Party Like It’s 1865: A Taste of Imperial Splendor in Vichy
The primacy of French gastronomy may have gone the way of the rotary phone, still the hungry traveler explores France with a desire to taste its native tang, to savor its cultural heritage and, from time to time, to experience the flavors of long-gone imperial and royal glory served at Versailles or Chantilly or… (drumroll, please)… Vichy.
Chambery Revisited: Reflections on a Pre-Alpine Valley Town
In which the author visits and revisits Chambery, the capital of Savoy in the Rhone-Alpes region, remembers old stones and water slides, tries to see the mountains through the mist, contemplates reading Rousseau, going cycling and visiting a museum, takes a cruise on Lake Bourget from Aix-les-Bains, goes skiing with Italians on Grand Revard, and reports on hotels and restaurants in and around Chambery.
5 Days in Auvergne, Part IV: Château La Canière, a Luxury Hotel
10 miles from the spa town of Chatel-Guyon (Puy-de-Dôme, Auvergne), Château La Canière, the only luxury hotel within many miles, stands out in the plain. Lavoisier awaits inside, everywhere.
5 Days in Auvergne: Part III, Chatel-Guyon
In Part III of the series "5 days in Auvergne," the author visits the spa town of Chatel-Guyon on the edge of the Regional Nature Park of the Volcanoes.
5 Days in Auvergne: Part II, An Introduction to Spa Towns and Hot Springs...
Part II of an exploration of spa towns, hot springs, Romansque churches, cattle pastures, cheese farms and villages in Auvergne. A brief history of economic developments relative to hot springs, by way of Royat.
5 Days in Auvergne: Part I, from Paris to Clermont-Ferrand
Part 1 of a 5-part trip report about Auvergne (in the center of France) with a focus on spa towns. Part 1 includes the train ride from Paris to Clermont-Ferrand, the region's capital, some highlights in the city, and a dinner of hearty regional fare.
Tasted, Tested in Le Bourbonnais: Saint Pourcain Wines, Auvergne Cheeses, Charolais Beef
In which the author visits Le Bourbonnais, a little-known area of central France in the department of Allier within the region of Auvergne, encounters local cheeses, Charolais beef and Saint Pourcain wines, and gets smart by sticking his head in a saint's tomb.
Elsewhere along the Loire: Val d’Aubois
You’d be the rare traveler, French or foreign, to have heard of the Val d’Aubois, the Aubois Valley, a largely bypassed portion of Loire...
Bonjour Y’All, It’s Equiblues: A Remote French Town Gets Into the Rodeo Spirit
On a typical day nothing about the remote town of Saint-Agrève (pop. 2,600) would allow the rare visitor to imagine that its inhabitants have the slightest interest in Americana. But come mid-August Equiblues transforms this town in to the rodeo capital of France.