The Star Legend, a Windstar cruise ship, docks in Nice, France. Pam LeBlanc photo

Count me out for big ship cruises. Spending time with 3,000 other people on a boat for a week sounds like getting locked in a shopping mall and pushed out to sea. But small boats? I’m a convert. Especially if you travel during the off season, like I did, when I booked a week-long Mediterranean cruise with Windstar.

Our ship, the 300-passenger Star Legend, was about half full. We departed from Civitavecchia, on the outskirts of Rome, and sailed to Barcelona, making stops in Livorno, Italy; Nice, France; and Marseille, France.

A crowd forms around Michelangelo’s sculpture David in Florence. Pam LeBlanc photo

Here are my 10 favorite moments…

1. Seeing Michelangelo’s sculpture, David. I had no idea that walking around a corner and seeing that 17-foot sculpted body would affect me the way it did. He’s beautiful. Florence is just an hour’s drive from Livorno, Italy, so we booked an “on your own” excursion to the art-filled city on a bus with other ship passengers. (You can save money by hopping a train on your own.) We didn’t have reservations but had no trouble getting a ticket to the Accademia Gallery, where the statue is located, the same day. (Don’t try this in the summer; book online in advance.)

Pam LeBlanc sits on the promenade in Nice. Chris LeBlanc photo

2. Strolling the promenade in Nice, France. This wide pedestrian walkway hugs the stone-covered beach, and it’s the best place along the Mediterranean to people watch. You’ll see cyclists, strollers, lovers, runners and more all taking in the ocean views or stopping for a drink at one of the adjacent bars. We took a dip in the ocean, which was chilly in March. And that stony beach is not for people with sensitive toes!

3. Taking in a flamenco show in Barcelona. The historic Palau de la Musica Catalana, with its ornate balconies and elaborate central skylight, makes the perfect setting for a performance of Spain’s traditional, foot stomping dance. It made me want to don a tight, ruffly dress and stamp the night away.

At a market in Barcelona, customers inspect the sea urchin. Pam LeBlanc photo

4. Wandering the market in Barcelona. You can find anything from fresh scorpionfish to empanadas and skewers holding a spiral of fried potatoes at the Mercat de la Boqueria, on Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Gird your loins – it’s crowded, noisy and tons of fun. We sampled raw sea urchin and oysters, sipped wine, and sampled bruschetta and ceviche.

5. Visiting the Picasso Museum in Barcelona. When I think of Picasso, I think of portraits of people with their facial features rearranged. The museum has some of that, but it’s heavy on Picasso’s early stuff, which is much more realistic. In all, it holds more than 4,000 works, and it’s all displayed in a series of interconnected historic buildings.

Chris LeBlanc strolls the narrow streets of Nice, France. Pam LeBlanc photo

6. Roaming the narrow streets of Nice. Get out and ramble, without a plan or agenda. You’ll stumble into the most wonderful places.

7. Sampling the gelato. I aimed for two servings a day, and sampled an array of flavors, from Fior di crema (sweet cream) to coconut. Yum.

Vendors sell flowers at the market in Nice. Pam LeBlanc phot

8. Learning about cave paintings at the Cosquer Cave museum in Marseille. In 1985, a diver discovered paintings in a partially submerged cave 120 feet underneath the surface of the ocean. Tourists can’t get to that site, which is slowly filling with more water, but they can ride a cart through a replica of the cave at Cosquer Mediterranee, which opened in 2022. Most surprising? The cave paintings include depictions of penguins.

9. Climbing Castle Hill in Nice. After chugging up a few hundred steps, you can take in views of the beachfront promenade far below, the harbor, and a sea of red tiled rooftops. You’ll also find the ruins of an ancient castle and a man-made waterfall.

Chris LeBlanc enjoys a dip in the hot tub during a Windstar cruise in the Mediterranean. Pam LeBlanc photo

10. Soaking in the hot tub on the bow of the Star Legend, our cruise ship, while we were docked in the harbor at Nice. Nobody else seemed to know about the tub, which we had to ourselves as we sipped adult beverages and watched passing sailboats.

The Banff Film Festival World Tour comes to Austin April 27-28, 2024.

Heads up, outdoor people. The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour returns to Austin April 27-28.

The two-day festival features a selection of short films about people adventuring in the great outdoors. Mountain biking, snow skiing, rock climbing or paddling your thing? Check it out.

Austin historically draws some of the largest audiences for the traveling show, and it’s also a great place to mingle with people who’d rather head outside than zone out on a couch at home.

I never miss it.

Read more: The best things to do in Banff in winter

This year marks the 17^th year that Whole Earth Provision Company has hosted the tour at the Paramount Theatre on Congress Avenue. It’s also the 12^th year that Texas State Parks will benefit from the fund-raiser.

Each night showcases a different collection of films, selected from those shown at the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival in Canada.

Whole Earth combines proceeds from the World Tour shows with the funds raised during its “April Is Texas State Park Month” store event, when customers can make donations. The total of funds raised by the two events has now topped $294,000.

Buy Banff Film Festival tickets online

Tickets are $28.69 per night – plus a $9.31 service fee that brings the cost of a single ticket to $38 – and available online at the Paramount Theatre website.

Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival is held each year in Banff, Canada, where I just spent a week. Mount Rundle, the famous slanted peak shown as the festival opens, looks even more impressive in real life. (It also reminds of a humongous lump of clay that’s been smashed with a frying pan.)

From the more than 400 festival entries, award-winning films and audience favorites are chosen for inclusion in the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. The tour travels to more than 500 communities and 40 countries during the year.

Doors open 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.

See you there!

Skiers hit the slopes at Telluride Ski Resort in March 2024. Pam LeBlanc photo

Telluride always tops my list of the best ski towns in Colorado, and it’s hard to whittle the reasons why down to a short list.

Still, I’ll give it a try. I’ve skied there, ridden a fat tire bike through the snow, gone snow mobiling and dog sledding, ridden a sleigh to dinner and climbed a frozen waterfall.

Still, it comes down to the basics. Without further ado, here are the 10 best things about Telluride in winter. (I’ve got a whole other list for summer…)

1. The ski mountain. Telluride Ski Resort spans more than 2,000 acres, with 19 lifts whisking skiers up those scenic peaks. The longest run stretches 4.6 miles, and from See Forever Run you can, well, see forever.
2. The gondola. Visitors can stay in the old mining town of Telluride, on the valley floor, or book a room in Mountain Village. (I stayed at The Peaks Resort & Spa.) Either way, it’s a free 12-minute gondola ride from one place to the other, and the night view of town lights sparkling far below alone is worth the trip.
3. The New Sheridan Historic Bar. This popular nightspot hasn’t changed much since it opened in 1895 – and it offers $5 Jack Daniel’s every night. (That’s a bargain in Telluride, where a cocktail will set you back at least $15 at most bars.)
4. The Free Box. Lose a mitten? Need a warm hat? Check the Free Box on North Pine, just off Colorado Avenue. Locals and visitors alike head there to donate or pick up gently used pieces of clothing and housewares.
5. The view from Colorado Avenue. Telluride is situated at the end of a box canyon, and the view is magnificent – a street lined with colorful houses and shops, surrounded by mountains.
6. The sports. Scale a frozen waterfall with San Juan Adventures. I did it a few years ago and won’t forget the feeling of getting to the top and peering down at the guide far below.
7. The penny bear. A 15-foot sculpture of a bear called Ursa Ravus stands across the street from Town Park near the end of Colorado Avenue. It’s made of 187,000 pennies embedded in concrete, and worth a visit.
8. Telluride Distilling Company. Grab an old fashioned(or a bottle of bourbon) at the Telluride Distilling Company’s tasting room in Mountain Village. They also make a fine peppermint schnapps called Chairlift Warmer.
9. The snowmobiling. Telluride Outfitters offers guided snowmobile trips to the ghost town of Alta. During the heyday of the Alta-Gold King mine, a couple hundred miners lived there in the late 1800s.
10. Telluride Tom. Tom Watkinson is Telluride’s best ambassador. Watch a 23-minute film about him, just released this month, on Ascend here.

Liam Tarpley looks at the annular eclipse in October 2023 through a pair of special safety glasses. A speaker will talk about the upcoming April eclipse at Barton Springs Pool on March 25. Pam LeBlanc photo

Want to learn more about the April 8 eclipse before the big day? Head to Barton Springs for the Full Moon Swim on March 25.

Dawn Davies, the Night Sky Program Manager for the Hill Country Alliance and a former board member of the Austin Astronomical Society, will share information about the upcoming celestial event, when parts of Central Texas will fall into the path of totality.

Hands-on, family friendly activities are planned for 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the pool, followed by the eclipse presentation and a Q&A from 7:30 to 8 p.m. Visitors can look at the night sky through a telescope – or bring their own binoculars and telescopes – following the presentation. Astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts will be on hand to help and free eclipse glasses will be distributed.

Read more: Want a day pass to see the eclipse at a Texas state park?

If you’ve never attended a Full Moon Swim at Barton Springs Pool, prepare for lots of howling when the moon makes an appearance. It’s a classic Austin experience.

Learn more about the eclipse at Total Eclipse 2024. Learn more about How To View the Total Eclipse Safely.

Leilani Perry looks at Enchanted Rock during a backpacking trip to the state natural area. Pam LeBlanc photo

If you’re hoping to see the eclipse at a Texas state park located within the path of totality, it’s time to warm up your computer fingers.

Reservations to get day passes for April 8  will open at 8 a.m. Friday, March 8.

To book a pass, call the Texas State Parks Reservations Center at 512-389-8900 or go online for all parks except Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. Reservations for Enchanted Rock must be made March 11 – by phone only.

State parks officials will field reservations on a first-come, first-served basis, and the limited number of day passes will go quickly.

Read more: Reservation system guarantees you’ll get into busy parks before you make the drive

And help out the folks manning the phone banks. Have your license plate number, vehicle make and model, and number of occupants broken down by adults and children under 12 years of age ready. Reservations must be confirmed with a credit card. Agents will be available to take reservations in Spanish.

Thirty-one state parks are located within the path of totality, and a partial eclipse will be visible in other parks. Parks in the line of totality are expected to reach capacity, and visitors shouldn’t go to a park unless they have a pre-purchased day pass or overnight reservation.

For more information about the eclipse, go to TPWD’s eclipse viewing website and the eclipse viewing FAQ website.

Mount Rundle looks like it’s been hit with a frying pan. Pam LeBlanc photo

​Mount Rundle in Banff National Park looks like a giant slab of clay that got whacked with a frying pan, and every time I see it I get shivers.

Thanks to the traveling version of the Banff Film Festival, which comes to the Paramount Theatre in Austin every spring (get your tickets now!), I get to see video of it on a regular basis. But there’s nothing like seeing it in person.

I just wrapped up my fourth trip to Banff, Alberta, which is located inside Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies. Ten of my favorite things about this year’s trip?

You have to hike or ski to get to Skoki Lodge. Chris LeBlanc photo

1. The highlight, by far? Trekking 7 miles over two mountain passes and across a frozen lake into Banff National Park to stay two nights at historic Skoki Lodge, built in 1931. You can’t take a vehicle there – in the winter you have to either snow shoe or ski in. (During warmer weather you can hike in.) The lodge has no electricity or running water, but it has a wood-burning stove, outhouses (about 40 yards from the main house) and a chef who cooks gourmet meals. It’s the coziest place I’ve ever visited, even when temperatures dipped to minus 15 F.

2. I’m recovering from ACL surgery so I couldn’t downhill ski this trip, but I’ve skied at all three of the Banff area resorts – Lake Louise, with incredible views of surrounding peaks; Sunshine Village, where you ride a gondola 20 minutes just to get to the base (it’s like a secret world!); and Norquay, an old-school resort with fantastic views of downtown Banff.

Megan Harden, a guide with White Mountain Adventures, enjoys a cup of tea during a snow shoeing tour. Pam LeBlanc photo

3. Snow shoeing across the Continental Divide from Sunshine Village Ski Resort to Sunshine Meadows in British Columbia with White Mountain Adventures. If you’re lucky (I was) you’ll be able to see Mount Assiniboine.

4. Learning about how indigenous people use native plants during a medicine walk with a guide from Mahikan Trails Indigenous Experiences in Banff National Park.

Catch this view while riding the gondola up Sulphur Mountain for the Nightfall ezperience. Pam LeBlanc photo

5. Riding a gondola up Sulphur Mountain as the sun sets to experience Nightrise, the after-dark immersive light show developed in partnership with the Stoney Nakoda Nation. The show borders on cheesy (think dramatic music and swirling lights), but I appreciated the nod to those who came before us. And the views of glittering Banff down below are gorgeous.

6. Renting a retro swimsuit and go for a soak at the Upper Hot Springs in Banff. Don’t schedule much time for this, as it can be crowded with tourists, but it’s a nice place for a quick soak.

Mt. Norquay has the longest tube slide in Alberta. Pam LeBlanc photo

7. Riding an inflatable tube down Alberta’s longest tube lanes at Norquay Tube Park at Mt. Norquay. It’s a surprisingly speedy trip!

8. Eating! Order sushi at Hello Sunshine, a bar and restaurant in downtown Banff with its own private karaoke rooms. Contemplate the huge photograph of a park ranger staring down a bear while you sip cocktails and spoon up a bowl of soup and cornbread at Park Distillery. For a less expensive option, eat like the locals at Ramen Arashi Banff, located in a no-frills space upstairs in Sundance Mall. Wrapthings up with a cinnamon-covered, paddle-shaped pastry from BeaverTails.

9. Notice the overpasses and underpasses along the highway through Banff National Park. They’re specially designed wildlife corridors. Parks Canada officials say the six overpasses and 38 underpasses built since the 1980s have reduced wildlife collisions by 80 percent.

10. Stop by the Banff sign. Everyone gets their photo taken at the Banff sign. If you’re into documenting stuff, swing by 101 Mt. Norquay Road, on the edge of town of Banff. Park in the parking lot of the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre across the road and walk over.