Hiking and Walking in France
Another look at the 4th Riviera Garden Festival! After our visit of the three western host cities (Grasse, Cannes and Antibes), we go east today for the Festival’s second half. Our first stop is Monaco for this the 4th Riviera Garden Festival, which gives us the opportunity of pointing out another change to the Festival’s…
It’s springtime on the Riviera! For some, this is the cue to bring out the beach wear and to rummage through the garage in search for the waterskiing equipment. For us, this is the time to get out our walking shoes – and, every other year, to start our tour around the six host cities…
There was one thing we failed to mention in last week’s post about the Riviera palaces of Nice, probably because it is the most obvious bit: the gardens of these mansions provide wonderful oases of calm within the hustle and bustle of the modern city and are perfect places for short walks and long rests….
In 2021, Nice became a UNESCO World Heritage site. Following the UNESCO’s recognition of Nice as the original “winter resort town on the Riviera”, some parts of the city – essentially the old town with the port and the Promenade des Anglais – will now enjoy a special level of protection. But it was somewhere…
I do not think that too many people will argue with me if I say that Marseille is not the most charming town in Latin Europe. Nor is it the most “easy-on-the-eye”. One reason for the city’s relative unpopularity is that it rarely manages to convey a sense of place. Marseille has neither the leafy…
The showcase gardens of the Riviera fall into two categories: for drama and excitement, you can visit gardens like the Giardini Hanbury near Ventimiglia or Menton’s Val Rahmeh, which were conceived for maximum effect on the grandest of theatrical scales. But on the local tourist board’s shortlist of famous Jardins de la Cote d’Azur, you…
Long urban and country walks are great but they do take up a lot of time: time to organize and to prepare, time to travel, time to do the actual walking. Such walks can easily become projects around which you have to structure not only the day itself but your entire weekend break, squeezing other…
If you travel a lot in Europe, there is a good chance that you will, sooner or later, pass through EuroAirport. This airport – which is located near prime hiking areas such as Lake Constance and the Black Forest and used a lot by low-cost airlines including Wizz and Easyjet – is the only airport…
Bordeaux, the unofficial wine capital of the world, may have given its name to the most famous appellation in the world, but on the vinicultural map of the region, its territory is represented by a lone blank spot: Bordeaux is virtually the only place within the Gironde département where no commercial vineyards operate, and it…
Bordeaux in the sunny southwest of France is the unofficial wine capital of the world. The label of “Bordeaux”, however, under which the locally produced wines are distributed across the world and which has earned the city its fame, only serves to indicate the name of the place where these wines have been stored, blended…