Tag: unlikely places
Sparks of Curiosity in Saintes
When Gary Lee Kraut visited Saintes, an often-bypassed town by a bend in the Charente River, he saw vivid remnants of Rome, the 2000-year-old hand of a mason, and an arch dedicated to an unruly hereditary gang. He met gladiators, fled from a saint’s crypt, slept in the cell of a medieval nunnery, wandered through a weird museum, and swirled vintage Cognac.
Couples Therapy in the Cour d’Or Museum in Metz
I wouldn’t have thought that a museum could be so romantic. In Metz of all places. I didn’t expect to encounter so many couples in city’s Cour d’Or Museum.
Rochefort: Ships, Shipyards and Seafarers
As a former naval and shipbuilding town once surrounded by marshland, Rochefort can’t stake a claim to quaint streets, charming strolls or photogenic vistas. But nearly a hundred years after the closing of its naval shipyard, the town has played its historical cards in such a way as to make this an attention-grabbing, off-circuit destination.
Aubusson Tapestries: Weavers, Spinners, Dyers, Cartoonists and the Cité Internationale
The International Center of Aubusson Tapestry represents far more than a pat on the back to the history of tapestry-making in the Creuse region. It also reaffirms and encourages the continuity of know-how for the entire branch of tapestry-related activities in Aubusson, Felletin and elsewhere in Creuse.
Chambery: Civic Pride and the Four Assless Elephants
Chambery, a city of 58,000 at the base of the Alps, aspires to “the sweetness of life in a pleasant and secure society” as it honors its art, its history and its elephants.
The Assless Elephants of Chambery Head Off for Restoration
Imagine if Paris disassembled the Eiffel Tower to recast its iron or Carcassonne dismantled its ramparts to recut the stone and you can understand the visual trauma to the small city of Chambery in the foothills of the French Alps when the four beloved pachyderms of the Fountain of Elephants were removed...
Moulins (Auvergne) and the National Costume Center
Deep in the heart of France, the little-known town of Moulins (Auvergne) reveals the fabric of great theater at the National Costume Museum, particularly this year when the museum celebrates the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth with an exhibition of costumes from some of the bard’s most emblematic plays, on display through Jan. 4, 2015.
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.
Elephants and Paradise: 10 Hours in Amiens
Amiens is unlikely to appear in the top 10 of any objective lists of daytrips from Paris, but who ever said that a traveler...