France Archives ⋆ The Passenger

August 11, 2024January 18, 2025

Carcassonne

Some younger people in Germany may just know Carcassonne as a very famous board game published in the year 2000 (and translated into 20 other languages thereafter). But there is a reason why the game developers chose this name: the Cité of Carcassonne is one of the biggest medieval fortifications that you can still visit. It is located on a hill and protected by high walls and towers; Carcassonne is so unique that the historic city is protected as a UNESCO world heritage site.

August 11, 2024January 18, 2025

Canal du Midi

When you’re travelling through the Languedoc you’ll probably see a lot of water channels and water gates. Especially at Toulouse you can’t overlook this as the city is the starting point for a fantastic masterpiece of engineering: the Canal du Midi. The 240 kilometers long channel connecting Toulouse with the Mediterranean Sea was finished in 1681 and was very important for the economic development of the region. Today, the channel is UNESCO world heritage and that for very good reasons.

August 11, 2024January 18, 2025

Les Abattoirs

Well, yes: as the name already says this place at Toulouse was once a slaughterhouse built in 1823. Since the year 2000 it hosts something completely different, an art museum exhibiting modern and contemporary art. The work of Fernand Léger in front of the building is just a small appetizer, inside you’ll find around 3,800 works of art.

August 10, 2024January 18, 2025

Saint-Sernin

When I told people that I would travel to Toulouse they didn’t fully understand why. The city is not known for its nice city center and beautiful sights, but I enjoyed being there very much. I loved sitting at the river Garonne near the old Port de la Daurade, had fun while exploring the large Place du Capitole in the evening hours and visiting sights like the Basilique Saint-Sernin which is an icon of the city and has a wonderful tower with a special architecture.

August 10, 2024September 1, 2024

Face à la gare

It is maybe just another nice hotel of the ibis chain, but it is definitely in a prime location: the ibis Gare Matabiau. From there the main railway station (Gare Matabiau) and the main bus terminal (Gare Routière) are just across the road or better said just across the Canal du Midi. That’s of course especially great if you arrive or leave early in the morning. With that you’re having fast access to places like Andorra or the rest beautiful French cities surrounding Toulouse. You might have to figure out the right road, but it is also only just 15 minutes on foot to the city center and already around the hotel you’ll find good bars and restaurants.

August 9, 2024January 19, 2025

Pirineus

The Pyrenees (or Pyrénées, Pirineus) mountains are more than 430 kilometers long and form the perfect border between central Europe and Iberian peninsula, between France and Spain. They reach nearly from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean and are much less known, much less discovered and much less populated than the Alps. Concerning its shape the Pyrenees are also very different as in contrast to the Alps as the various valleys are located in parallel to the main mountain range.

August 9, 2024August 23, 2024

Hard to reach

Andorra is potentially the country in Europe that is hardest to tick off your travel wish list. It is just a tiny country with under 80,000 inhabitants on 468 km² in the Pyrenees between Spain and France. There is no airport and no railway station, your best chance is to fly to Barcelona or Toulouse and take a bus ride into the mountains which lasts 3-4 hours. It is a bit unusual that the capital city Andorra la Vella is so complicated to reach but the trip through the mountains is very scenic and well worth the effort.

August 9, 2024January 18, 2025

Toulouse-Blagnac

Arriving at Toulouse is a relaxed thing because of the Toulouse-Blagnac airport (TLS) located just eight kilometers afar from the city center in the northeast of the city. It is a small airport that is easy and fast to pass – but it also has a long aviation history; for example the first flight of a Concorde started at Toulouse and the airport is also the homebase of manufacturer Airbus. Blagnac has been opened in 1939 and it has two runways transporting seven million passengers each year and by that making it the sixed busiest airport in France.

June 1, 2024June 15, 2024

Capitale mondiale du parfum

Grasse is known to be the world capital of perfume and therefore that’s all a visit about. The region surrounding it is used to grow different kinds of flowers (mostly lavender, narcissus, cassia, mimosa, violet, iris, roses, jasmine plus bigarade oranges) used in fragrance production and whenever you stroll through the narrow streets and enjoy good views from the mountain you’ll always have a nice scent in your nose.

June 1, 2024June 15, 2024

Le Parfum

Musée International de la Parfumerie, Grasse

When visiting Grasse you can stop at the historic perfume factories like Fragonard, Galimard and Molinard to learn about fragrance making, but you should definitely also have a look at the Musée International de la Parfumerie; a very unusual museum and a topic I had never explored before. As the small city of Grasse at the French Côte d’Azur is considered the world capital of perfume you can have a deep-dive here and fill your nose with lots of different scents.