‘The pearl of islands!’ wrote the Roman poet Catullus in the 1st century BCE, describing the town of Sirmione, on the southern shore of beautiful Lake Garda in northern Italy. Less than 40 kms from Verona and 150 kms from Venice, Lake Garda is ideally placed to visit one of the loveliest parts of northern Italy.
This year was the 35th edition of European Heritage Days that take place in September every year. During the designated weekend doors are opened to thousands of monuments and sites, many of which aren’t normally open to the public, or offer only limited access. As visits are free, the idea is to encourage people to learn about their local cultural heritage, and become actively involved in safeguarding it, not only for the present, but for future generations.
When it comes to shopping, Paris offers such a wealth of choice with its boutique-lined streets and elegant department stores. It seems that almost everywhere you turn you will discover enticing little shops full of alluring goodies to tempt you.
Sitting high on a rocky promontory above the valley of Gueuzon and the River Arz, Rochefort-en-Terre is a village in the countryside of the Morbihan departement of south-west Brittany. Not only classified as one of the ‘Plus Beau Villages de France’ it has also been designated a ‘Petite Cité de Caractére’ and a ‘Ville Fleurie’, making it one of the Brittany’s most visited sites. As well as the charm of the village itself, there is also a medieval chateau on the edge of town. It was not surprising that Rochefort-en-Terre was voted by the French themselves in 2016 as their favourite village of the year.
The approach to the historic walled city of St Malo, on the coast of Brittany, is surely one of the most dramatic of any city in France. The charming old town stands on a granite islet joined to the mainland by an ancient causeway. It’s enclosed by high ramparts which are bordered by beautiful sandy beaches at the foot of its steep walls.
