Category Archives: FRANCE

Vicarious Visit: October in Paris

Posted on November 3, 2017 by

WHAT’S THE NEXT BEST THING to a trip to Paris? A friend’s trip to Paris, when you get to see pictures and hear about meals and fortuitous conversations and the discovery of unusual shops and forgotten streets. These images came … Continue reading →

Posted in FRANCE, PARIS, TRAVEL | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Candy-Colored Menton

Posted on March 21, 2015 by

HOW DID I END UP IN MENTON, France, of all possible places I could have roosted for two unplanned nights between Nice and Milan? It was a default decision, but I’m not sorry. Candy-colored Menton was a treat. My original … Continue reading →

Posted in FRANCE, GARDENS & GARDENING, TRAVEL | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Side Trip: Ephrussi Garden, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

Posted on March 20, 2015 by

FROM NICE LAST TUESDAY, when clouds reigned, I took a half-hour bus ride up into the hills above the coast (itself worth it for the views). I was headed to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, where the Baroness Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, between 1905 … Continue reading →

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Nice in the Sun

Posted on March 19, 2015 by

THE SUN CAME OUT on my last full day in Nice, and so did the people. On the streets, in the cafés, on the beach, even, in full-on sunbathing mode — it’s as if a switch was thrown somewhere that … Continue reading →

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Nice in the Rain

Posted on March 17, 2015 by

THE BRITISH UPPER CLASSES and Russian aristocracy, in search of sun, made the city of Nice, on France’s Mediterranean coast, their winter playground in the late 19th century. Most of the city’s pale or pastel-colored buildings date from that Belle Époque … Continue reading →

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Side Trip to Nimes

Posted on March 15, 2015 by

ARLES IS CHARMING, funky and a bit rundown. Nearby Nîmes, on the other hand, which I visited for a few hours Saturday afternoon, is elegant and polished. That was a surprise when I stepped out of the train station after … Continue reading →

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Eclectic Arles

Posted on March 14, 2015 by

A THEME IS EMERGING here. I didn’t plan it, but I seem to be following the Via Domitia — the road between Rome and its colonies in Gaul. Arles and Nimes (which I visited today; it will be the subject … Continue reading →

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