When in the south of France, every travel experience should include a sampling of the wonderful street food sold from carts and street side stalls throughout the towns across the Côte d'Azur, but in particular, Nice. A chickpea flour crepe known as Socca is a Niçoise specialty both filling and affordable. The crepe-like dish, made from only chick pea [...]

Excerpt from: A Woman’s Guide to France In 53 B.C.E. Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, and the Romanization of ancient France began. The process began with the taking of Marseilles and , within a year, spread from Provence to Paris and beyond.  While Paris, originally named Lutetia, doesn’t contain many visible Roman ruins, one is able [...]

The Loire Valley, two hours southwest of Paris, is the birthplace of Renaissance France. For centuries, the royal city of Amboise attracted both kings and artists. What comes as a surprise to many visitors is that Amboise is the resting place of Italy’s greatest Renaissance artist, Leonardo da Vinci.  Having worked in the service of two [...]

One of the most romantic châteaux anywhere in France elegantly straddles the Cher River in the Indre-sur-Loire region, a few hours southwest of Paris. Fittingly nicknamed the Château des Dames (The Château of Women), Chenonceau has been maintained through the centuries by seven extraordinary women with reputations for having iron fists in velvet gloves – [...]

On April 26, 1717, notorious pirate, “Black Sam” Bellamy went to a watery grave when his flagship, Whydah, sunk off the coast of Cape Cod in a brutal nor’easter. Most of the crew and a belly full of booty went down with the ship, lying buried under the shifting sand for more than 250 years. Tales [...]