Blogs from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France, Europe - page 3

We spent most of our first morning in Saint-Jean unpacking suitcases, and familiarizing ourselves with our new home-away-from-home, which may well be the finest rental apartment we've encountered in our many years of traveling around Europe. Comfortable, nicely furnished and very well-equipped, the apartment's location across the street from the port all contribute to making it the perfect situation for us. Our first order of business today, following a brief visit to the upscale tourist information office by the port, was to buy some provisions at the nearby grocery store, where we quickly discovered that we were now in a different world from Sorrento in southern Italy! The store itself, part of the Casino chain that we've encountered elsewhere in France over the years, stocks a wider variety of merchandise (and is much more spacious) than ... read more

What do you think of when you think of St Tropez? Bardot the French former actress who portrayed sexually emancipated characters with an hedonistic lifestyle? A sex symbol of the 1950's and 1960's. Do you think of a tacky seaside town that has lost its glamour or is the home to some very glitzy superyachts ?. The super rich who overwinter in the warm climate ? Or is it Roger Vadim the man who married Bardot when she was 18? Does St Tropez make you think of a hippy lifestyle ? A busy place making the most of itself or a sad pastiche of a past long gone . In the sunny climate of the Cote D'Azur it is a magnet to be sure . The temperature over the last few days had crept up from ... read more

Day 5 since we left home and this is the first time we had spent three of those days in one place since 2011 or thereabouts. We always were on the move nearly every day. Looking out of the same windows does feel very odd and at times disconcerting . We are more used to moving when the weather is poor and visiting towns or cities before moving on again . We have had wall to wall sunshine since the monsoon like weather of Monday . So much planning too. That is a very different thing this trip. In the past we booked the train. Arrived and stopped overnight somewhere close to the tunnel . The circular route was chosen but capable of some movement if things changed. We never booked a campsite nor an aire ... read more

As I write this entry, it is actually April 29, and we are in Millau (much more on why we are here later) so if I switch tenses, please forgive me. Chateauneuf-du-Pape was the summer residence of the Popes when they were based in Avignon. The papal palace in Avignon is quite spacious and elaborate (we have only seen it from the outside) but those poor popes needed a break from such splendor and headed north about 25 miles to Châteauneuf. It probably wasn’t called that until after the popes started living there. There is not much left of the Chateau, mostly ruins. It sits on top of a hill overlooking the village and is arguably the best wine region in the world. Châteauneuf-du-pape is my favorite wine and the most interesting in style. All French ... read more

Dear All After a really amazing start to my pre-Christmas mini-trip to Monaco and the south of France, I bade farewell to my time in the second smallest country in the world, as I headed towards a bus stop for a bus which would take me back to France. My apartment building was right at the top of the Monaco mountain side, and I was pretty much heading straight down to the central Place d'Armes - there were so many steps down, and I really couldn't imagine doing the route in reverse. My knees were aching not long into this step-filled journey, and this was just going down! I could have taken the train again back to Nice, but had read about this amazing bus connection, which at 1.5 euros was not only a serious bargain, ... read more