In short awesome. On our way back after a bit of wondering around Paris we settled in our comfy seats in the first class. This time we were served dinner which was: pasta salad with tomatoes, goat cheese and broad green beans. Grilled beef with rice and vegetable ratatouille. For dessert lemon tart. Wine, water, […]
Paris was angry with us today, or at least that is what it seemed like to us. We got to the metro station this morning and it turned out that our 5 days metro passes have already expired. No big deal, we thought, we will just get a daily ticket. This metro station however, does […]
It is true that I can’t draw, or at least nothing more complicated than a stick figure, and I am ok with that. However, while at the Louvre, I spied this person making what appeared to be a brazen forgery of a rather famous and iconic painting, by a famous Italian artist of a famous […]
We had dinner at a local bistro, half a block away from our pad. Once again we did not get the picture of the best dish we had which was a trio of steak tartar. I will say this, and I am saying this for both of us – best steak tartar we had since […]
At first we were puzzled by what this line up was all about. Then we realized it was to the most beautiful A & F store located right on Champs-Élysées. That’s just crazy.
Old and modern, sights of Paris on a truly beautiful day.
This is our third visit to Paris, and our first visit to the Museum of Modern Art. A bit different than the Louvre but with its own merits. There was an intersting exposition of Azzedine Alaia dresses in the Matisse room as well as a whole host of other art that is just oh so very […]
Finally I got to take a picture of our little place we are staying at in Paris. It is in the Latin Quarter, Luxembourg metro stop which is one stop from Notre Dame. Very close to everything and very central. We love it here, ours is the top three windows on the top that are […]
Not far from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a little chocolate shop where they are serious about two things: chocolate and macarons. Today was the first time we managed to convince Boris and Evelina to try them and as it stands there wasn’t the time to take a picture of them as they […]
I am sure that there are a great many churches in Paris to see and explore. There are two however, that most people are familiar with. One is the famous Notre Dame and the other is the Sacré-Coeur. Most people will visit the Notre Dame and look at the Sacré-Coeur from the distance when they get to […]
We are out for a midnight stroll. It is absolutely crazy how many people are out. We decided to go towards the Eiffel Tower to ring in the New Year There were 1000’s of people and just as many Champagne bottles popping their corks at midnight. We had a nice walk along the Seine, saw […]
We just sat down to a fancy New Years Eve dinner at Auberge de Venise. We are getting a set 5 course menu with Bellini to start with, followed by fresh olives, bruschetta and fresh shrimp and we have not even ordered any food yet.
Galeries Lafayette is one of those crazy places that is: always busy, has wonderful displays and is not cheap. It is the kind of place you go to to find that perfect Dolce & Gabbana dress or coat or a suit for your 4 year old. It is a place where everything is larger than life, where you […]
Yesterday was dedicated to culture today we are going shopping. On the agenda are BHV and ‘Galeries Lafayette’. In between the two is the City Hall from which you can see the Notre Dame. There was a huge ice ring in front of the city hall and despite the fact that it was +10C it […]
After a quick coffee at Carrousel du Louvre and a bit of well deserved rest we headed out to the Marais. This once again is a place we really loved last year so we went back for more this year. We had a wonderful dinner at a little Italian bistro for something different. L’Alimentari had some wonderful […]
While we spent more time last year looking at the paintings and the Egyptian exhibits, this year we looked at more sculptures. This is but a fraction of what the Louvre has to offer, from rooms full of tapestries large enough to cover a small house, to unimaginable amount of ornate gold trinkets large and […]
The beauty of the Louvre, or at least one of them, is that you can see a lot of stuff from any particular part of the world all in one place. The Louvre, does not have just one of something, it has 10s if not 100’s of these things. Be it old Roman vases or […]
Even though The Louvre is filled with a number of countless and priceless works of art, there are a few that draw more people than others. Those are Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, The Wedding Feast, the Sphinx, Liberty leading the People, Napoleon and of course the Victory which is my favourite piece but once that […]
While not a huge exposition – it certainly is a decadent one. Monarchs like nice things and these nice things are beautiful, exqusite and extravagant.
Part of The Louvre is dedicated to Napoleon, a man who collected a lot of the art that is currently on display here. I am not sure if opulent and ostentatious are words that do justice to his pad, but it is a start.
This was our favourite place at the Louvre this time around. We did not get to see this last year, this year then this was a double treat because there were almost no people here which was a nice change from the rest of the museum and the place is absolutely beautiful. This was also […]
One of the exhibits we saw today was a room dedicated to Greek Gods. The usual suspects, Athena, Apollo, Mars, Mercury etc. Larger than life in myth and in marble.
Today was a long day, we spent almost 12 hours out in the city. We had two objectives for today The Louvre for art and Le Marais for dinner. The Louvre is a place that is extraordinary in and of itself. Priceless works of art aside, The Louvre is magnificent on its own merit. […]
We have settled in, unpacked and relaxed a bit. Then, once the restaurants opened we went out for a nice dinner to a local bistro down the street called Le Cercle. Great food, great service and a typical Parisian ambiance.
German and French countryside as seen from a train moving at about 340km/h on the French side and about 230 km/h on the German side. Green and sunny and most importantly no snow in sight.
We have boarded ICE. We are on our way to Stuttgart where we are going to have a little lunch and change trains. TGV, the French train will take us to Paris.
We are setting off to Paris. Being here, we can’t think of a better city to be in for New Year’s Eve. We are going by train just to mix things up, and because having a car in Paris is absolutely useless, this just makes sense.
This is a list of the places we have visited so far. We certainly hope to add to this in the not so distant future. Google Maps
I finally had the time to upload this video and here it is – from our last trip to France, just outside Avignon dug into the stone under the village of Les Baux de Provence is this magnificent quarry where the show takes place.
Just as we thought that the Roman aqueduct was the be all end all sight we were going to see on this trip, we were soon proved wrong. Quarries of Light is an extraordinary site. It was once a bauxite quarry in the bowels of the awe-inspiring landscapes of the “Valley of Hell” that inspired Dante, […]
We got home really late but still had a bit of time to snap some night pictures of our pad for the night.
Perhaps one of the most awe inspiring and jaw dropping structures we have seen to date is this ancient Roman aqueduct bridge in Vers-Pont-du-Gard near Remoulins. Built in the 1st century AD, the Pont du Gard is the highest of all Roman aqueduct bridges and is the best preserved. Standing almost 49m high and spanning […]
Perhaps equally as stunning but much more less opulent are the city defence walls with its 7 gates and 36 defence towers as well as the Pont Saint-Bénezet bridge of which only 4 sections remain. Numerous palaces, churches, a theatre, the city hall, many old stone houses, and narrow streets that connect them all is what […]
Today we are exploring Avignon – the city of Popes. While not as large as Lyon, Avignon has a different more medieval charm. Actually it looks more like an Italian city than French but this could be due to a huge Roman influence on its development. First on the agenda was the stunning Papal Palace […]
In the next village, Villeneuve-lez-Avignon, about 6km away is a little bistro which is set up in the old olive oil press shop. This place was suggested to us by the couple who run the chateau. They did say that this is not a gastronomic restaurant but a bistro not knowing what this really means […]
Perched on the top of the hill in the small village of Sauveterre is a quaint little Chateau that is going to be our home for the next couple of days as we explore Avignon and the surrounding countryside. The Chateau was originally built in 1610 and then occupied by the first mayor of Avignon […]
The island in the middle of Lyon is interesting. The tip of the island where the two rivers confluence is a place of modern architecture that is simply as breathtaking as any of the old 1000 year old cathedral we have seen.
No French town would be complete without the Sunday flea market. Since stores are closed on Sundays, people flock to these things to find their treasures. This flea market happens to be the second biggest flea market in France. While 80% of what we saw was junk, and 20% were little treasures, we managed to […]
We are on the way to Avignon today. We did a quick stop at the Docks in Lyon and now are heading south. Incidentally we are taking the same roads as we did on our trip last year.
Another great find in Lyon is the ancient Roman amphitheare – or rather its ruins. In its glory days this place used to seat about 11,000 spectators now the shows hosted here sit about 4500 people. Despite its age, the world wars and time which has taken its toll on the buildings, this place still […]
It seems every large French city has its own rendition of Norte-Dame. The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière is perched on the Fourvière Hill in Lyon, it seems that no matter where you are in Lyon you can see it towering over the city. Being on time budget we took the funiculars to the top […]
We are exploring Lyon, the second largest city in France after Paris. The city is equally as busy and beautiful and charming as Paris. From Roman times to modern times there is bit of of something for everyone here. We managed to see both rivers, and a few churches, the opera house, the Roman ruins, […]
We have arrived in Lyon just a bit past four. The drive was not very enjoyable, that is to say it was not as fast as I thought it ought to be, but we are here. We checked in and decided to take the rest of the day off and relax before we set out […]
We are off for a little holiday today. We are off to France for now then we will see
To any self proclaimed petrol head Top Gear is the greatest show on earth when it comes to cars. On the weekends they ask their readers to show them what they have done with their cars. I submitted an entry through Twitter and – ours made it to the pages of TopGear.com as one of […]
This then is the middle of nowhere we were looking for yesterday. A desolate country road cutting across the villages and vineyards of Burgundy. Peppered with family run Chateaus on each side of the road – each making their own great wines. We stopped at a quiet restaurant at the edge of the vineyard where […]
Chateau de Meursault was our next winery of choice. This one offered a self guided tour of the property which is now a small museum. The roots of the family that owns this Chateau are traced back to the 12th century. The main Chateau is still being used as the primary residence, but the cellars, […]
On the way to Chateau de Meursault, the next winery on the list, we stopped at a typical French village to visit another bakery, for more break and pastries and to take a bit of a break after the wine tasting. Quaint, quiet and beautiful. Serenity now.
The best part of the tour was of course the wine cellars or the caves. The sheer volume of wine stored in the nice cool cellars underground is simply staggering. After the tour we had our first taste of some fine wines, including 1st Cru, and Chateau de Pommard. Naturally we acquired some of them […]
First on the list, purely by chance, was Chateau de Pommard. It was close to where we were staying and seemed rather interesting. The Chateau had a wine museum and a great restaurant, an exposition of modern art was well as great collection of originals by Picasso, Matisse, and two sculptures by Salvador Dali. We […]
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