Pont du Gard Near Avignon

If you have already visited the charismatic glamour of the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre Museum in mainstream France, southeast France is waiting for you with its humble enchantment. Southeast France is heaven for green tourism. The vast stretches of the lofty, icy French Alps are the dream destination of mountain-sports enthusiasts from all parts of the planet. Most of the picturesque cities of this region hold rich histories of their own.

Once the center of the Christian world, the city of Avignon is home to a 14th century Papal palace. Le Pont d’ Avignon, the 12^th century bridge is the inspiration for many French folk-songs. If you have an eye for art and culture, visit Avignon in the summer, the season to host the annual summer festival, the platform to exhibit western theatrical expertise. You can also polish your French language from Aix-en-Provence, the center for literary excellence. The town is adorned with beautiful fountains, avenues, squares and buildings with architectural elegance. From literary elegance to intellectual expertise, Grenoble welcomes thousands of students all through the year inquisitive about its technological progress in computer and micro-chip manufacturing. Grenoble also hosted the 1968 Winter Olympics.

Annecy is known as the Venice of the French Alps, with its canals winding through the medieval town. Surrounded by Alpine mountains and sitting next to a crystal blue lake, this town is candy for the eyes. The proud residents of Annecy throw festivals, host a Venetian Carnival, fireworks, and musical concerts to rival cities three times its size. This is a must-see town.

Bormes de Mimosa on the Cote d'Azur

The best gastronomic city of France, Lyon has an impressive 2000 year old history. With the acknowledgment as UNESCO World Heritage site, this city also hosts a rich architectural museum, a world-class university and number of shopping centers and food parks taking the best care of gourmets. It’s annual December Festival of the Lights  is not to be missed.  When you have fueled yourself enough for the spine-tinkling adventures, come to Chamonix. The picturesque town is the hub for mountaineering and adventure sports enthusiasts. The adrenalin-rushing mountain biking, hiking and paragliding will be complimented with the best food and wine in the local bars and eateries.  

Montpellier, in Languedoc-Roussillon, is chiefly a students’ favorite since it’s the home for France’s biggest university, but you can also bask in its brightest sun in this lovely city. Don’t forget to visit Nice, the center of genoese architecture with its Musée Matisse and the Musée Chagall museums, before you head for the further East on the Cote d’Azur or head down to the island of Corsica. The sun, palm trees and marble architecture will let you relax in Spanish style. From history to architecture, from nature to modern technology, from basking in the golden sun to piercing through the sparkling ice – Southeast France has something for everyone. Come and enjoy the euphoria!

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Bernard’s friends gave us a trip to Grasse for our wedding gift that included two gift certificates to make our own cologne and perfume.  The normal cost for the event is 40 euros each plus 12 euros for the bottle (if you want to buy a nice bottle versus the ugly brown ones with no spray top).  After experiencing the event, I think 40 euros is a good price for 2 or 3 hours of entertainment plus some nice perfume that you created yourself. It was quite interesting and educational as well.  Here’s a video of the experience. The video is mostly photos since filming was prohibited.

Our technician was great. He has an American girlfriend (who is a Senator’s daughter) and he wants to move to Los Angeles to start his own Fragrance Studio. Brilliant idea! I’ve never seen anything like this in the U.S. and this would be a big hit in L.A.

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As you know, my husband and I are photographers and I’m a videographer, so we visually chronicle our travels throughout our home country of France and to the many countries we visit.

We wanted a venue to feature these photos from our trips. Placing them on this blog just seemed like overkill and too much to take in visually, so we launched our new Photoblog today.  Visit it at:

http://www.france-and-beyond-photoblog.com
Thanks for joining us on this photo journey. We hope you enjoy the ride. Cynthia and Bernard

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