Join us on a photo journey of France, Europe and beyond on our photoblog. Click on the photo or go to: www.france-and-beyond-photoblog.com
Chambery App
If you have an IPhone or IPod and are planning a visit to Chambery, buy my ITunes App. It will walk you through the city of Chambery to each historic landmark with walking directions, history, a map, and narrative. It's just $2.99. Click on the above photo of the elephant fountain for the link to the app.
Travel Resources
Planning a trip to France ? Stay in a Paris apartment during your trip to the city of lights.
Get my Chambery, France Guide Book free with the purchase of my Cookbook: 'French Comfort Food: Recipes of Savoie and the French Alps.' Get both for only $7.99. Click the photo to get more information or to purchase your books now.
French Tutorial
A basic grammar and vocabulary review of the French language, as well as some informal & slang vocabulary and a special section on vocabulary for English-speaking expatriates living in France. Also included is an appendix on French pronunciation for English speakers as well as IPA transcriptions for most of the vocabulary lists and all of the verb conjugations.
Visit the Store to buy the e-book for $9.95 or paperback book for $24.95.
Join us on a small group tour of the French Alps June 9 - 16, 2012. I designed this tour to include the best of the region. Wander the Medieval town of Annecy, nicknamed the Venice of the French Alps, and take a boat ride on its crystal blue lake. Do you like pampering yourself on your vacations, then why not spend an afternoon at the Aix les Bains thermal baths inside your lakeside hotel? Are you the adventurous type? Then take a horseback ride in the Alps or fly through the trees at the High Ropes Adventure. Are you a foodie? Taste local chocolates, cheeses, wines and hazelnut oils. Are you a history buff? Then satisfy your curiosity at Lyon's Old Town or Vienne's Roman Temple and Forum. Or just enjoy watching the hang gliders and sunset while enjoying an outdoor aperitif on the top of a mountain overlooking Annecy's lake. See you in the French Alps! www.french-alps-tours.com
Alps Cookbook
Get my ECookbook: 'French Comfort Food: Recipes of Savoie and the French Alps.'
51 recipes of the region, collected from friends and local cookbooks. This is the only English language Savoie and French Alps cookbook in print. Only $7.99 and includes a bonus book: The Chambery Guide Book.
Click the photo to buy yours now or go to the Cookbook Page on the Navigation Bar!
French Comfort Food
Visit my French Comfort Food website for articles, recipes, videos, tips and products about French Food and Wine. Click on the photo or go to www.frenchcomfortfood.com
Videos, photos and posts can be used or posted noncommerically (this means you can't sell my films, photos or put them in or on anything you sell!), but everything must be linked back to this blog and must list me as the creator.
Pezenas was the favorite town we saw on our trip in the Languedoc region. It was the seat of the local government in Languedoc during the 16th and 17th centuries, resulting in beautiful architecture, stone staircases and wrought iron balconies. Today is it an artist town, filled with artisans and their creatives products. The Hotel de Lacoste (not a hotel but an old government building – Hotel in France can mean offices too) has the prettiest of the stone staircases and is worth a visit. The swallows that make their home in the ceilings of these staircases are a particularly charming treat to watch.
I had never heard of Aigues Mortes but since it was located in the middle of the Camargue marshland reserves, we decided to visit it. The town turned out to be a Medieval fortified city dating back to the 1200s. Today it caters to the tourists but the ramparts are still interesting to see. You have to pay and go through the museum to walk on the walls so we didn’t do that. But we did take a boat ride on the canals, which included a stop to see a demonstration of the Camargue French cowboys round up the typical-of-the-region black bulls with the famous white horses. The horses are a rugged bunch with hooves so hard they don’t need horseshoes. They start out in life black and turn white when they’re four or five years old. The breed has existed in the area since prehistoric times. They might be descendents of the extinct Soutré horse, whose bones (dating from 17,000 years ago) have been found in southeast of France. Horse images in Paleolithic cave paintings at Lascaux in Dordogne give evidence of Prehistoric horses in southwest France.
The young bulls are each given a name when they’re born and are branded with that name. When being rounded up, their names are used to identify one from the other and apparently some recognize their names and respond (so we heard).
Anyway, the horse and bull round-up demonstration was entertaining and it was interesting to see the horses perform their magic.
Carcassonne is said to be the best preserved and restored Medieval town in France. Originally, constructed in the 13th century, the city fell in disrepair until the 19th century when it was completely restored. The city has two miles of fortified walls and 56 watchtowers. The area was already a thriving town in the 9th century BC and the inhabitants moved to the current location in 600 BC. The large exterior wall was constructed in 1230 AD.
The Languedoc region has an interesting history. During the 12th century a religious group, the Cathars, lived in the area and were known for their productivity and religious tolerance of Jews and Catholics – everyone lived in harmony. The Cathars lived very austere lives, refusing earthly pleasure. The Catholic Lords in the area eventually saw the Cathars as a threat to their power and as heretics, and over a few decades the Cathars were massacred and burned at the stake. In Beziers, 5,000-7,000 Cathars were burned to death in their Cathedral. This persecution eventually wiped out the Cathars and their religious beliefs. The city of Carcassonne stands as a monument to this dark moment in history.
Two lovely cities we visited on the coast of the Languedoc region were Sete and Cap d’Agde. We actually stayed in Sete since my Frenchman’s company had apartments there on the canals that were dirt cheap to stay in. I know my readers think we have lots of money to be able to travel so much, but we stay in gites or apartments (or his company’s apartments) when we travel, which average 30 to 50 euros per night. We cook two meals a day and only eat one out, and we travel for free on the trains since my Frenchman is a TGV driver. So it’s not much more expensive for us to travel as to stay home.
Take a visual and musical journey through Sete and Cap d’Agde.
We visited Beziers on our Languedoc trip but, other than the Cathedral, we weren’t very impressed. The city seemed run down, dirty and in need of some renovation. In the afternoon we drove out to the Midi Canal to see the boats and the locks. In this particular area on the Canal there were nine locks, one after another. We were lucky enough to be there when a boat from northern Europe was navigating through each of the locks. You have to have patience to do these locks: you wait until the water is released and raises the lock water level up far enough to move into the next lock. Then repeat – 9 times! It was fascinating to watch. Here’s a video of the Beziers Cathedral and the locks.
Terra Vinea is an old mine converted into a wine cave. It’s located in Portel des Corbieres, near Narbonne and Perpignan France in the Languedoc-Rousillon region. The mines closed in 1992 and the wine cave opened in 1999. I have a suspician that someone from the winery visited some of America’s attractions like Disneyland when they thought up the idea of Terra Vinea. The caves are filled with light and music shows, talking walls, representations of a Medieval dining room and Roman villa, and a mining cave. It was still interesting and entertaining. The wines however were not the best. We tasted several but only bought one bottle that we found to be of good quality and taste.
If you want to visit it yourself, check out their website at: www.terra-vinea.com
Here’s a video of the Terra Vinea wine cave experience.
Holidays such as Mothers Day do not always fall on the same day in France and the United States, but Fathers Day is on the same day for both countries. This year it’s June 20th. My father has been gone for 25 years now so I miss picking out the best card and gift for him like I used to. Usually, they were joke gifts because he had such a great sense of humor. If your dad is still with you, don’t forget to express your thanks with a special gift or card and don’t forget to tell him how much you love him and appreciate him.
Holidays such as Mothers Day do not always fall on the same day in France and the United States, but Fathers Day is on the same day for both countries. This year it’s June 20th. My father has been gone for 25 years now so I miss picking out the best card and gift for him like I used to. Usually, they were joke gifts because he had such a great sense of humor. If your dad is still with you, don’t forget to express your thanks with a special gift or card and don’t forget to tell him how much you love him and appreciate him.
