A southern suburb of Paris, Massy is a new town laid out for commuters in the 1960s. Before it was developed this area had been a remote rural getaway for people like the Romantic writer Chateaubriand and Colbert, the powerful Minister of Finance under Louis XIV. You can visit their old homes, which both have …
With 90% of their land used for agriculture, there was a chance Iowa would choose the Nickname the Corn State. Luckily for all the people of Iowa, the official nickname for Iowa is The Hawk Eye State. And not because of Colonel Hawk Eye Pearce, the surgeon from MASH, who it turns out never actually …
Ermont is an outlying suburb to the northwest of Paris. But though the capital might seem a long way away, you’re only 10 minutes from Saint-Denis and 15 from the Gare du Nord on public transport. You’ll also have the chance to poke around an area that isn’t seen by many tourists. In the 19th …
In case you need reminding that relations between France and Germany haven’t always been cordial, come to Thionville in the Grand Est Region. The town, close to the Luxembourg border has been hotly contested since it was founded, and has witnessed six sieges in the last 500 years alone. The more recent conflicts between the …
Roughly halfway between Paris and Disneyland. Noisy-le-Grand isn’t a tourist destination in its own right. But if you’re staying here you’ll have a lot of other interesting things to hunt down in the area. The Disneyland resort, with two theme parks and accompanying amenities and attractions, isn’t far to the east. While you can take …
For most of its history La Seyne-sur-Mer was an industrial enclave supporting the Port of Toulon. La Seyne was a shipbuilding town, and its yards were still launching boats in the 1980s. But since then the town has turned to tourism, regenerating the waterside, opening restaurants and building accommodation. This transformation is symbolised by the …
A distant northwestern suburb of Paris, Pontoise is in the Cergy-Pontoise conurbation. This “new town” was built in the 1980s and became a reference for urban design and cutting-edge architecture. The cityscape showed up in several movies in the 1980s, like Eric Rohmer’s Boyfriends and Girlfriends. And even Cergy-Pontoise can pack a punch, especially when …
A former textile town in the southwest, Castres has been a hive of trade and industry going back 2,000 years. You can glimpse this business on the banks of the River Agout, where medieval tanners’ houses were built with basement doors to help them get to water quicker. In the 17th century Castres was the …
Mistakenly overlooked by many travelers to the U.S., Arkansas is a state that surprises and delights those who do venture there. Nicknamed “The Natural State”, and with good reason, Arkansas is an outdoor wonderland for those looking to explore. From hiking to white-water rafting, beautiful natural hot springs, and diamond mining fields. Where the stunning beauty …
Poissy is a town west of Paris, only 20 minutes by train from the capital but with many worthwhile sights of its own. Way back it was a royal city, and the birthplace of Kings Louis IX and Philippe III. The Colloquy of Poissy was a huge event that happened here in 1561, an unsuccessful …