France

Mont-Saint-Michel

We came out from Rennes on the 16:40 and had one night at Le Relais Saint Michel. That gave us the whole evening with the Mont.

First we walked the path across the meadows. The abbey's spire stood on top of the rock, with a bank of white cloud behind it, and the low sun turned the stone warm. Then we went out along the wooden walkway towards it.

At about a quarter to nine the sun went down over the bay, right beside the Mont, and the rock turned into a dark shape against a pink sky. We stayed out until the floodlights came on. By half past nine the abbey glowed gold above the bay.

Dinan

The 09:05 took us back to Rennes, and the 11:00 train took us on to Dinan for the afternoon.

We began in a big Gothic church. Light came through its tall stained-glass windows, some of them bright and modern. Outside, a tree was in pink blossom against the grey stone.

The old town is built of grey stone and slate. Half-timbered houses lean over its cobbled squares, and some stand on wooden posts over the pavement. One wide street, lined with pollarded trees, ends at an old arched gateway. From high above the town we looked out over the grey roofs to a church spire, with green country beyond.

Saint-Malo

The 16:22 from Dinan took us to Saint-Malo, on the coast, for the evening.

We sat on the sea wall above the beach in the sun. The tide was out. The sand ran a long way along the shore, and a line of weathered wooden posts stood in it below us. Off the beach, a stone fort sat on its rocky islet, with the wet sand shining around it.

The old town stands behind its walls, with a spire rising above the ramparts. We also found a round stone tower with palm trees growing at its foot, and walked round to the harbour.

The 19:55 took us back to Rennes, and we slept at the ibis Styles by the station.

Paris

Our TGV left Rennes at 07:05 on the 15th and pulled into Montparnasse at 09:23. We had two nights at the Hotel Britannique.

Late that afternoon we went to Notre-Dame. The square in front was crowded, and we took a selfie with the two towers behind us. Then we walked along the river as a tour boat went by below the stone embankment. On the Île de la Cité we saw the gilded gates of the Palais de Justice, with the Sainte-Chapelle's spire behind, and the Conciergerie's big blue and gold clock.

Across the river we saw the Tour Saint-Jacques and the Hôtel de Ville, and sat by the Stravinsky Fountain, with its bright sculptures in the pool. The Centre Pompidou stood nearby, its escalator running up the outside. After dark we were at the Louvre, where the glass pyramid glowed gold in the courtyard, and we walked round it taking pictures from every side.

The next day we were on the Rue de Rivoli, beside its long arcades, and at the Place de la Concorde, where a fountain stands between the obelisk and a big wheel. We finished the evening at the Eiffel Tower, lit gold, among the crowds on the lawns.

Notre-Dame, the Luxembourg and Montmartre

On our last day we went back to Notre-Dame, this time inside. The rose windows glowed purple and blue in the dark, and rows of chandeliers lit the long nave. We found painted carvings, a marble tomb and a wooden model of the cathedral under glass. Outside, carved saints and angels lined the doorways.

Then we stopped at a café with a red awning and made our way to the Luxembourg Gardens. Toy sailing boats skimmed across the pond in front of the palace, and the beds were full of tulips and pansies. The Medici Fountain lay still under the trees. We sat in front of the lawn for a photo, with the palace behind us.

We ended the day at Montmartre. The evening sun turned Sacré-Cœur's white domes pale gold, and from the hill the city spread out below us, with pink light on the tower blocks along the horizon. We stayed until the sky turned deep blue and the church was lit up.

That night we slept at the citizenM at Charles de Gaulle.

Carcassonne

We had one night here, at the Hôtel des Trois Couronnes.

The walled Cité stands on a hill above the town, a long line of walls and towers, many of them under pointed slate roofs. After dark the whole length of it was floodlit gold.

We were up before seven to see it again in the first light. That April, bands of bright yellow were painted across its walls and towers. In the morning sun we took our photo with the Cité behind us, and before we left we stopped at the old stone bridge over the river.

Nîmes

By the afternoon of the 15th we were in Nîmes, for two nights at the Appart'City Nîmes Arènes.

We started inside the Roman amphitheatre. We climbed to the top tier, where rings of stone seats drop to the sandy arena, and walked its arched passages. From the top we could see over the rooftops to a church spire.

In the evening light we found the Maison Carrée, a Roman temple still standing whole on its square, and walked beside a canal lined with trees and stone balustrades.

At blue hour we went back to the amphitheatre. Its square was empty, and its arches glowed against a deep blue sky. Nearby, a fountain topped by a white statue was lit up in the dark.

Tarascon and Avignon

On the 16th we spent the day along the Rhône. In the early afternoon we were at Tarascon, where a square stone castle with round towers rises straight from the riverbank. Across the water, Beaucaire's castle stands on its hill.

By late afternoon we were in Avignon. The Popes' Palace is a huge stone building with pointed towers and tall arches, and beside it the cathedral tower carries a gold statue.

Down by the Rhône, Avignon's old bridge stops partway across the water, with a small chapel on one of its piers. We watched it from the far bank as the light went, and stayed until the lights below the palace shone in the river.