We finally made it to the South of France

On the evening of August 19^th, I headed to Newark Airport to begin my first ever 8 full day vacation in France. Please note the emphasis on VACATION… not WORK. I arrive, red-eyed, to Paris on Friday afternoon. Aunt Sue and I had a lovely lunch overlooking the Bastille; then walked over to the Paris Plage for its final hours of summer 2010.

That evening, I met Clare and Gareth back at the airport, where we picked up our rental car and began our journey to the South of France.

Stop #1: Chateroux / Vineuil for Kate & Ben’s wedding:

We arrive at Chateroux nearing 1 in the morning and we’re lucky to get a room – the front desk was closed, but the hoteliers happen to be up having a drink with some of the wedding guests. The morning after arriving to the “one horse town” (these are Mike McGeeney’s words…) that is Chateroux, we decided to take a tour of the downtown area. Several glasses of beer and wine later, we quickly prepare ourselves for the wedding.

We take a taxi about 20 minutes away to the small town of Vineuil and pack into a pretty, old stone church to watch the ceremony. Despite the small hiccup of no shuttle buses to the reception, we all manage to make to back to Benoit’s family home, in the middle of the only forest in Vineuil (seriously, I wish I had a picture). We had a lovely meal, with several great speeches made by various friends and family members.

After a bit of dancing, we retired from the evening by hitch-hiking back into town (ok, they were wedding guests, but still…). Fortunately, there was a brunch the next day so we got to spend a few extra minutes chatting with Kate and Ben. It was a wonderful wedding!!

Stop #2: Montpellier:

From brunch, Clare and I began our journey south. We took a small stop for Clare to re-teach me how to drive a manual car… she was a great teacher and I did ok for about an hour. The end came when I tried to maneuver through a rest stop with too many people and stalled about 4 times before we pulled a Chinese fire drill and switched seats – for the rest of the trip! Once safely parking at this rest stop, I come to realize that the French just seem to make everything prettier… even their rest stops. One of the rest stops had a hill that you could walk up to see the long spanning bridge and the valley below.

About 4-5 hours later, we arrive in Montpellier in the dark. Not only is there road work almost everywhere, but we managed to drive our way down the tram’s path… though we can’t be sure if it was legal! We finally find the hotel (of course it’s on the street with the tram line) and parking to go with it. We sit down to a late night dinner in the Place de la Comedie [insert pics]

We took the next morning to explore Montpellier: [insert pics]

Stop #3: Avignon:

Before long, we got back in the car to head for Avignon. Driving into Avignon feels a bit like what it must have been like centuries ago when visitors had to enter through specific points in the town walls:

[insert pic]

We walked around Place de l’horloge (Place of the Clock tower) and found our hotel. What we couldn’t easily find was the clock tower… apparently it rests high above the Hotel de Ville, but it’s centered and very difficult to see from the ground. Thankfully we had a nice view from our hotel room! The next morning, we visited the Palais de Pape – the Pope’s former residence in the 1700s (check date). Clare was nervous that we would be underdressed in our sleeveless dresses, so she asked the hotel receptionist who promptly replied, “well, the Pope isn’t actually there…” HA! After touring there, we left the city wall to check out Pont St Benezet, which was the original bridge into town. It has an interesting history [look it up on Wikipedia]. [insert pics]

Stop #4: Aix-en-Provence & St. Maximin au Sainte Baume:

After retrieving our little Ford Fiesta, we left Avignon and headed to Aix-en-Provence. We knew that we wouldn’t have much time there, but figured a quick walk through town would be enough. We had a great dinner of Fois Gras, Risotto St. Jacques (scallops) and pasta at La Rotunde.

After dinner, we went to our hotel, which was in the small town of St Maximin au Sainte-Baume. Though it was marked on Hotels.com as a “boutique” hotel, it was actually a lot more than that – it used to be a convent! As we drove the autoroute, we could see the Convent lit up against the evening sky (sadly I couldn’t get a picture from the highway with my little point-and-shoot). We spent the rest of the evening sneaking in and around the hotel and checking out the cloisters. The next morning we walked around the outdoor market that was just outside the hotel and bought some souvenirs.

Stop #5: Cassis:

From St. Maximin, we headed south to what would become my favorite part of the trip – Cassis. Cassis is a beautiful port town that has been visited by sailors from many lands for hundreds of years. The first hotel we stayed in was a little further up the mountain, about a 15 minute walk from the main town center. We took a walk, ate some crepes, drank some vin de Cassis and went to the beach. The terrain of the beach at Cassis if very rocky, but it doesn’t stop the French vacationers from setting down their towels and umbrellas… aaaand the French women from taking off their bathing suit tops. While that might sound amazing to all of the boys who read this, please keep in mind that women your grandmother’s age also like to frequent this beach, wearing only their bikini bottoms (and to be more clear, 70 YEAR OLD BOOBS!). After a great dinner at the port of Dorade, Pasta St Jacques, and lavender-infused crème brulee, we headed back to the hotel.

The next morning, we decided to get started early with a breakfast at the port before jumping on a boat to the Calanques. Calanques are the small inlets where vessels have been taking cover along the southern coast of France since the B.C. years. The Calanques are the most beautiful, natural, and untouched sights I have seen in my life so far. The cliffs of white rock are still in their original, mother nature-made forms since you can only travel to them by boat and by foot. We also learned from the guide that similar stone from Cassis was used as the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty! See for yourself how pretty it is:

We spent the rest of our time lounging by the hotel pool before we had to depart for our final stop, Marseilles.

Stop #6: Marseilles:

We arrived in Marseilles in early afternoon. After finding our hotel, we headed for the Vieux Port (old port). Marseilles was the largest city we visited on our tour, and unfortunately my least favorite. I knew that staying near the main train station would offer little in the way of fun

Lauren 3.0? Back to Europe

This is my 3rd trip back to Europe after moving back to the States in August of '09. I don't regret my decision to move back, but it's still nice to get to know new places. My last trip to Europe focused on business in the UK and a short jaunt in Paris over the weekend. I got to visit my friends and stuff myself with wine, bread and cheese.

This time, work brought me to Stockholm. The Swedes are an extremely friendly people and are very willing to speak in English to foreigners (as I understand, business is done in English as well). Stockholm rests on an archipelago, and is known as the "Venice of the north." Stockholm is on the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska, so in the winter days are short and extremely cold. Now that it's March, the days are about the same length as they are in New York (minus 30 minutes) and it's not painfully cold.

I had 1.5 days of the weekend to go sight-seeing. So on Saturday morning, I made my way out. In typical form, I walked the wrong way towards the t-bana (subway), but as luck would have it, I walked on water... really. Lake Mälaren is frozen nearly all of the way across. On nice days, you can find people seated out there, cross country skiing and walking their dogs and children.



Once I finally found public transportation, I took it to the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a warship built in the early 1600s. The king at the time was fighting in Poland against his cousin, the Polish king. He commissioned 4 ships to be built as soon as possible, so the Stockholm shipyard got started. The Vasa was built in about 2 years - and it took about 30 minutes to sink it. On it's maiden voyage, a slight wind kicked up and easily pushed the boat over and water came in through the gun doors. Approximately 30-50 people died; all were crew members since the 100+ soldiers hadn't yet boarded. Though no one was every punished for the complete failure of this ship, there were 3 that were at fault: 1) the king for pushing to get it built too quickly 2) the builder for a poor design (he died before the ship was completed) 3) the admiral who knew of the ship's faults, but did nothing.

Fast forward 300+ years and Anders Franzen got the king interested in finding and raising the Vasa from the Baltic Sea. He would find the ship in perfect condition since the cold, brackish water did not produce the wood worms that usually attack shipwrecks. It took 30 years to raise and preserve the ship, which is now displayed on the island of Djurgarden.

After visiting the Vasa, I strolled around the shopping districts in Norrmalm. Though it was cold walking, the March sun was very warming. The next stop was Gamla Stan, the old city. Here you will find the Royal Palace and the winding streets where Stockholm began. As I crossed the bridge, there were fisherman in the river fishing - between the fast current and the cold water, I thought they were crazy!


As the sun started to set, I decided I wanted to get some pictures of the sunset. I walked toward City Hall, then continued walking the rest of the way back to the hotel.









On Sunday, I wanted to stay close to the hotel since I had to leave early in the afternoon. I visited the Langholmen prison which has been closed for the past 50 years, but is open as a museum and a youth hostel for tourists. I also walked past the Högalidskyrkan Cathedral, which was built in the early 1900s and to rival the City Hall architecture. The bridge that I walked over offered a great vantage point for taking photos:









I think I saw most of the sights that can be seen in the winter. I believe that summer is the time when Stockholm really shines. The island where the Vasa museum is and where the prison is are both well known for their gardens. I can't wait to go back!