Travel notes

Being on the Cote d’Azur, in addition to its most famous places, it was also necessary to visit the small town of Beaulieu-sur-Mer. It is necessary – because those places where your favorite movies were shot are always fascinatingly attractive for the enthusiastic movie fan. One of my favorite – “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” of 1988 (not to be confused with the recent remake of 2018!) – was shot here, although this town was called “Beaumont Sur Mer” in the movie . I can assume that such a change of the name was made, inter alia, due to the criminal component of the comedy plot. And, nevertheless, this town became an independent protagonist of the picture – precisely because of its attractiveness (and desire to share it), the characters of the movie were drawn into a serious (almost :)) confrontation.   Beaulieu-sur-Mer is located between Nice and Monaco, next to the “Cape of billionaires” Cap-Ferrat, and, due to its location in a picturesque Bay, the town reminds us of the old days when th

Monaco, ruled by Prince Albert II of the Grimaldi dynasty, is one of the few principalities that have survived to this day. The history of this principality is rooted in the depths of centuries, and dates back to the time of the Phoenicians (and this, just think of it, the 10th century BC!). The modern history of Monaco began when the colony of the Genoese Republic was founded in this area in 1215, in then Francesco Grimaldi became a local ruler in 1297 . So, the Grimaldi dynasty has been ruling in Monaco for more than 700 years, from 1297 to our days (of course, given the fact that during this impressive period there were wars and regime changes in Europe, as a result of which Monaco passed under the protectorate of various states).   The most significant personalities that influenced the fate of the principality during the 20th century include Aristotle Onassis, who significantly strengthened the Monaco economy with his investments, and Prince Rainier III, who developed the country’s

We visited the city of Girona quite often, but, surprisingly, all our visits were connected with the local airport – one of Russian low-cost airlines brings tourists there. And almost all the time, we perceived Girona as a “neighborhood of Barcelona” and a kind of “old step” on the way to the big city. It was totally undeserved. Finally, we decided to correct this injustice. I have not seen such enthusiasm to take photos for a long time.   The history of the city begins before our era, because the Iberians who settled these places needed a fortified structure on the road to Gaul, and the Romans needed the same for wars with the Moors . It was the Romans who gave the name “Gerund” to the settlement, which later became Girona. The County of Girona (one of 14 original Catalan counties), which passed under the rule of various ruling dynasties (mainly France and Spain), was formed as a result of various feudal collisions in the Middle Ages.   In relatively recent history, Girona has been da

Since we have been to Barcelona many times, we have already visited all the main tours during previous visits. The tours included a walk through the places of Antonio Gaudi, a visit to the amazing temple of Sagrada Familia, and three mountains – Montjuic, Tibidabo, Montserrat, and the Gothic Quarter, and much more. After all, Barcelona is a city with inexhaustible opportunities for tourists (and guides :)). Therefore, on our next visit, we decided to try a tour for advanced tourists. As we have done many times before, when visiting iconic cities such as Rome, a guided tour with a private guide saves a lot of time and provides you with the concentrated information about the city . Group tours suit unprepared travelers who want to receive the most basic information about the place of travel. But if you want to feel the spirit of the city, find out the detail information about the key milestones of its history, visit some special signs besides typical tourist places, then a private guided

When relaxing on the beach is not your purpose, you may think about traveling to historical places. When traveling in France, we decided to try an atypical route for us. There is an amazingly beautiful castle in the Savoy region, built in the 11th century on the shores of Lake Lac du Bourget – Chateau de Bourdeau . In addition to historical attractions, this castle is also a hotel where you can book a room (although there are only 8 rooms, and each of them is thematic). The thousand-year-old (!) history of the castle remembers various French families , including those who emigrated to the Russian Empire in the 19th century, and were jewelers of the Romanov dynasty for some time. The castle was also associated with representatives of the “creative intelligentsia”, represented by Michel Montaigne, or Honore de Balzac. The works of the French poet Alphonse de Lamartine made especially strong influence on the castle (one of the rooms in the current hotel is dedicated to him). So, it is not

There are so many wonderful places in Provence that it will be extremely difficult to choose only one of them. Therefore, during the next trip across the region, we decided to look at the little known town of Mazan. We suspect that this town has grown around the castle of a local nobleman, built in the early 18th century (although, rather, the castle was built in the center of somebody’s property). It is noteworthy that for several centuries this castle was owned by a famous family – the Marquise de Sade . Yes, the very same author of “120 Days of Sodom” and the founder of the BDSM practice named after him belonged to the noble family, however, he rarely visited this castle, and did “nothing of it” there. The Great French Revolution was very cruel to many noble families, and the Marquise de Sade did not escape the sad fate. Mazan Castle was plundered and fell into disrepair, although it was owned by the famous family until 1850 . At the beginning of the 20th century, it housed a nursin