maxa: very strong? maxa, voice-over: the charming town of tours hosts a garlic festival every july. you know, if there's any place in tours that you don't have to worry about vampires congregating, it's here at this fete today. look at all this garlic. maxa, voice-over: while in town, don't miss the 15th-century half-timbered houses on the place de plumereau. tours is one of the gateways to the loire valley, as it's little more than an hour from paris on the tgv, the high-speed train. want to be a king or queen for a day? leave the crowded popular chateaus behind. grab a gourmet lunch from the tours market and a bottle of vouvray, the local wine, and discover your own chateau. the experience might be your most memorable. some 35 miles from chambord, i discovered a delightful small castle, the chateau du moulin, with enchanting red brick towers and a perfect moat. the de marcheville family bought the chateau from the descendants of moulin, and they have gracefully restored the interior in the style of the 15th century. so many visitors to the loire valley are unaware of the sheer num

isn't that that guy maxa?r smile makes me glad maxa: to discover a more serene cote d'azur, i head for the hill towns just inland from the big cities. a delightful motor trip from cannes takes in the perfume capital of france--grasse-- and the dramatic perched village of gourdon. at the galimard studios in grasse, not only can you learn about how perfume is made, you can create your own scent. maxa: so, now, valerie, what's the very first thing i do to create my own perfume? the very first thing you have to do is to smell the samples you have in front of you. these 5 here? so now i'll let you decide. you smell them, you pick your 3, and then i come back to you in a few minutes. ok. hmm. not crazy about that. "accord muse." mmm. that could be a contender. "bouquet boise." bouquet of the forest. unusual. maxa, voice-over: professional noses, or "nez" as they are called, are employed by perfumeries. a nez can reportedly identify more than 6,000 different scents with simply a whiff. galimard's nez has developed a

maxa: history weighs heavily on berlin. no other modern european capitol has seen so much destruction, division, and strife. yet rising from the rubble like the phoenix from its ashes, berlin is reborn--a youthful, dynamic, exhilarating city. berlin never stands still: new buildings, new art, new fashion, new restaurants are always on the rise. berlin's lure comes not only from its world-class cultural sites, but also from its energy. the excitement is palpable. berliners have always fancied themselves smart, spirited, and iconoclastic. the city is diverse, with a huge foreign population and the largest gay and lesbian community in europe. with a long, troubled history behind them, berliners are thoroughly modern. berlin isn't a city you can stroll through. you have to pick your places, dig a little deeper. edgy, eclectic berlin wins you over slowly. its beauty lies within-- down back alleys, inside the vast museums, in the warmth of its people, and along the streets of its friendly, easy neighborhoods. berlin is a large ci

hi, i'm rudy maxa. what could be more enticing than whiling away the day on a sun-drenched beach surrounded by sapphire waters? or sipping a glass of retsina in front of a glorious sunset? stay with us because we're headed to the greek islands, next smart travels. smart travels is made possible in part by expedia.com, a travel web site that offers travelers a variety of ways to find the trip they're looking for, including flights, hotels, and vacation packages. captioning made possible by u.s. department of education smart travels is a grand tour of the old world: the people, places, sites, and distinctly european flavors. our host is travel writer and columnist rudy maxa, public radio's original savvy traveler. now tips, trips, and secret places on smart travels. maxa: everything in the greek islands sings of the sea. from wind-buffed fishermen pulling in a day's catch, to cubic whitewashed villages capped by domes of bright blue; from laundry flapping in a salty breeze, to rows of octopus drying in th