May 2 We just finished two days of exploring Chartres, a city about a hour to the south and west of Paris but many more miles away in terms of peace and a small-town feeling evoking a time more than 900 years ago. Chartres is not just amazing for its huge cathedral, although that is […]
Tag Archives: france
We Love The Back Roads of Europe
October 9 Big Tour Buses don’t take them. Tourists on their own with just a map or GPS system don’t know where they are. But with a combined 40 years of European travel experience, the guides of European Focus Private Tours know where they are. We’re talking about those little back roads of Europe, where […]
A Visit to Soultz-sous-Forêts, Alsace, France
September 8 – from a visit on September 6 Gloria Temple’s ancestors named Bayer came from the small town of Soultz-sous-Forêts, now located in the Alsace of France. When Gloria’s ancestors lived here, this was part of the German Empire.
A Shortcut Today Through France
July 9 While making our way from Meersburg on the Bodensee of Germany over to the southwestern corner of the country and the Suedliche Weinstrasse we decided to take a short-cut through a part of France. The Alsace is loaded with picturesque, colorful villages. The deeper colors and pastels can be found on houses along […]
The Bloody Failure of the Maginot Line
July 9 (From Wikipedia, photo by European Focus The Maginot Line named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles, and weapons installations that France constructed along its borders with Germany during the 1930s. The line was a response to France’s experience in World War I and was […]
The Road from Stuttgart to Lisbon – Part 1
May 21 We’re on our way to Lisbon where we’ll greet return guests Art and Carol for their sixth trip with European Focus since 2007. Along the way, we’re scouting locations for future tours and yes, even pausing to do nothing for a bit. After nine nights spent in Otlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany (a record […]
Postcard from Burgundy
Tending a vineyard the old-fashioned way with real horsepower
Pont Neuf in Paris and the End of the Knights Templar
June 15 s Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Knights Templar was executed at the stake at the place where Pont Neuf bridge stands today in Paris The story of the Knights Templar is one which has always fascinated us. Originally set up as a guard to protect pilgrims who were traveling to […]