Martigues on the Côte Bleue

15 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

© civodule/cc-by-sa-3.0

© civodule/cc-by-sa-3.0

Martigues (Occitan: Lo Martegue in classical norm, Lou Martegue in Mistralian norm) is a commune northwest of Marseille. It is part of the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region on the eastern end of the Canal de Caronte.   read more…

Hôtel du Palais Biarritz

1 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, House of the Month, Hotels Reading Time:  11 minutes

© flickr.com - Dennis Jarvis/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Dennis Jarvis/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Hôtel du Palais Biarritz is a historic luxury hotel beside the Atlantic beach in the resort town of Biarritz, on the Côte Basque in the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It was originally built for the Empress Eugénie around 1855 as a summer villa. It was due to the visits of the imperial couple that the village of Biarritz developed into a fashionable resort. In 1880, the villa was sold and converted into a hotel casino. It was devastated by fire in 1903, but was lavishly rebuilt and enlarged within the original walls. For many years the hotel attracted the international elite, including members of the European royalty such as King Edward VII, who paid several extended visits. Although the hotel later fell into disrepair, and closed for a period in the 1950s, it has since been refurbished and is again a luxury hotel. The hotel is managed by Hyatt.   read more…

La Ferté Abbey in Saint-Ambreuil

26 December 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

La Ferté Abbey © burgundy-tourism.com

La Ferté Abbey © burgundy-tourism.com

La Ferté Abbey (French: Abbaye de la Ferté; Latin: Firmitas) was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1113 in La Ferté-sur-Grosne in the present commune of Saint-Ambreuil, Saône-et-Loire, France, the first of the four great daughter-houses of Cîteaux Abbey. It was dissolved in 1791.   read more…

Clairvaux Abbey in Ville-sous-la-Ferté

25 December 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Clairvaux Abbey, from 1808 to 2022 Clairvaux Prison © KBWEi

Clairvaux Abbey, from 1808 to 2022 Clairvaux Prison © KBWEi

Clairvaux Abbey (Latin: Clara Vallis, “bright valley”) was a Cistercian monastery in Ville-sous-la-Ferté, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Bar-sur-Aube. The original building, founded in 1115 by Bernard of Clairvaux, is now in ruins; the present structure dates from 1708. Clairvaux Abbey was a good example of the general layout of a Cistercian monastery. The abbey has been listed since 1926 as a historical monument by the French Ministry of Culture. From 1808 until 2022, the grounds were occupied and used by Clairvaux Prison, a high-security prison.   read more…

L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in Southeastern France

14 December 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Mathieu BROSSAIS/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Mathieu BROSSAIS/cc-by-sa-4.0

L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (Occitan: L’Illa de Sòrga or L’Illa de Venissa) is a town and commune on the Sorgue river in Southeastern France. Politically, the commune is in the arrondissement of Avignon within the department of Vaucluse, in the région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.   read more…

Beaulieu-sur-Mer on the French Riviera

30 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, French Riviera Reading Time:  5 minutes

Congress Centre 'La Rotonde' © GraceKelly/cc-by-sa-3.0

Congress Centre ‘La Rotonde’ © GraceKelly/cc-by-sa-3.0

Beaulieu-sur-Mer (Occitan: Bèuluec de Mar; Italian: Belluogo; lit. “Beautiful Place on the Sea”), commonly referred to simply as Beaulieu, is a seaside commune on the French Riviera between Nice and the Principality of Monaco. Located in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, it borders the communes of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Villefranche-sur-Mer, not far from Èze to the northeast. In 2018, Beaulieu-sur-Mer had a population of 3,731. Its inhabitants are called Berlugans (masculine) and Berluganes (feminine).   read more…

Marseille Cathedral

28 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Chabe01/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Chabe01/cc-by-sa-4.0

Marseille Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille or Cathédrale de la Major) is a Roman Catholic cathedral, and a national monument of France, located in Marseille. It has been a basilica minor since 1896. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Marseille (formerly the Diocese of Marseille until its elevation in 1948).   read more…

Halles de Dijon

25 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit, Shopping Reading Time:  4 minutes

© Arnaud 25/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Arnaud 25/cc-by-sa-3.0

The central halls of Dijon are market halls in cast-iron architecture built from 1873 to 1875 in Dijon, Côte-d’Or, in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, France. They have been listed as historic monuments since 1975. The halls of Dijon are surrounded by numerous restaurants and cafés.   read more…

Najac in Occitania

23 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

© Krzysztof Golik/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Krzysztof Golik/cc-by-sa-4.0

Najac is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. Najac station has rail connections to Toulouse, Figeac and Aurillac.   read more…

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