What a tremendous thread. It adds so much to the potential of travel and to the enjoyment.

I detoured to Loumarin in the south of France to see Camus' grave, and in Sète went to the cimetière marin of Paul Valéry fame. But I think my favorite find was the little Georges Brassens museum across from the graveyard where he was buried, also in Sète.

Actually most of my European trips have have been largely literary pilgrimages as far as the overall structure goes. I think it's quite interesting how some of the sites are so popular (Haworth, Grasmere, Stratford) while others of authors who would seem to be equally well-loved are not. Some of my favorite sites:<BR>Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire (Byron's home)<BR>Lichfield (Samuel Johnson's birthplace, cathedral)<BR>Keats-Shelley house/Protestant Cemetery, Rome<BR>Numerous Flaubert sites in Rouen<BR>Ibsen houses in Oslo/Skien/Grimstad (Norway)<BR>Dublin, because it still retains quite a lot of the geography & atmosphere of the books by Joyce & other writers (when compared to say, London or New York of the same period)<BR>Eastwood, Nottinghamshire is worth a day walking around if you're a fan of D H Lawrence's books.<BR>Carlyle & Dickens Houses, London

Robert K. Massie's excellent books on the Romanovs - Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs: The Final Chapter - were good enough that I was inspired to go to St. Petersburg. Only wish he'd written more.

Read "My Family and other Animals" written by Gerald Durrell and "Prospero's Cell, written by his brother, Laurence Durrell and nothing will stop you seeking out the Greek island of Corfu.<BR>OK, so now it is more touristy, but - seek and ye shall find - a trace of Corfu as it was. A truly magical island, especially if you stay in the North East.

Back in 1971 I got to visit the Beatles'<BR>Penny Lane in London. It was an arcade with fantastic "penny" games. What a blast. Feeling nostalgic now that George is gone.

Thanks to PD James, we went to Southwold and Norwich in East Anglia.

Well, a few repeats here, but couldn't resist. Let's see, thoroughly enjoyed Tintagel, with King Arthur associations. Like someone above, had a drink at Jamaica Inn. Enjoyed seeing the little room they had set up with Daphne duMaurier's writing desk. Went on to enjoy the town of Fowey, and even drove out the country lane to try to see Menabilly. Couldn't see it, but they tell me when the leaves are off the trees in late fall it can be seen from the road. Also, of course, Shakespeare's home and Wordsworth's Dove Cottage. I too, went to the Lake Isle of Innisfree and Yeats' grave. Had a lot of trouble explaining that to a pragmatic husband! We English majors live in a different world. Rosamund Pilcher was probably the cause of my visiting St. Ives. Could picture Far From the Madding Crowd when driving through Hardy country.

Well they may not be the most original visits...but a few places that I have gone to visit simply due to historical significance are: Notre Dame Cathedral to see where Queen Margot married Henry of Navarre and Joan of Arc was put on trial for Witchcraft.<BR>The Place de la Concorde outside the Crillon Hotel, Paris to see where Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI amongst many others were beheaded.<BR>The Palace of Versailles, trying to imagine the hoardes of people storming the palace.<BR>

Good thread for topping.

There are a few. After watching Elizabeth I just had to see the tower where she was held captive, and also Westminster Abbey where she was buried.<BR>Also i am a Beatles fan so you can guess, I went to Abbey Rd.<BR>Also am a Canadian and went to the War Memorial in Vimy Ridge. The monument moved me to tears. Also felt a huge sense of pride.

ttt

at last! a good post to follow...<BR><BR>

Peter Mayle

I pretended to be the hunchback of Notre Dame when I climbed to the top...

My maternal grandmother did the Grand Tour in 1915, during which her mother insisted they speak nothing but German (we are American), considered it the language of culture. My grandmother used to describe the utter romance of sitting over tea at Florian's on the Piazza San Marco in Venice and listening to the small orchestra playing Viennese waltzes while a Russian count flirted with my grandmother under the watchful gaze of my great-grandmother. <BR><BR>I had tea in her honor at Florian's in 1968 and again in 1973; and someone, please, tell me that it's still there and there is still a small orchestra that plays at tea time.

the many lives and secret sorrows of Josephine B by Sandra Guillard --a novel written through the eyes of Napoleon's wife. The entire novel is her diary entries. I am returning to Paris this summer and my days there will be spent visiting Josephine's and Napoleon's favourite spots. I can't wait.

#Birdsong to go see the Verdun and the Somme

Woops - forgot to say the author - Sebastian Faulks

Hi<BR><BR>Route Napoleon is worth following.<BR><BR>Peter<BR><BR>http://tlp.netfirms.com/