XVIII. Potsdam
The town is bigger than I'd remembered and it took a while to get from place to place. We managed to get to Potsdam just after the Neues Palais (1769) opened. At the moment, the only palace you need an allotted time for beforehand is Sanssouci. Here they give you a time on the spot. We got our ticke...
XVII. Berlin
21-8 We were staying near the zoo and Tiergarten, which would be useful tomorrow morning. We arrived at 5ish and our mission, which we chose to accept, was to walk 49 mins to Momo's, an organic restaurant on the Chausseestraße (off Friedrichstraße) that specialises in vegetarian dumplings; in fact,...
XVI. Monaco (The Principality)
Did you know that there is one policeman for every 60 residents here. To become a Monégasque you need to be wealthy and be well connected. The Prince's palace and the exotic gardens were unfortunately closed to the CORONA crisis. We had tickets booked to see the Musée Océanographique de Monaco (1910...
XV. Cannes, Provence
15-8 Our short day trip to Cannes went as follows. We turned up at the tourist office at ten on the dot. It wasn't a really surprise that the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès (1949) tour was not on today, as it only takes place 2/3 times per year, for some unknown reason. Still, outside, you can...
XIV. Nice, Provence (Henri-Matisse)
13-8 In Nice, we attempted to visit the Chagall museum, to be told in no uncertain terms, that they would 'evacuate the museum 15 minutes before the building closed. So instead of us having 30 mins we would have had 15 - and as it is quite a big place - we decided against it. Ah well - we'd taken th...
XIII. Aix-en-Provence, Provence (Paul Cezanne)
12-8 We got the bus quite early - they run every 15 mins and are extremely good value; 1 hr each way for 10 Euros return! We picked up a Cezanne walking tour map at the tourist office and began to take in the sights, i.e. where Cezanne (1839-1906) studied and the Granet museum, which include quite a...
XII. Arles, Provence (Vincent van Gogh)
We spent some time seeking out the points of reference that make up the Van Gogh (1853-1890) walking tour. He lived here between 1888-1889 and had lived in 'the yellow house' with fellow artist Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), which is one of his well known paintings. Sadly, the building was blown to smith...
XI. Marseille, Provence
9-8 We arrived later than planned, but early enough to check in and rush to the port in a vain attempt to get tickets for the boat and sail over to Chateau D'If. I'd already pre-booked the museum, but it turned out that it's closed until Tuesday. So we'd rushed for nothing. Instead, we made our way...
X. Albi, Occitanie (Henri-Toulouse Lautrec)
After our super duper brekky in the courtyard at the hotel, we caught the 9.17 train to Albi. This town is famous for two things; one of the most remarkable gothic buildings in France; St Cecile (1282), and it's red brick, and, secondly, Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), the great, gifted post impressio...
IX. Toulouse, Occitanie
6-8 We walked to the hotel in 15 mins and had just enough time to visit the 16th century Hotel Asselzat with a Louis XIV room and works by such greats as Boudin, Monet, Picasso and Tintoretto. We were very impressed by the elaborate rooms and world class paintings. Next, we had a drink at the Main S...
VIII. Bordeaux, Aquitaine
4-8 We arrived at Hotel Valance, which, is actually a hotel management centre, so there are trainees to be aware of and the service is of a very high standard. The room is ultra modern and they are eco friendly here for the most part. Breakfast needs to be chosen from a list and the card put on the...
VII. Chenonceaux-Orleans, Loire Valley
3-8 The trains to Chenonceaux are frustratingly few and far between. We caught the 9.15 and it was drizzling when we arrived. We still had to queue despite having pre-booked tickets. I was able to recollect the façade on the water and the long corridor with the chess board pattern inside along with...
VI. Blois-Chambord, Loire Valley
2-8 After brekky, we headed to the confusingly named Blois-Chambord station, while Chambord is 20 KM away - anyway more on that soon. We walked past the Novotel in Blois, which must have been the one I'd stayed out oh so long ago. The monumental spiral staircase triggered a memory for sure. As did t...
V. Amboise, Loire Valley (Leonardo Da Vinci)
1-8 Lunch was a Subway sandwich, which we brought with us to have once we arrived, which is exactly what we did after our brief train ride I hadn't been in this neck of the woods for about 30 years, so it would be interesting to see if I remembered anything - the Clos Luce inventions certainly rang...
IV. Tours, Loire Valley
31-7 Tours is the best base camp for Chateaux hopping. We arrived at the art deco Grand Hotel (1927) which was excellent value one minute from the train station, which would come in handy. La Gare (1846) is a piece of art in itself by the way. The lady at the hotel checked us in early without any fu...
III. Essoyes, Grand Est (Pierre-August Renoir)
30-7 Today's adventure really begun when we arrived at Vendeuvre-sub-Barse station. This was one of the times when things didn't seem to be going our way; there were no taxis at the station and, at the town hall, the lady, who kindly called around, couldn't get us to Essoyes, a mere 24.9 KM away. We...
II. Troyes, Grand Est
29-7 Lunch had been organic sandwiches during a stopover at a park across from the Gare d'Est, Paris. We had 3 hours to see the sights today and started with the Maison de l'Outil et de la Pensée Ouvrière (1556), a remarkable building, built in the Tudor revival style. Inside, the collection of 11,0...
I. Reims, Champagne Ardennes
27-7 Our journey began in Leiden, where we took the Intercity to Rotterdam, then Thalys to Brussels-Zuid and then on to Marne La Val Ches (incidentally, the last of which is a real mouthful); this is where Disneyland Paris is located, followed by Champagnes Ardennes (the station not the region), and...