After an overnight in Strasbourg, Jenean leaves on the train for Paris on June 17 and Jim drives to their apartment in the medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Jenean starts her “Women’s Tour” with a party of three from Minnesota on the 18th and Jim starts his tour with a couple from the […]
Category Archives: Europe Tours
Adieu Art and Carol
We dropped off our most recent guests Art and Carol at the Geneva Airport this morning. Art and Carol are now planning their fifth adventure with European Focus, to take place in September, 2012. The next trip will include the Tirol of Italy and Croatia. Jenean and Jim will be scouting locations in Croatia in […]
Moustiers-Saint-Marie
We had our lunch on June 10th in the charming hillside town of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, or simply Moustiers, (Mostiers Santa Maria in Occitan) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France, a part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. As we approached, we stopped to take photos from the fields below. But, the real photos […]
What can be learned from ancient ruins in glanum, france
We wandered through the ancient ruins of Glanum today, a site which had been populated as many as 500 years before Christ by people drawn to the area by a sacred spring. We were impressed with the advancements made in architecture and engineering in the span of the 800 year history of Glanum. On the […]
Roman Orange, Provence
The Celtic settlement of Arausio (cf. the local Celtic water god Arausio), existed on the site; a major battle, which is generally known as the Battle of Arausio, was fought in 105 BC between two Roman armies and the Cimbri and Teutones tribes. Arausio was refounded in 35 BC and settled by veterans of the […]
Roussillon, Petit Luberon, France
We made a lunch stop at a delightful cafe with a wonderful view today in the reddish-ocher village of Roussillon. There’s nothing like a protein-filled omelet with ham and cheese to keep you going for an afternoon of sightseeing. In our case, we took the road up to Sault and then the drive through the […]
Aigues Mortes, France
The foundation of the city is attributed to Marius Caius, around 102 BC, but the first document mentioning a place called “Ayga Mortas” (dead waters) dates from the 10th century AD. We made a stop here on our way from Carcassonne to Gordes. Louis IX of France (Saint Louis) rebuilt the port in the 13th […]
Carcassonne and the Kingdom of Aragon
Carcassonne, a medieval fortress town is one of the most popular stops in the former Kingdom of Aragon, which lasted from 1035 to 1707. We’ve spent two nights in a lovely hotel just outside the gates of imposing Carcassonne. Saturday was forecast to rain all day. What to do on a rainy day? Rub shoulders […]