France

Pont du Gard

August 20, 2023: Enroute to Collioure, Jean and I revisited the magnificent Pont du Gard, standing tall two millennia after the Romans built it to support their growing empire.

Dusk in Collioure

January 10, 2024: Dusk in Collioure is magical. Music drifts from the promenade and locals fill the beach for a night swim as the lights shimmer off the dark waters.

Dawn in Collioure

January 9, 2024: This morning I find my mind drifting back six months to a warm dawn in Collioure, France, when we watched dawn climb over the wine-dark Mediterranean sea.

August 18, 2023: The third trip for 2023 is… a France Encore! We will live la vie française in Collioure before exploring Marseille and the Alsace. And while we are in the area, we will see the Italian Piedmont and Geneva too!

Aix-en-Provence

June 12, 2022: Aix-en-Provence. We are taking a mid-point break in “The French Trip”, pausing for a week in Aix-en-Provence. Provence offers so much, but we are savoring the relaxed time in our tiny apartment above Cours Mirabeau, the lovely pedestrian only center of Aix. Ahhh …

Lyon

April 24, 2022 Lyon has been called “The Gastronomic Capital of France.” What does that mean? That the chefs in their bouchons are alchemists who turn the offal (awful?) into the extraordinary.

The French Trip (summary)

July 15, 2022: Paris “The French Trip” exceeded expectations. Laissez le bon temps rouler indeed! Two months exploring France, Luxembourg and Belgium was wonderful, and was not nearly enough.

Strasbourg in the Rain

October 3: Dull skies rained steadily as we detoured into Strasbourg. But serendipity! There we found the best food and best music of our trip to the Rhine region.

Colmar in Alsace

October 4-8: In Colmar, four-hundred-year-old half-timbered houses line the canals, looking for all the world like gingerbread with thick pastel frosting. With that kind of charm, great local white wine, and fascinating history, even the rain couldn’t dampen our mood.