Video Diary of an American in France

Visit the city of Nice with me in this overview video. I loved Nice and will be back many times in the future. I especially enjoyed the Italian influence and architecture and the wonderful mild weather. Carnival week was a blast. If you are planning a trip to Nice, save some money, and head there in February for Carnival!

This festival of lights takes place the weekend of the 8th of December every year. The entire city is turned into a light festival with ordinary buildings transformed into theatre. This year, 2009, reflected the difficulty of the global economic downturn and world climate crisis, in contrast to last year’s theme of bright colors and children’s innocence.  This is the first of three videos of the Fete and focuses on the Beaux Arts show. The other two videos can be seen at: http://www.american-in-france.com/?paged=4

Here’s the second video of the Nice, France Carnival Parade. This was a fantastic event and I would encourage you to see it if you ever have the opportunity.  The energy of the French Riviera is wonderful. You can feel the Italian influence everywhere with its warmth, liveliness, passion for life.

I spent a week in Nice, France to attend and film the Carnival and to visit some of the Cote d’Azur towns. This video is the first of a series of videos about Nice, the Carnival, Menton and its Lemon Festival and Parade, a review of two restaurants and one hotel, and a visit to Villefranche sur Mer. Following this series, I will show a video of Chambery’s Carnival Parade. So I hope you’ll enjoy the journey to these remarkable places.  Thanks to Trip Films.com who partially sponsored the trip.

So now have a peak at the first of two videos of the Nice Carnival Parade, 2010.

Join us on our September French Alps Tours. This is a unique travel experience that you won’t find anywhere else, and you definitely won’t find another tour like it in the French Alps. Bring a friend or family member with you and have the time of your life in this gloriously gorgeous and fascinating region. Here’s a short video showing a few highlights.  www.french-alps-tours.com

Trip Films -French Alps Tours

This is the final video of our Paris weekend and features the impressionist and expressionist artists and art of the Orsay Museum. During my undergraduate days (ancient history now) I studied in Florence, Italy and received my minor in art history with a focus on Impressionist and Renaissance art. When I originally visited Paris and the museum that housed the impressionist art, it was in the year 1979, seven years before the Orsay Museum opened. So to see this new gorgeous building with all of the additional works of art that was not in the old building was such a treat for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this visit and the architecture of the building alone is worth seeing.

The weather was cold and gloomy during much of our Paris weekend trip but since we were there primarily to see the Orsay Museum (and for the Blogger luncheon), we didn’t mind. We spent the entire day in the Museum, taking our time to see every exhibit. This is the first of two videos I took at the Orsay (or Musee d’Orsay). We ate lunch at the museum restaurant which gave us the option of a Menu. A Menu in France is a combination plate which gives you several choices depending on what you want to spend. Usually, a menu gives you three options: a choice of appetizer, main dish and dessert; or just an appetizer and main dish; or a main dish and a dessert. With my sweet tooth I tend to go with a main dish and dessert. Anyway, the Orsay restaurant Menu ran around 18 euros which is alittle on the expensive side for lunch but not terrible, and it gave us the leisurely look in the museum we wanted. Plus we had the pleasure of the beauty of the decorated restaurant hall with muraled ceilings and statues. So consider this an option if you’d like to see all the exhibits at the museum which can’t be done in just a morning or afternoon (unless you have your running shoes on).