In the last blog post we talked about our “slow travel” discovery of canal cruising in France. On four different trips, with the barge as our floating hotel, we’ve been on excursions to châteaux, museums, champagne caves, and fascinating historical sites. Back on the boat we enjoyed all of our meals, an open bar, and even learned how to make Chantilly that we might otherwise call whipped cream. While each waterway vacation shared similarities, there were enough differences to make them unique and encourage us to try another. When an advertisement for a trip on the canal de Bourgogne (Burgundy) arrived, we took a look at the port stops and the planned excursions to see if we could arrange something comparable on our own using the train.

Continue reading “Do-it-yourself land cruise: the experience”

Just like the sailors in the Broadway musical, “On the Town”, who sang of New York, “We’ve got one day here and not another minute to see the famous sights!”, Bill and I had the same in  Niort. We were spending the week in nearby Poitiers with chances to visit a few other towns in the area. Adding to our collection of blog posts with “pun-ny” names like the one about asparagus from northwest France called “Brittany Spears” and the springtime fruits of “Kumquat May”, today’s story title was inevitable. With the song lyrics promising, “We’ll find the romance and danger waiting in it…” we were off on a new adventure.

Continue reading “Niort, Niort, what a wonderful town”

Whenever we’re watching our favorite French TV travel show, Les 100 lieux qu’il faut voir (The 100 Places You Must See), Bill keeps his phone handy for two reasons. When a destination looks interesting, he first locates it on an online map to determine if there is a train station in town and if so, he then adds it to our ever-growing list entitled, “Want to Go”. While that initial map check lets us know if we can get there on public transportation, it doesn’t always guarantee that it will be on a train. Despite a train station building still existing, the tracks might no longer be in use and often now serves instead as the central bus stop. Such was the case for two towns around Poitiers, where we were staying for a week to discover that area of the country.

Continue reading “TV picture perfect: Chauvigny & Parthenay”

When I was preparing for my French citizenship interview, one of the sources that I studied was the Livret du Citoyen, the government’s official publication for those who wish to become naturalized citizens. It highlights the country’s principles, values, language, culture, and history. In that last category, under “Antiquity”, the booklet mentions the arrival of the Romans around 50 BC and shows a photo of the theater in Orange that’s still standing—and in use—after 2,000 years, today’s featured photo across the top above. We’d visited other cities like Nîmes and Lyon that have substantial Roman ruins but since Orange was included in this authoritative text as an essential piece of history, we quickly added that to our “must see” list.

Continue reading “Roman ruins in Orange”