Bretagne is possibly the most underrated corner of France, at least among the far-abroad travelers. While you’ll find many an American book, blog and podcast singing paeans to the glories of Dordogne, Collioure, the Loire Valley, Alsace, Normandy, the French Alps and Provence, Bretagne evades their attentions. And for the life of me I cannot…
Alsace just might be the most visually Disney-like place I have ever been to. Every town and village is candy-colored. Every half-timbered storefront beckons like the Witch’s house in ‘Hansel and Gretel’, with their candies and pretzels and storytelling signs. Roses and wisterias snake up facades and fountains. It’s almost too whimsical, almost fake. But…
Beaune is all about wine. Every other shop is a wine store. The bars are predominantly wine bars. At a restaurant, the waiter will proudly spend 15 minutes telling you the particulars of the terroir whence your wine came, down to the history of the family that owns that particular vineyard (he knows them personally,…
It was in Provence that I actually liked France for the very first time. It was October 2003, and I had finally escaped the misery of Paris for a long weekend with my girlfriends. I still remember catching that first glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea from the road — its sparkling waters blending into cloudless blue…
Food tours, street art tours, cooking classes, architecture tours, pottery making, ghost tours, yoga with a view, literary tours, ruins pub crawls, photo tours, sketching classes, fashion tours. There is a smorgasbord of thematic experiences on offer in every corner of the world. Websites like AirBnB and WithLocals make these activities a purview of not…
Southern France has captured my heart like no other place in the world. Part 1 covered the northern half of my trek through the region. Here are the very personal, very bright parts of that natural and cultural mosaic that pulled me into the southern half – the Pyrenees and their surroundings – so very…
Over nearly two decades I have traveled all around France. I would love to spend the next decade popping into any of its corners for a weekend or a month, whenever I get a chance. Yet there is one area of the country that has captured my heart like no other place in the world.…
Oh, Paris… Paris, city of light and love, of D’Artagnan and Jean Valjean, of escargot and Le MacDo. Paris, the ultimate destination for millions of people around the world. Paris, my first independent travel experience. Paris has its own mythology. It is the setting for hundreds of world-renowned tales, from the Three Musketeers to Amelie.…
Over the last 16 years I have been to many different corners of France. Here are my biggest tips and takeaways about traveling there. Part 1 covers my love story with the country, what to hit and what to skip on the beaten path, and best ways to discover untouristed, authentic France. Part 2 is…
Over the last 16 years I have been to many different corners of France. Here are my biggest tips and takeaways about traveling there. Part 1 covered my love story with the country, what to hit and what to skip on the beaten path, and best ways to discover untouristed, authentic France. 4. There is…
I have dreamt of France ever since I read The Three Musketeers as a seven-year-old. I fell in love with D’Artagnan and wanted to be him at the same time. I imagined walking through the halls of the Louvre and Fontainebleau. I even took up fencing (very briefly). When Chevalier De Brilie offered to take…
I cannot believe it has been more than 4 years since I wrote this post, about my dream travel destinations. I also cannot believe how much travel I have done in that time, culminating with the most insane 2018: 26 journeys, 24 of them – international, including to 5 new countries. I visited places I…
Let’s talk: The folks from Family Break Finder, a UK travel service, have put together a map of every country’s tourism slogan (go here to see the entire slogan list in alphabetical order by country). To me this is totally fascinating from both a travel perspective and international communications perspective. How does a country see…
Although 2014 is still my definitive Year of Travel to date, 2016 will be known as the Year of Accidental Travel. While most of my 2014 trips were deliberate, fairly well-planned and/or well-executed, this year’s journeys were done more in the “fly by the seat of my pants” style. And in the process I set…
So yes, I seem to have skipped right over summer, during which I had managed to pop by London (and Windsor), Paris (first time in 13 years!), Brussels and the Alsace region of France. But most of my free time was spent hopping across the beautiful countryside around Moscow. Please enjoy my IG illustration of those weekend getaways, along with…
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