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Advantages: Interesting, very interesting! Disadvantages: The most famous tomb is now closed.
Day 1 in Egypt, site number 2 (and it is only 09:30), so let's do away with the babble and launch right in....
~What's this place all about then?~
The Valley of the Queens is the burial site for the Queens & children of the Pharaohs of the 18th, 19th & 20th dynasties (1550 - 1070BC). It is said that there are about 70 (some claim as many as 85) different burial sites in the area.
Probably the most famous tomb here is that of Queen Nefertari*, which is the largest and most spectacular in the valley. Unfortunately, this tomb is now no longer open, we were told by our guide that a couple of years ago there was some rain in the valley, which caused some damage to Nefertari's tomb. The Egyptian Government went about restoring the damage, and spent roughly a cool million on it. To recuperate the funds they opened the tomb, but ...
Advantages: Informative, fun exciting for all ages Disadvantages: trnaslator batteries, food prices, not enough time to see and do everything!
A few years ago my mother-in-law bought a plot of land in the south of France with the intention of building a house to live in. That was the summer of 1998. That Christmas, my husband and I went to visit and we crammed as many wonderful places into our week holiday as possible. One place in particular was fascinating. This place was le city de l’espace, Toulouse. (Space City for anyone not up on the French lingo!) It was a relatively new attraction when we visited – less than a year since first opening. It was a huge place with outdoor and indoor attractions.
As it was the middle of winter (and even the south of France has a winter!) we decided to get the outdoor bit over and done with first as it was very cold and windy although the sky was clear and blue and the sun was shining. There was plenty to see and do ...
Advantages: Chateaux and gardens, old towns and local cuisine Disadvantages: Unexciting landscapes, well-trodden tourist trail
Where is the best place in France to get away from it all, to slip off for a few days (or a few weeks, or months), perhaps to your second (or third, or fourth) home?
With a country so rich in attractive regions, this could be regarded as a tough question, but the kings of the Valois dynasty in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries were in no doubt about their answer. They picked on the lower valley of the Loire, and in particular the stretch between Orleans and Tours, to site their out-of-town chateaux and hunting-lodges. Where they led the court naturally followed, and soon any ambitious aristocrat felt the need to have a prestigious pied-a-terre nearby from which to keep in touch with current intrigue and to curry favour with the king.
The reasons that attracted the Valois kings and their retinues to the Loire Valley ...
