We’d been to Nantes before but only as an overnight stop between trains, never venturing much further than to a hotel right outside of the station. Now we were going to spend a week there, with plenty of time to explore this historic city and discover some of its Breton heritage, from the Château des Ducs de Bretagne to the numerous museums and the beautiful Jardin des Plantes. Given that our vacation apartment was a 5-minute walk from that château, that would have been a logical starting point for our first day but we had loftier plans in mind.  That is, the Great Elephant (featured photo above) at the Machines de l’île, standing 12 meters (39 feet) high, 8 meters (26 feet) wide and 21 meters (69 feet) long!

We’ve been to the Netherlands a few times and on any of those visits that happened to be in the early spring we were always on the lookout for blooming tulips. In fact, on one trip at exactly this week of the year we went twice to Keukenhof, described as “The most beautiful spring garden in the world”. They showcase 7 million spring-flowering bulbs with probably none better known than the tulip. There are express buses that go directly from downtown Amsterdam to the garden, some passing by endless fields of yellows, reds, pinks, and purples, and maybe even the elusive black flowers. What we didn’t realize until recently was that some of those bulbs that end up in the Netherlands actually start out here in France.

We’re not opera fans so it surprised me when Bill said that he was ordering tickets to the opulent 19th-century Parisian theater, Opera Garnier. We do enjoy architecture, however, so it all made sense when he explained that in planning for a trip to Paris we would now be going on a guided tour inside the beautiful building that we’d admired from the street in front and from the Galeries Lafayette department store rooftop, 8 stories up. Since we would not be attending a performance, I should probably call the theater by its alternative and perhaps more prestigious-sounding name, the Palais Garnier.