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France, part six – the château of the royal family, Cahors and the market
After leaving the kiwi plantation and winery at Domaine Chantelle in the morning, we headed for the beautiful Château de Cayx, situated on a rocky hillside in the Luzech district. Château de Cayx is a 15th-century castle and is surrounded by 2.000 years old vineyard. The castle and the vineyard have been owned by the Danish royal family since 1974. We actually also visited the…
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France, part five – truffles, foie gras, saffron, market and kiwis
After leaving the snail farm, see the previous post, our plan was to visit a truffle hunter and his dog. When we arrived at the address, the place was closed and actually seemed abandoned. We searched and searched for a “substitute”, without luck. All were closed – perhaps for the season. We even visited a truffle museum and asked for some advice, not much help…
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RIVER CRUISE from Basel to Strasbourg and back
RIVER CRUISE on the RHINE was not really an old and long dream, but we had sometimes considered a cruise on a sea. Then we took a quick decision one day, and booked a river cruise on the Rhine, with just 2 nights and including a visit to Strasbourg with its beautiful Christmas market as a highlight before returning to Basel. This could be, and…
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Christmas trip to COPENHAGEN, part 2
Getting up early is a good tip for city trips, even in Copenhagen, so off we went. Tivoli Gardens, the second-oldest amusement park in the World (the oldest is Dyrehavsbakken, also in Denmark), opened in 1843. Almost 5 million visitors come every year to admire the beautiful park with changing themes, this time of course Christmas. The natural highlight this year is the almost…
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Christmas trip to COPENHAGEN, part 1
COPENHAGEN, part 1. We visited Copenhagen for another reason but still managed to be tourists as well. So here some of our activities and even tips for a visit to the beautiful capital of Denmark. Getting to the city centre from the airport is easy, just take the train to the main central station and you are there. A word about ticketing, this might be…
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CHRISTMAS market in ARLESHEIM
The Christmas Market in Arlesheim, just outside of Basel, is open ONE day every year. Here in 2019 it will be on Saturday 30 November from 12 – 20:00! On and around the Domplatz (Church Square) there are more than 100 boots selling home crafted quality items and lots of places with delicious food and drinks. One of the major differences of this market it…
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SONOGNO, village and waterfall, Switzerland
SONOGNO – when driving through the beautiful Verzasca Valley, with its lots of photo stops, Sonogno will be the end station, at least when arriving by car. (There is a parking lot, including places for motor homes just before the village.) Despite the low number of inhabitants, less than a hundred (they even speak their own language!!), this beautiful little 800 years old village lists…
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Christmas in Gruyères, medieval village, Switzerland
CHRISTMAS market in Gruyères, a really small but cosy market in the beautiful medieval town. Apart from the castle and other old buildings, Gruyères is mainly known, all over the World, for the extraordinary fine cheese made here. This was also another good reason for us to visit Gruyères again. Most of the many restaurants are serving delicious cheese-fondue in all “stink-levels” 😉 , a…
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Christmas Market in Basel
The CHRISTMAS market in Basel is open again. On Barfüsserplatz (-square), Münsterplatz, Claraplatz and in Rheingasse. The Christmas Market in Basel is one of the biggest, oldest and most beautiful in Switzerland. More than 170 stands are offering a variety of 1/2-meter hotdogs, glühwein, raclette cheese, beggeschmutz, chocolate covered fruit, roasted almonds, potato puffers…..and of course a lot of Christmas decorations and candles. The famous…
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Chur
CHUR is the oldest town in Switzerland, and it has been there for more than 5000 years. About 37000 people live in Chur, which is also the first bigger town where the Rhine passes by. In the Old Town, Altstadt, there is a market every Saturday from May to October. About 40 farmer families come to sell their fresh and delicious products; cheese from the…
