A family tour of a Paris neighborhood with a local guide
We’re in Gerard Merlot, a shop famous for macarons in the St Germain district of Paris, with guide Genevieve, who we’ve met through a terrific company called Tours by Locals.
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Two new ways families can take the stress out of flying
Want to get whisked through security? It may be too late for Thanksgiving, but if you are flying for Christmas, you’ve got time to sign up for Global Entry, the trusted traveler network that allows you to make your way quickly through special lines and customs by using automated kiosks at 97 domestic airports through the TSA Pre-check Program.
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A visit to the town where Vincent Van Gogh spent his final most prolific days
I’m literally walking in Vincent Van Gogh’s footsteps to the field where he painted the famous paintings like the Wheatfield of Crows and where he shot himself.
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In Rouen, France — Joan of Arc and Monet
In this medieval city, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Today we see a cathedral that was begun in 1145—amazing it is still standing after being damaged in WWII. Nearly 9,000 half timbered houses burned during WWII.
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Two days touring the D-Day sites in Normandy
We are at the famous Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial overlooking Omaha Beach, where the massive allied assault on the Normandy on June 6, 1944 aimed to liberate France and defeat Nazi Germany.
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A cruise with a difference — along the Seine in Normandy
I’m on a different kind of cruise—a River Cruise on the Seine in France on Avalon Waterways Creativity—just 140 passengers on this 361-foot long barge and with just 70 staterooms and two suites.
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Cruising on the Seine River – a stop at Monet’s Garden in Giverny
I’m walking in Monet’s glorious gardens at Giverny on sunny day thinking about a little girl skipping over the famous green Japanese Bridges a big smile on her face.
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Family gatherings at Gettysburg for 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s address
At the time, no one expected the speech to be a big deal. Lincoln had merely been asked to make a few remarks at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, here in the Pennsylvania countryside, just four months after the searing battle that turned the tide of the Civil War.
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Learning about grapes and history in the Champagne region near Paris
We’re sitting in a family dining room in a tiny French village eating chicken cooked in champagne and sipping champagne. This is the Champagne Region of France afterall.
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Time-traveling in Paris — to a tiny hotel in a 17th Century building
We’ve moved from the heart of fashionable Paris to the St. Germaine neighborhood on the Left Bank and feel like we’ve time traveled, checking in to the tiny Hotel Verneuil, a 26-room hotel that is housed in a 17th century building.
