A Slovenian week – starting in Maribor in eastern Slovenia – the 2012 European Capital of Culture and home to the oldest grapevine in the world!                                                           

Then a walk around Lake Bled, which is particularly beautiful at this time of the year surrounded by autumn colours.   

At the Palazzo dei Diamanti in the medieval Italian town of Ferrara for an excellent exhibition: ‘Gli Anni Folli – La Parigi di Modigliani, Picasso e Dali 1918 – 1933’.

Amedeo Modigliani ‘Nude’ (1917)

Amedeo Modigliani ‘Boy in Short Trousers’ (c.1918)

Juan Gris ‘Seated Harlequin’ (1920)

Chaïm Soutine ‘Choir Boy’ (1925)

Tamara de Lempicka ‘Irene and her Sister’ (1925)

As well as paintings, also on show were some beautiful costumes and set designs by Mikhail Larionov and Giorgio de Chirico for Ballets Russes productions and by Fernand Léger for the Ballets Suédois production of ‘La Création du Monde’ (1923).

Mikhail Larionov Costume for ‘Chout’ (1921)

Fernand Léger Model for ‘La Création du Monde’ (1923)

A beautiful, sunny autumn day in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana.

In Gorizia, Italy for the four-day Gusti di Frontiera food and music festival.

In the chic French resort of Biarritz for a really enjoyable performance of Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ at the Biarritz opera festival.

In the extremely elegant city of Bordeaux for the excellent ‘Arts d’Afrique’ exhibition at the Musée d’Aquitaine.

Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux

In the delightful medieval town of Albi, birthplace of Toulouse-Lautrec, with its magnificent brick-built Gothic cathedral dedicated to Saint Cecilia. Begun in 1282, in the aftermath of the Albigensian Crusade, it is claimed to be the largest brick building in the world.

Saint Cecilia Cathedral, Albi

The nave of Saint Cecilia Cathedral, Albi

At the Abbaye de Fontfroide, Narbonne, for a concert of music from Istanbul by the excellent Jordi Savall and Hesperion XXI.

Jordi Savall (photo: Lionel Bonaventure)

Walking at the World Heritage Site of the Canal du Midi at Le Somail in the Languedoc.

The William Kentridge production of the Shostakovich opera ‘The Nose’ at the Aix-en-Provence Festival was absolutely fantastic – the highlight of the year so far.