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Europe September 2024

September 2024
  • Ella Balagula
A 20-day adventure by Ella Read more
  • Ella Balagula

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  • Italy Italy
  • Vatican City Vatican City
  • Slovenia Slovenia
  • France France
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  • Ella BalagulaTravelerEurope September 2024
    One of private residencies from the 15-16 centuries
    One of many Wallace fountains that were installed to give people access to fresh clean waterThe two 13 century buildings that are thought to be the oldest in Paris11Another private residence that is a government building now11112Beautiful park in Marais1This book was "only" 100 years old1

    Tour of Marais neighborhood

    Aug 30–31, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We arrived to Paris on Friday afternoon, and after napping (me) and working (Igor), we went to our first milonga which was in a nice studio ballroom, but the level of dancers was unimpressive, and we didn’t stay very late. On Saturday morning, despite the jet lag, we embarked on two (!!) 2+ hours each VoiceMap tours. The first one was of Marais neighborhood. Part of it used to be Jewish area with many nice falafel restaurants and large 15th century mansions that now are government buildings. They are called hotels particulaires because hotels is basically any building and particulaire means private. We walked through some beautiful small parks and even stopped by at a public library that features a lot of very old books, many of which are easily accessible. We then had our first of upcoming many buckwheat Brittany type savory crepe (finishing with the sweet crepe)! The highly rated cafe Breizh has several locations (a spoiler - we visited all of them! 🙈)Read more

  • Ella BalagulaTravelerEurope September 2024
    Amore mural with I love You in many languages
    The man who could walk through wallsFrench love their bachi ball!1Steps of Montmartre2Tofu marinated for 8 hours! Delicious

    Tour of Monmartre

    August 31, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    After lunch, we decided that we still had time and energy for another VoiceMap tour and went to explore Montmartre, with the same guide that we quite liked. We really liked to learn different stories and tales about this Bohemian areas, including the one about the man who could walk through walls, and eventually got stuck in one wall. This was commemorated in a cool statue. We walked through narrow streets, small parks, and eventually came to a large church with the famous steps of Montmartre hill. We then went back home, for dinner at a small modern Vietnamese place, where we had delicious chicken pho, duck dumplings and tofu marinated for 8 hours and topped with hazelnuts. In the evening, we went to a milonga, but had a funny adventure. Apparently we miscommunicated and went to the address that was located in a different area of Paris, as there are two of exactly same street, and it’s not a Main Street 🤣. Getting to the right address would take another hour and it was already quite late, so we decided to go to a very small milonga in a cafe very close to our hotel, and it ended up being a wonderful surprise - very small intimate cafe with just a few couples dancing, very Belle Epoque vibe. We had such a magical evening that I sadly forgot to take any fotos!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaTravelerEurope September 2024
    Beautiful old clock
    The details on the stained glass are incredibleNotre DameGreat organ concertVery cool and unique experience of watching the organist in actionDancing on the boat

    VoiceMap tours galore continued

    September 1, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Today we did another two VoiceMap tours. We started with the tour of the island where all the history of Paris is concentrated. We stopped by at the magnificent Saint Chapelle with the mind boggling stained glass. We both have been there before, but couldnt miss a chance to marvel at it again for a long time. We then walked around Norte Dame, where the restoration after the fire is still ongoing. They wanted to open it in time for the Paris Olympics but didn’t, and now are saying it’s December 2024. After listening about a lot of history, we were ready to listen about food and took a VoiceMap tour of the Les Halles, which was a food themed tour. We stopped by at some bakeries but sadly many great stores were closed because it was Sunday. We stopped by at a beautiful cathedral and were treated to an unexpected surprise - an hour long organ concert! The cool part was that we could see the organist up and close. We had delicious crepes and then in the evening went to a very cool milonga on a parked boat! It was great - fantastic music, good dancers and great atmosphere!Read more

  • Ella BalagulaTravelerEurope September 2024
    This is Picasso bust of a guy who stole Mona Lisa. Google itYet another buckwheat crepeLuxembourg palace inside the Luxembourg gardenThe garden is really stunningDelicious escargot in the edible bread shellsDuck two ways

    St Germaine and Louxemburg Garden

    September 2, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Surprise! Today we also did two VoiceMap tours. We started with the tour of St Germaine which is a really beautiful and hip neighborhood, where we saw many interesting sites. My favorite was a story how Picasso was framed as if he stole Mona Lisa from the Louvre, which he of course didn’t. The thief was named Apollinaire. Google it! We then went on a tour of the nearby Luxembourg gardens, which were absolutely gorgeous and we spent a pleasant hour strolling through the gardens and listening to the stories. We had yet another buckwheat crepe for lunch, again at a Cafe Breizh, this time in a St Germaine location. In the evening, we went for a delicious dinner in a small restaurant in Marais.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaTravelerEurope September 2024
    Beautiful D'Orsay
    From the museum, we could see the Olympic flame balloonGreat views of Notre DameA gargoyle on a church in Latin QuarterMany churches have these amazing stained glassMilongaPacked milonga

    Musee D’Orsay and Latin Quarter

    September 3, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We started the day with the long awaited and wanted visit to the Musee D’Orsay. We entrusted the guiding duty to our old friend Rick Steve, but I found his tour of the museums highlights to be quite light. In addition, despite the timed entries, the museum was quite crowded, to the point that it was hard to enjoy the paintings. Finally, we didn’t love the fact that all the artists were mixed up together, while we felt that the likes of Monet and Renoir would be better off in separate rooms. So, after 1.5 hrs, we left a bit unsatisfied. We will just have to come back one day, hopefully off-season and with a regular audio guide. We then did a VoiceMap tour of Latin Quarter which was very nice. And we capped the evening with a milonga upstairs of a large restaurant La Cardinal. It was quite packed and tight (I guess crowded was the theme of the day) but we had a nice time dancing.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaTravelerEurope September 2024
    Beautiful Pompadour
    Eiffel Tower from the Pompadour escalatorThe view of the hill of MonmartreSome more Monmartre from the inside of the buildingOne of my favorite Dali paintings - it was in the section on Dreams1I just loved this painting. Grinding star dust in the meat grinder and spoon feeding the MoonThe grave of Oscar WildeAmazing Edith PiafSarah Bernhardt was the most famous actress of her timeThere was a giant crematorium on site and many colonnades with urnsOne of the urns belongs to Isadora Duncan, a famous dancer with very interesting history

    Surrealists and famous dead people

    September 4, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Today Igor had to work and I was on my own the whole day, so I started my morning at the Center Pompadour where it was the first opening day for an extensive exhibit on Surrealism. As I went up the giant escalator on the side of the building and from the high floors, I was treated to amazing views of the city. The exhibit was truly fascinating, divided by 13 themes that influenced surrealists, such as Dreams, Dark Forests, Cosmos, Alice in Wonderland or Eros. The selections of paintings were also incredible, and I didn’t even notice that I spent over 2.5 hours there. After the exhibit, I ate delicious Taiwanese chicken dumplings nearby, and embarked on the exploration of the famous Pere Lachaise cemetery where many notable figures are resting. There was a Rick Steve tour, but it seemed light and I was a bit burnt by the lightness of his D’Orsay tour so I decided to go with VoiceMap. There were 3 separate tours of various sections of the cemetery, 1 hour each. After an hour of wandering around the graves, and listening to fascinating stories about famous people, I got a bit tired and decided that I need to leave something to return to on future visits to Paris and call it a day. The cemetery reminded me of Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires, just a bit less posh perhaps. In the evening, I went to probably the best milonga in Paris and really enjoyed dancing! I was hoping to have a “Last Tango in Paris” with Igor, but he sadly had to work and couldn’t come. Overall, incredible 5 days in Paris and we were ready to leave to the next chapter of our French adventure.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaTravelerEurope September 2024
    Main palace of the city
    The cathedralThe front facade is very beautiful and unique, with numerous columnsStained glass insideThe infamous owlThis is typical Dijon house design

    Dijon - not just the mustard!

    September 5, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    This morning we left Paris and drove a couple of hours to Dijon, a beautiful city on the way to Lyon, where our encuentro would take place nearby. I took a VoiceMap walking tour around the city and enjoyed its old charm beautiful. Indeed, Dijon is not just where a famous mustard recipe originated from, but also home to old building and palaces. I admired its beautiful cathedral, with gorgeous stained glass. For some unknown reason the church is famous for a small sculpture of an owl on one of its walls, which became the symbol of the city. Apparently if you rub the owl (but only with your left hand!) all the life’s goodies will be bestowed upon you. I reluctantly obliged.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaTravelerEurope September 2024
    The rebuilt abbey
    Beautiful winding streetsClearly a medieval building that is reconstructed now into an art galleryTypical cluny architecture had columned windowsAnother 15th century buildingView into the abbey

    Medieval village of Cluny

    September 6, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We left Dijon in the morning and drove to Vienne, outside of Lyon, where our encuentro was being held. But on the way, we stopped at the medieval village of Cluny for a VoiceMap tour. Cluny had a giant abbey but it was destroyed during the French Revolution, which was going after the church. What is left of the abbey are just some buildings that were rebuilt in the 19tb century. But the village itself has lots of medieval buildings, some of which are being restored, and some that are in not so great condition. Very small and beautiful place and we really enjoyed walking around and soaking in the stories and the medieval magic.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaTravelerEurope September 2024
    We found a very cool brunch place and went twice
    Bridge over the RhôneSunday brunch potluck styleMy new friend Vodka

    French encuentro

    Sep 7–9, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    From Cluny we drove to Vienne, a small town not too far from Lyon. Apparently there were massive Roman ruins that we discovered only on the last day, and a cool looking museum on French Gaelic culture. We didn’t have time to go to the museum but walked around the ruins. We found some pretty good food - a great brunch place where we went twice (and ordered the same things 🤣) and a delicious Armenian (how random!) restaurant for dinner. In the brunch place I made friends with a tiny 3-months old Frenchie, named Vodka!! The encuentro was in a beautiful restored medieval building, facing the river. It was (only) 4 milongas, as opposed to usual 6-7 over the long weekend. It was mostly attended by the French and some Germans, and we were just astounded by the incredibly high level of dancing, given that most people came from smaller French towns. On Sunday there was a huge potluck style brunch, but we only came towards the end for desserts because most of it was very pork heavy. Not speaking French was also a bit of a challenge, severely limiting our communication abilities. Overall, we had an amazing time dancing and by the end of Sunday were ready to leave with our hearts full.Read more

  • Ella BalagulaTravelerEurope September 2024
    Water wheel for the millsThe water wheels remained on the river from the medieval agesMassive Palace of the PopesCourtyard of the palacePalace gardenOne of the palace courtyardsGiant reception hallView from the palaceView from the palace rooftopFamous bridge of AvignonA very stylish and poised fashionable French catThe square outside of the Palace of PopesThe palace in the golden light

    Avignon and the Palace of the Popes

    September 9, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We decided to spend a couple of days exploring Provence, one of the few regions in France that we never visited before. On Monday morning we left Vienne and drove a couple of hours south to Avignon. We didn’t really know much about it, and I was distressed that there was no VoiceMap tour. But apparently, Avignon once was the center of the Roman Catholic Church
    and all the Popes for about 100 years moved from Vatican to Avignon. Not entirely sure why they decided on Avignon, but naturally they needed to build a place for them to stay and the result was a massive and gorgeous Palace of the Popes. The interior unfortunately been all destroyed or looted during the French Revolution, but the palace itself is in great condition. And it’s enormous ! I spent a couple of hours exploring it and relaxing in its tranquil garden. In the evening we took a one hour quick walking tour of the center and saw the famous Avignon bridge (its original from the 11th century) and walked around the city.    Read more

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