The “Machines de l’Isle” is an entertainment area on the island of Nantes (located on the Loire river). It includes a massive steampunk mechanical elephant that regularly walks around the area. The area is located in the former Nante shipyards, and is a cross between Jules Verne, Leonardo De Vinci and the industrial history of […]

Camaret-sur-Mer in Brittany is a small town, some 2700 inhabitants, with a very scenic harbour, enormous dramatic cliffs and a very big monument. The village/town is old, very old. Traces of habitation can be found as far back as 2500 years BC! In those days, the place was for druides and their magical stone, the […]

If you are into sailing, then the name “Eric Tabarly” will probably be known to you. For those of you who don’t know the legendary French sailor, you can read more about him by clicking here. The museum doesn’t just look at his life and sail races, but explores mostly the art of sailing. The […]

The Submarine museum (in French “Musee Sous-Marin“) is NOT a museum of submarines (for that you can visit the Flore submarine next door, click here to read more about it), but for a look at the life of the divers underwater. The most interesting part of this museum (a private and volunteer endeavour) is the […]

The Flore submarine museum (a diesel submarine) in Lorient is located in the former German WWII submarine base, which includes 3 enormous submarine pens (which could host up to 30 submarines). Next to the 2nd German submarine pen (K2) you can immediately see the Flore submarine. This sub can be visited. You can see the […]

Lorient in Brittany is a rather large city of some 60,000 inhabitants which has as main attraction an enormous harbour area that hosted during WWII, the German submarines. The city dates back to the year 1666 and was constructed by a French trading company (the French East Indies Company) to be the base for their […]

Dinard in Brittany is a fantastic place to stay for a few days. The seaside promenade is an incredible walk, alongside a narrow winding pedestrian area, covering the beaches and rock formations. Dinard is located just a few kilometers from the more well known city of Saint Malo. They are divided by the “La Rance” […]

Transport Getting there There is NO train service from/to Concarneau to the big cities in France. If you are coming from one of the ferry harbours, you’ll need to change twice and then take a bus. Air: There is NO airport serving Concarneau. Ferry: There are no international ferries serving Concarneau. Closest ferry harbour would […]

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 […]

If ever there was a castle that merits a detour to view, it’s this one. The Suscinio castle is a fortress, including a real moat, built for the Duke of Brittany in the 13th century.   The castle was built as a hunting lodge for the Duke who was a passionate hunter. The castle, including […]

In the beach town of Concarneau, alongside the city centre and harbors, you will find this amazing fortress. It was voted as the favorite place in Brittany by the Bretons. On the outskirts of Concarneau are several spas and thalasso hotels, but if you keep driving away from these hotels alongside the coastline, you’ll head […]

Fecamp is a quaint small city, full of character. Although in dire need of some TLC, strolling around the sea and harbour side of the city can be very rewarding. Fecamp was once a main hub for commercial fishing, particularly for trawlers crossing the Atlantic to fish for cod in Newfoundland. The cod would be […]

If there was one essential and strategic point during the invasion of Normandy, also known as D-Day, by the Allied troops, it would have been the capture of the two bridges in Benouville and the neighbouring Ranville. The two bridges were essential for the liberation of France and the rest of Europe. The operation was called […]

The Utah Beach was one of the D-Day landing beaches, this one mostly staffed with US Army soldiers. It was on the Western edge of the D-Day beaches, and the beach consisted of deep sand and dunes.   3200 soldiers died on the beach that day. To commemorate this occasion, a museum was erected to display and […]

Normally speaking the village of Sainte-Mere-Eglise should mean nothing to most people. Unless you are a WWII buff or a movie buff. The movie in question is “The Longest Day” starring none other than John Wayne trying to get to Sainte-Mere-Eglise during D-Day. The village itself nowadays consists of some 2,500 inhabitants (that is, after […]

Transport Getting There There is a direct rail line Cherbourg – Paris which makes getting there easy and fast if you are arriving from the capital. By Air Cherbourg has a small airport (Maupertus Airport) but there are no scheduled flights in or outside of France. It is mostly used for private an charter flights. By Ferry […]

One of the few things that are worth a visit in Cherbourg, or even doing a detour to visit, is the Cite de le Mer museum. The museum is quite recent, it opened its doors in the year 2002. But the building is not new. It is the former transatlantic terminal building from the glory […]

Cherbourg, or as it is known officially Cherbourg-Octeville (after having merged with its neighbouring town), can be described as “quaint”. That’s the word I would use if I were to be positive. The real words that come to my mind are “drab”, “rundown” and “uninspiring”. NOTE: Click on the top photo for a bigger panorama […]

Transport Getting There By Air Although there’s a small airport, the biggest airport serving Amiens is Paris’s third airport: Beauvais. Within Amiens Amiens is quite large, but the interesting parts are all concentrated in the city centre. There is a bus service The service is called AMETIS, and although not very widespread, you can get […]

Jules Verne is such a successful and popular book author worldwide that many people forget that he was French. His novels like “Journey to the Center of the Earth” ( from 1864), “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” ( from 1870), and “Around the World in Eighty Days” ( from1873) are books read around the world […]

Amiens is a strange city when you look at it. It’s pretty, pleasant even, but you don’t see that many tourists like in other big French cities (like Bordeaux, Marseilles or Lyon) . With its 150,000 inhabitants, Amiens is the 28th largest city of the country, but when you ask people what they know of […]

Sometimes taking a wrong turn on the country roads brings you deep inland, and to some very surprising scenery. One of them, after having taken a wrong turn in Brittany was this amazing castle; the Chateau Kergrist.   Hidden away from big roads, this is a castle that merits a detour. Built in the 1400’s […]

Le Mans is particularly known the world over for its 24 hour car endurance race. The first car race was held way back in 1923, and it is the oldest endurance race in the world.   The (permanent) Bugatti race circuit is added to the “Circuit de la Sarthe” for the 24 hours race, that […]