Taiwans’s Giving Free Wifi to Anyone Who Visits
Taiwan became one of the first countries in the world to offer free wifi on a mass scale to its citizens, and now it is extending that to any foreign tourist, also for free, in a move that will gain it a lot of goodwill. As someone who is constantly […]
France Random Notes: It’s not free, it’s Free
Here are some of the things I have noticed in France: Random observations from my ten-day trip in Burgundy, Champagne and Nord-Pas-de-Calais in June 2013. I only saw one old man in a beret. Benoit, the 34-year-old guide from Pas-de-Calais, laughed when he said, ‘There, a Frenchman in a beret!” […]
Champagne Comes from an Ancient Abbey at Taittinger in Reims
No visit to Champagne would be complete without spending some time in a cave, and there are hundreds to choose from in Reims, the region’s largest city. After touring the spectacular Palace next to the Cathedral, where we saw the original life-size statues created in the 1500s of kings, popes […]
Louvre Lens Brings Attention, Prestige and Hope to a Depressed Part of France
The first thing we saw when we arrived in Lens, France were two huge mountains that look like pyramids with grass growing on them. They were coal heaps, giant piles of tailings left over from some of the many coal mines in this part of northern France that all closed […]
My Heart Swelled with Joy as the Train Pulled out of Reims, Bound for Amiens
I could feel my heart swell with joy as the train got underway, slowly gaining speed out of Reims bound for Amiens. I had tried to reserve on the TGV, France’s famous 265 mph train, but on a Friday, alas, it was sold out. It must be people like the […]
Camille Roberrini is Going Places in Reims
I met an ambitious, smart and bold young woman tonight who took me to dinner in Reims. She owns her own house in a small village, she’s the assistant to the director of the city’s important tourism board, and she’s traveled by herself to far flung places like Bulgaria, Egypt, […]
Champagne Drappier Is a Seven-Generation House with New Blood Coming In
In front of a crackling fireplace sat an 87-year-old Champagne maker and his son. We were at Champagne Drappier, in the country village of Urville, where this family has been making fine champagne and other wines since 1808, seven generations of family business. They’re one of the biggest family-owned producers […]
Making Mustard in Dijon
Mustard is a big deal here in Dijon. I met a women today who makes mustard every day, showing tourists and locals how to combine the seeds, some salt, and verjus, the juice of green grapes to make the perfect blend. At La Cuisine de Madeleine, Valerie Grandet showed […]