We had an opportunity on this long journey to stay a night at one of our favorite places in Europe. The Chateau du Paquier, dating from the 15th century and lovingly cared for and run by the Rossi family, stands in spacious gardens just outside the village of Saint Martin de-la-Cluze, high in the Alps […]
Author Archives: jim
Meersburg Zum Baeren Hotel, Traditional Inn, Exceptional Service
We stayed a night in Meersburg on Lake Konstanz, southern Germany on our way south into France. Betty and Bob have stayed here before, in fact, they have stayed in Room 23, which was the very same room we arranged for them this time. It’s one of two oriel rooms overlooking the little square in […]
The Black Forest Goes Solar
Farms all through the low mountains of the Black Forest in southwestern Germany are installing solar panels to help cut down on their energy costs. The average homeowner gets about 30% of the cost back from the government. After seven years, the average homeowner has paid for the rest of the system and then can […]
Hospices de Beaune, France
The “Palace of the Poor” was built in the 1400s by wealthy citizens in order to take care of people who had no other place to go. It was state of the art for its time, run by nuns, and exceptionally comfortable and relatively private. We visited the museum in the center of Beaune, Burgundy […]
Today in Beaune
Betty and Bob Whittemore having just enjoyed a visit to the Beaune Hotel Dieux, an ancient hospice built with donations from the gentry in the middle of the 1400s. Our hotel, the Athanor, is in the background.
Courtroom 600 in Nurnberg
The new museum dedicated to the trials following the end of World War II is a new “must see” in Nurnberg. The room known as “Courtroom 600” is where the trials were held, and it has been preserved in pretty much its original form, other than a rearrangement of the docks and the place for […]
Before the Charles Bridge in Prague, there was Judith Bridge
The Charles Bridge has spanned the Vltava River in the heart of Prague for more than 650 years. Before this mammoth structure was built under the reign of Charles IV, there was the 12th century “Judith Bridge,” which was actually longer than the present-day bridge. A fragment of this fascinating piece of history can be […]
Prague is City of Beautiful Architecture
A small sampling of the architectural details found throughout the former Jewish district, which is located north of the city’s main square about two blocks.