We traveled to France in 2024, 2012, 2009, and 2003.
2024:
Wine Tastings and Sites – Part 2 – Beaune, France
May 14, 2024: Another day, another round of wine tastings and site touring – this time in and south of Beaune, France. We had another excellent breakfast at our Merceuil accommodation at Le Meix Gautheret. After exploring the grounds (and chasing the never stopping automatic lawnmower), we headed off to Beaune. Our first stop in…
Wine Tastings and Sites – Part 1 – Beaune, France
May 13, 2024: On this day we had several wine tastings and site touring north of Beaune, France. For our first wine tasting, we stopped at the Caveau de Aloxe-Corton in the village of Aloxe-Corton just north of Beaune. Host Denis met us at the front door and we sampled four wines. Since we bought…
LUMA Art Complex/Frank Gehry Tower – Arles, France
May 11, 2024: We made it to Arles in the late afternoon from Camarague. As we struggled to find nearby parking for the LUMA Art Complex/Frank Gehry Tower, we thought we were going to be too late to see the tower and art complex (this turned out not to be true – we thought the…
Exploring the Camargue – Arles, France
May 11, 2024: On our way from Carcassonne to Arles, we detoured to see the Camargue – Arles region, where there are famous white horses, bulls, flamingos, and wild boars. We stopped for a picnic at the Camarague Museum, a folk museum with interesting displays, a helpful English handout and nature trails (open daily, 10…
La Cité Médiévale – Carcassonne, France
May 10, 2024: After a long drive from Domme, France, we arrived in Carcassonne in the late afternoon, hoping that the time would make it easier to park and visit La Cité Médiévale, Carassonne, France without the crowds. Alas, to our dismay, all the parking for the Narbonnaise and St. Nazaire gates were full, and…
National Museum of Prehistory – Les Eyzies, France; Lascaux II – Montignac, France; and Le Perle de Domme, Domme, France
May 9, 2024: Today was a day to discover (as much as we can) prehistory. Our first visit was the National Museum of Prehistory in Les Eyzies, France, followed by a quick lunch in Les Eyzies, then a drive to Montignac, France to view the replica cave of Lascaux II, for our prebooked 1:30 pm…
Sarlat-la-Canéda and La Roque-Gagaec – France
May 8, 2024: Today is market day at Sarlat-la-Canéda and we hope all is well in La Roque-Gagaec (due to the recent high water and cresting of the Dordogne River). We were going to take a canoe trip on the Dordogne River today, but that’s out of the question with the current high water levels…
Saint Émilion and Domme – France
May 7, 2024: Having spent all of the previous day traveling from London, England to Bordeaux, France, we started our France vacation by getting a car at the Bordeaux airport (we stayed across the street from the Bordeaux train station the night before). After getting our car, we drove to Saint Émilion, parked at the…
2012:
Colmar, Eguisheim, Kayserberg, Riquewihr, and Reims – France
September 17, 2012: This trip to France in 2012 was part of a much longer trip to several other European countries – we only visited a few French towns in the Alsace region and also Reims, France. Colmar, one of the prettiest towns in France’s Grand Est region, is near the border with Germany. Its…
2009:
St. Cécile Cathedral and Toulouse-Lautrec Museum – Albi, France and Château de Quéribus, Château de Peyrepertuse – Arles, France
June 25, 2009: The next stop of our 2009 France travels was Albi, home to the fortress-like St. Cécile Cathedral and the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. Then we went into the hills to explore the ruins of two Cathar Castles, the Château de Quéribus and Château de Peyrepertuse. Finally, our 2009 France trip finished in Arles, with…
Saint-Émilion Underground Church and Vineyards, Domme, Château de Castelnaud, La Roque St. Christophe, and Rocamadour – Southwestern France
June 22, 2009: Our next stop in France was Bordeaux, which we reached with a high-speed TGV train. From Bordeaux, we toured the Saint-Émilion Underground Church and Vineyards, Domme, the Château de Castelnaud, La Roque St. Christophe, and the pilgrimage site of Rocamadour. Outside of Bordeaux, we toured the vineyards and the Underground Church of…
Mont St-Michel, Le Petit Moulin de Rouvre, Dinan, Bayeaux and Battlements, Museums, War Memorials, and Cemeteries – Normandy, France
June 18, 2009: Our tour of France in June, 2009 started in Normandy. We first visited the famous island/fortress of Mont St-Michel, stayed in a wooden treehouses at Le Petit Moulin de Rouvre in Mesnil-Roc’h, toured nearby Dinan, and explored Bayeaux, home of a famous cathedral and the Bayeaux Tapestry. We also toured several battlements,…
2003:
Le Puy en Velay, Le Chevel Blanc, and Château de Chenonceau – France
July, 2003: To wrap up our 2003 France trip we headed back towards Paris over the mountains (the Massif Central), spent some time in the Loire Valley at a fancy hotel and restaurant and a beautiful castle, and finally returned to the USA from Paris. Le Puy-en-Velay is a town in south-central France. It’s known…
Château des Baux-de-Provence, St-Paul-de-Vence, and Nice – France, and Monaco
July, 2003: We continued our France journey in the Provence region and the French Rivera region. The Château des Baux-de-Provence is a fortified castle built during the 10th century, located in Les Baux-de-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, southern France. St-Paul-de-Vence is a hilltop town in the Provence region, While we were there, they had a festival going on.…
Palais Idéal, L’Isle sur Sorgue, and Abbaye de Senanque – France
July, 2003: These sites were on the road from Beaune to the Mediterranean and Provence. The whimsical Palais Idéal is a castle of grottoes that was the labor of love of a French postman. The L’Isle sur Sorgue is a Provençal town in the department of Vaucluse, southeast France. It’s known for its antiques stores…
Beaune, France
July, 2003: Having just been to Beaune in 2024, this trip from 2003 is fresher for us. We’ll only highlight those sites that we didn’t see in 2024. Once again, as for most of our 2003 France trip (until Nice), we were accompanied by our daughter Sybil and son-in-law Brian. We wine-tasted in Beaune in…
Paris, France
July, 2003: This trip was a long time ago, so we are just going to quickly highlight the sites we saw in Paris, France in 2003 with our daughter, Sybil and son-in-law Brian. Our accommodation was close to the Notre Dame Cathedral in 2003 (the Île St. Louis), so let’s start with pictures of the…