When Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette entered the gates of Fontainebleau Palace during the 18th century, local villagers looked on with awe. But “astonishment” better described the reactions of tourists when our group of nine bicyclists rode through the main entrance of the grand castle last summer. The historic royal residence was just one of […]
Twenty-three of us sat outside our country hotel around a large table, some sipping wine, as the September sun reflected off the yellowing rice fields that surrounded us. As pink clouds floated above our heads, the long, afternoon shadows accentuated the architectural splendor of the Carthusian Monastery of Pavia (Certosa di Pavia), which also seemed […]