A chronicle of a one day visit from Paris to the Loire Valley When I was a kid I considered Europe to be a place where knights and damsels and castles were still the way people lived, with some peasants picturesquely gathering wheat in the background of a jousting tournament.  There was definitely a guy with a lute hovering nearby. How that exactly makes sense given you have to take a plane to get there, well, that is kid logic.  The Europeans don’t take planes.  We do! It’s a big Medieval Times restaurant, right? You could just about think that on a trip to the Loire Valley, which has 300…

The Founding of Paris, France: How old is the city? In the late 3rd century BC, a tribe of Celtic Gauls called the Parisii founded Paris on the land now known as Île de la Cité. After centuries of conflict between the Gauls and Romans, Julius Caesar’s legions seized control of the region in 52 BC. Christianity arrived in the 2nd century AD, and the 5th century saw the end of Roman rule with the arrival of the Franks. In 508 AD, Clovis I, the Frankish king, united Gaul as a kingdom and established Paris as the capital, naming it in honor of the original Parisii tribe. Paris prospered during…

A chronicle of our day tour from Paris to Caen and the Normandy beaches Hail had hit Paris the night before my trip to Normandy, and the morning dawned cold.  It was April, so I don’t even want to think about what February was like that year.   I was wearing a long coat, turtleneck, a scarf, no gloves (this will matter later), and warm shoes and socks.  It’s what a California dweller like myself will wear when it hits 63 degrees.  I was off to Normandy for a D-Day tour, well aware that in 1944, the weather was equally dismal and it was June. Should I have packed snowshoes? These…

All about Versailles – France’s most important chateau The Palace of Versailles served as the royal residence of France for over a century, from 1682 until the onset of the French Revolution in 1789. Originally, Louis XIII constructed a modest hunting lodge in the village of Versailles, just outside Paris, in 1624. This humble structure would later be transformed into one of the world’s most lavish and extravagant buildings. Louis XIV, known as the “Sun King,” who famously declared, “L’Etat, c’est moi” (“I am the state”), made the palace his home. Following in his footsteps, both Louis XV and Louis XVI also resided in this magnificent castle. The creation of…

A journey to discover the best food in France Most of Europe lives on bread, cheese and some form of ham and sausage. They are the staples of the continent. So why then is it all so fantastic in France?  Why is France above the rest?  Pipe down, Italians, you know it’s true (even though I’ve never had a bad meal in Italy!).  I love focaccia, but who thought of the croissant? No one but the French.  Spain’s mancheca cheese is awesome.  Plus tapas.  But the sheer variety and fancifulness of French food is beyond compare. As for pastries. Sorry Britain, ten types of custard and mince pie is not even on the…

Why not spend a week or two in France?  Or more?  There is a lot to see. It’s the biggest country in Europe, besides Russia and Ukraine of course.   With mountains (the Alps), amazing coastlines (the Mediterranean and the Atlantic), rivers (the Seine and Saone among many) and rolling hills of picturesque castles, farmland and adorable villages, it is a jewel on earth. And it has been kept that way by the people themselves, who cared about their crops, their way of life and their customs long before national preservation led the way in creating UNESCO sites and the like.  Did French history preserve art and wine or vice versa? …