France
Postcards from Marseille
It’s been nearly two years since our last trip to Marseille, a sun-drenched jewel on France’s southern coast that left an indelible mark on our memories. That summer of 2023, we set out to explore…
Plage des Catalans: A Shrinking Memory in Marseille
Plage des Catalans, a sandy crescent tucked along Marseille’s coastline, holds a special place in my travel tapestry. I first visited this beach in the summer of 2003, a carefree stop during my early…
From Paris to Marseille by High Speed Ouigo Train
Traveling from Paris to Marseille is a rite of passage for anyone craving the thrill of France’s high-speed rails. Twenty years ago, in the summer of 2003, I first made the 900-kilometer journey by…
Aix-en-Provence station
Aix-en-Provence railway station is one of two serving the city of Aix-en-Provence in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of southeastern France. The other station, served by long-distance high-speed TGV…
Marseille-Saint-Charles station
Marseille-Saint-Charles is the main railway station and intercity bus station of Marseille, France. It is the southern terminus of the Paris–Marseille railway and the western terminus of the…
Gare de Lyon, Paris
The Gare de Lyon, is one of the seven large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually making it the second-busiest station of France after the…
France / Paris / Marseille / Disneyland
In the summer of 2023, my family embarked on an unforgettable adventure through the heart of France. From the iconic landmarks of Paris to the serene lavender fields of Provence, our journey was a…
Champ de Mars
The Champ de Mars is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh arrondissement, between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The…
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. Constructed from 1887, it is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the…
Luxembourg Gardens
The Jardin du Luxembour, known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. Creation…
La Fregate French Restaurant in Paris
La Frégate is set on the Left Bank of the Seine in central Paris between the Louvre, the Tuileries Gardens and the Musee d'Orsay. This stylish brasserie is said to be built on the site of the house…
Charles de Gaulle Airport
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris (and its metropolitan area), and the largest…
Boutique Hotel Sainte-Beuve in Paris
Boutique Hotel Sainte-Beuve is located in the heart of Paris on a small and quiet street of Rue Sainte-Beuve 9 in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. The hotel is conventionally located within…
Louvre
The Louvre or the Louvre Museum, is a national art museum in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement (district or…
Latest articles
LEGOLAND Berlin Review: A Fun Family Activity in the German Capital
When planning a family trip to Berlin with children, most travelers immediately think about the Berlin Zoo — and rightly so. But if you are spending a few days in the German capital with younger kids, another solid half-day activity is the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre BerlinWe visited it in April 2026 together with our 7-year-old daughter during our…
Ādģēri: The 30K Mistake That Turned Into a Long-Term Experiment
In 2023, we bought Ādģēri in an online auction.Price: just over €30,000.Financing: ~6% interest.Total expected payment over ~5 years: ~€40,000.Status (April 2026): more than half already paid.On paper, it was a bad deal.Realistically, we overpaid by at least 5–6× relative to what the property was objectively worth at the time. No serious buyer…