Marc's Public Blog - Trips to other locations

I ended up going to Malta for 4 different trance music festivals as it is working on becoming the new Ibiza, and I should say they are doing a great job on that front. But it turns out it's a country with fascinating history, and the only country with a population of arab origin and a language that is still close to arabic, while being mostly Christian. And not only they're Christians, but they have absolutely insanely docorated churches (as in they must have cost a fortune to build for an island that doesn't seem to be swimming in natural resources). So yeah, that was interesting to say the least.

I have enough pictures and places I've seen there that I wrote sub-reports you can find here:

And here are the leftover pictures:

first trip and hotel was Bora Bora of Ibiza fame, for Rong, Malta

I did mention beautiful churches. This one was a mostly random undescript one in the middle of a non major city:

I rest my case

The island also had history going back to the romans:

Great views from the water:

Nice coastlines:

Caves:

Old medieval streets:

And friendly cats :)

A fun part was the recreation of a movie bit:

The last 2 days in France before flying out via Lyon, were spent between Beaune and Dijon. Unfortunately due to one of those days being a monday, and some things being closed in both cities on that day, I had to split the time between both cities on both days. Thankfully they are less than 1h away, so it wasn't too much time wasted even if non optimal.

Both cities are known for being in the middle of the Borgogne wine region which is filled with wineries. Red is definitely not something I appreciate, but they have some of the best wines for those who do :)

Beaune Basilica of Our Lady was ok but nothing special. It also didn't open on time because it's a small city and no one really seems to go ;)

Then it was time to drive to Chateau de Savigny les Beaune's for its Fighter Jet, Car, and Motorbike Collection (clickme).

After the castle, it made sense to head over to Dijon:

Both cities had multiple wine museums, went to check out that one in Dijon:

Next, went to visit a 230 year old Gingerbread factory and museum

and had a look at downtown:

More museums :)

And another wine museum, this time in Beaune: Cité des Climats et Vins de Bourgogne:

lots of specialized sub-regions

Then there was still time to visit Hotel Dieu which was a free hospital for the needy, paid for by winery land:

best medicine money could buy :)

The next morning, starting with another church, because why not?

Then back in downtown dijon:

Maille comes from Dijon, I had to visit their fancy store

More museums

Then this was the highlight of Dijon, the archeological museum:

Then back to Beaune for Musée du Vin, which had limited opening hours:

Next was the museum of fine arts:

After that it was it for Beaune, so back towards Lyon with a stop at citée médievale de Pérouges which was wonderful but mostly shut down in the late afternoon, and on a day where the restaurants were not open, bad luck:

Very cute town, definitely worth the stop. After that, direction airport hotel and Lyon airport the next morning:

On the way from Bourges to Beaune, there was Nevers, Sancerres, and Autun. Did not have time for Sancerres, but did a good stop at Nevers first, as it also happened to be where my dad grew up before his family moved to Paris. Unfortunatey by the time I got there, he had died a few mnonths prior, so I wasn't able to share with him, but it was well worth visiting.

another french town with a nice cathedral

they had Palais Ducal de Nevers which had historical significance but now was mostly used for administrative offices

haha, cute car :)

Nice big cathedral

Sainte Bernadette de Soubirou

Never is also known for its fine porcelaine and it had a nice museum about it:

There was more in the city, including a convent dedicated to Bernadette Soubirou:

Then it was time to continue east, stopped by a little mountain town before arriving in Autun, full of roman ruins:

a few pieces missing

The town had a market going on, so I figured it was worth visiting:

And there was more to see, including another church:

And let's not forget another roman theatre:

And then onto Beaune for the night: