Collioure and the artist

Collioure has attracted artists since the beginning of the 20th century when it was “discovered” by a group known as the Fauve artists. They were attracted not only by the subject matter but by the quality of the light. Henri Matisse and Andre Derain established their base in Collioure and were soon followed by the […]

Top 10 reasons for visiting Lyon

Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, fly daily from my home city of Southampton to Lyon in France. Lyon is a city I have come to love and the fact that it is now connected by air without having to go through London and Paris means I will probably visit more often. Eurostar now have a […]

France by Train

On 1st May this year Eurostar launched a direct no-train-change service to Lyon, Avignon and Marseille from London. France will become even more accessible by high speed trains with out the changes at Lille or Paris. Even without the new service France was already very accessible by train using both the TGV and more regional […]

Lyon between the Rivers Saone and Rhone

Lyon is a city I passed through several times either on the A6 Autoroute heading south or on a train heading towards the Mediterranean coast. I have used its airport as well when heading to other parts of Rhone-Alpes. Such contact with Lyon gave the false impression it was a city of dreariness and heavy […]

Paris: Five in the Fifth

I had a few hours. It was late summer; almost autumn. It was a glorious day and I was in Paris. I didn’t want to dive underground, taking the Metro to see some of the city’s iconic sights; the day was too good for that. I wanted to stroll around the neighbourhood and discover some […]

Amiens unplanned

It had not been our intention to visit Amiens in Picardy but, due to a minor mix up with accommodation, we found ourselves with a hotel in the shadow of its impressive cathedral and several hours of exploring time. Not being the kind of people to sit and kill time we decided to explore as much as […]