Conveuropean

Annecy is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is located on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, 35 kilometers south of Geneva and last July I had the prividlege to visit this interesting place for a whole day.

The city is really very beautiful, located between the lake and the mountains. And although you can tell that the site is quite touristy, I found some empty spaces where I could really appreciate this place. Highly recommended

Located in the current french city of Lyon, Lugdunum was a very important Roman city in Roman The ruins of the ancient amphitheater and the various exhibits in the museum next to it tell the story of a vibrant Roman city, important to the empire for several centuries. The original city was located west of the confluence of the Rhône and Saône, on the Fourvière hills.

Last september I had the opportunity to visit again the city for a second time and on this occasion I was able to spend a good amount of time exploring this area which is undoubtedly one of the most interesting in Lyon.

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to visit again the city of light and even if I had visited Paris quite a few times during the last years this is the first time I climbed the Eiffel Tower. Once you cover the 674 steps needed to get to the second level, you get rewarded with a really nice view of the Champ the Mars on one side and The Palais de Chaillot and the Gardens of the Trocadéro on the other. I took this opportunity to take some aerial pictures and one of the views I like the most was the one showing the champ of mars with people scattered admiring the amazing iron structure designed by Gustaf Eiffel, erected in 1889. I always will remember the amazement I felt when I saw the structure for the first time.

Some weeks ago a Polish colleague recommended us a small city near Colmar called Riquewihr, that he described as a gorgeous medieval city located in the mountains with an old walled center. Today we decided to head north into France to visit this place and we were able to corroborate this place is indeed one of the most beautiful town in the Alsatian region. We were reading that during WWII this was one the few places that was spared from destruction, since it was relatively hidden in a cul-de-sac, so there are many houses from the 15th century really well preserved. One of the perks of visiting this place is the route to get there, since you pass through several vinicole plantations and some other nice towns as well. In one of the towers surviving the original wall built by the Duke of Horburg in the 13th century, you can visit a museum with the history of the city. Its called Dolder in Alstatian, meaning the highest point, where I took this picture.

A friend was visiting us this weekend and she wanted to visit Strasbourg so we decided today to hop on the TER train and go to this beautiful Alsatian city. When we got there we were welcomed by a very nice sunny day and while we were walking in the old city center I took this picture of the Place Kléber. This is the largest square at the center of the city and there is an interesting historic fact: Even if the place is currently named after the french general Jean-Baptiste Kléber, the first name it had was Barfüsserplatz (square of the bare-feet-goers), because once there was a monastery along the square.

I feel very lucky living in Europe and now I feel even luckier living so close to Paris. I knew living close to the French border that Paris was very close by train and last weekend I had the opportunity to try out how close it was by taking the TGV to the Gare de Lyon (and it was indeed only a couple of hours). I have been in Paris several times and there is a plans I repeat over and over: Talking the metro to Hotel de Ville, crossing "Île de la Cité", stopping by Notre Dame and then going back to continue walking through Rue de Rivoli until I reach Palais Royal. Then I go to le Jardin des Tuileries, continue to "place de la Concorde: and then I walk all the way up through "Avenue des Champs-Élysées" until I get to the "Place Charles de Gaulle", where "l'Arc de Triomphe" is located. I took this picture at the end of my walk there.

There are 2 alsatian cities bordering with the north of Switzerland: Saint Louis and Huningue, where you can do an interesting bike ride along the Huninguen channel. This old channel fed by the rhine river was built in the 19th century and used to be a fluvial medium of transport in this region. Despite the chilly weather today we decided to ride along the canal and we went all the way up to Kembs. When were approaching the town I found this funny tree in the middle of this growing field. Kudos for the owner to spare the life of this little tree!!

A couple of weeks ago I went by train to Besançon, the Capital City of the Franche-Comté region in France. The town has a very interesting history, being one of the first cities conquered by Julius Cesar in the "Gaul" region. I enjoyed walking around the old city center and when I was on my way up to visit the Citadel deisgned by Vauban, I stumble upon this ancient Galo-Roman ruins. Everytime I found those type of ruins I have to stop by, because for me it's a clear reminder that those cities have been there for a really long time.

One of my favorite plans when I visit a new city is to go as high as I can to get a panoramic view of the place. When I visited Nice back in January I read the Colline du Chateau overlooking the Baie des Anges offered an amazing view of the city. So I climbed all the stairs and after some good walk (later on I found there was an elevator, but never mind) I was rewarded with an amazing view of the old town, the bay and the sea.

I still remember how I felt the first time I visited the Tower Eiffel in Paris (it was the same sensation I experienced when I visited the Taj Mahal): A landmark that you have seen so many times in pictures, postcards, movies, books, etc, but this time the place appears in front of your face and you can almost touch it from the distance. Every time I go to Paris I try to go to the Trocadero metro stop and try to get this really good view of the Eiffel Tower. Once I was playing with my camera and I setup a long exposure while the tower was glittering and that's how I got this shot.

One of my first images of Europe was the majestic old walled city of Carcassonne. An Scotish friend invited me to visit this place with a friend of her who was visiting her and I was so happy that I was able to go. I loved the city!. I was able to come back some years later when I did train trip from Girona to Carcassonne and during the night I was able to capture this shot.

In the autumn of 2010 I had the opportunity to make a small trip flying to Girona and then going by train I went all the way up to Carcassonne, stopping by in different towns including Narbonne, where I needed to switch trains. I took the opportunity to walk around this former prosperous port located in the department of Aude. I'm always fascinated with the Gargoyles in the European cathedrals, but the ones in Narbonne were particularly spooky so I took a picture of one of them.

Last weekend I visited Strasbourg. I found some cheap flight to Frankfurt and then from there I took a couple of trains to get to that nice French city. Something I had read before and I really liked it was the "Jardin de deux rives", a shared park between the French and German countries (Strasbourg and Kehl). I had crossed some European frontiers by car before, but this is the first time I do it walking back and forth in less than 15 minutes. In this picture I'm looking to Germany from the French side.

Last weekend we went to visit our friend C. in Dijon. It was almost 2 years since the last time we went there and we had a great time walking around Dijon, hiking in the nearby towns and going to the French movies. The first day when we went to the city center and we were heading back I took a picture in this warm sunset.

Last year in September I went to visit my friend C. in Dijon. The easiest way to travel was to fly to Lyon. I had the chance to make a small tour around the city center and even if I didn't have the chance to visit la Basilique de Fouviere, at least I got a glimpse from the distance here (I couldn't stop comparing it to Montmatre in Paris)

This year (09) I went to visit my dear friend T. at Paris and we went together to the Fete de la musique. But the year before we also did it and in a very sunny day next to the Eiffel Tower she took this beautiful picture.

In January 07 we went to a paid Ski trip to Courmayeur in Italy. One day when the sport guys where Skiing we went with J.B. and M.G. to do some site seeing in Chamonix Mont-Blanc. Actually we wanted to go to Geneve, but the bus schedule didn't work out so we end-up here. Anyway, it was worth it, we took a small train, went up to the mountain and we saw this beautiful snow lake.

During the winter of 04, I was living in France with M. in a really small village next to Bordeaux, called Cestas. I always remember it was there I saw for the first time in my life Spiders so big you could see their teeth!. A nice plan in Cestas was to go to a park nearby. It was there I took this picture.

One of the advantages of Basel is its proximity to both the French and German borders. So two weeks ago we went with K. to visit Colmar in the Alsace region of France. We had a really good time walking around the narrow streets of the old city, I tasted finally the famous "Tarte Flambee" (not recommended if you don't like or tolerate bacon) and I visited the Unterlinder Museeum, that displays the famous "Retable d'Issenheim". If you are visiting the Alsatian region this city is definitively a recommended spot. I took this picture in a pictoresque area of the city crossed by canals, called "little venice".

The first time I went to Paris in the autumn of 04 with M. The weather was amazing with really clear blue skies. I took this picture in Montmartre and I still enjoy looking at the colors and the background here :).

10 years ago I started my European journey right here, at the center of the world, according to Salvador Dali. I took a train from Toulouse to Perpignan and I started a new chapter in my life filled with so many experiences that I feel many decades have gone through since that January 2004, so far away. Today when I look back I feel extremely lucky to have had the chance to live these years in this continent. I have to confess I didn’t like it at the beginning, but bit by bit I blended in and I fell in love with Europa. I went through some very tough and very rewarding moments and I made some very important life lasting connections. These years opened my mind to the world and I matured immensely as well. I’m very looking forward to the next 10 years to come. I’m still happily conveuropean after all these years :).