La Belle Provence Europe » France » Provence Alpes Cote d Azur By DorisC June 12th 2007 Doris C I arrived safely in Provence on Monday night and met up with my friends from Roswell, Katheryn and David. They are sharing their cute, little "Oasis" with me. It is in Isle sur la Sorgue, a town I frequented when I lived in Avignon. Kat [View Full Entry]

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I left Tracy in the Nice Airport on Friday morning at 5 am (standing patiently in the Easyjet check in line) and got on a nice KLM flight through Amsterdam to Stockholm. Pam met me outside Customs and we drove about one hour to her beautiful farmhouse in Strangnas. This is the most relaxing, comfortable and charming place... and no, it isn't just because I've been on the road for 2 weeks straight! The weather is unseasonably warm this week and it's actually wamer here than in either Paris or Nice! Pam's Swedish family is so nice. I am staying [View Full Entry]

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Nice is so nice... we say that every time we come here! We stayed the first 2 nights in Villefranche sur Mer at our favorite hotel, Le Versailles. The rooms are nothing special but the views from our balcony, ahhhhh, there are no better on the Cote d'Azur. The first night we tried to find the Indian place in Nice Port for dinner but it has left so we opted for Moroccan again (no such thing as too much couscous) and had an after dinner stroll around the port looking at the HUGE boats. But I guess they were not [View Full Entry]

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We flew into Marseille, picked up our car and drove east to Avignon, where I spent a year in 1986 learning French. It is a lovely, walled city. Tracy and I have visited Avignon 3 times together and each time I drag her around to see my old house, school and haunts... she now feels like SHE lived there too ;-) We had our best dinner of the trip at La Moutardier (P, that is The Mustard Man to you!) where we sat in the shadow of the Palais des Papes as the sun set. It was magnifique! The next [View Full Entry]

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A sunny and warm spring day in Paris, does it get any better? We did the grand promenade from Place de la Concorde through the Jardins des Tuilleries to the Louvre. There were lots of people everywhere and all were enjoying the day! We shopped along the Rue de Rivoli on our way to Notre Dame where we visited the crypt but opted out of the long lines into the church. It was too nice outside!! Next we were off to our favorite cafe (Cafe Kleber) near the Trocadero for lunch - they have the best salads ever and T [View Full Entry]

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Thursday is travel day~ breakfast in Split, lunch in Berlin and dinner in Paris ;-) A fine day indeed! We arrived safely in Paris in early evening to cold and rain but we don't even care, it is still the most exciting, beautiful and mysterious city in the world to me... well, ok - so far. We arrived at Frederique's apartment in the 5th arrondisement and had a great catch up over sushi. Friday does not deserve a blog of it's own - we had a severe case of the "touristly challenged" as Tracy has begun calling it. The day [View Full Entry]

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Just made the 8:30 ferry to Hvar. Explored the town, had lunch, got drenched, dried wet feet in brilliant sunshine, got last 2 seats on bus back to ferry.... quite a day all in all. Had dinner with some new friends (Bostonians John and Brooke) who we initially met 3 days earlier in Dubrovnik. Great stories of world travels and delicious pasta carbonara and octopus salad. Tomorrow it's off to Paris! [View Full Entry]

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After a lovely Monday in Dubrovnik exploring the city, Tuesday we headed to Split via bus. The views were great along the coast but the driving left a bit to be desired. A mere 4 and a half hours later; we arrived in Split and were surprised by it's beauty and hospitality. Peristil Hotel was perfectly situated in Diocletians Palace area with many shops and cafes nearby. Our hotel manager sent us to his favorite local pizza place and we were not disappointed! Early to bed with dreams of tomorrow's ferry ride in our heads... [View Full Entry]

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Ahhhh, Sunday in Dubrovnik... it was bustling with tourists, bright and warm with the sun, fresh with the ocean breeze. We visited 2 churches to watch the services with many locals and foreigners alike. It was the perfect day for strolling, shopping, exploring~ and ended with a 2km walk on top of the city´s walls just before closing at 7pm. The camera battery died half way around but we vow to do it again on Monday. We are enjoying the convenience of our apartment and are able to stop there anytime, to drop packages or have a cool drink. A [View Full Entry]

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We started what turned into our 12-hour tour of the neighboring country of Montenegro on Saturday morning. We had a nice tour guide, Mio, who is from Montenegro and very knowledgable about culture, history, the villages and their people. We toured the walled cities of Budva and Kotor. Driving around the fjord of Kotor was a highlight. The water was so still and deep blue. Had a delicious seafood dinner at a quaint house on a small creek of fresh springs (a favorite of Mio's) near the village of Perast. We stopped by Villa Argentina on our way back into [View Full Entry]

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