It was inevitable that one day Scott and I would spend time in Strasbourg. You see, Scott loves Germany almost as much as I love France so, given Strasbourg’s history, this very French city which is full of German flavour is almost the perfect destination for us. While we were confident that we would enjoy […]
Where To Go
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Here’s the third instalment in our Four Days In Paris series and I will admit right up front that four days of shopping in Paris is not going to appeal to every traveller. In fact, I’m guessing that some of Distant Francophile’s most loyal readers have just stopped reading. And I’ll also admit that it […]
It’s time for Part Two in our sporadic Four Days In Paris series (check out Part One here). Some big names, gorgeous gardens and heaps of opportunity to people watch grace this particular itinerary. It’s perfect for travellers who want an authentic experience but who don’t want to exhaust themselves in the process. Day One […]
Close friends of ours are heading back for their third visit to Paris. It’s been a little while since they’ve travelled to the gorgeous city, so they are keen to find out about our favourite spots to shop and to eat. Given they fly next week, I decided that I’d better get my act together […]
A colleague of mine is lucky enough to be spending four days in Paris soon. She has asked if she can catch up with me as she’d like my advice on what she should do while she is there. I’ve been thinking about how best to answer her. And – believe it or not […]
Unsurprisingly, we got a few raised eyebrows when we mentioned we were visiting Barcelona as part of our last trip. Clearly, Barcelona is not in France and everyone knows how desperate I am to spend as much time as I possibly can in France. As a result, since returning home, “How did you go in […]
It’s time for the last instalment in our little ‘do-it-yourself tour of Champagne‘ series. And today I want to share our Ruinart experience with you all. Following our visit to Veuve Clicquot, we walked back into the centre of Reims where we ate lunch and visited the famous cathedral. We then wandered back to Ruinart, […]
I never thought I’d ever be able to name a favourite place in Paris. When we first visited Paris I loved absolutely everything, and equally. But over the years one special Parisian landmark has drawn me back again and again. In fact, it is now the only place I definitely have to spend time in […]
I talk to stacks of people who really, really want to visit France but who, at the same time, are entirely overwhelmed by the entire idea. They are more than a bit put off by things like a lack of French language skills, the challenge of finding decent accommodation and the whole issue of not […]
Ok, so a little while ago I shared how we managed to get ourselves to the Champagne region of France, and how we got around once we were there. Now, let’s get to the good stuff – the Champagne houses themselves. Because we were keen to visit the crayeres or chalk mines, we ended up […]
While this post is still very relevant, just to be sure, we did Another Do-It-Yourself Tour Of Champagne on our last visit to France. You can check it out here. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve always been quite surprised by how long it took us to visit France’s Champagne region. Especially given how much we […]
Well, the French part of this trip is over, and while I can’t say I’m thrilled to be leaving France, I am looking forward to visiting Barcelona for the very first time. Everyone says it is an amazing city. And, I’m incredibly grateful to have spent the past few days in the ancient village of […]
We’ve said à bientôt to Paris for now and have headed south to Tain-l’Hermitage, the stunningly beautiful town which sits comfortably on the banks of the massive Rhône river. Scott and I both fell in love with this part of France during last year’s trip – and we just couldn’t wait to come back. I’m […]
Regular readers will know that Scott and I have been staying in the picturesque, medieval French village of Sancerre. Situated on the very edge of the Loire Valley, perched high on the top of a hill, Sancerre is about two hours from Paris by train. Our primary reason for visiting Sancerre was to enrol in […]
We loved our unplanned visit to Nîmes. It is such a beautiful town, perfectly located in the south of France, and just full of Ancient Roman history. It is easy to get around on foot, and there is so much to see and do while you are there. Given how much I adored the place, […]
People watching is almost an official pass time in Paris. Parisians are happy not only to watch, but also to be watched. Following on from our recent people watching practice session, I thought I would share my top 10 people watching spots in Paris. Les Jardins du Palais Royal. Easily my favourite place to watch […]
I have a confession to make. It took me a very, very long time to learn anything at all about French wine. In fact, I didn’t really get my head around it until about 18 months ago. You see, in Australia wine is labelled by grape variety first, and then the region of Australia the […]
Over all our trips to France, we have now spent 35 nights in Paris. So I’m not all surprised when people suggest that there could be nothing left for us to see. But Paris is such an amazing city, I have a funny feeling that we will never get our entire ‘Paris To Do List’ […]
Over the weekend I suggested that, if you are new to Paris, it might be worth considering a city day tour. I’m happy to take that suggestion a step further and go so far as arguing that day tours are worth considering even when you’re a regular visitor to France. Over the years we’ve […]
People seem to either love or hate guided city tours. But to my mind, there is no better way to get your bearings in a new city. And this includes Paris. Many travellers seem to avoid Paris tours. I think it might be because Paris has such a long list of must-see highlights…if they choose […]