Wonderful Lyon
by Laura Glendinning A friend who went for a gap year in Lyon said he would never live anywhereelse if he returned to France. This amazed me. Not Paris? Then other friendsfrom Provence, who had always skirted Lyon via highway as they headed torelatives for the summer, wondered why anyone would even get off the highway tosee it. Now I really had to visit. All due respect to my Provence friends. You are wrong.What a lovely place Lyon is. High speed rail from Paris brings you to the central station within 90minutes. From there it’s easy enough to walk the city. If it’s reallypouring, take a cab…
France and Cheese, A Match Made in Heaven
by Laura Glendinning England has cheddar, Italy has Parmesan, Holland has Gouda, Greece has Feta and France has Roquefort, Camembert, Brie, Comte, Gruyere, and, well you get the idea. As Charles de Gaulle once asked “how can you govern a country in which there are 246 kinds of cheese?” Make that at least 1200 and some say 2000. You won’t ever taste it all, but you can try! Cheesemaking goes back to the Egyptians, according to some archeologists, and spread throughout the ancient world via trade routes. In Europe, after the fall of the Romans and the descent of the Dark Ages, cheese was considered peasant food at best and…
The Wonderful Louvre in A Nutshell
All about the Louvre museum in Paris Though the Eiffel Tower represents the very spirit of Paris, the Louvre Museum is all about the story of France. After all, it began as a fortress (by Philip the II in the 12th century ), was converted to a palace (by Francis the I), and became a storage place for the crown’s treasures when Louis XIV moved the Royal household to Versailles after Paris got too built-up and, as European cities were in those days, disease-ridden. Versailles became a symbol of all that had to change during the French Revolution in 1789. It was liberated by the people, the Royals were…
Day Tour From Paris Booking FAQ’s
Answers to common Link Paris booking FAQ’s. If you have a question not addressed here please email ( [email protected] ) or call us toll free at 1-866-427-4882 (Calling from outside the USA? Click here). I just booked online. Is the invoice I received my tour confirmation and voucher? No. Prior to your travel date, you will receive an email with full instructions on meeting your tour guide. Tour vouchers and rail tickets (if included) will be sent as PDF files via email. They will need to be printed out as it is your actual tour and train tickets. I want to do a tour tomorrow. Can that be done? We need two days…
Visit Magnificent Provence with Link Paris
Visit Provence, the perfect add-on to a Paris vacation. Provence is a lot like Southern California, if you added old Roman roads and darling rocky hilltop villages to the mix. Topanga Canyon is wonderful, but it isn’t Arles. Visit Provence with us! France has a designation for its small towns of “charm and character”: Les Plus Beaux Villages de France or the most beautiful villages of France. The region has an awful lot of them. Among them are Gordes, Menherbes and most of towns in the Luberon region. And how do you feel about food? You are in France so we assume “feed me well” is your mantra. The region will gladly load you…
Why us Instead of the Bus?
Link Paris’ Small Group D-DAY TOUR vs. The Big Bus Tours Link Paris: Rail from Paris to Caen takes 2 hours. Big Bus: The ride from Paris to Caen is 3 1/2 hours without traffic. Link Paris: Linkparis.com tours have a maximum of 8 people per group with an English speaking guide that details places and things that are relevant to the Normandy beaches and invasion. Big Bus: Tour buses from Paris can have up to 50 passengers. Commentary often given in different languages. Even if the commentary is in English it goes on and on and on….
Why us Instead of the Bus to Mont Saint Michel?
Mont St. Michel Day Tour Comparison LinkParis.com was founded on the idea of offering semi-private tours to destinations outside of Paris. Our competitors offer tours from Paris to Mont St. Michel literally by the bus load. So here are the main differences between us and them. Link Paris: Eight people per group maximum. English speaking driver/guide. Competition: Large bus, many languages. Link Paris: Five hours total rail time. Our guide will meet you at the rail station. Train is non-stop from Paris to Rennes. Train has a great snack bar. Competition: Ten hours of driving roundtrip. Includes stops at the vendors “preferred” rest areas and restaurants. Link Paris: See Mont St. Michel, Dinan and St.…
Traveling to Europe with Kids and Teens
by Laura Glendinning In my childhood we did vacations but they generally involved visiting relatives or showing relatives around when they visited us. That meant three destinations. Somewhere in Texas (we lived in Houston). Somewhere in Michigan (where my grandparents lived), or Wisconsin (where my cousins lived.) We saw the Alamo a lot, visited the Kellogg’s cereal factory in Battle Creek and ate cheese near the shores of Lake Michigan. And there was one family trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras thanks to the neighbor girl and I being fast friends. Her family was from Baton Rouge. Her big brother could spit ten feet! He said “thow” instead of…
Discover Brittany: Travel in the Footsteps of Brittany’s Artists
The French Ministry of Culture has designated eight cities in Brittany as national “cities of art and history” for their contributions to the culture and beauty of France. They are: Quimper, Auray, Vannes, Rennes, Fougères, Vitré, Dinan, and Saint-Malo. For more than two centuries, Brittany has inspired artists from all over the globe, and today it remains one of the most popular French regions for artists. Artists founded colonies at Concarneau, Pont-Aven, and Douarnenez. In the 1860s, the American artists Henry Bacon, Robert Wylie, and others traveled from Philadelphia through Paris to Brittany in search of fresh inspiration and established themselves in Pont-Aven. Other famous artists like Émile Bernard, Henry…
The Normandy D-Day Tour Stops
The sites you’ll see on our standard Normandy D-Day tour from Paris. Back to the Normandy D-Day Tour page. Arromanches The modest fishing and resort town of Arromanches was a key toehold for the Allies on June 6. Remnants of so-called “Mulberrys” remain off shore, where the rough seas of the bay were tamed enough to keep ships anchored and maintain a supply chain for the troops. Visitors to Arromanches, located at what was code named Gold Beach, will appreciate seeing the huge undertaking of the invasion from the cliff top perspective. Interestingly, the town and bay have been important strategically to successive waves of Celts, Gauls and Vikings. The American Cemetery…