Continuation from last blog in Venice: Before boarding the train to France, we decided to cool off in an Irish Pub in Venice. It was great. Good beer. Fun decor. Chill vibes. 10/10 recommend Devil's Forest Pub (except on Sundays, it's closed).
NICE 6/12-6/13
We made our way from Venice to France (yay new country). Our French journey begins in Nice. We got off the train and headed right to the beach with all of our things. We sat for a few hours overlooking the water reading and chatting before we could drop off our bags at the Airbnb. Within an hour of being in Nice, we both knew we really liked the city. We had debated getting off at Monaco (if someone can tell us when to call it Monaco and when to call it Monte Carlo, that would be superb), but figured the casinos wouldn't allow us in with backpacks and teva's...next time we'll make sure to pack our ball gowns!
Anyway, in Nice, with a lighter load after dropping off our things, we headed off to see the old part (the most picturesque part of the city). As we searched for a restaurant for lunch, we came across the only Mexican restaurant we have seen for days! In an instant, the decision was made! We enjoyed our food with a margarita. Yum! Craving satisfied, woo. After eating, we wandered more streets and walked back to our Airbnb along the beach promenade.
We planned on changing to head back out to explore... but we ended up napping for a few hours. Oops. Getting up, we found some happy hour places to visit in the Old Town. More Irish Pubs, they are definitely the place to go to. First stop was Wayne's which had a good happy hour deal and apparently gets wild at night with people dancing on tables (@mom and dad we were not those people FYI). Second, we went to Ma Nolan's for happy hour and nachos (they were eh). At Ma Nolan's we were seated next to a couple from the UK (Hi Jean and Pete if you are reading!). We spent a few hours here and enjoyed talking with them. It's been great meeting other travelers throughout this trip. To continue our non-stop eating, we went to a creperie for some dessert. To end the night, we walked along the beach promenade to a lookout spot where there was a giant #ILoveNice sign. We got a photo and sat down to enjoy the lights of the city and the sound of the waves hitting the rocks below.
The next morning, we decided to spend more time in Nice to walk to the top of the hill for a view of the city. It was a really nice way to spend the morning- walking around in the park and once more throughout the city we wished we had more time in. We could not take the noon train as planned due to the train strike, so we grabbed our things and headed back to our spot on the benches overlooking the ocean waiting for a later train. We have to note that the regional train we got on was definitely the grossest train so far. The seats were dirty and there was graffiti everywhere, ew.
MARSEILLE 6/13-6/14
We hopped off the train at Marseille St Charles...did everyone know that Marseille is the 2nd largest city in France (citation not needed)?! Well we sure didn’t! #IgnorantAmericans oops! We arrived at a super nice train station and thought hmm this is a lot larger than Nice. Then once we exited, we saw busy streets with people everywhere. We were expecting another small beach town of southern France but no, no, no, Marseille is huge!
Anyway, we made it to our Airbnb but it was too late to make it to the Norte Dame Basilica on the top of the hill (which we were able to see from the train station, it looks like a castle!). Instead we had looked up the main area to hang out in and headed to the Old Port. We stopped to get drinks before dinner at a place right on the port. It was beautiful sitting by the sail boats looking up at the top of the hill where the Notre Dame stands with a giant golden statue on top. Our next move was for dinner. It was almost 9 and it looked like we missed the dinner crowd! We're still unsure of this. But thrown off, we found a hamburger place to eat at before we headed to some bars on the other side of the Old Port (yes we know, we have had so much French food). Once again, IRISH PUBS! We hit up a few until we learned that the going out scene was at clubs and did not start until 2am!! So we scratched that from our plan for the night, and went to bed.
The next morning we woke up to do another morning walk to see the sights like we did in Nice. Yet this time our walk was completely through the city and we wondered how we didn’t know that Marseille was so big. It is also very hilly. We made our way up the hill to see the church (which had so much sailing paintings inside...odd, we still need to look this up) and a panoramic view of all of Marseille. From the top we could see the prison island like Alcatraz in the close distance. On our walk back, Emily got a coffee which is what the French call an espresso, so future travelers should note that.
AIX EN PROVENCE 6/14
Once we felt like we had seen all we had time for in Marseille, we walked back to the Airbnb to get ready to train to Aix en Provence. We decided to take the fast TGV train which was only 10 min instead of taking the 48 min train. Boy was that a mistake. The train pulls up to the stop in the Aix En Provence and Emily looks out the window questioning where we were to Grace. Apparently, TGV trains stop 11 miles away from the town so we had to bus from the station. The whole effort ended up taking the same amount of time as the “slow” train which stopped right in the town. Now we know.
Once the bus dropped us off, we made our way to the center of the town in search of lunch. We found a great place called Pietro & Co. We would like to let everyone know that we are back in the land of free water!! Love life. And also watering holes. Happy with our meal (salad, cheese, and charcuterie), we decided to do something historical and culturally-relevant. We went to see what we thought was a Cezanne Museum (Cezanne lived in Aix en Provence). We walked up the hill in the hot sun to see it. After taking a few water breaks (@outdoor ed) we finally made it. It turns out that it is just his small house, mainly one room, his untouched studio, and the garden around the house. For €3.50 each at a reduced price, is it worth it?... we will leave that up to you. We wished we could have at least seen some of his artwork. Oh well. We made our way back down the hill and wandered the streets filled with shops before tiring out on a shaded bench with some blueberries and raspberries.
We decided we could not wander anymore, even though this town is very cute and nice, and thought to head back to Marseille. We then saw movie theaters on the map and we thought we’d give that a try first. Luckily, the theaters have movies in English (the newer movies), yet we just missed some of the show times at two different theaters. We can’t wait to see Ocean’s 8! (No spoilers! Do they complete the heist? Do they get caught?) Having missed the next train out, we got gelato (gelato count: unsure) and headed to a park (Parq Jourdan) near the train station. We chilled in the grass until it was time to head back to Marseille. Also to note, Aix en Provence is a college town.
At night, we got dinner at what we think was a French restaurant, Le Corto. We got gnocchi (what else is new), risotto, and raw salmon. Once again we got free water AND free bread. Amazing. Also, everyone has been so nice to us. We're really enjoying France. After dinner, we decided to go out because we haven’t been doing that much and you’re only young once! As we stated earlier, though, the clubs don’t start until 2 am. Because we had to leave our apartment the next morning at 6:30 am to make a train, we decided to nap before going out. We slept from 9 pm to 1 am and it was ROUGH. Waking up at 1 am to go to a club sounds as great as it feels... anyway we get up and head to the Port. We had looked at places previously and decided to go to Trolleybus. It’s a happening club that has 3 different rooms with different music playing so we thought that would be best to find the American music we like. We showed up at 2:15 am (high school Grace could’ve never done this tbt) and picked a room. It was actually really fun!! We ended up staying out until 5 am... got back to our apartment at 5:45 am... slept until 6:15 am... and got on a train to Avignon. Worth it? Honestly, yes :)
AVIGNON 6/15
We took a way too early train to Avignon for our food and wine tour. On these tours we wouldn’t see any of the cultural sites of Avignon, so if you ask us if we saw the famous bridge or the Pope's Palace...NOPE we didn't (well kinda from the car and from the outside). But the food tour was perfect because we really got to see the local flavor and finally get French food. We had a group of 11 led by Aurelie. She started the morning by providing us with yummy buttered croissants. Unfortunately, the pigeons swarmed us; these rats from the sky have gotta go. Next was a chocolate store - Aline Gehant Chocolatier. Yes we had chocolate in the morning, but a sweet morning is the French way! We tried lavender and thyme ganache. Interesting to try but meh. Then was a much needed coffee at Cafes au Bresil on Rue Des Fourbisseurs (fun fact: it means sword polisher street). With our espresso (remember coffee means espresso in France?), we got boat-shaped biscuits. Grace tried the espresso but did not enjoy it in the slightest, but apparently this place is the best coffee roaster in France (citation not needed).
Next, in a plaza, our guide gave us a la papaline - alcohol inside of chocolate. A tour member called it the “French Jell-O shot.” The liquor inside is made of 60 different plants. You put the whole thing in your mouth and bite and then the alcohol is released. We all did it on the count of 3 and immediately Emily ran to spit it out (Grace: embarrassing!!!) but Grace actually enjoyed it. You can only find this treat in Avignon. Next was the oldest bakery in Avignon (1931), Boulangerie Patisserie, owned and run by the ladies of a family, always passed down. It is currently managed by a 76 year old lady who works from 6am to 8pm every day! We were told that it is a very traditional bakery, and we had a Christmas treat which is just sweet bread (like brioche) with a port shot. The bread tasted similar to a donut and the port shot was mostly moscato.
The tour guide said it was now 5 o'clock in Australia, so it was time for a wine tasting at 11 am for us at Liquid. We learned the proper way to taste wine (Pretentious? You decide.). First, you're supposed to look at the wine. We had one that was ruby red, and apparently the color indicates it’s young (2016). We also learned it is from the Southern Rhone Valley from the D'ourea winery. We had to follow the look, smell, swirl, smell, taste steps. For the 1st smell: pepper and blackberry - but we didn’t smell it at all lol. Then you let the wine breathe by swirling the glass. Second smell: Emily got it right with "more sweet." We also learned not to hold the wine by the round part because it heats up the wine. FINALLY taste time. Grace is happy about this red since she is a fan of sweet whites. After wine tasting, we walked around the store and saw something really cool: a brandy with a pear inside that grows in the empty bottle on the tree (we can imagine seeing the pear orchard with all of the bottles on the trees). It's very strong so you can have it on pear sorbet to make it better. The pear will rot so it has to stay covered by refilling. Pretty cool. Afterwards we were led to an indoor market, Les Halles, where our guide selected items for our lunch. It was delicious! We had: olives, cheeses (goat and sheep), salami, mussels with breading, garlic and almond dip (which was amazing), pork, sardine (tuna-like) salad, and bread, of course. For dessert, we had cherries.
Next, the afternoon was spent on a wine tour of the Chateauneuf du Pape region, just outside of Avignon. Our guide Romain was a sommelier. There were luckily just 3 of us, so this was much better than the crowded Tuscany wine tour! Chateau Vaudieu was the first stop. We saw the vines then went inside to see the wine process. It is interesting how rocky the land is, but it’s good for the vines by helping the plants stay warm at night. We also learned that the landscape was created by a glacier a million years ago. Additionally, in this region we can see the huge mountain from the Tour de France in the distance (the big hill climb day @papanewt!!!!!). At this winery, we had two whites and three reds. Although they were expensive, they were not our favorite.
We then traveled to a family-owned winery, Domaine Pierre Usseglio, and tried three reds and one new red out of the barrel that they were creating (which was given to us from a bucket lol). Emily liked these wines better (Grace still hates all reds so her opinion is irrelevant). We learned a lot about the grapes and the wine making process. Afterward, we walked to the Pope's summer palace, which is the namesake for the region. It is just a ruin now, unfortunately, but it has a great view of many of the vineyards in the region. Last stop on the tour was a chocolate shop, Chocolaterie Castelain. While we were at a chocolate shop, the wine tasting didn’t stop here. We paired wine with chocolate and learned how important the food you eat impacts the flavor of the wine (or at least how it should, Grace's palette isn't advanced enough for that yet).
WOW! Exhaustion. Boy have we had a day filled with food and wine! We LOVED the day and the tours. Thanks @Grace's dad for suggesting we see Avignon! And we definitely 10/10 recommend the gourmet food & wine tour (http://www.avignongourmetours.com). We have a minute and a half snap story detailing the whole day (beginning at 1 am) with our commentary. Let us know if you want to see it if you haven't already. We're excited to head to our next country tomorrow: Spain!! We have not one, but TWO, surprise guests joining us for the week. Stay tuned and comment below with guesses!
To Be Continued,
Grace & Emily
NICE 6/12-6/13
We made our way from Venice to France (yay new country). Our French journey begins in Nice. We got off the train and headed right to the beach with all of our things. We sat for a few hours overlooking the water reading and chatting before we could drop off our bags at the Airbnb. Within an hour of being in Nice, we both knew we really liked the city. We had debated getting off at Monaco (if someone can tell us when to call it Monaco and when to call it Monte Carlo, that would be superb), but figured the casinos wouldn't allow us in with backpacks and teva's...next time we'll make sure to pack our ball gowns!
Anyway, in Nice, with a lighter load after dropping off our things, we headed off to see the old part (the most picturesque part of the city). As we searched for a restaurant for lunch, we came across the only Mexican restaurant we have seen for days! In an instant, the decision was made! We enjoyed our food with a margarita. Yum! Craving satisfied, woo. After eating, we wandered more streets and walked back to our Airbnb along the beach promenade.
We planned on changing to head back out to explore... but we ended up napping for a few hours. Oops. Getting up, we found some happy hour places to visit in the Old Town. More Irish Pubs, they are definitely the place to go to. First stop was Wayne's which had a good happy hour deal and apparently gets wild at night with people dancing on tables (@mom and dad we were not those people FYI). Second, we went to Ma Nolan's for happy hour and nachos (they were eh). At Ma Nolan's we were seated next to a couple from the UK (Hi Jean and Pete if you are reading!). We spent a few hours here and enjoyed talking with them. It's been great meeting other travelers throughout this trip. To continue our non-stop eating, we went to a creperie for some dessert. To end the night, we walked along the beach promenade to a lookout spot where there was a giant #ILoveNice sign. We got a photo and sat down to enjoy the lights of the city and the sound of the waves hitting the rocks below.
The next morning, we decided to spend more time in Nice to walk to the top of the hill for a view of the city. It was a really nice way to spend the morning- walking around in the park and once more throughout the city we wished we had more time in. We could not take the noon train as planned due to the train strike, so we grabbed our things and headed back to our spot on the benches overlooking the ocean waiting for a later train. We have to note that the regional train we got on was definitely the grossest train so far. The seats were dirty and there was graffiti everywhere, ew.
MARSEILLE 6/13-6/14
We hopped off the train at Marseille St Charles...did everyone know that Marseille is the 2nd largest city in France (citation not needed)?! Well we sure didn’t! #IgnorantAmericans oops! We arrived at a super nice train station and thought hmm this is a lot larger than Nice. Then once we exited, we saw busy streets with people everywhere. We were expecting another small beach town of southern France but no, no, no, Marseille is huge!
Anyway, we made it to our Airbnb but it was too late to make it to the Norte Dame Basilica on the top of the hill (which we were able to see from the train station, it looks like a castle!). Instead we had looked up the main area to hang out in and headed to the Old Port. We stopped to get drinks before dinner at a place right on the port. It was beautiful sitting by the sail boats looking up at the top of the hill where the Notre Dame stands with a giant golden statue on top. Our next move was for dinner. It was almost 9 and it looked like we missed the dinner crowd! We're still unsure of this. But thrown off, we found a hamburger place to eat at before we headed to some bars on the other side of the Old Port (yes we know, we have had so much French food). Once again, IRISH PUBS! We hit up a few until we learned that the going out scene was at clubs and did not start until 2am!! So we scratched that from our plan for the night, and went to bed.
The next morning we woke up to do another morning walk to see the sights like we did in Nice. Yet this time our walk was completely through the city and we wondered how we didn’t know that Marseille was so big. It is also very hilly. We made our way up the hill to see the church (which had so much sailing paintings inside...odd, we still need to look this up) and a panoramic view of all of Marseille. From the top we could see the prison island like Alcatraz in the close distance. On our walk back, Emily got a coffee which is what the French call an espresso, so future travelers should note that.
AIX EN PROVENCE 6/14
Once we felt like we had seen all we had time for in Marseille, we walked back to the Airbnb to get ready to train to Aix en Provence. We decided to take the fast TGV train which was only 10 min instead of taking the 48 min train. Boy was that a mistake. The train pulls up to the stop in the Aix En Provence and Emily looks out the window questioning where we were to Grace. Apparently, TGV trains stop 11 miles away from the town so we had to bus from the station. The whole effort ended up taking the same amount of time as the “slow” train which stopped right in the town. Now we know.
Once the bus dropped us off, we made our way to the center of the town in search of lunch. We found a great place called Pietro & Co. We would like to let everyone know that we are back in the land of free water!! Love life. And also watering holes. Happy with our meal (salad, cheese, and charcuterie), we decided to do something historical and culturally-relevant. We went to see what we thought was a Cezanne Museum (Cezanne lived in Aix en Provence). We walked up the hill in the hot sun to see it. After taking a few water breaks (@outdoor ed) we finally made it. It turns out that it is just his small house, mainly one room, his untouched studio, and the garden around the house. For €3.50 each at a reduced price, is it worth it?... we will leave that up to you. We wished we could have at least seen some of his artwork. Oh well. We made our way back down the hill and wandered the streets filled with shops before tiring out on a shaded bench with some blueberries and raspberries.
We decided we could not wander anymore, even though this town is very cute and nice, and thought to head back to Marseille. We then saw movie theaters on the map and we thought we’d give that a try first. Luckily, the theaters have movies in English (the newer movies), yet we just missed some of the show times at two different theaters. We can’t wait to see Ocean’s 8! (No spoilers! Do they complete the heist? Do they get caught?) Having missed the next train out, we got gelato (gelato count: unsure) and headed to a park (Parq Jourdan) near the train station. We chilled in the grass until it was time to head back to Marseille. Also to note, Aix en Provence is a college town.
At night, we got dinner at what we think was a French restaurant, Le Corto. We got gnocchi (what else is new), risotto, and raw salmon. Once again we got free water AND free bread. Amazing. Also, everyone has been so nice to us. We're really enjoying France. After dinner, we decided to go out because we haven’t been doing that much and you’re only young once! As we stated earlier, though, the clubs don’t start until 2 am. Because we had to leave our apartment the next morning at 6:30 am to make a train, we decided to nap before going out. We slept from 9 pm to 1 am and it was ROUGH. Waking up at 1 am to go to a club sounds as great as it feels... anyway we get up and head to the Port. We had looked at places previously and decided to go to Trolleybus. It’s a happening club that has 3 different rooms with different music playing so we thought that would be best to find the American music we like. We showed up at 2:15 am (high school Grace could’ve never done this tbt) and picked a room. It was actually really fun!! We ended up staying out until 5 am... got back to our apartment at 5:45 am... slept until 6:15 am... and got on a train to Avignon. Worth it? Honestly, yes :)
AVIGNON 6/15
We took a way too early train to Avignon for our food and wine tour. On these tours we wouldn’t see any of the cultural sites of Avignon, so if you ask us if we saw the famous bridge or the Pope's Palace...NOPE we didn't (well kinda from the car and from the outside). But the food tour was perfect because we really got to see the local flavor and finally get French food. We had a group of 11 led by Aurelie. She started the morning by providing us with yummy buttered croissants. Unfortunately, the pigeons swarmed us; these rats from the sky have gotta go. Next was a chocolate store - Aline Gehant Chocolatier. Yes we had chocolate in the morning, but a sweet morning is the French way! We tried lavender and thyme ganache. Interesting to try but meh. Then was a much needed coffee at Cafes au Bresil on Rue Des Fourbisseurs (fun fact: it means sword polisher street). With our espresso (remember coffee means espresso in France?), we got boat-shaped biscuits. Grace tried the espresso but did not enjoy it in the slightest, but apparently this place is the best coffee roaster in France (citation not needed).
Next, in a plaza, our guide gave us a la papaline - alcohol inside of chocolate. A tour member called it the “French Jell-O shot.” The liquor inside is made of 60 different plants. You put the whole thing in your mouth and bite and then the alcohol is released. We all did it on the count of 3 and immediately Emily ran to spit it out (Grace: embarrassing!!!) but Grace actually enjoyed it. You can only find this treat in Avignon. Next was the oldest bakery in Avignon (1931), Boulangerie Patisserie, owned and run by the ladies of a family, always passed down. It is currently managed by a 76 year old lady who works from 6am to 8pm every day! We were told that it is a very traditional bakery, and we had a Christmas treat which is just sweet bread (like brioche) with a port shot. The bread tasted similar to a donut and the port shot was mostly moscato.
The tour guide said it was now 5 o'clock in Australia, so it was time for a wine tasting at 11 am for us at Liquid. We learned the proper way to taste wine (Pretentious? You decide.). First, you're supposed to look at the wine. We had one that was ruby red, and apparently the color indicates it’s young (2016). We also learned it is from the Southern Rhone Valley from the D'ourea winery. We had to follow the look, smell, swirl, smell, taste steps. For the 1st smell: pepper and blackberry - but we didn’t smell it at all lol. Then you let the wine breathe by swirling the glass. Second smell: Emily got it right with "more sweet." We also learned not to hold the wine by the round part because it heats up the wine. FINALLY taste time. Grace is happy about this red since she is a fan of sweet whites. After wine tasting, we walked around the store and saw something really cool: a brandy with a pear inside that grows in the empty bottle on the tree (we can imagine seeing the pear orchard with all of the bottles on the trees). It's very strong so you can have it on pear sorbet to make it better. The pear will rot so it has to stay covered by refilling. Pretty cool. Afterwards we were led to an indoor market, Les Halles, where our guide selected items for our lunch. It was delicious! We had: olives, cheeses (goat and sheep), salami, mussels with breading, garlic and almond dip (which was amazing), pork, sardine (tuna-like) salad, and bread, of course. For dessert, we had cherries.
Pear in the brandy
Lunch!
Next, the afternoon was spent on a wine tour of the Chateauneuf du Pape region, just outside of Avignon. Our guide Romain was a sommelier. There were luckily just 3 of us, so this was much better than the crowded Tuscany wine tour! Chateau Vaudieu was the first stop. We saw the vines then went inside to see the wine process. It is interesting how rocky the land is, but it’s good for the vines by helping the plants stay warm at night. We also learned that the landscape was created by a glacier a million years ago. Additionally, in this region we can see the huge mountain from the Tour de France in the distance (the big hill climb day @papanewt!!!!!). At this winery, we had two whites and three reds. Although they were expensive, they were not our favorite.
We then traveled to a family-owned winery, Domaine Pierre Usseglio, and tried three reds and one new red out of the barrel that they were creating (which was given to us from a bucket lol). Emily liked these wines better (Grace still hates all reds so her opinion is irrelevant). We learned a lot about the grapes and the wine making process. Afterward, we walked to the Pope's summer palace, which is the namesake for the region. It is just a ruin now, unfortunately, but it has a great view of many of the vineyards in the region. Last stop on the tour was a chocolate shop, Chocolaterie Castelain. While we were at a chocolate shop, the wine tasting didn’t stop here. We paired wine with chocolate and learned how important the food you eat impacts the flavor of the wine (or at least how it should, Grace's palette isn't advanced enough for that yet).
You can see the Tour de France mountain in the background.
Drinking a new wine straight from the barrel!
WOW! Exhaustion. Boy have we had a day filled with food and wine! We LOVED the day and the tours. Thanks @Grace's dad for suggesting we see Avignon! And we definitely 10/10 recommend the gourmet food & wine tour (http://www.avignongourmetours.com). We have a minute and a half snap story detailing the whole day (beginning at 1 am) with our commentary. Let us know if you want to see it if you haven't already. We're excited to head to our next country tomorrow: Spain!! We have not one, but TWO, surprise guests joining us for the week. Stay tuned and comment below with guesses!
To Be Continued,
Grace & Emily
Mont Ventoux!
ReplyDeleteTbt— Ou est la Boulangerie??!
ReplyDeleteBut was this time in France as fun as when I tripped you everywhere we went in Paris??
ReplyDelete