Posts Tagged ‘france’

Paris is a beautiful place and is known as fashion capital of the World. It is the home of croissants and the city of lights. Paris is the most important city and capital of France. It is so beautiful city that there is no end to the breath-taking sites you can see in Paris.
Paris was founded in 360 AD as a fortress on the Sienne river on an Island. In the 10th Century, when Paris became the capital of France, the city began to flourish. The French Revolution began in the year 1789. Paris king was killed and city was turned into a bloodbath. Napolean Bonaparte led Paris after the revolution, in a surge of cultural expansion. Many great writers and artists have come from Paris. Since then Paris is one of the world centers of art and literature.
The basic unit of currency is the French franc, which is divided into 100 centimes.
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is the most famous monument in whole world. It was built by Gustave Eiffel in 1889 World Fair and centenary of the French Revolution. Tower is of 300-metre (985 feet) a radical feat of engineering. You can go to top of the Tower for a breath taking view by stairs or to ride the elevator. It is known as best landmarks and famous symbol of Paris.
Slurp an ice-cream at Notre-Dame
A masterpiece of Paris’s Gothic is the Cathedrale Notre-Dame. Its construction was completed from 1163 to 1334. But it was damaged when the French Revolution began. The cathedral were restored to magnificent effects. It has twin tower with perfect balance, the beautiful rose window & the west façade’s three doorways with rows of saints and sculpted tympanums. The way of north tower to south tower to appreciate the masonry, there is a close up view of the chimera’s gallery & also the fantastic birds and beasts over the balustrade. Opposite of Berthillon you can found the most celebrated ice-cream of in town. It is most famous since 1954 for its natural ingredients, lashings of cream & delicious flavors.
Moulin Rouge Show
The Moulin Rouge is a number one show in Paris. Don’t miss the chance to see the show of singing dancing on the Moulin Rouge’s historic stage. Le Moulin Rouge is world famous its French Cancan and immortalized by the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Many International stars perform here on the stage. Most beautiful girls in this world participate in this show. By pre booking tickets you can secure seats.
Louvre
In louvre you can see 35000 art works on display, Renaissance paintings, Greek and Roman antiquities and the museum covers a vast spectrum of civilization. It’s worth braving gallery fatigue is an unmissable attraction. You can see the art is housed in three wings : Denon, Richelieu and Sully. You will find Marly horses, Rubens’s paintings for vermeer’s lacemaker, for the medici cycle and also Das Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
Legendary Jazz Scene
Paris is the centre of Jazz with the host of venues at which you can see live gigs. Across the left bank there are traditional clubs such as Caveau de la Huchette- that is a medieval celler, a mainstay on the jazz scene for 60 years. You can see the legendary Au Duc desLombards in les halles across the river. On the yellow wall there are some posters of great players like Kenny Burrell, Johnny Griffin, Wayne Shorter etc. Visit the New Morning for cutting-edge jazz, that embraces chanson, blues and world music.
Impressionists Masterclass
You can find the factors at the Musee d’Orin say, that impressionism: these are the barbizon school, the birth of railway and the glorious open air. The collection from 1848 to 1914, the coincide designed with 1900 Exposition Universelle, housed in a former train station, are arranged in chronological order. On the ground floor, there are Artist’s studio by Courbet and landscapes of Corot, Daubigny and Millet, forerunners of the impressionists.
Cultural Centre
You will be encouraged to see Paris’s brilliant cultural centre. Centre Pompidou is the trendsetter, which is designed by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano. It has glass envelop with colored service pipes, that holds a modern art museum, library, performance space and repertory cinema. Musee du Quai Branly has been built by Jean Nouvel, that is a 300,000- strong collection of Arts Premiers from Africa, Oceania, Asia and Americas There are adventurous displays near the Eiffel Tower, that are lush gardens and an open-air amphitheatre, it transports you into a new world.
Hammam at the Paris Mosque
You can visit Hammam de la Grande Mosquee for an authentic hammam experience. It is a beautiful building since 1920, with a stunning green and white tiled square inspired by the Alhambra. There is steam session along with different temperatures. Swimwear is compulsory there. After Hammam you can go for massage. In local areas, the Hammam is very popular so the very busy at weekends.
At the Flea Markets
Paris Flea markets are full of curiosity, that is with stained glass windows to philippe Starck pieces and Eames chairs and also with three-meter clock faces. You can buy at bargain prices on bric-a-brac stalls is the Marche de’Aligre, remaining of Flea Markets. At the Marche Beauvau, you can find the stock of fresh fruits and veg, groceries ad eats.
Star of the Art Scene
CentQuatre 104 is described as a ’space for artistic creation’ that occupies a 19th century building on the rue d’Aubervilliers. It is known as ‘Factory of Grief’, its walls are witness of the final journey of masses of Parisians. Now they conceal for the practice of artists who are renewing the creative spirit of Montmartre, that was a popular haunt of modern artists such as Ezra, Picasso etc.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

QUESTION
I am about to make a plan for a trip to the Doiran military cemetery, which lies in the northern Greece. My great-grandfather is buried in this cemetery. Me and my wife is planning to fly to Thessaloniki and then hire a car there. At Thessaloniki we plan for a short stay, may be only a couple of days, but we wish to enjoy a relaxing end of the trip to somewhere else in the region.
– Laura Vickers, Sutton Coldfield

ANSWER
Better visit Greece in the months of May, June, September or October. These are the best time to visit Greece. At this time the weather of Greece is warm. From Thessaloniki, about three hours of drive lies superb and little-developed beaches of the Sithonian Peninsula.

You can stay somewhere between the roads Sarti and Panagia. From this place you can be staring straight at the Athos Peninsula. The Athos Peninsula is a World Heritage Site now and it is dominated by 20 working monasteries. It is a wonderful and pleasant site.

Thessaloniki - Greece

Oops! Only male visitors are allowed and that too only 10 and non-Orthodox each day. Of course permits is required to be arranged, sometimes more than six months in advance.

Well, if beaches are not your taste then consider driving south and west of Thessaloniki to a place called Litochoro. It is in the shadow of Mount Olympus, the highest peak Greece.

If you walk or climb on it, you will enjoy a lot. If not, even then it is a relaxing place for a few days. There are several ancient sites close to it. Few miles out of Thessaloniki is Pella. This place is the birthplace of Alexander the Great and it was also home to some of the wonderful mosaics. If you simply stroll around the town you may discover some.

QUESTION
Hi, I want to know the differences between the gap-year schemes in Australia and New Zealand. Is it that one longer than the other and what is the age limit for it?
– James Lydeard, by email

ANSWER
Both the place operates Working Holiday Visa schemes. These visa schemes are available between the ages group of 18 and 30.

Let us first talk about the Australian visa. It allows traveler to stay in Australia for a maximum period of one year. As of now the visa costs A$230 (about £120). Travelers can easily work there for up to half the year with each employer. Employees in industries such as farming, fishing or construction can apply second year renewal of the visa.

The basic differences between the Australia and New Zealand visas are that the NZ visa is available for 12 or 23 months and it costs only NZ$120 (about £50). Moreover, the New Zealand visa can be applied for once you are in NZ. In the case of Australian visa, travelers must apply for it from outside Australia.

Selinunte in Sicily, Italy

QUESTION
Me and my wife are planning for a sightseeing tour to Italy. Till now I did not find any company providing us what we are looking for and we would definitely appreciate your help.

What we plan is to spend some, say, 4 to 6 weeks touring Italy and the major offshore central Mediterranean islands such as Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. From there after 6 weeks, may be, we would like to depart in mid-April next year, though we are flexible here.

Now what we need is that our starting and finishing point should be in the southern France. Here we live part of the year. Again we are flexible here. The options that we have are:

(01) To drive to the places and organise hotels and ferries ourselves.
(02) To rely on the public transport like trains, boats and planes.
(03) To keep on looking for a travel company that could organise our whole trip as planned.
(04) To find such travel company that can provide us a series of inter-inked trips.

– Tom Craven, by email

ANSWER
Keeping in mind the superb public transport, I would suggest you both to undertaking this journey mainly by train, bus and ferry. This will first of all save your money on either car hire or getting to Italy in the first place and you won’t have to find somewhere where you can leave your car after you are done with the stressful part of driving into big cities. Oh yes, if you nee a car for exploring some remote areas then you can easily hire a car for a few days from major cities.

The valuable suggestion is that an InterRail pass allows unlimited travel for 8 days within a month and it costs only £199 for second class and for the first class it const not more than £275. The passes are available from Rail Europe. Keep in mind that if you are planning for visiting fewer places and that too for longer then you may enjoy having point-to-point tickets in advance at around same price.

InterRail, Europe

On ferries there are some discounts with this pass. Well, on routes like Reggio Calabria to Messina (Sicily) and Trapani (Sicily) to Cagliari (Sardinia) there are no discounts.

Now let me come back to the route. Start with taking a train from your home in southern France to Genoa, Venice or Trieste or else you can hop on a flight from the UK. There are easily available budget carriers for all these cities.

Now, after this head south down the mainland. Next travel up through Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica and then catch a ferry to Marseille, Toulon or Nice from the north of the island.

ALSO READ
10 Things to do in Europe, that too absolutely free
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