India. In the floating Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur like a maharaja

In Udaipur in Rajasthan, the figure of Maharaja Karan Singh, who had an absolute predilection for architecture and the female gender, has remained legendary. He was willing to spend wildly in order to live in fairy-tale palaces from A Thousand and One Nights and make the most graceful concubines happy. His successor Jagat Singh also had the same obsessions, as evidenced by the construction he ordered of the Summer Palace, now called the Taj Lake Palace framed by the hills around Udaipur: when you arrive on board a boat slowly plying the waters of Lake Pichola, it really does look like a mirage. One is immediately greeted by a shower of petals being dropped on one's head, while the concierge rushes in with a draped umbrella to shelter one from the sun's rays, which are strong from early morning. The dreamy days always begin with the sound of a flute and the song of the colourful birds that inhabit the floating garden, while at sunset on the coloured sofas an astrologer predicts the future and the dancers mimic movements reminiscent of the waves of the lake and the unpredictable movements of snakes. Built between 1743 and 1746, it consists of a snow-white courtyard and offers the pleasure of admiring the ancient market houses called haveli reflected in the surrounding water. Early the next morning, you can ascend the hill where the City Palace stands, emblematic of the Rajasthan and Mughal artistic styles, and then discover the Shri Eklingji Temple: Eklingji is one of the names by which Shiva is worshipped. It is built on two floors, with a colossal pyramidal roof and a finely carved tower, while the temple's outer walls are hemmed in by stairways that descend directly into the water. Inside, where one is greeted by a silver Nandi, the guardian deity of Mount Kailash, one is confronted by the four-faced statue of the god Shiva, at the centre in an imposing colonnaded hall.