"in France you're almost guaranteed that if it???s edible it???s delectable"
a entry by Tole & Jessica from a trip to France.
Before we arrived in France, I was worried it might be boring after all our adventures in less obvious destinations. In retrospect, that seems ridiculous ??? even blasphemous. It???s a biking paradise. The scenery is gorgeous, the roads are ideal, the wine is the sweet nectar of the gods, and the food must be their ambrosia. If I were immortal, massive quantities of both would be high on my list of indulgence priorities. As if it could get any better, we saw no hint of the rudeness with which the French so often get (mis)credited.
First things first: the food! Many times, the ...
a entry by Sarah Farrelly from a trip to France.
Well ended up getting a job on the boat 'Willpower' which i had done day work on. Left Barcelona at 6am for Cannes, France in a 12hour crossing! Packed my bags and out of here...goodbye Barcelona! Crossing was pretty crazy with 40knot winds, 3m swell and then we lost our sterring! Had a couple of crazy tips where we almost rolled, but apart from that, made it into Cannes around 9pm requiring some major electrical work. Really pretty place, although we were right in the middle of the port surrounded by identical superyachts, surprise surprise! Went out with the crew for dinner, then an early ...
""This is how Camelot would of looked and if it didn't, it should of""
a entry by Richlee7 from a trip to Carcassonne, France.
A sword wielding dragon slayer would not look out of place here in Carcassonne and nor would the dragon. This is how Camelot would of looked and if it didn't, it should of; and if it were only for the lack of a certain circular shaped table, it would most certainly be alive today in fact rather than fiction.
Welcome to the walled city of Carcassonne. Located in southern France it basks in the mediterranean summer and radiates that satisfying glow of another deep red sunset. I am looking at the city from a kilometre away to catch the suns retreat. The newer build away from the city is ...
a entry by The Trigglodites from a trip to Paris, France.
The kids wake early and once again work on their journals before we set out. They are really good about it. Collecting ticket stubs and brochures to stick in and working on their writing.
We left home at 10.30 am. And caught bus #69 to Pont Neuf. We had our first queue of the holiday (outside the airports). We were waiting to climb the towers of Notre Dame and Michael chatted with some American students and then hassled a five year old Italian boy who was playing a game on his Dad???s mobile phone. Michael just wanted to watch but the poor kid obviously didn???t want his personal space ...
a entry by The Trigglodites from a trip to Paris, France.
Although we are still waking up very early it seems to take forever to get away. It was one of those gorgeous brisk winter days. Clear but cold. We headed out and walked along the banks of the River Seine. A woman stopped just in front of us and bent down to pick something up. Isaac manages to find every dropped Euro cent around (eyes to the ground) but he hadn???t seen this.
She had found a gold man???s ring. She held it out to us. ???Bonne chance,??? she said. It is very lucky n???est ce pas???? She addressed herself to Andrew. ???You can have it if you like. And good luck to you.??? She put it in his ...
a entry by LShiz from a trip to Paris, France.
The last day in Paris was strange. Twice that day our tour leader would say that an unfortunate event that befell our tour group had never occurred before in his twenty years of running tours. And I came down with a bad respiratory illness. We started the day with a morning ride on the Seine River cruise which recapped all the famous sites we saw earlier. We cruised past the Eiffel Tower, the many bridges on the Seine, the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral. Most of the kids were outside on the deck, yelling when we went under bridges and doing normal teenager stuff. The parents were mostly ...
"My goals were simple: to walk to the Tour Eiffel and to eat a different crepe every day."
a entry by Iancela from a trip to Paris, France.
There I was, alone, in a bed in Paris. Well, not alone actually. The mosquito whispering sweet chainsaw operas in my ear kept me company. It was so good, I had to stay awake. But, of course, my mind drifted and I ended up writing, in a bed in Paris, at 4:30 in the morning.
Thollem was touring France for a week, and I elected to stay in Paris, since we had the key to a beautiful, large flat. More like a house, except that it was part of a larger building. Pierre Berouh lives here part of the year. The other part, he spends in Japan with his family. Two Japanese performance artists ...
"How often does a couple get to be serenaded by a lone saxophonist on the banks of the river on their honeymoon"
a entry by Mike & Linda Fidge from a trip to Paris, France.
Well after a pleasant if not swaying overnight ride in a sleeper carriage (Linda couldn't face another airport), we arrived well rested for our Aussie assault on Paris. Our first impressions were mostly positive, as the sun was shining, the streets were clean and the people friendly. With only five days to see everything Paris had to offer, we quickly dropped our bags off at our Montmatre home and went for a wander. I was keen to see how my year 8 French lessons and 10 week French class would hold up in the world of wine, pastries, and escargot.
Our first stop as you might imagine was ...
"We stopped for lunch at a spot overlooking a town called Chasseles and had another 'it doesn't get much better than this' moments"
a entry by Mike & Linda Fidge from a trip to Annecy, France.
After our successful driving escapades through the Tuscan hills in Italy, we were keen to see how the French Alps and The Rhone Valley would compare. We based ourselves in a pretty little town at the base of the French Alps, called Annecy. It has the nickname of the 'Venice of France' due to its few smallish canals that run through the north of the city.
We were up early to see which manly machine we were getting for our day of travel. You can imagine my excitement when we discover its a..... Renaut Twingo (sounds more like a chocolate bar than a car). After a few tense moments of ...
"Seeing the chateau appear almost magically out of the mist was a truly breathtaking sight"
a entry by Mike & Linda Fidge from a trip to Tours, France.
So after a flat out week in France's capital, we jumped on a train to the sleepy Loire Valley for some R&R and of course, a taste of the beautiful French country lifestyle. So after travelling to our base of Tours, we headed to the little town of Blois (pronounced Blwah). We arrived in the town rather unprepared, with no map and no idea what there was to see in this little town. So after hopping off the train, we did the only thing we could do....picked a road and went with it! We find the best method is to find the biggest church spire and head towards it! But luckily after a few minutes of ...
"I loved Paris. I fell in love and had my heart broken but still had a wonderful time"
a entry by Tonya from a trip to Paris, France.
I arrived in Paris on Sunday the 13th after a big night out in London and hadn't slept in awhile. I ended up not doing much excpet going over to the McDonalds across the road. Since I'm a big fan of the movie Pulp Fiction....I had a Royal Cheese!
Day 2 was much more eventfull! I started with a open top bus trip around to the major sights to get my barrings on where things were. Then headed out walking on my own. I started at the Place de la Concorde and walked up the Ave. Des Champs-Elysees to the Arch de Triomphe where i climbed the billion stairs to the top! What a great view! Back down ...
"Covered in large pebbles, its not exactly the kind of beach that us aussies are used to, but the view of the coastline was just breathtaking"
a entry by Mike & Linda Fidge from a trip to Nice, France.
After almost two months of travelling around Europe in the middle of winter, we were keen for a bit of sun so we headed to the Cote D'Azur in the South of France. First stop, Nice.
The first thing we did upon arriving in Nice was to head to the world famous coastline. Covered in large pebbles, its not exactly the kind of beach that us aussies are used to, but the view of the coastline was just breathtaking. The views got even better when we made our way up to the lookout at the end of the beach....just spectacular. And the weather was so warm, I even wore a T-shirt!
Wandering ...
"All the resorts are connected and you can ski from one to the other through the mountains."
a entry by Nat B from a trip to Les Gets, Rhone-Alpes.
I have just had the best couple of days skiing in the French Alps at a resort called Les gets about one hours drive from Geneva (Switzerland) and absolutely beautiful!! It's the first time I have skiied in Europe and I was blown away by the ENORMITY of the Alps they are huge!!! Too big to describe and about 500 times bigger than any Australian ski resort - as we flew into Geneva I took some photo's from the plane of the tops of the mountains poking out of the top of the clouds and this was at about 10,000 meters!!!!aug
Jeff and I arrived on Tuesday afternoon and met Jade and Vaugny at ...
"Whilst up the tower I visited the famous bell Emmanuel."
a entry by Kerry Taylor from a trip to Paris, France.
The Louvre
Day two. Up at the earliest opportunity and straight into Paris. It???s Wednesday, so it must be the Louvre. No, really! It was closed on Tuesday. Luckily arriving this early beats the queues. Inside the magnificent Pyramid I bought my Musee Carte and hit archaeology and Italian Renaissance art. Luckily these two subjects included the main museum highlights, the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa. However the impact of both, but especially the Mona Lisa, is of a rugby scrum. I spent most of the morning at the Louvre and then planned to walk in the nearby gardens. However these had ...
"The books say there are 284 steps ??? I lost count, and the will to live, at about 200"
a entry by Kerry Taylor from a trip to Paris, France.
The Eiffel Tower
Okay! First day in Paris; so where do I start? Well I couldn???t really miss a huge lump of metal like the Eiffel Tower. I arrived very early on a bright sunny (and slightly hazy) morning. I joined one queue briefly, until I realised they were walking up. Then I switched to the lazy side ??? after all there is no point peaking too early.
Because of the haze I decided just to go up to the first level and frankly that was quite high enough thank you! It was early enough to be really quiet and un-crowded. Whilst up there I visited the post office and bought a phone card, ...
a entry by Kev-Jules from a trip to Reims, France.
We got up nice and early, had brekky and headed back into town. It was such a beautiful day so we parked and walked in to the town centre. It was as if we were on a movie set, the narrow streets, the canals, the bikes ??? but the cafes and restaurants were everywhere just like you would expect. We headed towards the Cathedral of Notre Dame. This was the most amazing thing we???ve seen. The bells were ringing so loudly- very beautiful. Words couldn???t explain the building itself- so detailed and standing at 142 meters. We didn???t actually see ???Quassie??? but we are sure it was him ringing the bells as ...
"aware for the last twenty minutes in the build up of unshaven slovenly acne covered youngsters carrying packs and smoking gauloises in packs at every cafe I passed"
a entry by actonsteve from a trip to Paris, France.
I didnt stay at my hotel last night. I ended up in a tiny apartment in the 13th Arondissement and had to make my way back up to the Marais. I got directions to Porte D'Ivery METRO and wandered up silent roads at six o'clock in the morning. One of my pleasures in life is to make my way home from a different part of town after a night out and this time it didnt take long to get the METRO back to Temple and have a change of clothes.
However, I got a shock when I walked through the door - my belongings were in reception. I had only paid for five nights and the hotel was so busy it could not ...
"his bedroom was decked with gold and white material. It was here that the regimented court protocol took place with courtiers vying for a place to wait attendance on the king"
a entry by actonsteve from a trip to Versailles, France.
The last glitter gasp of the ancien regime.
The last breath of the most cosmopolitan and sophisticated court Europe has ever seen before the cataclysm hit them.
Versailles carries baggage. Versailles is history. It carries a pathos and a memory of an era, a monarch and a time that was so striking in history. It came to personify privilege and for history gave a reason for a rebellion of the common people. I really wanted to see this building. A building that toppled a monarchy, a building that was a catalyst for a revolution.
Its quite a way out from central Paris. So with my ...
"But the absolute highlight was August 29th, Ryan's 3rd birthday."
a entry by Youds in Europe from a trip to Paris, France.
So-- we thought we'd leave London and have a few hours of travel into Paris. A subway train, a bus, another bus, a ferry, a third bus, a train, another train, another subway train, a fourth bus, a trolley, and 11 hours later we arrived at our new hostel. And we didn't even get lost once! Our first experience with travel in Europe was a real adventure. At least we proved to ourselves that we could do it.
At first, our new hostel was disappointing. Being a novice hosteleteer, I didn't realize just what a great place the Globetrotter in London was. CISP Kellerman sure didn't match up. ...
a entry by Corazon from a trip to Paris, France.
So, today was another packed day. We started at the
a entry by hikergal from a trip to Paris, France.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007 / Miami to Paris:
Our journey began in Miami as we boarded Air France Flight #95 bound for Paris. We used Frequent Flier miles for the air portion of our trip, and fortunately we were able to get seats in business class. I had selected the first row of seats in the nose section of the 747 as no one would be walking back and forth by us during the flight. There were only 5 rows in our cabin and it was very private. A large pillow and blanket were awaiting us along with a flight kit with socks, eye mask, ear plugs, lotion etc. Dinner consisted of a lobster ...
a entry by Corazon from a trip to Paris, France.
After a good nights rest we headed out to see the sights of paris. It was incredilby beautiful and I was ready. The sun wasn't out yet, but I had hope. First we went downstairs and head some breakfast.. which was a bowl of cornflakes. Very European... lol. We started out day by heading to l'arc de triumphe. It was incredible. We ended up getting a museum pass so that we could see most of the sites on one pass. So we got to climb to the top of the arc and see the view of the city. The city seems to be one color. Not a lot of change, but beautiful nonetheless. We then walked down the ...
"Off this is another famous street Rue Faubourg St Honore which drips with designer shops - Hermes, Lagerfeld, Gautier and Yves St Laurent"
a entry by actonsteve from a trip to Paris, France.
Zut Alors! My feet ache!
Paris is very hard on the shoeleather but very pleasing to the eye. After a night out exploring the zinc bars of Le Marais last night I needed a brisk stroll to work off my alcohol battered head. Little did I know that my brisk stroll would last nine hours from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. With a couple of sitdowns at cafes to rest my weary legs.
I'm also a hop, skill and a jump from Beaubourg and the Pompidou centre. I had a look at this last night and it will work as a nice contrast to the Louvre this morning (see review). The rear of ...
a review of The Louvre - the best art gallery in the world.., a thing to do in Paris, France.
One of the great wow moments of Paris is your first glimpse of the Coeur Napoleon.
This great courtyard is flanked by the two arms of the Louvre Palace whose facade is decked with the statues of kings. Smack in the centre of the courtyard is a glass pyramid. The pyramids clear cut lines contrast sharply with the architecture of the ancien regime surrounding it. Its modernist feel just felt so distinctive against the old lamposts and fountains of the palace of kings - a work of art in itself.
You use this pyramid to descend into the bowels of the Louvre and trail a spiral staircase ...
a review of The Tour Eiffel - the biggest tourist cliche of them all.., a thing to do in Paris, France.
I felt a little bit of shame when buying my METRO billet to get me to the Eiffel Tower. After all, it just seems to touristy. Up there with a gondola in Venice or poking fun of the beefeaters/household cavalry in London (and I've seen plenty of tourists do that, one hilariously got kicked by his horse). But it is so iconic. It practically says France to everybody else around the world. Superman rescued it from an atom bomb and Grace Jones parachuted off in A VIew To A Kill. I've seen it in numerous fashion spreads and TV broadcasts. It draws in every first time visitor to Paris like a moth to ...