Tag: France

Travel Guide – Exploring Europe in 4 weeks

Europe travel guide

Travelling across Europe, especially in summer, can be an exciting adventure. This is a brief guide on how to do it based on our own real life experience. The guide is primarily geared toward residents from North America but applicable for most travelers flying into Europe. The travels in this guide took place between 2015 and 2019.

Planning

To prepare, you should start planning at least 6-7 months ahead. A helpful resource for planning is Rick Steves Europe Travel Guide and his audio guide and books.

We use hotels.com and AirBnB for accommodation, Kayak for airlines, Duolingo app for foreign language learning, Viator/TripAdvisor for guided tours, Man in seat61 for train connections and Google Search for train, maps and attractions. Make sure you have an international plan with your wireless carrier for your smartphone. Verizon and T-Mobile has the most Europe friendly plans in our experience. For best price and availability, book ahead by at least following timeline:

  • International flights: 3-5 months
  • Long distance Trains: 3 months
  • Flights within EU: 2-3 months
  • Car Rental: 6-8 weeks
  • Hotels/AirBnB: 4-6 weeks
  • Guided Tours: 4-6 weeks
  • Local Trains: 2 weeks

It is better to book the international flight first so you know where to fly in and then plan remaining itinerary.

Places to Visit

The sites visited and the accompanying video blog series are described in my blog Best Of Europe. When in a site, use your smartphone and Google map as much as needed to get the most out of your visit.

The roadmap

Visiting all these sites in a single trip is possible if you have 4-6 weeks in hand. Below is a suggested itinerary.

1. Fly into Europe via A) London, Then take a flight to Vienna, Austria. Or B) fly to Vienna directly.

2. Take a guided day trip from Vienna to Budapest, Hungary. Explore Vienna as well.

3. Take an OBB train from Vienna to Salzburg for a half day tour. Then a scenic train trip from Salzburg to Munich.

4. Take a day trip from Munich into Bavaria exploring Oberammergau, Linderhof and Newscheinstein. Then head to Zurich via train and enjoy the scenic Rhine river valley and nearby Basel and Rheinfelden.

5. Fly or take train from Zurich to Milan. Take a day tour to Lake Como. Then explore Milan before heading to Venice by train.

6. Explore Venice, then take the train to Florence. Explore Florence. Then take a day trip of Tuscany covering Siena, Pisa and San Giminano.

7a. Head to Genoa by train. Then take a Mediterranean cruise from Genoa or Savona exploring Marseilles, Nice, Monaco and Barcelona. Take day excursions from the cruise ports. Then fly to Marseilles. An alternative to cruise is available in next step.

7b. If skipping cruise then fly from Milan or Florence to Nice. Then explore the Riviera (Nice, Monaco, Ezze, Cannes) by car.

8. Rent the car (preferably automatic and German) from the airport. Then explore Provence by car including Avignon, Arles and Niemes.

9. Fly from Marseilles or Nice to Madrid. Explore Madrid. Then take the train to Seville. Explore Andalusian sites like Ronda, White Villages, Granada via guided day tours. Then head back to Madrid via Cordoba in Train. Spend half or a full day in Cordoba to explore. From Madrid take a flight to Paris.

10. In Paris explore the beautiful city as well as nearby Versailles. Take guided tour to nearby Champagne region or Normandy.

11. Then fly or take the train to London. Explore London. If your entry to Europe was in Vienna then fly back to Vienna. Finally, head back home!

Travel – Best of Europe

Travel 50+ sites in Europe in this playlist!

This video blog series is a trip across Europe compiled over a few years. It is also a roadmap for travelling all these sites in a single trip if you have 4-6 weeks available.

List of sites visited

We start in Budapest, Hungary and head west across the Alps visiting Vienna and Salzburg in Austria. Then tour Munich, Linderhof and Newscheinstein in picturesque Bavaria, Germany and end up in Switzerland visiting Zurich, Basel and Rheinfelden.

We then head south to Northern Italy visiting lake Como and Milan before reaching historic Venice by the Adriatic sea. We then crisscross across Italy visiting Florence, Siena, San Giminano and Pisa in sunny Tuscany. Our Italian tour continues west through Genoa and Savona and into Ventigmilia of the Italian Riviera.

Moving onto the French Riviera we visit Nice, Eze, Villafranca and Monaco. Driving further west we explore beautiful French villages and towns of Lacoste, Cavallion, Arles and Avignon ending up in the port city of Marseilles.

Their we embark on a cruise exploring the Mesiterranen including Barcelona, Spain! Heading deeper into Spain we explore Madrid and the Andalusian cities and villages of Seville, Zahara, Grazalema and Ronda. We then fly north to romantic Paris and royal Versailles before ending our journey in London, England!

The video blog

“New Beginning” at Versailles

A music video of the song “New Beginning” at the Versailles gardens

We recorded the song “New Beginning” a while back as part of our “For Rose” EP (available on iTunes). Years later, the theme of the song felt like a perfect blend with the picturesque settings of the Versailles gardens and it’s ominous history lurking around. Thus, this video experiment was born. We hope you’ll enjoy!

The Louvre Museum – A Photo Tour

A brief photo tour of the Louvre Museum

The Louvre is the world’s largest art museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. Approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres (782,910 square feet). The Louvre is the world’s most popular museum, receiving approximately 8 million visitors annually.

We visited the museum at Paris in the summer of 2018. Below is a small collection of artworks photo we took while exploring this vast museum.

The Martyrdom of Saint Dennis by Henry Bellechose (1416).

Glenda resting in one of the halls of French Art Gallery where an artist is working on a copy.

The Medici gallery at the Louvre has a large collection of artwork depicting the history of this famous Italian family and their alliance with the French monarchy through marriage.

David and Bathsheba by Jan Massys (1562)

One of the most famous sculpture at the Louvre – The Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory) from 190 B.C.

Monalisa Gallery

Below pictures are from the Monalisa gallery which is the most visited hall at the museum.

Below 2 photos are of artwork and ceiling at the museum gift shop and adjoining hallway.

The Egyptian and Near Eastern artifacts wing holds many priceless collection of sculptures, mummy and stone carved artworks.

Exploring the Louvre over multiple days is a wise approach given the vastness of artifacts. The best time to visit is afternoon through evening on weekdays when the tourist rush is bit less. Using the Paris Museum pass will get you multiple day entry to the Louvre along with many other museums and landmarks in and around Paris.

The Fountains of Versailles

Exploring the fountains at the palace of Versailles

The Gardens of Versailles occupy the west part of the palace of Versailles. The gardens cover some 800 hectares of land, much of which is landscaped in classic French Garden style by André Le Nôtre. In addition to the meticulous manicured lawns, parterres of flowers, and sculptures are the fountains, which are located throughout the garden.

Dating from the time of Louis XIV and still using much of the same network of hydraulics, the fountains contribute to making the gardens of Versailles unique. On weekends in late spring to early autumn, the administration of the museum sponsors the Grandes Eaux spectacles during which all the fountains in the gardens are in full play.
The Versailles Orangery, which was designed by Louis Le Vau, is located south of the château, a situation that took advantage of the natural slope of the hill. It provided a protected area in which orange trees were kept during the winter months. I took the below picture of the Orangerie and South Parterre from the above Water Parterre.

The water Parterre adjacent to the palace is adorned with beautiful statues from Greek mythology. It also provides a magnificent view of the gardens and the grand canal.

The Night Fountain comes alive with sprinkling water at certain days of the week. It acts as a connector from to the Latona fountain from the right end of the Water Parterre.

One of the main attraction in the garden is the Latona fountain or Bassin de Latone . It depicts an episode from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Latona and her children, Apollo and Diana, being tormented with mud slung by Lycian peasants, who refused to let her and her children drink from their pond, appealed to Jupiter who responded by turning the Lycians into frogs. This episode from mythology has been seen by historians in reference as an allegory to the revolts of the Fronde, which occurred during the minority of Louis XIV.

The Apollo Fountain, which was constructed between 1668 and 1671, depicts the sun god driving his chariot to light the sky. The fountain forms a focal point in the garden and serves as a transitional element between the gardens of the Petit Parc and the Grand Canal

Walking back from Apollo fountain through the picturesque King’s garden, we arrived at the mirror fountain. A 10-min water show takes place here on certain days of the week at the top of the hour.

The Saturn fountain connects the Kings garden to the main corridor that stretches from the palace to the grand canal.


The Grand Canal was built between 1668 and 1671. With a length of 1,500 metres and a width of 62 metres, it physically and visually prolongs the east-west axis to the walls of the Grand Parc. During the Ancien Régime, the Grand Canal served as a venue for boating parties. In 1674, as a result of a series of diplomatic arrangements that benefited Louis XIV, the king ordered the construction of Petite Venise – Little Venice. Located at the junction of the Grand Canal and the northern transversal branch, Little Venice housed the caravels and yachts that were received from The Netherlands and the gondolas and gondoliers received as gifts from the Doge of Venice.

Glenda and I took a boat ride through the canal to experience the serene beauty of Versailles gardens from the lake!

Get a full experience of the lake in the boat ride video below. Enjoy!

Basel, Switzerland

In the middle of nowhere, close to everywhere!

Imagine a place, where you walk across a bridge to go from Switzerland to Germany. Rent a bike and ride across town into France. Take an hour or less train ride to Zurich, the snowy Alps or tiny country of Lichtenstein. A 2-3h train trip could get you to Luxembourg or Milan, Italy!

In the summer of 2018, we discovered such a destination in the city of Basel, Switzerland and its nearby picturesque villages by the Rhein river.

We arrived in Basel in a regional Lufthansa aircraft from Frankfurt, Germany on a short 45 min trip.

Basel Airport is relatively small. Our next stop was a 4h train ride to Paris. So we took the local bus from the airport to Basel SBB station. Below is a short video clip and some images of a first look at Basel.

The Basel SBB station is an ideal pit stop to freshen up, grab a bite or do some shopping before heading to your next destination – which in our case was Paris. If in any doubt, you can always check with the friendly customer service staff at the upper lobby.

Long distance train services between Switzerland and France are frequent and comfortable in both 1st and 2nd class. Most trains offer free wifi for your devices to stay connected online.

If you are staying in and around Basel, the picturesque Swiss and German villages by the Rhein river are only 15-20 mins ride in local train.

We stayed in one such place called Rheinfelden at the border of Switzerland and Germany. Below are few pictures of this beautiful sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere but close to everywhere!

Paris at night – a tour

An evening tour of the romantic city

The above video clip is a night tour of Paris we took in the summer of 2018.

Paris, dubbed the City of Light (la Ville Lumière), has a reputation of being the most beautiful and romantic of all cities.

It is home to the world’s finest and most luxurious fashion designers and cosmetics, such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent, Guerlain, Lancôme, L’Oréal, Clarins, etc. A large part of the city, including the River Seine, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Paria has numerous iconic landmarks, such as the world’s most visited tourist site the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum, Moulin Rouge, and Lido, making it the most popular tourist destination in the world with 45 million tourists annually.