Podcast

A Wellness Weekend in Val Thorens

There’s nothing like cold crisp air to make you feel alive. Even it you don’t ski often or well, you still feel healthy on a ski weekend break, even after eating tons of tartiflette and cheese fondue. It’s clomping through snow and all the other wintery activities that invigorate you and make you feel revitalized.  The resort of Val Thorens has gone one step further in making sure you are keeping well. This season they have launched their My Serenity program, highlighting all the other things you can do in Val Thorens to look after yourself, your wellness and your wellbeing.

The resort of Val Thorens in the French Alps is the highest ski resort in the whole of Europe at 2300 m. Purpose built in […]

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February 7th, 2018|Destinations, France, Val Thorens|2 Comments

Easy Day Trips from Paris: Château Vaux-Le-Vicomte

You arrive in the village of Maincy, turn down a long tree-lined avenue, and find yourself in the parking lot of le château de Vaux-Le-Vicomte. Entering through the gift shop, you really have no idea the wonders to come. Another easy day trip from Paris has brought you to one of the great French châteaux of the 17th C.

Could this be the property so luxurious that Louis XIV threw its owner into jail for life? Even as you walk through the stables, it’s not until you’ve stepped round to the gardens do you understand.

Vaux-Le-Vicomte is not just a study in French Baroque architecture, but also a study on what not to do if you are Minister of Finance for the King. Nicolas Fouquet, its owner, assembled, […]

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December 1st, 2017|Destinations, France, Paris|0 Comments

Easy Day trips from Paris: Le Petit Trianon Versailles

For those who follow the oeuvre of Mel Brooks, it will be obvious what I mean when I say, “It’s good to be the King.” For those not acquainted with the comic’s masterpiece, A History of the World, Part I, you will find Mr. Brooks embodying King Louis VIX, skipping his way through Versailles Gardens, flirting with all the girls.

Looking straight into the camera from Louis XIV’s newly built second home, Chateau de Versailles, Mr. Brooks exclaims, “It’s good to be the King.” Stepping through the gates of the Palace of Versailles, I can tell you that for Louis XIV, it was pretty great. For his grandson, Louis XVI and famed, cake-eating wife, Marie Antoinette, things didn’t fare so well.
LE PETIT TRIANON

To be honest, Versailles […]

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November 25th, 2017|France, Paris, Versailles|0 Comments

A Two Night Jaunt in Normandy, France – Fécamp and Honfleur

A three hour boat trip from Newhaven to Dieppe might not be everyone’s idea of luxury, especially if you have ever been to Newhaven or Dieppe port – no business class lounge here. Just a corrugated hut with a small café serving coffee if you’re lucky.

Still, you have the luxury of not getting to an airport, not having your luggage lost, not being told the flight is delayed. Once on board, snuggle into one of the comfy tables by the window and watch the White Cliffs of Newhaven merge into the Falaises Blanches de Dieppe.

Fécamp
I was heading there for a drop of that honey, spicy spirit that put Fécamp on the map: Bénédictine, and her glamorous home, the Palais Bénédictine. As true of most outings, […]

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September 29th, 2017|Destinations, France, Normandy|0 Comments

A perfect two day trip to France – Chambéry & Annecy

Two day trip to France?? Is it possible to get the flavor of two towns with only a two day trip to France? Can I get a Oui Bien Sur up in here?* If you follow my suggestions below, you’ll have time to taste the food France is known for, tour adorable Renaissance towns, and sample a few of the many things Chambéry and Annecy made famous, including secret passageways, trompe-oeil-ed cathedrals, vermouth-stirred cocktails, and truffles au chocolat. Although you only have two days in France, it will feel like a lifetime

Lunch in Lake Annecy
Catch an early flight to Geneva and get off the plane ready to have lunch. In less than an hour, you can be sitting at the Auberge di Pere Bise sipping Rosé Champagne on […]

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August 11th, 2017|Chambéry, Destinations, France|0 Comments

A Bit of France: Le Loop d’Été au Chamonix

When I think of things to do in Chamonix, I envision everything white – skiing, snowshoeing, snow, snow, snow. I’m here in the summer and those ice crystals have melted to reveal verdant valleys and moss-covered mountains. Even though we’re not in Austria, I do want to belt out a little “Hills are Alive!”

This time, I can breathe in the mountain air without fear of frostbite or falling down crevasses due to lack of prowess on the slopes. The sun stays out longer (even though it rained a bit when we were there) and you can venture even farther, trading skis for hiking boots.

There’s no rush to get to the slopes before the crowds or be at the end of jam-packed lift-lines – totally enough […]

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July 28th, 2017|Chamonix, Destinations|2 Comments