What a better way to discover a country and its culture than being introduced to them by a native guide? Moreover, when this guide is a caring friend, who invites you in their home and shows you their favourite spots, travelling to a foreign country not only becomes an immersive experience, but also a wonderful holiday. I have been very fortunate to have such friends … Continue reading Portugal: North & South (I)
The last time I stayed in London was in September 2019, before the pandemic. I had organized a family weekend around the visit of the William Blake exhibition at Tate Britain. Though I travelled to Scotland twice since then, and went last year to Cambridge via London, I did not have the opportunity to stay a few days in England’s capital again. A few months … Continue reading A summer weekend in London
From Glasgow, it was very easy to visit the charming islands of Arran, known as “Scotland in miniature”, and Bute. Both islands being in the Firth of Clyde, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre Peninsula, they are ideal destinations for a day out, especially for people living in urban areas like Glasgow. The 3-day tour to Mull was a real immersion, not only … Continue reading May in Scotland: Part 3 – The islands
The second leg of our journey in Scotland lasted nine days. If our base remained in Glasgow, we divided this stay into two different themes: first, the exploration of the cultural and architectural treasures of Scotland’s biggest city (4 days), and second, several excursions in the Isles of Arran, Bute, Mull and Iona (5 days). When I planned our stay in Glasgow, I expected to … Continue reading May in Scotland: Part 2 – Glasgow
Two years ago, I enjoyed so much my trip to the Highlands, that I promised myself I would go back to Scotland. I thus convinced my American friend, Lynda, to meet this Spring in Scotland and celebrate there our birthdays together. We carefully organized a two-week trip in the central and southern parts of Scotland, from Edinburgh and the Borders to Perthshire and Fife the … Continue reading May in Scotland: Part 1
From the aristocratic Grand Tour in the 17th and 18th centuries to today’s mass tourism, Florence has attracted millions of students and amateurs of Renaissance art. Last January, a century after Miss Lucy Honeychurch’s trip* and armed not with a Baedeker’s but with a Lonely Planet travel guide, I wandered from the Piazza della Signoria to the Ponte Vecchio and strolled alongside the Arno. And … Continue reading A long weekend in Florence
In May 2014, I decided to explore one of the largest historic areas of England: Yorkshire. I visited its capital, York, and a beautiful Victorian spa town, Harrogate. Then, an English friend introduced me to some of Yorkshire’s natural beauties, the North York Moors National Park, the coast from Whitby to Scarborough, and Nidderdale AONB. Historically a county, Yorkshire corresponds now to the ceremonial counties … Continue reading A trip to Yorkshire
In 2017, I took the opportunity of a one-week intensive language course to discover the West Midlands, a part of England I had never seen before: Birmingham, Shrewsbury and Chester. West Midlands designates both a region of several counties and the county including Birmingham — England’s second most populated city after Greater London. I invite you to join me in this cultural trip, from the … Continue reading A trip to the West-Midlands
In 2019, I suggested to my American friend that we could visit together some of the places in New England that I had heard of in my class of American literature, such as Concord, the cradle of Transcendentalism. My friend liked the idea to (re)visit some milestones in her own culture and came back to me with the outline of a 5-day itinerary, leading us … Continue reading New England: A literary trip
In May 2015, I had the opportunity to enrol in an intensive language course to improve my English. As I had never been to Scotland before, I chose a language school in Edinburgh, and extended the duration of my trip to do some sightseeing. With an English friend, I explored Edinburgh and the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park before the course. Then, a couple … Continue reading My first trip to Scotland
In 2011, my children and I made our second trip to the United States. My daughter was a first-year student in Nancy’s School of Architecture and wanted to see or visit several buildings in NY City that she had heard of in her classes, quite recent and/or famous for their architecture. My son, still a teenager, and I agreed to follow her steps in NY … Continue reading New-York and more: the architect’s eye
I went to Dublin with an Irish friend in August 2012 for a five-day trip (including travel time). I was delighted by this experience: so many young people in the city centre, so much energy and life! I have posted here the outline of my trip: it may give you some ideas or suggestions for a future trip to this vibrant city. Continue reading A long weekend in Dublin
The eternal student - anglophile version 