Paris: Doing the tourist thing

I was only in Paris for a few days, so it was taken up hitting all the touristy places that have been written about millions of times before. So instead of doing that, I'm just going to provide a few useful tips on each place.

First: The Louvre

The Mona Lisa

Venus de Milo

Napoleon's dining room

It is best to get to the Louvre before opening time to ensure that you can get in before the hordes of people - and when you do get in, head straight for the famous artworks as they get very crowded too.

The Louvre is an enormous place, it can be done in a day - but that's still a fast pace.

From the Louvre it's a nice walk down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe.

Panoramic view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe

The tower from the Arc de Triomphe

You can climb up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe which gives a panoramic view of Paris. The best part of these views is that you can capture the Eiffel Tower in these photos (unlike photos of Paris from the tower).

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower at night

There's not much more to say about the Tower that hasn't already been written, however, one thing that the guide books miss is that on the river below the tower are several food trucks that serve beer and provide a perfect viewing place for the tower.

The food from the trucks is average to say the least - the space could be so much better utilised. However the beer from the greasy chip truck is relatively cheap. Don't buy drinks from the nicer pizza truck next door - they're €3 more.

Hopefully fellow travellers will find these tips useful. Paris is an amazing city with much more to offer than the tourist icons - I would've liked to stay longer but I had planned to spend the Christmas and New Year period in a beautiful island far to the North: Iceland.

Lyon: The old town and the Basilica

Lyon's historic old town on the banks of the Saône is fairly typical of many "old town" areas in France - narrow winding cobblestone streets with eclectic restaurants and shops.

Lyon's old town

However, unlike many other old towns, Lyon possesses traboules - passageways between streets and courtyards. The traboules were used in the 4th Century to transport silk from the river to the town. Many of the traboules are now closed to the public, but there are still a substantial number that can be accessed - although they are often extremely hard to find, usually hidden behind doors to apartments. However, an entertaining afternoon can be spent discovering the traboules of Lyon.

A courtyard in a traboule

Lyon's old town is dominated by the Basilique de Fourvière on the hill above the old town. The basilica was completed in 1844 and is fairly typical of the design of that time. It's a steep climb from the old town (although there is also a fernicular) but the reward is a beautiful view over Lyon.

Lyon at sunset

Lyon from the Basilica

The basilica

The crypt inside the Basilica

The other thing that Lyon is known for is it's food - especially offal. I can certainly recommend the local blood sausage, the "Veal head" - not so much.

Lyon black sausage

Tête de veau - head of veal

The food in Lyon was delicious, albeit very heavy even for French food, but of course easy to eat if you wash it down with a "pot de Lyon" (carafe) of Lyonnaise wine :)

Entrevaux: A mediaeval fort

Entrevaux

Entrevaux is a mediaeval town which once guarded the border between France and Italy. The mediaeval town is dominated by the citadel, perched high above the town, commanding views of the whole valley.

Entrevaux can be reached by taking a local scenic train from Nice. The train is a narrow gauge train which is not part of the normal train network in Nice, and as such the station is a little hard to find - tucked in behind the main station in Nice.

The scenery from the train is quite spectacular

The first thing you are greeted by in Entrevaux is the imposing town gate, complete with drawbridge.

The town gate

The gate leads into the narrow mediaeval streets which gives the town a feel that not much has changed here since then.

The narrow streets and a black cat: a witch perhaps?

The town has a pretty little church on the way to its main defensive gate: The Italian gate - so named because this gate was closest to the border with Italy.

Entrevaux Church

The Italian gate

The defensive Italian gate leads to the road that goes all the way to Italy - which is somewhat further these days. The road itself is a nice walk through olive groves and old farms.

The road to Italy

Another photo of the road

Mist rising over farmland

Olive groves

Overlooking this road and the town of Entrevaux is the imposing citadel which provides stunning views of the town and surroundings.

The Citadel itself is still being restored, so much of it is ruins, but the views make up for it.

Entrevaux from one of the forts

Entrevaux from the citadel

Another photo if Entrevaux from the citadel

The valley from the citadel

Nice: a trip to the seaside

The coastline in Nice

After a long scenic journey along the coastline, it was time to relax by the seaside.

Nice has a 7km walk along the coast, with beautiful views of the sea.

The coast at Nice

The coast

In addition to the beautiful coastline, the city offers some of the most delicious seafood, fresh from the Mediterranean and full advantage was taken of this fare before finding an overpriced bar overlooking the sea for the inevitable beautiful sunset.

Sunset in Nice

A view from an overpriced waterfront bar

Nice coastline at sunset

Although the coastline is a star attraction in Nice, there is also the beautiful old town which houses the Cathedral (of course) and many of Nice's best restaurants and bars. The best views of the old town are from the Castle Hill lookout - a château that sits above the town.

Nice Cathedral

View from Castle Hill

Nice's Old Town

Nice is also an excellent base for trips to the Alps and also to Monaco - which were the next two destinations

A stop off in Montpellier

Montpellier's main square

As the train from Barcelona to Nice (the next destination) takes around 11 hours, a way to break up the journey is to stop off in the little town of Montpellier.

The town itself is very small and has a few points of interest, perfect for a one day stopver.

Montpellier's Arc de Triomphe

The aqueduct

The water tank from the aqueduct

The Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral

Montpellier also had a great Christmas market - and what better way to contemplate a long train ride to Nice than copious quantities of vin chaud ;)

Christmas Market