Pope’s Palace

The imposing Palais des papes towers over Avignon, a symbol of the time when the Proveneal city was the centre of the Christian world, after the papacy was moved here from Rome in 1309, due to a schism within the church. It is the largest Gothic Palace in Europe, and today visitors can enter 25 of the rooms. Although the ransacking of the palace by the French National Assembly in 1791 left many of the rooms rather empty. After seeing Pope’s Palace and Pont d’Avignon bridge, there are a few good museums, perhaps a good show at the theatre. Would only come here in future for specific festivals. It’s a sleepy town otherwise.. (more…)

Paris

Paris
Few cities leave the visitor with such vivid impressions, whether it’s the drifting cherry blossoms in the tranquil gardens of Notre-Dame, the riverside quais on a summer evening, the sound of blues in atmospheric cellar bars, or the ancient alleyways and cobbled lanes of the historic Latin Quarter and villagey Montmartre.
The city of Paris proper, with 2,125,246 inhabitants at the 1999 census, is the largest city in France. Together with its suburbs and satellite cities it forms the Greater Paris metropolitan area (French: aire urbaine de Paris) covering 14,518 km² (5,606 sq. miles), and with a population of 11,174,743 inhabitants at the 1999 census (11.5 million as of January 2004 estimates). The Greater Paris metropolitan area is the second largest in Europe (after Moscow, and along with London), and approximately the 20th largest in the world. It is also the world’s largest French speaking metropolitan area. (more…)

Valence: France

Valence Travel: France
Valence is a commune in south-eastern France, the capital of the département of Drôme, situated on the left bank of the Rhône, 65 miles south of Lyon on the railway to Marseille. Formerly the duchy of Valentinois, it was ruled by the Duke of Valentinois, a title which is still claimed by the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, though he has no actual administrative control over the area.
Highlights of Valence
The cathedral of St. Apollinaris, which has an interesting apse, was rebuilt in the 11th century in the Romanesque style of Auvergne and consecrated in 1095 by pope Urban II. It suffered extensive damage in the French Wars of Religion, but it was restored in the first decade of the 17th century. The porch and the stone tower above it were rebuilt in 1861 (more…)

Tours : France

Tours Travel: France
Tours is a city in France, the préfecture (capital city) of the Indre-et-Loire département, on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. The Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines and for the perfection of its local spoken French.
Cathedral of Tours
The cathedral of Tours, dedicated to Saint Gatien, its canonized first bishop, was begun about 1170 to replace the just-started cathedral that was burnt out in 1166, during the quarrel between Louis VII of France and Henry II of England. The lowermost stages of the west towers (illustration, right) belong to the 12th century, but the rest of the west end is in the profusely detailed Flamboyant Gothic of the 15th century, completed just as the Renaissance was affecting less traditional patrons than bishops, in the pleasure châteaux of Touraine (more…)

Tourcoing: France

Tourcoing Travel: France
ourcoing is a city and commune of northern France, in the Nord département, located near the cities of Lille and Roubaix and the Belgian border. Population (1999): 94,204.