It’s not a long walk from our hotel to the Garonne river, but after a day of walking, we decided to make the trip by tram. We got off at Place de la Bourse where we found a young violinist performing a jazzy version of “Killing Me Softly with
Bordeaux is called the Paris of the South. It’s not as large, of course, and notably lacks a tower or pyramid. But it’s elegant, beautiful, clean and interesting. We will return. This is going to be one of those “mostly pictures” blog posts because I don’t have
Have you toured a winery? If so, you’ll see a lot that’s familiar in this post. Winemaking is like many other things – brain surgery, for instance – everyone does the same thing; some just do it better than others. Château LaTour-Martillac is a small producer run by five brothers
Pau is a small town just north of the Pyrenees often used as either the beginning or the end of a stage of the Tour de France. If you’re a fan of the Tour, you’ll know Pau. imagine my surprise to discover this monument to Tour winners in
The main reason that we came on this trip, the founding principle if you like, was to visit the Basque Country. We’ve been in and around it for a few days now, but today we headed into the heart. Before I show you what we found there, let’s
We cruised through Euskal Herria (Basque Country) today. The Basque are an ethnic group that lives in an area that spans France and Spain on the Bay of Biscay at the western end of the Pyrenees. We stopped in three places: the small fishing village of Getaria, the large and
Excusez-moi, Président Bush, mais vous envahissez le mauvais pays! France Tomorrow we return to France. Mary Anne and I love France, but many ‘mericans don’t. Maybe it’s because the French refuse to go along with some of our less-than-well-thought-out plans. But we showed them! Freedom fries! How’d
Everybody talks about the Guggenheim art museum in Bilbao. Designed by Frank Gehry, the same guy who gave us the Experience Music Project (now MoPop) in Seattle, the Guggenheim has garnered accolades for its design. In its short lifetime, the museum has joined a rarified list of places that folks