Vive le short break!

1. Seaside jaunts on the Ile de Ré

I was whizzing along a narrow bicycle track on the north coast of the Ile de Ré. It was low tide, and leggy sea birds were picking fights among the oyster beds and expansive sands. A wonderful briny twang made me think of lunch. Just then I felt so carefree, it was hard not to sing out loud.

Pedal power does that to people on this tidy, flat Atlantic island halfway up France's west coast: I could just make out the jaunty chorus-line of 'Alouette' from the French family cycling ahead.

Thirty kilometres long, and about 40 metres wide at its narrowest point, this is an island of raw beauty. The tallest buildings are lighthouses and church steeples. Squat, whitewashed cottages flanking narrow village lanes come in a strictly regulated spectrum from pistachio green to dove grey.

The island is perfect long-weekend material: not too crowded - there's always space on the pine-sheltered beaches of the south - nor too big. Two days is ample for covering the cycle tracks that run along the coast, through wild marshlands, and past neatly rectilinear salt pans.

The Ile de Ré is famous for its moist, mineral-rich salt, Fleur de Sel. And, of course, the oysters - roadside shacks offer plates of huîtres, to be slurped up with a glass of locally made wine.

The island's villages are as alluring as its open roads. In Ars-en-Ré, the old salt trade port, cobbled lanes radiate from a romanesque church whose tower once acted as a landmark for homeward-bound fishermen. Then there's St Martin, the 'capital', where the charming Hôtel de Toiras attracts smart Parisians, and the best rooms overlook a buzzy, bar-lined harbour. Lovely too, is La Flotte, with its unfeasibly perfect medieval food market. I bought whiskery pink prawns and chewy artisan bread, and pedalled off to the south and the picnic-perfect five-kilometre stretch of golden sand. I passed forests of fragrant pine, and a village square where children were queuing for turns on a merry-go-round. This old-fashioned seaside innocence seemed to sum up the island, making this enchanting place all the more compelling. Louise Roddon

See holidays-iledere.co.uk . Rail Europe (0844 848 4070; raileurope.co.uk ) has return fares to La Rochelle from £99.

2. Live the chateau dream

The Loire valley's chateaux attract visitors by the thousand each year, but you don't have to queue from dawn to get one to yourself - simply rent your own. One such is the wonderful 18th-century Château de Bouthonvilliers, deep in the countryside near Dangeau, in Eure-et-Loire. Guests can stroll round lawns and fish ponds in the gorgeous grounds, or idle by the pool. Fresh local fare can be picked up nearby at the covered market in pretty Brou, though the chateau's owner is also a mean cook and can prepare meals on request. There's a market at Châteaudun too, where the picture-perfect medieval castle is a draw in itself. Plenty of other excursions suggest themselves - to the cathedral at Chartres; Blois and Orleans; and the pretty upper valley of the river Eure - but you might just want to stay put and lord it up.

Seven nights at the chateau (sleeps up to 16) and ferry crossing for eight costs from £1,544 with VFB (01452 716840; vfbholidays.co.uk ).

3. Walking the Cathar Way

Down in Aude, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, specially marked trails allow walkers to discover the striking castles of the Cathars, a persecuted 11th-century religious sect. Puilaurens, high above Lapradelle village, is one of the most impressive, with views over the surrounding vineyards. Also on the route is the stunning Tulla Pass, from where, on a clear day, you can see all the way to the Mediterranean. Local fuel comes in the form of cassoulet - the hearty stew of haricot beans, sausage and duck or goose confit. Finding wine to match shouldn't be hard: this is Languedoc-Rousillon, the world's largest wine region, and young vintners here are making some exciting tipples. Le Grand Duc, a beautifully converted manor house in Gincla on the edge of the Boucheville forest, makes a great base for exploring.

Inntravel's (01653 617906; inntravel.co.uk ) 'Undiscovered Corbières' includes three nights' b&b and car hire, from £248pp.

4. Drive in style through Champagne

I'd never be one to pass up a driving tour of Champagne, but when friends suggested making the trip in classic cars, my bags were packed before you could say Dom Pérignon. Having always admired the curvy lines of the E-type Jag, I was looking forward to getting behind the wheel. Until, that is, I realised it wasn't designed for people of my inconsiderable stature. With the seat as far forward as it would go, I still had trouble reaching the clutch. I was only too happy to play passenger for much of the two-hour drive from Calais to the pretty rolling hills of Champagne.

The next day, I enjoyed the more sedate charms of a Jaguar MKII as we pootled to Vertus and Paul Goerg, a champagne house run by a former Ruinart director. Here in the Cotes des Blancs part of the region, we learnt, the champagne is mainly chardonnay with only small amounts of pinots noir and meunier, giving the wines a pale gold colour and a fresh taste.

After lunch at the traditional Cave à Champagne in Epernay, we put the cars through their paces on the steep climb to Hautvillers, where the monk Dom Pérignon made his accidental but lucky (for us) discovery. The wine he was making was left to ferment in the bottle, giving what we now call champagne its characteristic fizz.

In nearby Cumières, we got to grips with the effects of terroir in the workshop of Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy, a young winemaker. The juice from each plot of vines is vinified separately, then carefully blended to give each wine a unique character.

Our last visit was to Reims and the Taittinger cellars. Several hundred feet below ground, we learned yet more about the champagne-making process and marvelled at thousands of bottles of premium Comtes de Champagne.

We only managed to bring a few back, sadly. The cars certainly added sparkle to the trip - if only their boots were more roomy... Amber Dalton

SeaFrance (0871 222 2500; seafrance.com ) has overnight return crossings from £30 per car. See page 119 for classic car details.

7. A taste of North Africa in Marseille

We're used to French dishes that say something about the character of their region. In one city, however, the food transports you to another continent.

Marseille's La Canabière is a strangely tacky yet exotic shopping artery that flows into the Vieux Port, carrying with it a distinct whiff of North Africa. The old 'Arab' quarter, near the bottom, hasn't changed a jot since I first came here 30 years ago. The daily market still hawks spices, fruit and vegetables; in the early morning the city's Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian housewives and chefs come to buy halal meat, spices and unleavened bread from the jungle of rickety stalls and cavernous shops.

Maison Arax is a culinary Aladdin's cave. Inside I found Mohammed Madane, whose forebears set up the grocery 80 years ago, serving a bag of cumin and some pink rosebuds to an old colonialist back from Tunisia.

I also met Akli Nacef, chef-owner of Le Souk restaurant, shopping for a feast-day lunch. He suggested I join him later for his pastilla de pigeon - a deliciously sweet and salty pie that combines crisp layers of dough, meat from pigeons slow-cooked in broth and spices, and a crunchy layer of almonds, cinnamon and sugar.

A post-lunch stroll down the nearby rue Sainte took me to La Bastide des Bains, a hammam steam bath. It looked too stylish to walk past so I whiled away the afternoon in the scented, steamy heat, sipping mint tea before a massage on a vast, basalt pummel-slab. Not only can you relax in North African style and eat North African (besides Le Souk there's the blue-tiled La Kaheda, and Dar Essalam with its broad spectrum of cuisine from across the Maghreb), you can also sleep North African. Le Ryad hotel, a handsome townhouse in a colourful and enticing corner just off La Canabière, has a walled, tree-lined garden perfect for a shady breakfast or dinner. Who needs to cross the Med? Mark Porter

For more information, see marseille-tourisme.com. Doubles at Le Ryad (+33 4 91 47 74 54; leryad.fr ) start at €95 (£76).

8. Cruising down the Baïse

Forget the busy Canal du Midi; for a gently paced holiday afloat, the Baïse is ideal. Bisecting the Lot-et-Garonne département, this quiet river begins life in the gentle foothills of the Pyrenees and travels north to join the Garonne; travellers can enjoy the changing landscape from the deck of a Pénichette. These traditional boats can sleep up to 12 people; the kitchen allows boaters to make the most of local produce - tomatoes, pruneaux d'Agen and plump ducks and geese. Of course there are local wines, but this is really armagnac country - it would be rude not to try some. With numerous moorings along the river, there are plenty of opportunities to step onto dry land and enjoy the picturesque villages and more than 40,000 acres of vineyards; the 13th-century fortified town of Vianne and the winery at Buzet are both worth visiting, as is the spectacular aqueduct at Agen.

Locaboat (+33 3 86 91 72 72; locaboat.com ) hires out Pénichettes from €896 (£714) per week for a boat sleeping up to five.