Perhaps it’s the vast reserves of helium stored underground. Or maybe it’s the 100-degree May temperatures and constant 50 mph winds that send whirling clouds of yellow dust swirling across the empty...

Coming home this time of year is a delight! Blooming rhododendrons frame my house, the irises are in bloom and soon my front door will be framed in a blue cloud of...

We arrived back at Paris Charles deGaulle Airport (CDG) at 3 p.m. to accommodate a travel writer colleague who had a late afternoon flight to Berlin. Writers invited on press trips often...

The marshes surrounding the small city of Bourges formed a barrier that protected early Celt and later Roman settlements from invasion. The vast marshlands inspired fear and superstition since those who entered...

Perhaps it’s the country girl in my heritage, but I loved our visit to a Loire farm where goat cheese was made. The city folks among our group of writers stuck their...

We visited a stained glass maker in Chartres before heading out to Orleans where we took a cooking class. Although the glass maker has been doing it for 30 some years, he...

Chartres, a little more than an hour by train from Paris, is a popular day trip from the city. It’s also become a bedroom community for the city, since it’s in the...