There’s nothing like living in Highclere Castle, the main filming location for the famous drama series “Downton Abbey”, as Fiona, 8th Countess of Carnarvon, described: “At Highclere, every day is a lovely day.” Long fascinated by its history, we decided to pay a visit to the castle, where Lady Carnarvon would show us around and talk about those stories of the estat...

The Loire Valley, like a pearl drops down from heaven, and falls on the western part of France. On its banks, scattered historic châteaux and vineyards with grapes shimmering under the sun. The destination of our journey - Château du Lude –situated at the north end of the valley. The history of The Lude can be traced back to 1000 years ago. In the 10th century, when Gilles de ...

It was still late summer when we departed. We traveled 60 kilometers northeast of Paris and through a thick forest. An ancient palace towered in front of us. This was the Château de Fontainebleau, the royal palace that held the dream and glory of 36 of French kings and emperors. Sitting deep inside of the Galerie François I, we talked to Mr. Alexis de Kermel, the head of t...