In this part of France two cities hog most of the visitors – Strasbourg, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities in France, and Colmar, capital of the wine-producing region. However, the little known jewel in the newly created region of the Great East is Mulhouse, once an independent republic, located where three counties meet – France, Germany and Switzerland. Possibly on account of that privileged position, Mulhouse is now one of France’s most active cities in terms of creativity and culture, also partly driven by its importance in the 19th century as a textile centre, which has endowed the city with an interesting industrial heritage.

Mulhouse is the City of Art and History, the first city in the Alsace to be awarded this distinction. One of its major reference points is the Place de la Réunion, the heart of its historic centre, where the easily recognisable standout feature is the pink-coloured old Town Hall. Another landmark in the square is the Protestant Church of Saint-Étienne, with a campanile affording stunning views of the city. Permission is required to go up it.

Mulhouse was one of the first major centres of the textile industry in France. This is attested in the Museum of Printed Textiles, which each year hosts a thematic exhibition linked to some well-known designer. Likewise, the Wesserling Park - Textile Ecomuseum which offers dramatized tours and fashion shows. Other major draws include the examples of industrial architecture (reconditioned former brickwork factories), and the street art and contemporary art to be had in the city centre.

Another venue worth visiting is the Cité de l’Automobile (featuring the Schlumpf Collection), situated just five minutes from downtown Mulhouse. Considered one of the leading automobile museums in the world, it showcases over 400 vehicles, prominent among which is a large collection of Bugattis. The Automobile City, divided into five distinct areas, is a truly interactive museum. Interesting audiovisuals about the automobile industry are screened, while a number of simulators enable visitors to experience what it feels like to drive a racing car.

On the outskirts of Mulhouse, the town of Ungersheim is home to the Alsace Ecomuseum, the largest of its kind in France. Here you can learn about the traditional divisions of the Alsace, what their schools used to be like and what the leading trades were. The most important craftsmen were blacksmiths, cartwrights and potters. It is also amazing to see how they used to cook in earlier times, and how they distilled local spirits. Additionally, you can taste some authentic, traditional dishes like celery gelatine, potatoes with nettles and basil sorbet.

Lastly, if you want to try Alsatian cuisine, we recommend you head for a winstub, the equivalent of a pub in the Alsace – the Restaurant Le Cellier is an ideal example. There you can taste such local specialities as fleischschnakas, an exquisite dish of noodle dough stuffed with meat, flammkuchen or tarte flambée, thinly rolled out bread dough with a topping of raw onion, bacon and single cream, and sauerkraut, accompanied by delicious Alsace wines. And, the best place to go for a drink at night is Le Gambrinus where the atmosphere is welcoming and the craft beer is excellent (bière du Bollwerk).

Mulhouse lends itself to a weekend tour. The EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, shared by France, Germany and Switzerland, is just 30 minutes away from the city centre. More information on the flights here.

Text by Tusdestinos.net

With its five centuries of history, the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is a must-visit event for all enthusiasts of this festivity, when the streets in the capital of this fantastic Canary island are inundated with music, entertainment, colour, masks and other festival costumes. Its origins go back to the time of the island’s conquest, when its population included a large number of Genoese, who were instrumental in introducing the festivity – it is assumed to have been a highly italianised celebration during that period. The magnificent climate, the proximity of the beach and the friendly demeanour of the people meant that Carnival was here to stay. It has now grown into one of the most popular Carnival celebrations in the world.

Those of you wishing to experience for yourselves this year’s Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria should head for the island between 10 February and 5 March, when most of the scheduled activities take place during the lengthy festivity. The list of things to see and do is endless, but the crowning moments include the Gala de la Reina (the Queen’s Gala), the Carnaval al Sol (Carnival in the Sun), held at Las Canteras, the shortlisting and election of the Drag Queen at the Drag Queen Gala, the Traditional Carnival at Vegueta, the Carnaval de Día (Day Carnival) in Santa Catalina and the Cabalgata Infantil (Children’s Horse Parade). Spoiled for choice?

The nerve centre of Carnival is located in Santa Catalina Park, where the highlights of the festivities are staged. Local streets and establishments fill up with people dressed in striking costumes, ready to express themselves to the full.

Every year has a central theme for the festival, and this year it is The Eternal Spring, which is supposed to inspire the costume design of both locals and festival-goers from everywhere, all intent on coming to enjoy the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Here, you would be hard pressed to see anyone not concealed behind a mask, wig or fancy dress of some kind – you have been warned.

Your Carnival experience will often be accompanied by the sound of murgas –similar to the chirigotas of Cádiz – with ensembles chanting songs set to satirical lyrics poking fun at the political and social status quo, in addition to comparsas or carnival troupes dancing to the beat of batucadas (percussion groups). Be sure to let yourself get carried away by the rhythm!

Any festivity worth its salt also has a culinary facet, and the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is no exception. Be sure to taste the tortitas de carnaval (carnival flapjacks), sopas de miel(a bread pudding) and pan dulce (sweet bread), all designed to restore your energy after so much revelry and upheaval.

Time for a Breather

If you’re lucky enough to be able to spend so many days that you end up getting worn out from so much cavorting to the Carnival beat, fear not. Gran Canaria is an island laden with secluded spots where you can wander about far from the everyday bustle. You can take the opportunity to sunbathe and have a dip at Maspalomas beach, or that of El Inglés, marvel at the natural spectacle provided by the blowhole known as the Bufadero de la Garita, or head for Tejeda and its stunning lunar landscape, presided over by the formidable Roque Nublo.

Pick up your fancy dress and get ready to delight in the Carnival of Gran Canaria – book your Vueling here.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by El Coleccionista de Instantes Fotografía & Video

History has been generous with Périgueux. This town, emblematic of the Aquitaine region, is fortunate enough to boast well preserved remains of its Gallo-Roman and medieval past, making it a unique spot. Situated on the banks of the river Isle, Périgueux makes for a great getaway, on account of both its stunning heritage and as a place to indulge in culinary delights, notably its foie gras. Périgueux, the ancient Vesunna Petrucoriorum, was one of the most important Roman centres in southern France. This is evinced in the extant remains of that civilisation, noteworthy being the Roman wall and the amphitheatre, with a capacity of 20,000 spectators, which must have rivalled Nimes or Arles. Well worth visiting is the Vesunna Gallo-Roman Museum, built around a grand Roman villa from the 1st century AD, the so-called domus des Bouquets (Domus of Vesunna). Judging by its sheer size – it covers an area of 4,000 square metres – it must have belonged to a high-ranking official of the region. Thanks to a system of walkways, the interior of the villa can be viewed from above, without impinging on the original surfaces.

A few metres from the old Gallo-Roman wall, which had some buildings set on top of it, lie vestiges of the town’s medieval past, including those of the 12th-century Château Barrière, destroyed in a fire in the 16th century, and the church of Saint-Étienne de la Cité, Périgueux’s original cathedral – up until the Wars of Religion – during which two of its four domes and the campanile were destroyed.

Touring Medieval and Renaissance Périgueux

It seems that God Himself stopped on the summit of Le Puy-Saint-Front, where man ended up building a cathedral of the same name over a former Merovingian and Carolingian church. This formidable cathedral, which rivets your gaze upwards as soon as you get near it, is a compulsory stopover for pilgrims on the Road to Santiago. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1998. Saint-Front Cathedral is unique in that its fabric reveals exotic Byzantine flourishes at times, as well as the legacy of Sacré-Cœur on Montmartre, Paris, at others. Its interior is not quite as striking, although it does harbour the odd exceptional detail, such as the chandelier that lit the wedding of Napoleon III and countess Eugénie de Montijo in Paris.

Medieval Périgueux, with the Mataguerre Tower as the last bastion of its ancient wall, is also graced with Renaissance buildings featuring such characteristic elements of this style as inner courts and staircases. Among the most emblematic buildings is the 16th-century House of the Patissier and the Saint Front Residence, a mansion located on the Rue de la Constitution.

Gastronomy in Périgueux

At the foot of the Cathedral lies the Place de la Clautre where local farmers sell their produce in a street market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. A few streets away, two open-air markets feature two of the products that are never in short supply in the pantries of Périgueux’s inhabitants – meat and foie gras.

It is a delightful experience to wander through the maze of medieval alleyways and then book a table at one of the small bistros or restaurants where you can treat yourself to local fare. One such eatery is the refined L’Eden, on Rue de l’Aubergerie, one of the most picturesque thoroughfares in the capital of the former Périgord.

Ready to discover the charm of Périgueux? Check out your Vueling to Bordeaux here.

Text and images by Tus Destinos

Photos by Tus Destinos and Alban GILBERT - CRTA

Old, new, designer, romantic, cold, practical, beautiful, iron, ornamented… these are some ways of describing the thirty-seven bridges that span the river Seine on its passage through Paris. Any visit to the French capital that excludes this beautiful river and these priceless engineering works would be tantamount to missing part of its soul. This is no overstatement. For starters, the banks of the Seine and the monuments sited there were included in UNESCO’s 1991 World Heritage listing. A stroll along those shores is a walk through centuries of history – and art – which we constantly encounter along the way: Notre Dame, the Sainte-Chapelle, the Orsay Museum, the Tuileries Garden, Place de la Concordia, the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais, the Eiffel Tower, to name but a few.

Another highlight you are likely to come across on your walk are the magnificent bridges. Apart from conveying you from one side of the river to the other, they afford the best views of the city. Following is our selection of four of the most popular bridges, which are bound to end up in your photos during your tour of Paris, help you cross the Seine in search of some landmark or provide the backdrop to you stealing a kiss from your beloved.

Pont Neuf

Despite its name (meaning New Bridge), it happens to have the honour of being the oldest and longest bridge in the city. In 1578, work commenced on what was to become the first stone bridge built across the river Seine, as until then the bridges had all been wooden – hence the name. Located at one end of the Ile de la Cité, it has two spans – one connecting the left bank to the Ile de la Cité and the other linking up with the right bank. It is the classical bridge one takes when going on the essential visits to Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sainte-Chapelle.

Pont des Arts

The Pont des Arts, also known as the Passerelle des Arts, located in the 6th Arrondissement, was built between 1801 and 1804 and was the first iron bridge in Paris. What visitors will see today, however, is a replica of the original construction, built from 1981 to 1984, as the original was severely damaged during the two World Wars. The views it affords of the Ile de la Cité make it one of the most frequently visited spots by sightseers and also artists, who tend to come here in search of the best picture-postcard view of the city. In recent years it has also become a place of pilgrimage for young couples seeking to seal their love by placing a padlock on the railing.

Pont d’Alma

Located alongside Alma Square, which features a replica of the Flame in Bartholdi’s Statue of Liberty, it was commissioned by Napoleon III in 1854 to commemorate the Battle of Alma during the Crimean War. In previous times, the Zouave statue – one of the four statues adorning it – was used to measure water levels in times of flooding. Nowadays it has become a place of pilgrimage to pay tribute to Princess Diana, as the tunnel situated behind this bridge is where she died in a car accident in August 1997.

Pont Alexandre III

This elegant bridge, classified as a French “historic monument”, was built for the Exposition Universelle in 1900 and dedicated to Tsar Alexander III of Russia. Construction on the bridge got under way in 1896 in the Beaux Arts style of the Third Republic. Sited between the 7th and 8th Arrondissement, it links the Invalides to the Grand Palais des Beaux-Arts and the Petit Palais. A stroll across the bridge provides a magnificent panoramic view of the area, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Book your Vueling to Paris and roam the banks of the Seine in search of some of its magnificent bridges and beautiful views.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by stanze, Bruno Pereira, Yann Caradec, Barry