The small towns on the river Volga that circle Moscow to the North East have been called the Golden Ring. Merchants on the river accumulated, and demonstrated, more wealth even than the country's landed gentry, and they did so by building their own churches.
What makes a great hotel great? Architecture, history, service and, of course, staff. You can find out a lot about the world's great hotels online, but if you really want to know what makes a great hotel great you have to dig deeper to find their stories.
Setting sail on the Saone, Provence awaits the Andersons and though they are salivating at the thought of the main course, there are lots of appetizers - Tournus, Chapaize, Lyon, Tournon, Tain l'Hermitage, Viviers, Avignon, Arles - on their way south.
500 miles south of Paris can be found an unpretentious market town of 50,000 named Chalon-sur-Saone, famous among photographers as the birthplace of their passion's inventor: Joseph Nicephore Niepce.
Nimes is the most Roman town in France, yet in some ways is more Spanish than French. In fact, with its long pre-Roman history Nimes was not defeated by Rome but rather accepted as an important trading partner. Just watch out for the $10 Cokes.
Rail travel has a warm place in the hearts of Francophiles, but is not the ideal mode of transport when trying to reach, say, a remote mountain village like Provence. You could rent a car, but Peter Mayle's beloved perchés are hard to find, and parking stinks (pardon my French). But there is another way...
Our group drove across the windy landscape from Rouen along the bleak waterfront. "It always rains in Normandy," say the superior people in the south, in Provence. Suddenly, the sun broke through the clouds and lit up Anilore Banon's masterpiece as if it were on stage.
