Wafflesand crepes Paris style
15 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
I talked Doug into grabbing some lunch before heading to our next tour. Under the Notre Dame hotel across from the Cathedral that I stayed in last December, there is a waffle and crepe house that IEn savoir plus
Sainte Chapelle
15 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
In early December 2022, I visited Sainte Chapelle after completing my Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Now I got to bring my Douglas to this beautiful church that was originally used only byEn savoir plus
Le Conciergerie
15 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
Next we visited the Conciergerie which used to be a gaol and once housed Marie Antoinette before she was beheaded. Now it is the Palais de Justice or Palace of Justice and has police officers workingEn savoir plus
Escargot anyone?
15 avril 2023, France ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
After a day of sightseeing, we returned to our hotel for our next Gate 1 tour orientation meeting. Our new tour director is Simeon, a Frenchman from the south of France. We have 28 people on this partEn savoir plus
Sunset cruise on the Seine
15 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
Full of escargots, we walked past the Eiffel tower, crossed the street and descended the steps to the river cruise dock where we caught the 8:00 pm boat. Sunset was slated for 8:40 pm, so the timingEn savoir plus
The Eiffel tower at night
15 avril 2023, France ⋅ 🌙 10 °C
In order to get our tickets for the Eiffel tower that let us use the elevator and would take us to the second floor and the summit, I had to book in February, and when I finally got through, there wasEn savoir plus
The Catacombs
16 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
After our late night at the Eiffel tower yesterday, we were glad we could sleep in a bit this morning. Our tickets for the Catacombs had an entry time of 11:00 am, and we had instructions to get thereEn savoir plus
The Arc de Triomphe
16 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
When we first arrived in Paris, we stopped at the Arc de Triomphe for photos, but today we decided to go right up to the top of the arch. We took the M6 metro from the Catacombs stop to L'etoilleEn savoir plus
Montmartre, Sacre Coeur
16 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Tonight we were driven to Montmartre where the Basilica Sacre Coeur is found. The area around the church is filled with artists and this was the place where impressionism was born. Monet, Gauguin andEn savoir plus
Illuminations Tour with wine
16 avril 2023, France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We finished up our visit to Montmartre with a meal at La Bonne Franchette, a restaurant near the foot of the church. To start our dinner, we were served Kir, which is a blackcurrant liqueur mixed withEn savoir plus
Champagne
17 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
This morning we said goodbye to Paris and headed east to the Champagne region. The soil, weather and growing season creates grapes and wine that makes champagne or sparkling wine. Champagne resultsEn savoir plus
Dijon
17 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
After a day of driving, we arrived at Dijon, home of the tasty mustard that I like to cook with. Here we took a walking tour around the historic city centre following our local guide and the metal owlEn savoir plus
Dijon mustard tasting
17 avril 2023, France
Once our guided tour was finished, Doug and I circled back to see some spots more closely. We touched the ancient stone owl on the cathedral with our left hand to get our wish, and then we went into aEn savoir plus
Beaune
18 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
We left our hotel in Dijon by 8:30 am and headed towards Lyon. In the late morning, we arrived at Beaune which is located deep within wine country. Our bus had been following the "Route de Grand Cru"En savoir plus
Marche au Vins, Beaune
18 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
At a private wine cellar named Marche au Vins, we received an explanation about this great wine area. Bottles of wine from here are sold as some of the most expensive wine in the world. Most of theEn savoir plus
Basilica of Fourviere, Lyon
18 avril 2023, France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Lyon was first founded by the Romans high on a hill overlooking the Rhine and Daune rivers. As we climbed the hill in our bus, we passed some Roman ruins and an amphitheater before coming to theEn savoir plus
Cathedral Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Lyon
18 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Late afternoon brought us to the Saint Jean the Baptist Cathedral in Lyon, where I found my familiar Camino scallop shell on the sidewalk. Many pilgrims start their walking their Camino de Santiago inEn savoir plus
Aix-en-Provence
19 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
This morning we boarded our bus at 8:00 am and headed south to Aix-en-Provence, which is an area known for lavender fields, fields of fresh produce, ratatouille and almonds. It is also famous forEn savoir plus
Mary Magdalene at St. Baume
19 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
As we continued on our trip, we passed by the municipality of Plan-d'Aups-Sainte-Baume, which became the sanctuary of Mary Magdalene in France. She traveled here by boat and evangelized the area, andEn savoir plus
Fragonard perfume factory, Grasse
19 avril 2023, France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
On our way to Juan les Pins, Antibes, we made a stop at the town of Grasse to visit the Fragonard perfume factory. We learned a bit about making fragrances, such as it takes one tonne of flowers toEn savoir plus
St. Paul de Vence, the walled city
20 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
We traveled about an hour from Juan les Pins to St. Paul de Vence, which is a fortified city high up in the hills on the edge of the Alps. In medieval times, this city was on the border between whatEn savoir plus
Saint-Paul-de-Vence, the city of Art
20 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Saint,-Psul-en-Vence was a haven for artists and in particular, Marc Chagall lived here and is now buried here. Art abounds within these walls and everywhere we looked there were paintings orEn savoir plus
Sur le Pont d'Avignon
21 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
This morning I sang "Sur le pont d'Avignon, on l'a dance, on l'a dance. Sur le pont d'Avignon, on l'a dance tous le monde." to Doug as we left our hotel room. After hearing and singing that song forEn savoir plus
Palace of the Popes
21 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
After a bit of an explanation about d'Avignon, our tour director, Simeon, left us to explore on our own in this walled city. After eating our sandwiches for lunch in the main square, Doug and I walkedEn savoir plus
Avignon
21 avril 2023, France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Doug and I returned to the square where we had eaten lunch near the old fashioned merry-go-round and I bought a print of Avignon surrounded by lavender fields in bloom from an artist selling hisEn savoir plus





































































































































































































































































