from accordionist extraordinaire Adrian Enache 🪗

FINAL FINALE...... Here's my last Carrières de Lumières post for the time being - the stunning finale of the "Dutch Masters: Vermeer to Van Gogh " show with M83's Outro accompanying Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night painting. Hold on to the 45-second point where the clouds start to roll and the stars fall out of the sky - sublime! Culturespaces (founder and owner of these amazing immersive art experiences) have a wonderful app called "Des Lumières", featuring all the paintings, anecdotes and playlists for each show around Europe - check it out! These shows at the Carrières ( = quarries) continue to 19 April, and then 22 April sees the two new shows on Egyptian and Orientalist art - I can't wait to see them! Let me help you discover this amazing part of Provence - the stunning scenery of the Alpilles limestone mountains and quarries, and the charming villages of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and the medieval mountain-top Les Baux-de-Provence! #siangriffithstours #carrieresdelumieres #immersiveartexperience

More music - this time it's "La Fugue", a musical stroll around the city to music performed by students of the Conservatoire de Nîmes as part of the opening of La Contemporaine de Nîmes, the first of a triennial celebration of contemporary art in all its forms across the city Running from 5 April to 23 June, the main, focus is on 12 installations created by duos of up-and-coming and established artists, assisted by students and young people. Watch this space for photos of the works! #nimes #lacontemporainedenimes #siangriffithstours #aucoeurdenimes #insideraccessfrance .

Friday's market day in Nîmes, with the Boulevard Jean-Jaurès hosting a bustling farmers' market, brocante (= flea market) and live music. Markets are a quintessential part of life in France, and a lively social occasion too, with all the cafés along the boulevard packed out! Stallholders are all local with virtually zero carbon footprint, so Fridays are the ideal chance to taste, sample, learn more and - most importantly of all! - shop, so that you get the freshest produce and support local agriculture at the same time! The majestic Roman Tour Magne watchtower in the far distance looms over the town - a symbol of Roman power and strength in addition to its practical purpose as an observation point. Come and discover this wonderful market with me - just one of the great experiences Nîmes has to offer! #nimes #nîmes #frenchmarkets #frenchstreetmarkets #nimestour #nimestours #siangriffithstours #aucoeurdenimes #insideraccessfrance #nimesbesttourguide #nimestourisme #shoppingnimes #nimesshopping #nimesmarket

🥁 CARNIVAL! 🪘A taste of Rio today, with Nîmes' own Sambakalao Batucada performing on Boulevard Gambetta - Brazilian percussion, Nîmes-style!🪇

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