Tag Archives: Travel

California Wildflowers: Pinnacles National Park

CBS Sunday Morning (October 8, 2023) – A tour amidst the wildflowers at Pinnacles National Park, located east of the Salinas Valley in Central California, about five miles east of Soledad and 80 miles southeast of San Jose.

Videographer: Lance Milbrand.

Hiking In Italy: Vajolet Towers In The Dolomites

The Flying Dutchman (October 8, 2023) – In Pera di Fassa, there is the little valley station of the two-tier Vajolet chairlift, taking us to the meadows of Pian Pecei (1,800 m). This is the starting point of the Vajolet Towers hike.

The gently rising Via delle leggende (legend’s trail) takes us to the hamlet of Gardeccia at almost 2,000 m asl. The route takes us deeper into the Valle di Vajolet, across the rocks of the Dolomites, up to the Rifugio Vajolet and the nearby Preuss mountain hut (2,210 m). Now we are directly at the famous Vajolet pinnacles, the rock towers that make up the striking shilouette of the Catinaccio mountain range. From here you can walk to the Rifugio Re Alberto or the Rifugio Passo Principe mountain huts.

Due to the changing weather situation we decide to do a shorter tour, the panoramic trail, stretching at the foot of the Larsec pinnacles on the east side of the valley, ending at Gardeccia. There are some slippery and steep point along this trail, but in general it is rather easy for those who are experienced mountianeers. The view ranges to the southern Catinaccio mountain range, from the Vajolet pinncales to the Croda di Vaél. After the way down to Gardeccia via the Via delle Leggende, we take the chairlift that takes us back to the Val di Fassa.

Travel Tour: The Cyclades Island Of Milos In Greece

Tourister Films (October 7, 2023) – A tour of Milos or Melos, a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades group. The Venus de Milo and the Asclepius of Milos were both found on the island, as were a Poseidon and an archaic Apollo now in Athens.

Plaka is the chief town in Milos. It is perched on the top of large rock, overlooking the gulf of Milos. No cars can enter the village because of the narrow spaces between walls and buildings. Motorbikes, mopeds and the like are the only usable vehicles.

Travel: A Tour Of Donji Stoliv In Montenegro

Arwin Tours (October 5, 2023) – Donji Stoliv is a small, peaceful place in the Boka Kotorska bay famous for its interference of mountain and sea winds mixed with 548 types of herbs that are suitable for lung diseases, particularly in the late spring and early autumn.

Small fisherman’s settlement from XIV century remained preserved over the centuries. It is located at the very sea shore. The pebble road will take you to Gornji Stoliv through the woods and olive groves.

A fantastic view over the entire Boka Kotorska will burst before you up there. Gornji and Donji Stoliv have around 500 inhabitants. The first camellia from Japan was brought by the Stoliv seamen in XVIII century. “Days of Cammellia” have been organized in the springtime ever since.

CULTURE: FRANCE-AMÉRIQUE MAGAZINE – October 2023

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France-Amérique Magazine – October 2023 –  The new issue features a walk through France’s vineyards and observe the changing cultural landscape. An estate near Epernay is working to produce the world’s greenest Champagne, while other producers are turning to no- and low-alcohol wines to cater to to sober-curious generation. Welcome to the Age of Raisin. Also in this issue, read about “Wemby-mania” and the success of French NBA players; meet French-American composer Betsy Jolas who, at the age of 97, still creates with the same intensity; and discover a new art space near Paris – a former blimp hangar, masterpiece of Belle Epoque industrial architecture.

NOLO WINES – New Culture or Sour Grapes?

Sales of no- and low-alcohol wines soar in France amid deep-seated cultural change. Your correspondent keeps his true feelings bottled up.

By Anthony Bulger

LUDOVIC DU PLESSIS – Telmont, the Green Champagne Revolution

The contagiously enthusiastic “climate optimist,” a former executive for Dom Pérignon in the United States, is working to produce the world’s most environmentally friendly Champagne. In pursuit of this objective, he is working with an American investor renowned for his environmental activism, Leonardo DiCaprio.

By Clément Thiery

HANGAR Y – Outside Paris, a New Art Space Takes Flight

On the banks of a lake in the Meudon forest southwest of the French capital, a masterpiece of Belle Epoque industrial architecture is looking to become a hub of contemporary creation.

By Jean-Gabriel Fredet

Travel: Walking Tour Of Zurich, Switzerland (4K)

Tourist Car (September 28, 2023) – The city of Zurich, a global center for banking and finance, lies at the north end of Lake Zurich in northern Switzerland. The picturesque lanes of the central Altstadt (Old Town), on either side of the Limmat River, reflect its pre-medieval history. Waterfront promenades like the Limmatquai follow the river toward the 17th-century Rathaus (town hall).

Travel: The ‘Treasures Of The Mekong River’ In Laos

DW Documentary (September 28, 2023) – With its rich biological diversity, the region around the Mekong River is a jewel of Asia. The river is also known as “the mother of waters.

” It’s a transport route, water supply and food source for millions of people. The film sets out in a journey to the former royal city of Luang Prabang in Laos. It’s regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in southeast Asia and to this day, religion determines everyday life: Every morning, hundreds of monks walk through the city’s ancient center to collect their alms.

In the isolated villages, some of which are only accessible by boat, most Laotians live off the land. There are huge rice paddies on the fertile banks on the Mekong; rice is the Laotians’ main staple, eaten three times a day here. The river also provides some welcome dietary variation in the form of fish. Locals – and the odd tourist boat – also use the Mekong as a main transit route; even today, the quickest way to reach the country’s larger cities is still by river.

At some point, several hundred kilometers downstream, we reach the capital Vientiane, the economic heart of Laos and a trading center for the famous Laotian woven textiles, exported from here all over the world.

#documentary #dwdocumentary #laos #mekong

Autumn 2023: Five Top Places To Visit In America

A hillside of red, gold and orange trees reflecting in a glassy pond under a mostly blue sky with a few wispy clouds. There is a small white building on the shore of the pond.
The brilliant mountain maples, birches and beeches in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

NEW YORK TIMES TRAVEL (September 25, 2023) – Here are five beautiful places to catch the leaves — and while you’re there, you can peek out of covered bridges, gaze up at waterfalls, ride a tramway or a train, or even try to spot a legendary Bigfoot-like creature known as the Grassman.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Driving the White Mountains Trail, a 108-mile loop that winds through groves of gold birches, bronze beeches, and orange, yellow and red mountain maples, you may find yourself unable to resist stopping in the middle of a covered bridge to peek through the walls.

The Albany Covered Bridge, which crosses the rocky Swift River in the White Mountain National Forest near Conway, N.H., is one of 54 remaining covered bridges in the state. Built in 1858, it features a red roof and weathered brown walls with gaps that let the leaves peep at you.


MASSACHUSETTS

A wooden sign marks a trail leading into a forest of yellow and red trees, many with slender white trunks. The sign indicates the Appalachian Trail and the Old Summit Road Trail.

From the study at his farmhouse in Pittsfield, in western Massachusetts, Herman Melville gazed at 3,491-foot Mount Greylock, whose humped shape possibly inspired the white whale in “Moby-Dick.” When the trees on that hump start to change, it becomes more of a gloriously mottled whale.

The mountain’s colors typically peak in early to mid-October, with golds, bright oranges and vivid reds, mainly from tamarackstriped maple and yellow birch. The wet summer may lead to some spotting and discoloration on some leaves, said Nicole Keleher, the director of forest health for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, but she predicted a wide variety of colors overall.

GEORGIA

A waterfall surrounded by a dense forest with many yellow and brown leaves. The cascade tumbles into a rocky, brown pool.

The Russell-Brasstown National Scenic Byway, a 40-mile loop through the nearly 867,000-acre Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, winds through mountains drenched in the yellows of tulip poplars, the crimsons of dogwood, and the scarlets and purples of maples — with most expected to peak the week of Oct. 24, said Steven Bekkerus, a public affairs officer for the forest.

Deep in those woods, you’ll find two waterfalls to complement the autumn palette.

OHIO

A railroad track with grass on the sides running through sun-dappled red, yellow and brown trees.

From a vintage rail car on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, the reds and golds of Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio’s only national park, roll by — and if you see a shadow darting among the trees, it could be the Ohio Grassman, also known as the eastern Bigfoot, a creature reputed to reside in the woods there.

The colors, which peak in mid- to late October, “range from brilliant reds of the sugar maples to the deep browns of the white oaks,” said Pamela Barnes, a public information officer at the park, which is just south of Cleveland.

Travel: An Aerial Tour Of Trollstigen In Norway

QuantumScape Films (September 23, 2023) – Trollstigen is an impressive mountain pass that twists through eleven hairpin bends up the steep mountain sides in Romsdalen valley. The Trollstigen road connects Åndalsnes with the village of Valldal in Sunnmøre.