Photo of the Week: Papal Palace of Avignon On the Rhône River in Southern France is the small city of Avignon. The city is home of the famous bridge from the French children’s song (or what’s left of it). More significantly, Avignon is awash in Papal history. One of the only French cities with intact …
Megève, France: A Winter Wonderland Deep in the French Alps, up winding roads, across freezing surging streams and through pine trees is the town of Megève. In the Haute-Savoie département wedged between modern-day France, Switzerland, and Italy, and at nearly 4,000 feet up, Megève was for centuries overlooked by the history books. Cows and mountain goats …
Aiguille du Midi, France The Aiguille du Midi (12,605 feet – 3,842 meters) is a mountain near Mont Blanc in the French Alps, in the département of Haute-Savoie. In winter, it’s the starting point for the famed Vallée Blanche (“White Valley”), a 12.5-mile long off-piste ski run. It offers experienced skiers amazing views and a …
Here are the best hilltop villages of the French Riviera. Read this for the Best Coastal Towns of the French Riviera. Best Hilltop Villages of the French Riviera To many, the French Riviera connotes beaches and seaside chic. But some of the least explored places here are stone hilltop villages, just inland above the tourist-clogged …
Best Coastal Towns of the French Riviera These are the Best Coastal Towns of the French Riviera. Go here to read about the Best Hilltop Villages of the French Riviera. The French Riviera—the southeastern coast of France—attracts backpackers and budget-busters year-round to its best coastal towns for good reason. This part of the world boasts …
Strolling the cobblestone streets of Dinan, France just after sunrise, before anyone else is up, is an enchanting experience. With difficulty I try to imagine this quiet north-western French town as a focal point of the tumultuous Medieval struggle between the Duchy of Brittany and the King of France. But the tall stone fortifications as …
Photo of the Week: Early Morning in Dinan, France Read More »
Slave Village of Martinique (La Savane des Esclaves, Martinique) Growing out of Gilbert Larose’s passion for his people’s history and culture, he recreated a slave village (La Savane des Esclaves ) to represent what it might have been like where escaped slaves settled. These communities were usually up in the forest-clad hills. Martinique’s rough geography …
Photo of the Week: La Savane des Esclaves, Martinique Read More »
On a Sunday afternoon my brother and his coworkers and I took a trip 35 km out of Bordeaux to the vineyards surrounding Saint- Émilion. The village, now a World Heritage site, was overrun with day-trippers (like us), souvenir shops, and wine stores. An easy five-minute stroll in one direction landed me in a quiet …
I was never really interested in France or French, preferring to study a less bourgeois language like Spanish in school. Not that my language prejudice mattered, because like most Americans I never mastered a second language at all. Sure, I later got by hitchhiking in Cuba with my rudimentary Spanish, but I didn’t speak the language. And then I married a guy from France…
My mother crossed the border of the United States for the first time in her life two years ago. It was to visit me during one of my off-season excursions. When I owned the cafe on Chokoloskee Island in Florida, I often traveled in the summer months
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