Part of the Greater Toronto Area, Markham is a melting pot of cultures, a high-tech hub and a place where old meets new. It is a city of rolling hills, suburban neighbourhoods, towering skyscrapers and 19th century homes. Markham is a vibrant city with several cultural sights, recreational facilities, parks and heritage sights. However, for …
You’ll already know the name of this southern Parisian by the airport. And while that isn’t a poetic way to sum up Orly, it’s not really known as a holiday destination. But if you find yourself here you’ll be close to the centre of Paris and many underrated places in the Val-de-Marne Department. We’ll start …
This town in the Pays de Loire was caught up in the French Revolution worse than any other in the country. There was a cataclysmic battle here in 1793, when much of Cholet burned down. The battlefield has been marked with a orientation table, and the municipal museum will recount the battle and introduce the …
On the Scarpe River, Douai is a city that has reinvented itself many times. Up to the 1700s it grew rich trading wool, which was packed onto barges along the Scarpe. Then later, under French rule things got more sophisticated as the Parliament of Flanders and the judiciary moved to the city, furnishing Douai with …
Aubagne is a refreshingly un-touristy town a few kilometres from Marseille. But even if it doesn’t show up in many guides there are lots of little things to love about this place. First up is the author and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol who was born in Aubagne. The town and the raw landscapes of the Massif …
On an eastern spur of the Luberon Range, Cavaillon is a mid-sized Provençal town in bucolic countryside. The fertile soils around nourish all kinds of fresh fruit, like the lauded Cavaillon melon. This is how most people in France know the name of the town, and there’s even a festival in July to honour this …
Balancing on a limestone ridge above the River Doubs, Dole is a lovely old city in north of the Jura Range. Holy Roman Emperors and Counts of Burgundy stayed in Dole, and it was under their control under Louis XIV annexed the region in 1678. Dole’s old centre is a confusion of alleyways edged by …
On the coast of Languedoc in southwest France, Agde is a town with two faces. There’s an historic core on the left bank of the Hérault, while Cap d’Agde by the sea is a timeless holiday destination, with beaches and fun for kids and grown-ups. Agde is also a byword for naturism, and naked folk …
The next town around the bay from Cannes is this enticing seaside escape under San Peyre, an extinct volcano. The coast is rocky in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, at the point where the Massif d’Esterel, a strange mountain range of red rock descends to the Mediterranean. For the drive of a lifetime get on the Corniche d’Or, which …
In Northern Central France, Dreux is just over an hour west of Paris on the boundary with Normandy. Although it’s a smallish town there’s a lot to see, like the burial chapel of the noble House of Orléans and an ornately sculpted belfry dating to the 1500s. Dreux has a peculiar mix of museums too, …