Menu Close

Category: Europe: France

And a few more from Riviera

And a few more from Riviera

Our trips frequently include boat rides of different varieties, and this stay on the French Riviera was not an exception. On one of the days in the area, we planned to spend a few hours on a sailboat going up and down the coast between Nice and Monaco. For reasons…

A few from Monaco

A few from Monaco

The Principality of Monaco is among the more curious countries. It is a constitutional monarchy whose ruler, while not being styled “the King”, has probably the most powers over his domain than any other remaining monarch in all of Europe. It is the second tiniest sovereign entity in the world.…

Sainte-Agnès

Sainte-Agnès

The village of Sainte-Agnès sits in the mountains high above Menton. It holds the designation as one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France. That entitles it to a separate look in our travel recaps. As with many such villages, there is not much in terms of defined points of…

Menton

Menton

Menton was one of the places we had not been to before and specifically targeted for a brief exploration this time. Literally “the last” point on the French Riviera – you cannot move eastward of Menton without crossing the border into Italy – it is a resort town famous for…

Nice, as a city on the Riviera

Nice, as in “a city on the Riviera”

The capital of the French Riviera may enjoy continuous fame as “the playground for the rich”, but it is in essence a big city with big-city attractions. Certainly, there are plenty of visual highlights to be found in town, and yet its cultural offerings – museums, theaters, varied cuisine –…

St-Paul-de-Vence

St-Paul-de-Vence, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Èze

This visit to the Riviera included a number of places that we had never managed to visit in the past. One was St-Paul-de-Vence. It is both a picturesque hilltop medieval village and one big art gallery. A large percentage of commercial establishments in the village core are contemporary-art boutiques. Makes…

Villefranche-sur-Mer

Villefranche-sur-Mer

I am starting this post with the same panoramic vista of Villefranche Bay that has already been posted a few weeks ago. Utterly mesmerizing! And then, somewhat gratuitously, here are a few other shots taken from the same spot on our apartment balcony, differing by the time of day, lighting…

Favorite shot of a favorite city: Paris

Favorite shot of a favorite city: Paris

I live to travel. In the last decade or so there has not been a single vacation day in my life that I did not spend traveling to an interesting destination. That stat probably makes me appear more well-traveled than I actually am, compared to an average person, but you…

Monet house and gardens, Giverny

Monet house and gardens, Giverny

Even if you are not an art enthusiast, you probably have knowledge of Claude Monet’s Water Lilies series – and may have chanced upon some of them in various art museums around the world. A real Impressionist buff has to find their way at least once to the house and…

Paris, again

Paris, again

One of my favorite movie quotes comes from Woody Allen’s ode to the French capital: That Paris exists and anyone could choose to live anywhere else in the world will always be a mystery to me. Which is a bit ironic, because as much as we love Paris, we happen…

A few more from Dordogne

A few more from Dordogne

As we are leaving Dordogne, let’s take a look at a small selection of photographs that did not have enough collective mass to support a featured essay. Actually, I might be doing Domain de Monrecour an injustice by saying that. This fantastic hotel is anchored by an eye-catching landmark of…

St-Jean-de-Côle

Saint-Jean-de-Côle

There are 10 Les Plus Beaux Villages de France in Dordogne, more than in any other French department. We have already seen 9. The persistent drizzle that accompanied our stop in Brantôme at the start of our last day in Dordogne kept telling us to wrap it up and drive…

Brantôme

Brantôme

The historical province of Périgord, which roughly corresponds to the modern Dordogne department, is informally divided into 4 “colors”. Our base was in the southeastern Black Périgord, where the flow of the Dordogne river is the most picturesque, and the places like Sarlat, Beynac, La Roque-Gageac, Belvès, and others are…

Castelnaud-la-Chapelle

Castelnaud-la-Chapelle

Castelnaud-la-Chapelle is practically a clone of Beynac-et-Cazenac – a riverside village running up the steep hill with an imposing castle as the crown. In fact, the château is said to have been erected specifically for the purposes of rivaling Château de Beynac. The village holds membership in the Prettiest Villages…

Château des Milandes

Château des Milandes

Once you’ve been to a certain number of castles, you begin to realize that aside from architectural grandiosity the ones that leave the most lasting impression are those that look livable. No matter the historical significance or the commanding position, barren walls and a sense of abandonment will render any…

Belvès

Belvès

Belvès is the largest of all Les Plus Beaux Villages de France in Dordogne, counting nearly 1,500 residents. We started hitting the point of diminishing returns when we visited here, as the village would surely impressed us more if we had not seen close to a dozen other places on…

Périgueux

Périgueux is the capital of Dordogne and of the historic province that preceded it, Périgord. It is by some distance the largest town in the region, and out appreciation of it suffered for that. The central part of Périgueux – historically called Puy-St-Front district – is attractive enough, but the…

Limeuil

Our next entrant on the list of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France was Limeuil, which occupies strategic heights at the juncture of Dordogne and Vézère rivers. The best view of the village is from the bridge over Dordogne. Limestone deposits and silt give Vézère waters their yellow color, while…