March 2023: Èze Village, lying between Nice and Monaco, is basically two villages on three levels. The lowest is Èze-sur-Mer, through which the Nice–Monaco railway line runs. 427 m higher is Èze (Èze-Village), which I describe here. This medieval village, built on the very top of a hill, is today one of the places on the French Riviera most-visited by tourists. No wonder, because the views from above are so magnificent that they are almost unreal. The village is like a castle, with thick stone walls richly covered with colorful flowers.
Casperia is a fortified medieval village in the Sabine Hills, province of Rieti. That’s north Lazio and just a short hop to the regional border with Umbria.
Built on top of a rocky hill and surrounded by mountains and deep valleys, the village commands a wonderful view of the Appenines.
Bormes-les-Mimosas (February 2023) is a small village in the Var clinging to the side of a hill, a sort of flowery balcony over an intense blue Mediterranean. Lower down, Le Lavandou and its beaches, the fort of Brégançon not far from the open sea then the sunny coasts of the Côte d’Azur.
This French commune is located on the edge of the Mediterranean and in the southern part of the Moorish massif. Like any locality in the region, the climate is Mediterranean with high heat in July. The tourist attractions of this city are many. The most important of these is the old castle which is located on a hill. Then comes St. Francis Square where you can see a statue of St. Francis de Paul, a famous monk who lived there in the fifteenth century.
Bomarzo is a town of the province of Viterbo (Lazio, central Italy), in the lower valley of the Tiber. Bomarzo’s main attraction is a garden, usually referred to as the Bosco Sacro (Sacred grove) or, locally, Bosco dei Mostri (“Monsters’ Grove”), named after the many larger-than-life sculptures,
Video timeline: 0:00 – [Drone intro🌐] 1:30 – [Walking tour begins👣 / Via del Castello (Castle Alley)🏰] 2:50 – [Statue of St.Anselmo – [Via del Castello (Castle Alley)] 3:33 – [Porta Nuova (New Gate)🏛] 5:00 – [Entrance to the old town📸] 6:20 – [Via Borghese & Borghese Palace] 7:40 – [Piazza Duomo⛲] 8:30 – [Duomo of Bomarzo / Church of St.Maria Assunta – *tour inside*⛪☀️] 12:33 – […re-used old roman funeral statues?🏺] 13:38 – [Via Regina Elena] 14:38 – [Via della Pace (Alley of Peace)🌹] 15:30 – [Piazza G.Pepe⛲] 15:55 – [Church of St.Anselmo – *tour inside*⛪☀️] 18:34 – [Via Daniele Manin] 19:40 – [Panorama on the valley⛺] 20:50 – [Via Vittorio Emanuele] 21:10 – [Charity Exhibit for less privileged people🎈] 22:30 – [Beware of the cat!🐱] 26:00 – [Piazza Garibaldi⛲] 28:18 – [Very charming narrow passage…📸] 29:50 – [Porta Nuova (New Gate)🏰] 32:30 – […descending to the eastern part of Bomarzo…👟] 35:46 – [Piazza della Repubblica⛲]
some sculpted in the bedrock, which populate this predominantly barren landscape. It is the work of Pier Francesco Orsini, called Vicino (1528–1588), a condottiero or mercenary and a patron of the arts. The park of Bomarzo was intended not to please, but to astonish, and like many Mannerist works of art, its symbolism is arcane; for example, one large sculpture is of one of Hannibal’s war elephants, which mangles a Roman legionary, and another is a statue of Ceres lounging on the bare ground, with a vase of “fruits of the earth” perched on her head. The many monstrous statues appear to be unconnected to any rational plan and appear to have been strewn almost randomly about the area, sol per sfogare il Core (“just to set the heart free”) as one inscription on an obelisk says.
February 2023- A walking tour of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, Southeastern France, between Monaco and Menton. In 2018, it had a population of 12,824. The name was changed from Roquebrune to differentiate the town from Roquebrune-sur-Argens in neighbouring Var.
Tourist Channel (January 2023) – Saint-Paul de Vence (also called simply, Saint Paul) lies near Nice, between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Vence. St-Paul is a medieval village, and today it is a real mecca for artists, who have been coming here since 1920. Among others, Picasso, Dufy, Matisse, and Marc Chagall have stayed here and created their works. Chagall lived in St-Paul for 19 years and is buried in the local cemetery (on the right after entering the cemetery).
The village has also hosted world cinema stars, including Greta Garbo, Sophia Loren, and Catherine Deneuve. The artists usually spent the night in a hotel and restaurant called the Colombe d’Or, which is located in front of the walls of the old town. Apparently, the most famous of them paid for their stay in kind, leaving their works for the owner.
Tourist Channel (November 2022) – Riquewihr is a town located on the Alsace wine route, in eastern France. Its cobbled streets are dotted with half-timbered winemaker’s shops and tasting rooms. Winegrower’s tools and a restored kitchen are on display in the Maison de Vigneron, dating from the 16th century. The Dolder Tower from 1291 houses the Dolder Museum and centuries-old weapons.
The Tower of Thieves is a former prison from the 14th century where instruments of torture are kept. Between the Crêtes des Vosges and the plain of Alsace, Riquewihr is a medieval city, located in the heart of the Alsatian vineyard, classified among the “Most Beautiful Villages of France”.
Still Wanderer | Italy in 4k – Grottammare is a town on Italy’s Adriatic coast, in the province of Ascoli Piceno, Marche region. It receives over 500,000 tourists a year. The ‘Pearl of the Adriatic” in Marche, Grottammare is a medieval village beloved by Franz Liszt . In fact, every year around the second half of August, the Festival Liszt brings together pianists from all over the world
Saignon has the most distinctive outline of any Luberon village, with its rock squared off by nature as if to look from afar like an impregnable castle. It acts as a signpost high above the town of Apt, hence perhaps the name Saignon, which comes from signum, Latin for ‘sign’.
THREE CASTLES
Saignon was like a look-out for danger riding along the valley towards Apt, and the church bells were the alarm. Because of this important role this was a privileged village and no fewer than three castles sprung up within its confines, built by three different lords, which when you look at the size of Saignon is truly remarkable. The wealth of the village 800 years ago can be seen in the architecture that still stands, and it is a lovely village to stroll around, with its winding narrow streets and fountains.
In the heart of Italy’s mountainous region of Abruzzo rests the small, ancient village of Calascio. Its picturesque streets with arched passages and stone houses convey its traditional Apennine setting while its centuries-old anchor, the fortification of La Rocca, adds historical significance to its location. Bathed by the Mediterranean sun in summer and blanketed by snow in the winter, Calascio is a welcoming tourist destination anytime of the year.
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