In the heart of Bourg-en-Bresse, France, you will find charming meandering lanes that exude a timeless beauty and embrace the town's rich history. As you stroll through these quaint streets, allow yourself to be captivated by the picturesque scenes that unfold around you.

The cobblestone streets, lined with centuries-old buildings, create an enchanting atmosphere reminiscent of a bygone era. Each step reveals a new architectural wonder, from half-timbered houses adorned with colorful shutters to elegant facades with intricate carvings that hint at the town's cultural heritage.

Amidst the meandering lanes, you may encounter cozy cafes with their tables spilling onto the sidewalks, inviting you to take a moment to savor a cup of freshly brewed coffee or indulge in a delicious croissant. The aroma of French cuisine fills the air, drawing you to family-run bistros where you can relish in traditional dishes and perhaps even strike up a conversation with the friendly locals.

Bourg-en-Bresse's meandering lanes lead you to hidden squares and fountains, offering peaceful spots to rest and absorb the town's serenity. As you wander further, you might chance upon charming boutiques, showcasing artisanal crafts and regional specialties that make for delightful souvenirs.

Don't miss the opportunity to visit the magnificent Royal Monastery of Brou, an architectural masterpiece that stands as a testament to the town's royal connections. Its ornate spires and intricate sculptures make it a must-see destination that captures the essence of Bourg-en-Bresse's cultural legacy.

Whether you explore during the bloom of spring or the golden hues of autumn, the meandering lanes of Bourg-en-Bresse promise an unforgettable experience that will leave you enchanted and yearning to return. So, immerse yourself in the town's timeless beauty and embrace the magic of its meandering lanes, where history and charm entwine in a delightful dance.

If Graffiti is art and art is a crime then how come piccaso never done time?

Melvin Glover

TDT(Copyright 2017) All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission

Brunch sur le thème des fleurs à l'hôtel AC Ambassadeur Antibes-Juan Les Pins un vrai régal c'était le dernier de la saison vivement les prochains merci au chef Neil Baille qui m'a fait découvrir la cuisine avec des fleurs

Construit pour l’exposition universelle de 1889 il s’appelait autrefois le Grand Hôtel Terminus et était relié par une passerelle en hauteur à la gare Saint Lazare.

je ne peux que conseiller d’aller y boire un verre.

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La Grand Place et le beffroi du CCI.

Les sept beffrois de Lille sont un symbole de la région Hauts-de-France et illustrent divers styles architecturaux dont les gothiques ou les baroques ou romans. Vingt-trois de ces édifices sont inscrits au Patrimoine mondiale de l’humanité depuis 2005.

Pour l’UNESCO ce classement constitue une extension des trente beffrois belges déjà inscrits.

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Construit pour l’exposition universelle de 1889 il s’appelait autrefois le Grand Hôtel Terminus et était relié par une passerelle en hauteur à la gare Saint Lazare.

je ne peux que conseiller d’aller y boire un verre.

Leica SL2

more pictures in : fr.mylabphoto.com?id=1025503

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Construit pour l’exposition universelle de 1889 il s’appelait autrefois le Grand Hôtel Terminus et était relié par une passerelle en hauteur à la gare Saint Lazare.

je ne peux que conseiller d’aller y boire un verre.

Leica SL2

more pictures in : fr.mylabphoto.com?id=1025503

mon logiciel de post traitement

skylum.evyy.net/c/249213/1899675/3255

proifitez de réduction pour Noël en suivant ce lien.

#opera #parishilton #parishiltonopera #legrandsalon #luxury #luxuryhotel #luxurylifestyle #luxurylife #jmlpyt #jmlpytphotography #paris #parisienne #parissecrets #parisfrance #visitparis #visitparisregion #france #francetourisme #francetravel #explore_iledefrance #parisfranceofficial #hotel #travelphotography #travel

“And now you'll be telling stories

of my coming back

and they won't be false, and they won't be true

but they'll be real”

― Mary Oliver, A Thousand Mornings

TDT(Copyright2016) All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission

Mittagsblumen, die sich der Sonne öffnen, als gäbe es kein Morgen.

Gesehen an der Kortosseur, festgehalten mit der Leica D-Lux.

Welcher Farbton spricht euch am meisten an?

☀️✨🌸

Cheverny is a commune in the French department of Loir-et-Cher, administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire.

When capturing this facade in Saint-Malo at dusk, I wanted to seize the contrast between the geometric rigor of the architecture and the warmth of the illuminated windows. The selective black and white treatment emphasizes this duality, transforming each lit window into a golden lantern piercing through the austerity of granite. I was particularly drawn to the perfect symmetry of the openings and how the lights seem to play a silent game of chess across the facade.

The architectural details - the ornate roof dormers, wrought iron balconies, flowered window boxes - add a historical dimension that anchors the image in Saint-Malo's heritage. What fascinated me was how contemporary life expresses itself through these centuries-old windows, creating a dialogue between past and present, between the coldness of stone and the warmth of the homes within it.

Ancient walled fortress city of Carcassonne, South of France.

Capital of Aude Department, on the Aude River and the Canal du Midi.

RDC

Copyright Cooke Photographics

All Rights Reserved

No use without permission

A silhouette captured behind the giant clock of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, offering a timeless view over the Seine and the Louvre. A moment suspended between art, history, and the city.

⛵ From the beating heart of the Old Port, through bustling city streets and hidden alleys

⛪️ Up to the golden guardian of Marseille, Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, watching over sea and soul

️ Past the striking La Major Cathedral, where history meets the horizon

☀️ A city of contrasts – rough and radiant, ancient and alive

Marseille isn’t just visited – it’s felt. Every step tells a story.

One of the many beaches along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, which is a French city along the Mediterranean coast well known for its fantastic weather, beautiful pebble beaches and delicious food. Nice is just one of the many treasures of traveling throughout the French Riviera!

treasuresoftraveling.com/15-places-to-visit-cannes-france/

#TreasuresOfTraveling #France #FrenchRiviera #Mediterranean #MediterraneanSea #Nice #NiceFrance #SouthOfFrance #PromenadeDesAnglais #Seagulls #PebbleBeach #Bay #Beach #Boardwalk #FranceTravel #TravelFrance #Europe #TravelBlogger #TravelPhotography #TravelPhotos #GlobeTrotter #PassportStamps #TravelTheWorld #TourThePlanet #BestPlacesToGo #TheGlobeWanderer #TravelGram #Wanderlust #GuysWhoTravel #GayTraveler

⛵ From the beating heart of the Old Port, through bustling city streets and hidden alleys

⛪️ Up to the golden guardian of Marseille, Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, watching over sea and soul

️ Past the striking La Major Cathedral, where history meets the horizon

☀️ A city of contrasts – rough and radiant, ancient and alive

Marseille isn’t just visited – it’s felt. Every step tells a story.

⛵ From the beating heart of the Old Port, through bustling city streets and hidden alleys

⛪️ Up to the golden guardian of Marseille, Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, watching over sea and soul

️ Past the striking La Major Cathedral, where history meets the horizon

☀️ A city of contrasts – rough and radiant, ancient and alive

Marseille isn’t just visited – it’s felt. Every step tells a story.

The Château d'Amboise is a château in Amboise, located in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was extensively rebuilt. King Charles VIII died at the château in 1498 after hitting his head on a door lintel. The château fell into decline from the second half of the 16th century and the majority of the interior buildings were later demolished, but some survived and have been restored, along with the outer defensive circuit of towers and walls. It has been recognised as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture since 1840.

The Château d'Amboise was built on a spur above the river Loire. The strategic qualities of the site were recognised before the medieval construction of the castle, and a Gallic oppidum was built there. In the late 9th century Ingelger was made viscount of Orléans and through his mother was related to Hugh the Abbot, tutors to the French kings. Ingelgarius married Adelais of Amboise, a member of a prominent family (a bishop and archbishop were her uncles) who controlled Château d'Amboise. He was later made Count of Anjou and his rise can be attributed to his political connections and reputation as a soldier. The Château d'Amboise would pass through Ingelger and Adelais' heirs, and he was succeeded by their son, Fulk the Red. As Fulk the Red expanded his territory, Amboise, Loches, and Villentrois formed the core of his possessions. Amboise lay on the eastern frontier of the Angevins holdings.

Amboise and its castle descended through the family to Fulke Nerra in 987. Fulk had to contend with the ambitions of Odo I, Count of Blois who wanted to expand his own territory into Anjou. Odo I could call on the support of many followers and instructed Conan, Count of Rennes, Gelduin of Saumur, and Abbot Robert of Saint-Florent de Saumur to harass Fulk's properties. While Conan was busy on Anjou's western border, Gelduin and Robert attempted to isolate the easternmost castles of Amboise and Loches by raiding the Saumurois and disrupting communications. To further threaten Amboise, fortifications were erected at Chaumont and Montsoreau, while Saint-Aignan was garrisoned.

There is a 12th-century Book of the Construction of the Castle of Amboise and the Deeds of Its Lords.

⛵ From the beating heart of the Old Port, through bustling city streets and hidden alleys

⛪️ Up to the golden guardian of Marseille, Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, watching over sea and soul

️ Past the striking La Major Cathedral, where history meets the horizon

☀️ A city of contrasts – rough and radiant, ancient and alive

Marseille isn’t just visited – it’s felt. Every step tells a story.

Montrichard is a town and former commune in the Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Montrichard Val de Cher.

During the French Revolution, the commune was known as Montégalité.

The town lies on the north bank of the river Cher. 32 kilometres (20 mi) south of Blois, 73 kilometres (45 mi) west of Vierzon and 42 kilometres (26 mi) east of Tours. The countryside is mainly constituted of vineyard, woods, cattle and cereals.

Château de Montrichard, a mediaeval castle.

Nanteuil Church (12th, 13th, 15th centuries), whose statue of the Virgin Mary is the object of a very ancient pilgrimage on Whit Monday.

Church of the Holy Cross (Église Ste-Croix) has a fine Romanesque doorway and was the site of Joan of France's marriage to the future king.

Château de Pont-Cher, a 15th-century home built into the cliff, containing the René Galloux collection of prehistoric and Gallo-Roman artefacts from excavations in the Cher valley.

I wanted to capture that magical moment when day gives way to night on the coast of Saint-Palais-sur-Mer. Using a long exposure, my intention was to create a striking contrast between the smooth softness of the ocean and the angular structure of the traditional fishing huts. The golden sunset light bathing these iconic fishing cabins tells the story of our maritime heritage, suspended between sky and sea. I chose this framing to highlight the contemplative solitude of these structures, silent sentinels facing the blue immensity. What I was seeking above all was to convey that sensation of calm and timelessness one feels when contemplating the ocean at this particular hour when colors transform and time seems to stand still.

Cléry-Saint-André is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France, near Orléans.

King Louis XI is buried in the Basilica of Notre Dame in the town.

The Groslot Hotel is a 16th century private mansion located in Orléans , in the Loiret department in the Centre -Val de Loire region .

The monument, also called Grande-Maison de l'Étape, Maison du Gouverneur, or l'Intendance, was successively a private mansion then the Hôtel de ville d'Orléans and today hosts wedding celebrations .

Built under the impetus of the Groslot family, it notably welcomed the French kings François II and Charles IX as well as the regent Catherine de Medici .

It has been classified as a Historic Monument since 1862

The Groslot Hotel was built during the Renaissance under the direction of the French architect Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau .

Germain Rebours and Anne Brachet owned an agricultural plot of land on the Place de l'Étape around the middle of the 15th century . They planned to build a private mansion there but sold it before the project was completed, theMay 18, 15455 , to Jacques Groslot , bailiff of Orléans and chancellor of Marguerite de Navarre , grandmother of Henri IV.

Construction of the central body of the hotel probably began in 1549. A request for roads was sent to the aldermen of Orléans, on March 17, 1551, by Jacques Groslot, in order to make the hotel accessible at the end of the work, which he planned for the summer of 1552. Jacques Groslot died before the end of the work onJune 12, 1552.

His widow and two sons, Jérôme and Henri, inherited the building and witnessed its completion between 1553 and 1558. Jérôme, who in turn exercised the function of bailiff of Orléans, resided in the hotel.

On October 18, 1560 , King Francis II imposed himself and settled with his court in the hotel to show his opposition to Jérôme Groslot, a fervent supporter of the Protestant Reformation. Francis II died at the Hôtel Groslot on December 5, 1560 despite the presence of his surgeon Ambroise Paré. Charles IX succeeded Francis II while the Estates General of 1560 were held in front of the hotel in a large room set up for the occasion. The king being then 10 years old , the regency was entrusted to his mother Catherine de Medici . After a stay of almost five months, the court left Orléans and the Hôtel Groslot on February 12, 1561.

Jérôme Groslot took back possession of the hotel after the departure of the court. To support the actions of the Protestants and Groslot, Louis I of Bourbon-Condé returned to Orléans on April 2 , 1562 and resided in the Grande-Maison de l'Étape which became the headquarters of the Protestants.

In 1573, Charles IX returned to Orléans to calm the unrest caused by the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (of which Jérôme Groslot was one of the victims note 1 ), and stayed in the Grande-Maison de l'Étape. It seems that, while remaining in the Groslot family's fold, the hotel served as the headquarters of the Generality of Orléans around 1570 . Jérôme Groslot's children, Jérôme and Louise, are said to have resided in the hotel.

Louise and her husband Samuel Puchot had two sons, Jérôme and Samuel Puchot, who sold the Grande-Maison de l'Étape to Anne de Caumont, widow of François d'Orléans on 15 December 1637. Madame de Cérizy, daughter of Jérôme Puchot and sole heiress, returned to the mansion after a trial established that Anne de Caumont had never paid the sum due. On 18 April 1696 , she in turn sold the property to two couples: Louis Curault, king's advisor, and Marie Griffonneau, as well as to Joseph Levassor, king's advisor, and Jeanne Longuet.

The hotel was then purchased by the municipality in 1738 for the sum of 28,480 pounds. It first housed the successive intendants of the generality (or province) of Orléans there, then installed the town hall there after the French Revolution , in 1790 17 .

In April 1846 , the architect of Historic Monuments André Delton exhibited the drawings presenting the project for the restoration of the Hôtel Groslot. The plans and specifications were delivered to the municipality in 1848, but the French Revolution of 1848 delayed the project. The steps and the central façade were restored between 1850 and 1852 ; the rest of the work was carried out between 1852 and 1855. The new town hall was inaugurated on May 8 , 1855 .

The monument is listed on the list of historical monuments of 1862.

The administrative services of the city of Orléans left the Groslot hotel in 1981 to be transferred to the new municipal center located opposite the Groslot hotel at 1 place de l'Étape

Construit pour l’exposition universelle de 1889 il s’appelait autrefois le Grand Hôtel Terminus et était relié par une passerelle en hauteur à la gare Saint Lazare.

je ne peux que conseiller d’aller y boire un verre.

Leica SL2

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Petit rappel mes images ne sont pas libres de droit. Pour les utiliser contactez www.adagp.fr. comme mentionner dans ma bio. Merci et excellent week-end à toutes et tous.

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Montrichard Bridge.

The Bridge over the Cher. It has retained part of its medieval appearance although it has been much remodeled. It is located on an old route of the road linking Paris to Bordeaux passing through Blois, Pontlevoy, Montrichard, Loches, La Haye en Touraine (today La-Haye-Descartes) and Châtellerault. 19th century literature traces its origin and construction to the reign of the Plantagenets in Touraine. The city was entered through the Porte d'Espagne or Porte du Pont which included a guardhouse between two closely spaced towers. The first two arches of the bridge supported supposedly fortified mills. This ensemble was demolished in the 19th century to channel it. An engraving by Nicolas Poictevin shows the state of the bridge and its construction around the year 1690 19 , with two exceptions: the extreme arch on the right bank no longer exists and the large pier on the left bank designed to support a fortified gate tower is now bare, then the basket handle arch was built during the Second Empire to replace three arches on the city side. In 1941, the third, fourth and fifth arches were rebuilt in concrete. The bridge having been mined by German troops, it was saved thanks to an offensive operation by the local Resistance, theSeptember 2, 1944

Montrichard is a town and former commune in the Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Montrichard Val de Cher.[3]

During the French Revolution, the commune was known as Montégalité.

Geography

The town lies on the north bank of the river Cher. 32 kilometres (20 mi) south of Blois, 73 kilometres (45 mi) west of Vierzon and 42 kilometres (26 mi) east of Tours. The countryside is mainly constituted of vineyard, woods, cattle and cereals.

Sites and monuments

Château de Montrichard, a mediaeval castle.

Nanteuil Church (12th, 13th, 15th centuries), whose statue of the Virgin Mary is the object of a very ancient pilgrimage on Whit Monday.

Church of the Holy Cross (Église Ste-Croix) has a fine Romanesque doorway and was the site of Joan of France's marriage to the future king.

Château de Pont-Cher, a 15th-century home built into the cliff, containing the René Galloux collection of prehistoric and Gallo-Roman artefacts from excavations in the Cher valley.

Pronunciation

The right pronunciation should be « MON-TRICHARD » [mɔ̃tʀiʃɑʀ], with a t. One of the explanations that may justify the pronunciation of "t" is the following: Montrichard was supposed to come from the French words "mont" (mountain, hill), "tri" (for three) and "chard" (square) because the town is situated on a hill surrounded on three sides by square towers.

Notable people

Joan of France, Duchess of Berry, married the future king of France Louis XII in Montrichard, though the marriage was later annulled.

André Alerme, a French actor who appeared in more than 70 films, died here in 1960.

Paulette Abagnale, mother of Frank Abagnale, confidence trickster

Gaétan Cathelineau, painter of portraits and of historical and genre subjects.

Eugénie Luce, French educator who lived and worked in Algiers, died in Montrichard in 1882.[7]

Popular culture

The town is mentioned in the 2002 feature film Catch Me If You Can, as the town from which the mother of Frank Abagnale came. Later in the film, Abagnale has set up a high-end printing facility for printing corporate cheques in Montrichard when he is tracked down and arrested by the FBI. The exterior shots of the town, however, were filmed in the Place Royale in the lower town of Quebec City, which is easily identifiable by the Notre Dame des Victoires church.

The Jacques-Gabriel Bridge (named pont Jacques-Gabriel in French) spans the Loire river in Blois, France, since the beginning of the 18th century. With a total length of 283m, it is made up of 11 arches, and is the last arch bridge on the river that is pointed. Since its construction, the edifice holds the name of the architect who designed it, Jacques Gabriel. The bridge was partially destroyed three times: in 1870 (Franco-Prussian War), 1940 and 1944 (World War II). It is now crossed by the Route Nationale 156.

The bridge was listed as a historical monument by order of 22 April 1937.

The bridge spans the Loire river in the middle of Blois, between the downtown (from the same axis of the Denis Papin staircase) and Vienne on the left bank (aligned to Wilson Avenue).

Construction of a new Bloisian bridge

Since the 11th century, a stone bridge was used to link both banks. In the night between 6 and 7 February 1716, this medieval bridge collapsed.

The construction of a new bridge is decided by August 1716. The project management is given by Duke Philippe of Orléans to Jacques Gabriel, yet King Louis XVI's official architect. As early as the end of that year, a regiment from Piedmont is called to build the bridge. The infrastructure is inaugurated on 4 May 1724, with an 14.6m-high obelisk standing in its middle.

Germigny-des-Prés is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.

The oratory at Germigny-des-Prés (Loiret, Orléanais) was built by Bishop Theodulf of Orléans in 806 as part of his palace complex within the Gallo-Roman villa in Germaniacus. Theodulf, who was also abbot of the neighboring monastery of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, was a Spaniard and one of the most celebrated men of letters in the Carolingian Empire court of Charlemagne. The Carolingian architecture of his palace complex at Germigny-des-Prés was in a general sense modelled on Charlemagne's Palace of Aachen. All except the oratory was destroyed by the Vikings within a century of construction.

As reconstructed by Theodulf in 806, the oratory took the form of a rough square with single apses in the middle of the north, south, and west sides, and three apses on the east side. Internally, the space took the form of a Greek cross: a high central tower filled the central bay, barrel vaults extended off in the north, south, east, and west bays, while in the corner bays there were low domes carried on squinches. This plan type was later to become standard in Byzantine architecture.

Horseshoe arches are used throughout the church, an unusual element in French architecture derived, in this case, from the Visigothic practices of Theodulf's native Spain. The central apse of the east contains a rich and complex mosaic showing two cherubim above the Ark of the Covenant. Below his mosaic, Theodulf placed an inscription that occupies two lines:

As you gaze upon the holy propitiatorium and Cherubim, beholder,

And see the shimmering of the Ark of God's covenant,

Perceiving these things, and prepared to beset the Thunderer with prayers,

Add, I beg you, Theodulf's name to your invocations.'

Odo of Metz, an Armenian architect, built the Germigny des Prés in 806–811. According to Josef Strzygowski and Alexander Sahinian, the church was possibly influenced by the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the mother church of Armenia.

The church was consecrated on 3 January 806, dedicated to SS.Geneviève and Germain. Damaged by fire before 854, it became part of a priory in 1067, and a parish church in the 13th century. The original circular plan was augmented with a nave in the 15-16th century, which involved the demolition of the Western abside. The nave was extended to the west in the 19th century, and a bell-tower erected. The church was classified as a monument historique in 1840 and restoration commenced in 1867.

The most ancient part of the existing church is the square building which surrounds the altar. Although often referred to as a 'Greek Cross' church, this building does not really fall into this category, as it has no projecting 'arms' or transepts, only a single apse on three sides, and a triple apse to the 'east' (the church is not aligned to the compass points). The triple apse would not appear to have been mirrored to the 'west' where the entrance was and is to be found, subsequent alteration has made it impossible to determine whether there was originally a narthex.

The church is also architecturally quite distinct from the Palatine chapel in Aachen, and from S. Vitale in Ravenna – two buildings upon which it is often claimed that SS.Geneviève & Germain is modelled – in that it is square rather than round, has exterior apses and is constructed differently. This is rather a rare survival of a very early form of Western European church, pre-dating and perhaps contributing to the development of the Romanesque which forms the majority of ancient churches in France and, indeed, in Western Europe.

The great treasure of the church is the mosaic of the Ark of the Covenant, on the ceiling of the apse. This mosaic is the only surviving Byzantine mosaic in France, although traces of mosaics elsewhere on the roof indicate that it was part of a wider decorative scheme. The mosaic owes its preservation to being plastered over at the time of the French Revolution; it was rediscovered in the middle of the 19th century. The mosaic is one of the few remaining artworks from the period of the Iconoclasm which convulsed the Eastern Church during the 8th & 9th centuries, but which also impacted on Western Christendom. Traditionally, the place occupied by this mosaic was reserved for images of the Virgin Mary, enthroned as Queen Of Heaven, with the Christ child on her knee, and with an attendant angel on either side. These angels pointed out the divine status of the figures between them.

The artist working at Germigny (who was obviously au fait with Byzantine practice, if not actually Greek himself) has replaced the portrait of the Virgin, Mother of Christ, with an equivalent but symbolic representation. The Ark of the Covenant contains ‘manna’, the miraculous bread given from Heaven to the Israelites in the desert; this was interpreted as a prefiguration of the Virgin, who bears Christ, the Holy Bread. The mosaicist, and Théodulf d'Orléans, seem to have held a middle course, balanced between extreme iconoclasm and the partisans of images such as John of Damascus. This moderate position is exactly that which the theologians appointed by Charlemagne in the Council of Frankfurt (794) decided upon.

Have you been to a pebble beach? They are beautiful beaches, but just be warned that the beaches of Nice aren’t the most comfortable because they are so rocky. You will want shoes or sandals if you plan on walking along the beaches as they are covered in jagged rocks and pebbles, which can become hot in the sun and it might feel like you are walking on fire and coals.

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The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889.

Locally nicknamed "La dame de fer" (French for "Iron Lady"), it was constructed as the centerpiece of the 1889 World's Fair, and to crown the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution. Although initially criticised by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, it has since become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The tower received 5,889,000 visitors in 2022. The Eiffel Tower is the most visited monument with an entrance fee in the world: 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015. It was designated a monument historique in 1964, and was named part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site ("Paris, Banks of the Seine") in 1991.

The tower is 330 metres (1,083 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres (410 ft) on each side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest human-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. It was the first structure in the world to surpass both the 200-metre and 300-metre mark in height. Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres (17 ft). Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second tallest free-standing structure in France after the Millau Viaduct.

The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level's upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground—the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union. Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second, making the entire ascent a 600-step climb. Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by lift. On this top, third level is a private apartment built for Gustave Eiffel's personal use. He decorated it with furniture by Jean Lachaise and invited friends such as Thomas Edison.

Dampierre-en-Burly Castle is a French castle located in Dampierre-en-Burly, in the Loiret department and the Centre-Val de Loire region.

The castle is located in the town centre of the commune of Dampierre-en-Burly, near the departmental road 952 in the natural region of Giennois.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the estate was owned by the Cugnac family. It was elevated to a barony (the first barony of the county of Gien) by letters of February 1598 for François II de Cugnac, State Councillor, Lieutenant General in the government of Orléans, Field Marshal and companion of Henri IV, then to a marquisate in 1616 for Antoine IV de Cugnac, but seized and sold in 1628. It was acquired by Jean-Jacques Delu, King's Councillor, who resold it in 1645 to Louis Picard, treasurer of the King's extraordinary finances. The château was decorated, among others, by the painter Michel Dorigny (1616-1665).

It passed to Claude Feydeau de Marville in the 18th century and was destroyed during the Revolution. A castle was rebuilt in the 19th century, with only the 17th century clock pavilion remaining from that period, which serves as an entrance.

The agronomist Amédée de Béhague settled there in 1826 and created a 2,000 hectare estate. It passed through inheritance to the Ganay family.

It was registered as a historical monument in 1928 for its main pavilion and the four small annexes serving as an entrance to the castle.

The Centre Pompidou (French pronunciation: [sɑ̃tʁ pɔ̃pidu]), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou (lit. 'National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture'), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil, and the Marais. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of Richard Rogers, Su Rogers, Renzo Piano, along with Gianfranco Franchini.

It houses the Bibliothèque publique d'information (Public Information Library), a vast public library; the Musée National d'Art Moderne, which is the largest museum for modern art in Europe; and IRCAM, a centre for music and acoustic research. Because of its location, the centre is known locally as Beaubourg (IPA: [bobuʁ]). It is named after Georges Pompidou, the President of France from 1969 to 1974 who commissioned the building, and was officially opened on 31 January 1977 by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

The centre had 3.1 million visitors in 2022, a large increase from 2021 but still below 2019 levels, due to closings caused by the COVID pandemic. It has had more than 180 million visitors since 1977 and more than 5,209,678 visitors in 2013, including 3,746,899 for the museum.

The sculpture Horizontal by Alexander Calder, a free-standing mobile that is 7.6 m (25 ft) tall, was placed in front of the Centre Pompidou in 2012.

The idea for a multicultural complex, bringing together different forms of art and literature in one place, developed, in part, from the ideas of France's first Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux, a proponent of the decentralisation of art and culture by impulse of the political power.[citation needed] In the 1960s, city planners decided to move the food markets of Les Halles, historically significant structures long prized by Parisians, with the idea that some of the cultural institutes be built in the former market area. Hoping to renew the idea of Paris as a leading city of culture and art, it was proposed to move the Musée d'Art Moderne to this new location. Paris also needed a large, free public library, as one did not exist at this time. At first the debate concerned Les Halles, but as the controversy settled, in 1968, President Charles de Gaulle announced the Plateau Beaubourg as the new site for the library. A year later in 1969, Georges Pompidou, the new president, adopted the Beaubourg project and decided it to be the location of both the new library and a centre for the contemporary arts. In the process of developing the project, the IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique) was also housed in the complex.

The Rogers and Piano design was chosen among 681 competition entries. World-renowned architects Oscar Niemeyer, Jean Prouvé and Philip Johnson made up the jury. It was the first time in France that international architects were allowed to participate. The selection was announced in 1971 at a "memorable press conference" where the contrast between the sharply-dressed Pompidou and "hairy young crew" of architects represented a "grand bargain between radical architecture and establishment politics."

⛵ From the beating heart of the Old Port, through bustling city streets and hidden alleys

⛪️ Up to the golden guardian of Marseille, Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, watching over sea and soul

️ Past the striking La Major Cathedral, where history meets the horizon

☀️ A city of contrasts – rough and radiant, ancient and alive

Marseille isn’t just visited – it’s felt. Every step tells a story.

The Pont Notre-Dame (French pronunciation: [pɔ̃ nɔtʁə dam]) is a bridge that crosses the Seine in Paris, France linking the quai de Gesvres on the Rive Droite with the quai de la Corse on the Île de la Cité. The bridge is noted for being the "most ancient" in Paris, in the sense that, while the oldest bridge in Paris that is in its original state is undoubtedly the Pont Neuf, a bridge in some form has existed at the site of the Pont Notre-Dame since antiquity; nonetheless, it has been destroyed and reconstructed numerous times, a fact referred to in the Latin inscription on it to honor its Italian architect, Fra Giovanni Giocondo. (See below.) The bridge once was lined with approximately sixty houses, the weight of which caused a collapse in 1499.

It was on this spot that the first bridge of Paris, called the Grand-Pont, crossed the Seine from antiquity. A bridge has existed there since at least the pre-Roman tribal era, to be rebuilt again and again, sometimes of wood, sometimes of stone. In 886, during the siege of Paris and the Norman attacks, the Roman stone structure was destroyed and replaced by a different bridge, possibly a plank bridge, named the Pont des Planches de Milbray (Milbray plank bridge), although the exact timing, placement, and existence of this particular plank bridge is contested. Two wooden bridges (at the place of the Grand Pont and Petit Pont) are said to have been burned in 1111. These bridges were replaced by Louis the Fat (Louis VI) with the two famous stone bridges as depicted in the Life of Saint Denis, which were then destroyed in the flood of 1296 and the wooden bridge which then replaced the stone Grand Pont was destroyed by the floods of 1406. On 31 May 1412 Charles VI of France ordered the construction of the first version of the bridge to be named "Notre-Dame". This structure was composed of solid wood and connected the Île de la Cité to the rue Saint-Martin. The bridge took seven years to build and had sixty houses atop it, thirty on each side. The houses were noted by Robert Gauguin as being "remarkable for their height, and the uniformity of construction" and was called the "handsomest in France." King Charles' wooden bridge collapsed on 25 October 1499 near 9 a.m., likely due to structural instabilities caused by the lack of repairs.

Stone foundations were laid for a new bridge that same year, while a ferry filled the transportation void. This time, the bridge was built with stone, as an arch bridge under the direction of Italian architect, scholar and Franciscan Friar, Fra Giovanni Giocondo, who had also overseen the building of the Petit Pont. The construction was completed in 1507, still overhung with sixty stone and brick buildings all built to one tall gabled design, and would become a spot of frequent commerce and trading: here was located the tiny boutique of the marchand-mercier Edme-François Gersaint, a leading Parisian art dealer, whose shop-sign was painted by Antoine Watteau. The houses upon the bridge were the first to be given numbers. In 1660 the bridge was refurbished to honour the arrival in Paris of the daughter of the king Philip IV of Spain, Maria Theresa of Spain who became queen of France by marrying Louis XIV. Between 1746 and 1788 the houses along the bridge were demolished for sanitary purposes and because of the danger the structures caused to the bridge's stability.

In 1853, a new stone structure was completed atop the existing stone foundation, although this reincarnation was only composed of five arches. The new bridge was subsequently the cause of not fewer than thirty-five water traffic accidents between 1891 and 1910 and was given the unofficial name the pont du Diable (Devil's Bridge). Thus, in order to facilitate the passage of boats and the flow of the Seine, a decision was made to rebuild the bridge, this time in metal. The new work was directed by Jean Résal, who had also worked on the Pont Mirabeau and Pont Alexandre III; it was inaugurated in 1919 by Raymond Poincaré, President of the French Republic. The structure has remained the same since.

Saran (French pronunciation: [saʁɑ̃]) is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.

Saran has, considering its size, many sports facilities including two stadiums, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, one swimming pool and four gymnasiums

Pithiviers is a commune in the Loiret department, north central France. It is one of the subprefectures of Loiret. It is twinned with Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, England and Burglengenfeld in Bavaria, Germany.

Its attractions include a cinema, a theatre and a preserved steam railway.

During World War II, Pithiviers was the location of the infamous Pithiviers internment camp.

The pithivier, a kind of pie, is said to originate here in the middle ages. The traditional Pithivier was a small scalloped-edge sweet tartlet. Savoury versions can be filled with peacock, heron, swan or pork.

Fleury Abbey (Floriacum) in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, Loiret, France, founded in about 640, is one of the most celebrated Benedictine monasteries of Western Europe, and possesses the relics of St. Benedict of Nursia. Its site on the banks of the Loire has always made it easily accessible from Orléans, a center of culture unbroken since Roman times. In 2010, the abbey had over forty monks led by the abbot Etienne Ricaud.

Abbo of Fleury (died 1004) a monk and abbot of Fleury was a theologian of wide-ranging intellect; his life was written by the chronicler Aimoin, also a monk of Fleury. Andrew of Fleury (writing c. 1043) wrote Miracula sancti Benedicti. Hugh of Fleury (died after 1118) was a monk of Fleury known for his chronicles and other writings.

Anscar Vonier, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia says that "from the very start the abbey boasted of two churches, one in honour of St. Peter and the other in honour of the Blessed Virgin." The church of St Peter was demolished in the eighteenth century; the existing church dedicated to the Virgin pre-existed the founding of the monastery. After the ravages of the Normans, who penetrated via the Loire and burned the monastery buildings, which suffered a catastrophic fire in 1026, this became the great late eleventh-century Romanesque basilica, which occasioned the erection of a great tower, that was intended as the west front of the abbey church, which was completed in 1218. It was here that the Fleury Playbook was compiled, perhaps in dedication to the new church. The tower of Abbot Gauzlin, resting on fifty columns, forms a unique porch. The Carolingian style church is about three hundred feet long, its transept one hundred and forty feet. The choir of the church contains the tomb of a French monarch, Philip I of France, buried there in 1108. Of the mediaeval abbey's buildings, only this basilica survives in the modern monastery.

The George V Bridge is a road and tram bridge that crosses the Loire in Orléans, France. It is an arched masonry bridge spanning a distance of 325 m. Designed by Jean Hupeau, it was built between 1751 and 1760, at the request of Daniel-Charles Trudaine, administrator and civil engineer. It was renamed in honour of King George V at the beginning of the World War I out of respect of Britain's role.

The Château de Meung-sur-Loire is a former castle and episcopal palace in the commune of Meung-sur-Loire in the Loiret département of France.

The château, located next to the collegial church, was the country residence of the Bishops of Orléans. It was built and destroyed several times. The oldest still existing parts date from the 12th century and were built by Manassès de Seignelay (bishop from 1207 to 1221). Still standing is the main rectangular plan building, flanked by three towers, a fourth having been destroyed. The English occupied it during the Hundred Years' War. The rear façade was rebuilt in the Classical style by Fleuriau d'Armenonville (bishop from 1706 to 1733). Beneath the castle are dungeons, a chapel and various medieval torture instruments, including one used for water torture.

It has been listed since 1988 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. It is open to the public.

The first castle was built in the middle of the 12th century. It consisted of a square tower built against the south face of the church bell tower, itself abutting in the south two round towers. In the 13th century, the bishops of Orléans abandoned the castle, which was used as a prison. Among those incarcerated, there was the poet, François Villon. From 1209, construction began of a more important castle, rectangular in plan, with a tower in each corner. The guard room, the lower hall with ogive vaults and the cellars are the last elements which constituted the 13th-century castle, the episcopal palace at that time. During the Hundred Years' War, the building was transformed into a fortress; it was taken from the English by Joan of Arc on 14 June 1429. At the end of the 15th century and the start of the 16th century, a building to the north incorporated a tower with a drawbridge. The castle was abandoned from the Wars of Religion until the start of the 18th century when Bishop Fleuriau d'Armenonville undertook the transformation of the structure into a comfortable residence. The central part of the main building was replaced by a cour d'honneur. The façades' openings were made symmetrical and redesigned in the Classical style. Similarly, the tower openings were remade and lost their machicolation. In the middle of the 18th century, a wing was added to the south east, with a staircase serving the wing's upper floors. In 1784, the chapel was built in the Neoclassical style, with sculpture by Delaistre. The two pavilions in the grounds are contemporary with this chapel.

In 2016, the château hosted a fashion show shortly after Paris Fashion Week, celebrating historical fashion and displaying the evolution of fashion from antiquity to the First World War.