Transport Getting there There are two railway stations in Valence, the city centre one with “normal” trains (called Valence Ville) and the TGV (High Speed Train) which is located 10 kilometres North/East outside the city. Air: Valence Chabeuil airport, located close to the East of Valence is a military/civilian airport. They don’t offer many international […]

Valence, a scenic and older city, lies pretty much South on the Eastern part of France. With its 65,000 inhabitants, it’s close to Switzerland and Italy (close enough for day trips) and it is in the crossroads of the North-South and West-East traffic. It was, once upon a time, a major colony for Rome (121 […]

The Lascaux cave art is famous the world over and is part of the UNESCO Heritage Sites. Discovered by a teenage boy chasing his dog, the enormous cave complex in the Dordogne region of Southern France uncovered a vast gallery of cave art dating back some 20,000 years. The caves were discovered in 1940, and in […]

Lyon is not only known for its gastronomy, its secret passageways (traboules), the Roman theatre or its old streets. Lyon is also known as one of the cities in the world with the most number mural paintings (frescos). Most of them are really good, but one, the most famous one, is totally amazing.   Here […]

This is part 2 of the introduction of the city of Lyon. To read the first part, click here. As a recap, we are walking from the TGV (High Speed Train) railway station to the hills, a 2.5 km walk. Vieux Lyon – Old Lyon On the other side of the Bonaparte bridge, crossing the […]

Lyon is a city full of contrasts, particularly in its architecture. The city is big, Lyon itself is France’s 3rd largest city, but when you add the suburbs, then the Lyon metropole is France’s 2nd largest metropole (after Paris). It is also the world capital of gastronomy, the city where many of todays top chefs have […]

The modern art (take the word “modern” lightly) museum of Le Havre, the Andre Malraux museum also known as the MuMa, is France’s 2nd largest museum of impressionist paintings.   The museum was named after the former Minister of Culture, Andre Malraux, who opened the museum in 1961. This museum was the first major museum […]

For many people who like their liqueur cocktail drinks, Benedictine is no stranger. On its own, with brandy (called B&B) or used to spice up deserts (like crepes), Benedictine started its long life as a medicinal drink. The drink was conceived by Alexandre Le Grand in the 19th century, and like with Coca-Cola, the recipe is […]