Invalides is a complex which includes an army museum, the Cathedral of St Louis and the Domes des Invalides, containing tombs of significant French figures. It has also maintained its longstanding function as a retirement home for former soldiers. Its gold dome is visible from many parts of the city.
It is most notably, the final resting place for Napoleon.
Last week I had the chance to attend Aura – a light show at the Domes des Invalides. It was very well done.
Bucharest has a great botanical garden – this is a country that really seems to love its rose gardens. Also taking in a production of Verdi’s Don Carlo at the State Opera.
Bucharest’s massive parliament was originally designed to bring a very large, centralized communist government together under one roof. It was another five years after the revolution before it was completed and used to support the emerging democracy. With 1100 rooms it is the second largest building in the world and the heaviest building in the…
Located not far from the Paris city limits (where height restrictions wear off) is an area called La Defense. It has a history as a business centre dating back to 1958. According to Wikipedia: La Défense is Europe’s largest purpose-built business district, covering 560 hectares (1,400 acres), for 180,000 daily workers, with 72 glass and steel…
It wasn’t so very long ago that Bucharest found its independence from Ceaușescu, but its roots go back much deeper than that. it’s a very walkable city with many different styles that all seem to come together to give the city a personality. The traffic can be intense but there are also plenty of leafy…
Two of the most beautiful churches in Lecce are Santa Croce and San Matteo. Santa Croce is a jaw dropping moment as you come around the corner and see the very ornate facade. I am sure it makes a stunning wedding venue. San Matteo is more bell shaped but just as beautiful inside.
A short half hour train ride away is the small city of Asti. It may be familiar as a wine growing region -both their red wines including Barbera D’Asti as well as their sparkling wines like Asti Spumante. After reading a bit about it, it seemed like an interesting place to visit and pretty easy…
