Another year has gone by. The tree is decorated and the ham is being glazed as we speak! I’d like to take this opportunity of thanking you for so loyally following my travel blog through 2011. I have loved the opportunity of sharing once a week with you my stories and experiences of travelling […]
Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
Christmas 2011 – Joyeux Noel
Posted in Holiday, Tourism, Travel on December 24, 2011 | 7 Comments »
The Louvre – Forbidden Love
Posted in France, Holiday, Tourism, Travel, tagged Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, Atala, Chactas, Louvre on December 12, 2011 | 11 Comments »
Lessons from the Louvre – Part 3 This is the third part of my series on paintings in the Louvre. This is my attempt to cure those suffering from MLS syndrome, and opening your eyes to art highlights other than the Mona Lisa! Over the next month there will be weekly articles on my highlights, […]
The Louvre – Kim Kardashian creates havoc?
Posted in Art and Photography, France, Holiday, Tourism, Travel, tagged Henri IV, L'Apotheose d'Henri IV, Louis X111, Louvre, Marie de Medici, Mona Lisa, Paul Rubens, Richelieu on December 7, 2011 | 19 Comments »
Lessons from the Louvre – Part 2: This is the second part of my series on paintings in the Louvre. This is my attempt to cure those suffering from MLS syndrome, and opening your eyes to art highlights other than the Mona Lisa! Over the next month there will be weekly articles on my highlights, […]
The Louvre – do you suffer from MLS?
Posted in Art and Photography, Holiday, Paris, Tourism, Travel, tagged Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, Louvre, Mona Lisa, Ravenna, Scrovigni Chapel, The Last Supper on November 29, 2011 | 19 Comments »
The Louvre would be one of the most recognisable brands in the world – there would be few people who would not know what the Louvre was, and where it is? There are nearly nine million people per year who visit, which is 30,000 people per day on average, going there to look at some […]
Isle sur la Sorgue – Market in Provence
Posted in France, Holiday, Tourism, Travel, tagged Avignon, Carpentras, House Rentals, Isle sur la Sorgue, Le Jardin du Quai, Le Vivier, Markets on November 10, 2011 | 30 Comments »
Sunday morning and it’s market day in L’Isle sur la Sorgue, and you will soon see why so many people travel here ! Isle sur la Sorgue is situated 30 minutes to the east of Avignon (Provence), just at the entrance to the Luberon Valley. It is essentially, as its name suggests, an island on the […]
Edith Piaf – The Sparrow and the Rose
Posted in France, News, Paris, Tourism, Travel, tagged Edith Piaf, James Blunt, Je Ne Regrette Rien, Jim McIntosh, La Vie en Rose, Louis Leplee, Montmartre, Non, Oscar Wilde, Pere Lachaise, Place des Abbesses on November 3, 2011 | 27 Comments »
I sit on a bench on Place des Abbesses in Paris. There is a colourful merry-go-round in the centre of this autumn- leaf covered square in the heart of Montmartre, Paris. A young Parisian is sitting on the steps of the nearby church strumming on his guitar with his cap waiting hopefully on the footpath […]
Toussaint – Don’t get the flowers wrong!
Posted in France, Holiday, Tourism, Travel, tagged All Saints Day, All Souls Day, chrysanthemums, toussaint on October 31, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Within the next few days no-one can avoid the 1st November. In France this day is known as La Toussaint (All Saints Day), a day when one celebrates the lives of all the saints. Equally important as 1 November is the 2 November, which is known as the Fete des Morts (Festival of the Dead). […]
Hitler’s morning off in Paris.
Posted in France, Holiday, News, Paris, Travel, tagged Albert Speer, Arc de Triomphe, Charles Mangin, Edith Cavell, Eiffel Tower, Hans Spiedel, Hitler, Opera House Garnier, Palais de Chaillot, Paris occupation, Place de la Concorde, Richard Maddox on October 26, 2011 | 22 Comments »
It is early morning on 23rd June 1940. Paris has been occupied for over a week. An armistice was signed in the same railway carriage, at the same spot in the Forest of Compiègne where Foch had imposed terms on the German delegation in 1918. At Le Bourget the light catches a military transport aircraft […]
Rugby World Cup 2012 – in France
Posted in France, Holiday, News, Tourism, Travel, tagged Brittany, Marseille, Provence, rugby, Rugby World Cup, Toulon, Toulouse on October 20, 2011 | 5 Comments »
The Rugby World Cup mounts to its ultimate crescendo and conclusion. New Zealand to face France in the final match of the Rugby World Cup in Auckland. I am writing this from Christchurch, where despite this city losing the ability to host their World Cup matches, has still been able to get in to the […]
Escorted Tours 2012 – France and Portugal
Posted in France, Portugal, Tourism, Travel, tagged Carcassonne, Escorted tour of Portugal, Escorted Tours, John Reese, Languedoc, Provence Tour, Small Group Tours, St Remy de Provence, Villefranche sur Mer on October 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
For nearly twenty years my job has enabled me to regularly escort groups through France and Europe. It is at this time of the year when I love planning where I am going to take people on tour for the following year. For the year 2012 I have chosen to revisit some of my favourite […]