I’ve only said it a two or three times as such: “the South of France”. It sounds a little haute-brow for me. Before heading to the southern bits of France though, we began in Paris, where we met Megan at the lovely Charles de Gaulle airport. For the complete picture album, click here!
It was a long day but we arrived on the streets of Paris around 6pm and checked into the Westin Paris Vendome hotel. After realizing that it was a host hotel for Paris Fashion Week and feeling perpetually underdressed and underfunded, we set out for dinner and an evening visit to the Eiffel Tower. Tuesday found us much refreshed and ready to take on the streets of Paris – by bike. We “cycled” around the smaller streets and neighborhoods with the Bike About Paris company which I highly recommend.
After a quick lunch in the Latin Quarter, we toured the stately, Gothic Notre Dame de Paris and the stained-glass artistry of Sainte-Chapelle before heading back to Fashion Week Headquarters for some rest. We spent the evening in Montmartre with the majesty of Sacre Coeur and the charming surrounding neighborhoods.
Breakfast at Angelina’s (not to be missed!) the next morning was followed by a walk along the Champs Elysees to the l’Arc de Triomphe. Wikipedia’s article on the history was concise and interesting.
Finding ourselves only nominally fatigued, we ventured on to the Musee du Louvre. One cannot help be amazed, every single time, by the vast stretch of this former palace.
We closed out the Paris portion of our trip with a most memorable dinner at Le Tete Allieur in the Marais district. Traveling with Megan was super great and we are so happy it worked out. And lastly, an honorary trip to the Palais Royale across from the Louvre to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary! This Palais is nothing like the venue for our fabulous reception – nor could this Notre Dame ever compare to our Notre Dame!
The next day we were off to that part of France that is more southern than the rest. Allow me to set the scene a bit for context:
After relearning how to drive a manual transmission, we arrived at our Chambres de Hotes on the sea. The view below is from our room and next to it is the patio area. It was called Villa Fabregas and run by Michel and Laurence. They were wonderful!
Our first day trip was to Aix-en-Provence and included our first experience with tollways and our first experience with “no anglais” at a restaurant.
It is a beautiful town and one of our favorites from the trip. Before heading back to La Seyne-sur-mer to our B&B, we stopped at a medieval hilltop town called Castellet for a look around and dinner. We found a beautiful sunset and fresh Mediterranean seafood dishes. Very fresh.
The next day we hiked to a beautiful point high above the sea to a church called Notre Dame de Mai. The views of the Mediterranean and the surrounding countryside were exquisite (see Picasa album for more). From there we journeyed west toward Cassis, then back to enjoy our last evening with Michel’s wonderful cooking. We had a Provençal traditional dish and great wine. The next morning we returned the car in Toulon and took a quick train ride to Marseille for an unexpected last day. In addition to the second largest city in France with some magnificent churches and history, we got to experience the “Mistral” which is an intense wind blowing through the south side of France.
So strong was the wind that, after our nauseating (and really quite frightening) boat ride out to Ile de Frioul, the boat company decided to halt all remaining trips back to Marseille until the evening. So while it was neat to see Chateau d’If of “Count of Monte Cristo” fame and explore a near-deserted island, it was 6 hours that we had hoped to be spending in Marseille.
As we passed through the historic Vieux Port going back into Marseille, we had time for one last meal: moules frites – and they were perfect!! We began the long journey home through Munich and Dusseldorf en route to Chicago. Business class never disappoints though!
All pictures were taken with the somewhat-new Canon S95. As they are coming out with the S100 soon, I’ve taken it back but all in all, I was really impressed with the quality of this camera. I can’t wait until Best Buy gets the S100 later this month! Anyway, next up, Emerald Ball…. au revoir!
1 comment:
I'm surprised you didn't run into my parents - they were in France at the same time you were! My mom was quite in awe of the Fashion Week scene and they also went to the "southern bits of France"! Unfortunately, they lost their camera! Looks like a great trip!
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