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Every time I go to the south of France on holiday (I'm British) I'm always struck how many little intact medieval towns and villages there are. I'd recommend ju

by jsmcgd 18y ago

Every time I go to the south of France on holiday (I'm British) I'm always struck how many little intact medieval towns and villages there are. I'd recommend just hiring a car and start roaming about (or Train, the French do trains really well). You'll be tripping over them.

pg 18y ago
That's exactly what I'm planning to do, but I'm hoping to make the process less random.
- davidw 18y ago
  Maybe hire a guide? This guy, a tour guide in Tuscany, wrote some books make for light but entertaining reading: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Dario%20Castagno http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encodin... I think there's something to be said for simply wandering though (perhaps armed with some good books), especially seeing as how there is way more history and stuff to see in a place like Italy or France than you could possibly hope to absorb over a few weeks. It's "fractal", too: you can look at the big ticket items, like wars, conquests of this or that country, but you can also get into the local goings on, which are often quite interesting in their own right. For instance, one of my favorite things in Padova is the University Tour, where they have a lectern that Galileo's students built for him. It's awful looking, because they were wealthy kids, not the sons of craftsmen, so they mangled it pretty thoroughly. They wanted to make it themselves though, rather than commission it, as a sign of dedication.
- jsmcgd 18y ago
  Hmmm why not pick some historical person and follow in their footsteps? I suppose even then people managed to get about quite a bit so you would have to pick someone quite sedentary or else you'd be in for a beast of a trek. An exchange student suggested I go on this pilgrimage with her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela#History_of_the__Way_of_St._James_Pilgrimage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela#History_... I'm not a religious person but I don't think that that is really important. It seemed to be more of a summer break thing with the added bonus of possible redemption. I suppose you could even take a car and just follow the route. Actually this might be a bit sacrilegious.

by jsmcgd 18y ago

pg 18y ago

That's exactly what I'm planning to do, but I'm hoping to make the process less random.

davidw 18y ago
Maybe hire a guide? This guy, a tour guide in Tuscany, wrote some books make for light but entertaining reading: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Dario%20Castagno http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encodin... I think there's something to be said for simply wandering though (perhaps armed with some good books), especially seeing as how there is way more history and stuff to see in a place like Italy or France than you could possibly hope to absorb over a few weeks. It's "fractal", too: you can look at the big ticket items, like wars, conquests of this or that country, but you can also get into the local goings on, which are often quite interesting in their own right. For instance, one of my favorite things in Padova is the University Tour, where they have a lectern that Galileo's students built for him. It's awful looking, because they were wealthy kids, not the sons of craftsmen, so they mangled it pretty thoroughly. They wanted to make it themselves though, rather than commission it, as a sign of dedication.
jsmcgd 18y ago
Hmmm why not pick some historical person and follow in their footsteps? I suppose even then people managed to get about quite a bit so you would have to pick someone quite sedentary or else you'd be in for a beast of a trek. An exchange student suggested I go on this pilgrimage with her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela#History_of_the__Way_of_St._James_Pilgrimage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela#History_... I'm not a religious person but I don't think that that is really important. It seemed to be more of a summer break thing with the added bonus of possible redemption. I suppose you could even take a car and just follow the route. Actually this might be a bit sacrilegious.