My little jubilee, the 50th country visited was Liechtenstein. And boy what a ceremony happened. The Principality of Liechtenstein and the Swiss Confederation were celebrating the 100 years of their common Dounae contract. We were about to cross the bridge that was built over the river Rhine, but we were stopped as the celebration was just…
Krapina is my hometown. Zagorje runs through veins. Kajkavian dialect is spoken out loud by my core. So please, allow me to show you a portion of heaven given to us people from Zagorje to enjoy, nourish, and remain proud. Krapina Krapina was first mentioned in 1193. It has always been a favorite site for…
This is a post of a lovely, walkable city that will charm all wine, gastronomy and history lovers. From Markets to Mustard! This capital of Burgundie is calling you to get all its tastes. And you will not know all of these existed! The province was home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until…
Avignon is a city on the Rhône river in the south of France. It is surrounded by walls of Avignon (French: Les Remparts d’Avignon) – a series of defensive stone walls that were originally built in the 14th century during the Avignon papacy and have been continually rebuilt and repaired throughout their subsequent history. We entered through Porte Saint-Michel. The…
This historical province of southeastern France, extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur . The largest city of the region and its modern-day capital is Marseille. Known for its diverse landscapes, miles of…
Michel de Notre-Dame, as we all know as Nostradamus, was an apothecary by profession, and published in the year 1555 a book called Les Prophéties (The Prophecies). In his collection of 942 poetic quatrains, he predicted various future events that experts, and many amateurs, find a way of interpreting into related events occurring in the present day. Some historical evidence suggests…
This is going to be a short post. Sanremo is a city on the west coast of Italy, in the province of Liguria. It is the capital of the Riviera dei Fiori or Riviera of Flowers. Its casino also makes it a sort of Italian version of Monte Carlo. This large building in Art Nouveau…
Vivid green pesto, great wine and fabulous walks … Genoa is a city of indulgence. Driving in the city, noticing it’s fabulous big secession buildings it reminded me of the importance of Italy: banks, trades, imports of goods and businesses… Genoa was a medieval rival to Venice. It’s not been primped for tourists like Venice, though.…
Rapallo was never on my list. I never thought there could actually be something about this city. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, just between Cinque Terre and Genoa. As a girl from Croatia, I know it from the history books as the Treaty of Rapallo was signed there, in Villa Pagana, formerly known as Villa Spinola. A treaty…
The five Cinque Terre villages are situated in northern Italy on the Mediterranean Sea, just 3 hours by train from Milan, Pisa and Florence. I have arrived by car and totally enjoyed the national park that spreads across the five villages. La Spezia My journey started in La Spezia. This was the very first stop as I…
Tintine was slowly climbing up the hills of San Marino. Not much pressure should have been put on this car as she had enough of the shocks in the last year or two. The hills around us were rising and soon we found ourselves surrounded by an amazing view. It was San Marino surrounded by…
My Life in Sicily finished after a year spent on this island. It was time to turn on my Tintine (a beautiful red car), hop on a ferry and say goodbye. I was nostalgic as a was driving through Reggio Calabria. But soon I was in Puglia – the region with the best Italian cheeses.…
So far been there three times and I am pretty sure I will keep visiting this rather Flemish city at the northern France. When you see the architecture, you will […]
So far been there three times and I am pretty sure I will keep visiting this rather Flemish city at the northern France. When you see the architecture, you will know what I am talking about: bricks and gold.
Food is oriented on the fish and shells from the Northern sea. I captured this oyster seller at the streets of Lille, on early Sunday morning just preparing his tent.
That Sunday morning markets, however, were noisy and hectic…
The original inhabitants of this region were the Gauls. Until the Vikings came in 10th century.
The 16th and 17th centuries were marked by a boom in the regional textile industry, the Protestant revolts, and outbreaks of the Plague.
I am particularly in love with the city center of this city! The charm of this city is that, despite being the largest in northern France, it doesn’t behave like a grand French city – no pace for arrogance – only warm hearts here.
Place Charles de Gaulle Opéra de Lille
And then the Bourse just there – the magnificent building open to host the flea market.
Bourse – 17th-century Old Stock Exchang
Then the Post-French Revolution period resulted with another economic growth as being close to the cities like Saint Omer, Brugge or Roubaix. But soon the Europe was back again in World Wars. In the aftermath – the art deco style and the Belle Epoque were present (that was the time of discovery of champagne). 🙂
Lille’s Art Deco city hall (1932)
Lille Cathedral or Basilica of Notre Dame de la Treille is a Roman Catholic church dating from 12th century.
Cathedral of Notre Dame de la Treille
Walking around and across the Old city I stumbled upon the Palace of Justice. Nice building!
Palais de la Justice
The city lays on the river La Doule. Not something particularly amazing but still nice and romantic.
Along the river Doule
Close to it is the citadelle Vauban. Thebuilding was raised in 17th century by one of the notable French kings. However, of course Napoleon used it up most.
Citadelle Vauban
Did you know that Charles de Gaulle was born in Lille?
He was a French army officer and statesman who led the French Resistance against Nazi Germany in World War II.
Time to eat local! As I mentioned, the shells are on the main plate here!
Lille is a beautiful place, with great sight seeing, excellent food and friendly people. There is plenty to do for a couple of days. A place worth visiting once at least.
Hi! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog. Is it very hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any points or suggestions? Appreciate it
Thanks for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do some research about this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more from this post. I am very glad to see such excellent information being shared freely out there.
Beautiful way of posting I really love it keep going on and thanks for sharing such a wonderful post with us…
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c’est tres belle!
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Lille is a beautiful place, with great sight seeing, excellent food and friendly people. There is plenty to do for a couple of days. A place worth visiting once at least.
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Heart taking place. Don’t know when will I get the chance to visit 😊
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O.m.g! its fabulous …i wanna visit …hope i’ll do
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How does it feel to be in France?
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Fab…
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Perfect work you have done, this internet site is really cool with fantastic information.
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Hi! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog. Is it very hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any points or suggestions? Appreciate it
LikeLike
Thanks for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do some research about this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more from this post. I am very glad to see such excellent information being shared freely out there.
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