San Francisco:
This is the city where I first arrived in the USA and stayed for 6 months
before beginning my 80 day trip. I think everybody who wants to visit
the US should include a trip to SF.
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Los Angeles:
I found a big distortion between what is related in the media and reality.
There is nothing fabulous or spectacular in Los Angeles; the downtown
is even quite an ugly place. The best is to go and drive along the coast
to places like Hermosa Beach. Beverly Hills is certainly nice to visit
but because of a car accident in LA I had to cancel my plans.
Recommendation: Go and walk along Hollywood Boulevard
and see the sun set along the coast. Be careful, the traffic is terrible
after 4PM.
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Las
Vegas: Crazy and unique atypical place
that everybody has to visit on a trip around the USA! I was impressed
by the Las Vegas sight - seeing shows but, I was also pretty disappointed
to see how the town is artificial, fake and boring. You felt a magical
atmosphere for the first hours but after two or three days I was glad
to leave the town. Las Vegas is the fastest growing city in the U.S..
If you are a big fan of gambling, this town is made for you; otherwise
don’t stop for more than a couple of days.
Recommendation: I had a very good time in the Stratosphere.
It’s a very nice restaurant that spins 360 degrees while you are
eating and gives you a splendid view of all Las Vegas. On the top of
the stratosphere there are three crazy rides to try! The Hoover Dam,
one hour from Las Vegas is something interesting to stop by and see
when you are in Las Vegas.
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Gran Canyon:
Spectacular! One of the most beautiful landscapes of the country.
Recommendation: Do a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon.
It’s very impressive and extremely worth the price. A 45 minutes
tour is enough to enjoy the experience.
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Phoenix:
Two hours from Phoenix is Sedona….don’t miss it!
Recommendation: Take a full day to walk around Sedona;
it’s a very impressive red-rock mountain landscape.! Look at the
pictures on my website. Between Phoenix and Santa Fe, stop by the best
preserved and first proven crater meteor on Earth.
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Santa Fe:
One of my favorite destinations! The landscapes around the town are
gorgeous and the town keeps the charm of the small village.
Recommendation: Visit downtown but also go out of the
town and see the peaceful homes lost in the middle of the mountains.
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Oklahoma City:
Nothing spectacular or gorgeous to see! Downtown is small and the city
is very flat. However, you will have the opportunity to discover a special
part of American history and some great American food. There are also
some nice bars and beautiful girls!
Recommendation: It’s interesting to stop by Oklahoma
City to see the state capital, the brand new museum of history and the
memorial of the terrorist attack in ‘93. The memorial museum is
very sad and moving and the stories of the terrorist attack are very
well reconstructed! If you have a chance to get in, go and visit the
Hilton Hotel; the presidential rooms on the top floor are quite amazing
and the view is nice.
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Dallas:
The city is very spread out. To me, the downtown has nothing exceptional.
Recommendation: You want to see the place and museum
where Kennedy was shot! You can also go on the top of the stratosphere
to see how Dallas is spread out. Not highly cultural but it’s
fun to visit the ranch and house where the Dallas TV show was recorded.
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Austin:
I stopped a couple of hours in the town between Dallas and Houston,
and I highly recommend stopping by.
Recommendation: Walk downtown, go up to the river,
come back and visit the state capital building. The Texas state museum
is also interesting to visit.
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Houston:
The downtown is very modern with nice architecture. Underground are
the longest tunnels in the US that connect all the buildings thru subway
paths. You nearly never need to go outside if you work in the building.
You can find all the commercial galleries and restaurants underground.
Due to the tunnels some streets are pretty empty and some parts of Houston
look like a ghost town. But it does keep you cool! There is a nice new
light rail system.
Recommendation: The NASA Space Center where you can
touch a rock of the moon is definitively something to see during your
stay in Houston. Plan also to visit the downtown and have a walk in
the tunnels; there is a very nice seafood restaurant with a giant indoor
aquarium. You can try alligator meat in Houston! The Civil War Memorial
is also interesting to visit! There is a neighborhood full of huge multimillionaire
houses that’s great to walk around….a small Beverley Hills!
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New Orleans:
What a crazy city! I didn’t have time to really stop along the
coast but it’s impressive to see how Hurricane Katrinadevasted
the town. The French and Spanish Quarter are very animated late at night.
You will find a lot of striptease bars and alcoholic fruit frozen beverages
in this area. There are also some very nice restaurants and piano bars.
Recommendation: Visit and spend some time in the historical
French and Spanish district.
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Memphis:
Nice cultural town for blues and Jazz music but also for a sad part
of the American history. Martin Luther King was shot in a hotel in Memphis.
Recommendation: You will enjoy having a beer in the
BB King Bar on Beale Street or trying the best pork barbecue in the
US in one of those casual restaurants. The Rock and Soul Museum and
the Gibson’s headquarter (one of the most famous guitar brands
in the world) are also interesting to visit. Of course you don’t
want to miss the National Rights Civil Museum where Martin Luther King
was shot! I didn’t visit it but you will also be interested to
visit Sun Studios where Elvis Presley used to record!
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Kansas City:
Downtown is not the most welcoming part of the city. When I visited
it, it was deserted and looked like a ghost city! Go more outside the
town to see some nice lakes and landscapes. It’s interesting to
see how the economy was reconverted in the past 30 years when the second
sector was replaced slowly by the third one. You will find an important
contrast between the old manufacturers at the borders of the city and
the new huge building downtown.
Recommendation: There is a nice stadium (the KC Royals
team) to visit outside of the city. You will find a market street near
downtown where you can buy some cheap and good quality fruit and vegetable.
There is also a nice museum and memorial to visit. The old train station
that is is converted into some nice bars and restaurants.
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Colorado
Spring: About one and a half hours from
Denver, Colorado Springs was one of my best visits in the State. The
landscapes are gorgeous and the people very nice. You will also easily
have contacts with the wildlife. The deep American culture is still
alive and you can still find some cowboys. Moreover, the state of Colorado
is relatively cheap for tourists!
Recommendation: Visit the Olympic Training Center (there
are only three in the country), and the Gardens of God with those beautiful
rocks. At the Royal Gorge , you will find the highest suspension bridge
in the world. It’s very impressive to drive on it and to look
down in the valley. There is also a very nice five star hotel where
you can eat in front of a lake and there’s a nice waterfall park,
the Seven Falls. For the lover, I suggest you visit this romantic place!
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Salt Lake
City: You will remember Salt Lake City
for the Great Salt Lake, (I think the only one in the US). Salt Lake
City is a stop necessary if you want to discover the Mormon culture!
The Mormon Church is one of the most amazing and incredible buildings
I have seen in my life. Three competitor construction companies worked
together to build the biggest auditorium in the world, with 21,000.00
seats! The Mormon Church headquarters was certainly as luxurious as
the Vatican! It’s impressive to see how powerful and rich this
organization is.
Recommendation: Visit the Mormon Heritage Village ,
where the first Native Americans arrived in Salt Lake City outside of
the town, and then go downtown and visit all the Mormon buildings. (Headquarter,
auditorium, church…). You will also be interested to visit Park
City a small village know locally as “Courchevelle” while
you are visiting the Olympic facilities of the Olympic games.
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Miami:
This tourist town is for people loving the nightlife! You can visit
the Romero Britto Gallery, but you don’t come to Miami for museums.
Miami looks like the French Rivera with it’s nightlife, bars,
restaurants, and fashional people and parties!
Recommendation: Use the nice canals to discover Miami
by boat and go along the sea. You will see the Al Capone house and his
garage where he used to leave by boat. Go to Miami Beach, drink some
cocktails and try to get into those famous clubs where you will see
some famous people! Of course, you will not forget to sunbathe on the
beautiful beach and swim in the warm and transparent water! Talk to
the friendly local people around you…they will tell you about
a nice, local bar that most tourists don’t know. Finally, you
will not forget to visit the Everglades, but be careful: every year
some dog disappears eaten by alligators and you don’t want to
fall off the boat when you are in the marshes.
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New York:
There are so many things to do in New York that the best is to arrange
a tourist information guide. It says that French people in Paris are
stressed and rude! Go to New York and you will see that we can easily
compare the two cities! The city is very hard to describe since there
are so many different neighborhoods and cultures in the town. I enjoyed
living two blocks from Wall Street. Downtown Manhattan is a more and
more interesting place to live. The prices are less expensive than before
and you will find new business buildings converted into private accommodations.
Harlem and the Queens are also becoming more popular with nice bars
and restaurants. I walked pretty much everywhere in Harlem with my GPS
and my camera and I never felt in danger. I really enjoyed a party at
the MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) in Queens. You can visit the museum
and on the plaza, hundreds of people party. We should import the concept
to Paris; it will be a good start to bring young people to the museums
and try to get them interested in art and culture! I was astounded to
see how much work was needed yet to begin rebuilding at the World Trade
Center.
Recommendation: You must visit the three most
famous Museums: the Guggenheim, the MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) and
the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You should not miss walking or jogging
in Central Park! Of course the classic: The Statue of Liberty and Elis
Island, where all the immigrants needed to stop before being accepted
in the US. I also enjoyed Times Square, the United Nations, the view
from the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center. I was disappointed
by the Wax Museum near Time Square and a little bit by the Blue Note
Jazz Club. I had a good time but it is certainly not as famous as it
used to be. Finally, you will must look at the Brooklyn Bridge, one
of the most famous bridges in the state.
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Philadelphia:
Visit the downtown. The old town is also nice to walk around. Outside
of Philadelphia there are some very nice parks to bike on the trails.
Recommendation: Visit the Independence Hall Museum,
the place where The Declaration of Independence was signed, as well
as the “Liberty Bell”. The indoor farmer’s market
with the Amish people is something to see as well as City Hall.
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Washington:
For me, this is the city that looks like the most like Paris, mostly
due to the numerous historical buildings with a French or European style.
A big part of the population work for federal institutions.
Recommendation: The city is pretty spread out, so a
good way to visit all the monuments or historical buildings is to buy
a tour bus pass valid for two days. You can get on and off anytime you
want. You can plan to see the White House, the State Capitol, the World
War One Memorial, the Obelisk, and the National Archive where you can
see the constitution. You can also stop at the Jefferson and Lincoln
Memorials. The train station is a nice place to have a lunch or a snack.
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Floyd:A very small
town of a few hundred people with just one traffic light for the whole
town. The best time to visit the town is in July when the town welcomes
a unique Blue Grass Music Festival for a couple of days.
Recommendation: Less than one hour from Floyd, hike
the Buffalo Mountain. When you arrive on the top of the mountain you
have an incredible view of the valley. You will like to stop by the
Floyd Country Store for great milkshakes!
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Charlotte:
This is a very nice town to visit. It’s nice to walk in the downtown.
Recommendation: You must go to the famous Mint Museum
of Craft and Design, downtown. Go to the Price’s Chicken Coop,
the best and cheapest barbecue place of the town. You can order the
food to go, and lay down in the nice park near by. The children’s
library and center is a good piece of architecture.
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Columbia: Maybe
one of the smallest downtowns that I saw during my trip for a State
Capital. There are some nice bars to visit. There is a demography problem
in this town with more girls than men, and there are an impressive number
of woman looking for decent guys!
Recommendation: The State Capitol is maybe the only
interesting building to visit in the downtown. You can also visit the
zoo or go jet-skiing on a beautiful lake.
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Atlanta: I was
very perplexed about the $30 million donation to build a church in Atlanta.
It looks more like a concert hall for pop stars than a church! The church
begins with a live concert and then the mass is viewed on a big screen.
It sounds like you are at a U2 concert! Then, people watch a huge TV
screen and listen to a video record of a priest leading mass.
Recommendation: The Coca-Cola museum and the CNN center
are great to see if you stop by Atlanta. The tour of the CNN center
is well done and instructive. The center is impressive by its magnitude.
The outdoor Mt. Rushmore laser show one hour half from Atlanta is something
rare. You sit down on the grass with your popcorn and soda and watch
the laser show that is projected on the mountain after the sunset.
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Nashville:
Nashville is a famous place for country and blues music Famous record
studios are located here. At night there are lots of places to stop
by and listen to many bands, old and new.
Recommendation: Visit Vanderbilt University, one of
the best universities in the country. Many people attend to go to law
school. Also visit the Hall of Fame Museum. From the bridge
downtown you will have a nice view on the river, buildings, and the
stadium. The Pantheon and the capitol state are interesting to visit as well as the library!
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St Louis: The
Gateway to the West with the famous arch! Around St Louis, it is very
peaceful to bike or to ride around through the amazing miles of corn
fields. Outside of the town you will find very few cars, no pollution,
no noise and nice landscapes.
Recommendation: Get up in the Arch and enjoy the most
beautiful view of the city. You will also find a museum and some attractions
like cinema movies projected on giant screen. You will be interested
by a modern and half open stadium located inside the town that is very
unique. One of the most famous beer companies, Budweiser, offers an
interesting tour and you particular see the fastest packaging bottle
chain in the states! Quite impressive.
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Indianapolis:
It’s lovely to walk downtown.
Recommendation: The best attraction to visit is the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There is a guide that will show you everything
and you can even go on the road to kiss the ground at the departure
line! You will also enjoy the state fair in August!
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Chicago: One
of my favorite destinations! Everybody can find happiness in this town! the architecture is beatiful, there is great food, and there are so many places to shop! You can take nice walks along the lake or canal, and there are lots of cultural attractions.
Recommendation: Go to the planetarium, to the biggest
indoor aquarium in the world, to the John Hancock observatory, the Science
and Industry Museum, and the Field one. It also worth taking a tour bus to know the
city.
Cleveland:
Nice town. I didn’t visit the rock star hall of fame but I’ve
heard it’s an interesting thing to do in Cleveland!
Recommendation: Walk around the marina and go biking
along the coast…you will find it very peaceful.
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Buffalo: This
town is very well located because it’s just 20 miles from the
border with Canada.
Recommendation: Niagara Falls offers an incredible
spectacle. You can take a boat and go closer to the falls; you will
have a direct view of the American and Canadian falls. You must also
try the chicken wings in Buffalo!
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Boston: The town
has a lot of historical architecture and a very nice bay that begins
the downtown.
Recommendation: In Boston, I enjoyed the Harvard University
visit. My advice: don’t touch the Harvard statue called the Three
Lies! Visit the state capitol and stop at the entry of the Senator’s
Room and turn left: you will see the Lafayette Statue, the only French
statue represented in this state capitol. It goes without saying that
you can not go to Boston without buying a ticket of the Red Sock’s
baseball stadium!
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Minneapolis:
People told me I would see the most beautiful girls in America here!
(and I saw many!) Minnesota is known as the state of ten thousand lakes!
Recommendation: Visit the biggest shopping mall in
the state. You will be astonished by the attraction park in the middle
of the mall and the biggest underground aquarium in the world! You will
see some interesting gardens with statues and sculptures near the downtown.
If you have a chance, stop by Manny’s: it’s expensive but
also the best steak restaurant I have ever tried in the state.
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Yellowstone:
One of the most beautiful natural parks in United States!
Recommendation: If you like national parks, I highly
recommend you visit this one. You need to be very careful when you drive
because a lot of wild animals cross the roads at anytime and also be
careful not to approach the wild life. Every month there is an accident
of people attacked by animals like elk, buffalo, bears…
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Boise: The mountains
and the rivers are gorgeous.
Recommendation: Hike in the mountains and go rafting!
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Seattle: This
town, like San Francisco, captured my heart. The downtown is nice to
visit but go outside to see the nice and casual areas along the lake
with the barges.
Recommendation: Visit the very atypical library in
downtown Seattle, the Space Needle Observatory, the science fiction
and EMP (experience music performance museum). The farmer’s market
is also interesting to see. Go along the lake and go on the top of the
hills for a magical view of the town and the lake!
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Highway 101 (between
Seattle and San Francisco): If you have a chance, do this 20
hour drive on US 101… this is the most beautiful drive I did during
my trip. It’s gorgeous! In my opinion, it’s a much more
interesting drive than the mythic Route 66.
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My 21 must-see places in USA
The top 21 favorite places, among the 37 destinations I had, that I
advise for whom whant to plan a trip around the USA
