France 2011 - After the Fact!

We were remiss in not blogging during our 2011 Summer Trip to France. This entry serves as a summary of those two lovely weeks ...

We arrived in Paris during the Canada Day weekend and caught the train down to Avignon where we settled into a lovely hotel (Le Cloitre St. Louis) that was once a monastery. After an afternoon nap, we decided to wander around Avignon in the evening and stop in somewhere for a glass of wine. We found a lovely little spot and split a bottle of red over dinner. After that we wandered Avignon, stopped in at a Cuban style bar and found some 420 youths hanging out in the street. We finally stumbled back to our hotel some time after midnight, but not before stopping in at the Irish bar near our hotel for one last drink! The next day we began our bike and barge trip through Province / the Camargue.

It was a wonderful trip filled with good rides (flat generally 35 to 45 km a day), good conversations (we bonded with Bill and Sheila, Ozzys who had won the bike trip in a lottery; he was an avid cyclist, she a little less so), many bottles of wine and a wide variety of sights! The first day was a bike trip up to Chateauneuf (several bottles were of course purchased) followed by a several days heading down the Rhone to reach the Camargue. We visited various towns including Arles (famous for Van Gogh and the Roman amphitheatre; and we visited the spot of the famous bridge Van Gogh painted), as well as Vallebregues (Don't Talk About Rabbit Club),

Tarascon (home of the legendary Tarrasque!), Les Baux (which gave its name to Bauxite and where we toured the medieval town donning period armour), Aigues Mortes (where we saw flamingoes while riding and where we witnessed the fabulous Miss Aigue Mortes show!) and St Maries-de-la-Mer (where gypsys have their annual gathering and come from all over Europe).

During the trip we would bike from one spot to the next during the day while the canal boat we were staying on would meet us at our destination. A very convenient way to travel as we stayed in the same room each night but at a different town! The only downside was we were a bit trapped on the boat for (our included in the price) meals; which were average (not what we were looking for in France!) and the hostess really wanted us to buy her booze (at inflated prices) while on the boat (we managed to circumnavigate this by keeping a bottle of wine in our cabin and going down for refills by the glass). We also skipped out on dinner on the boat a couple of times which was well worth it as we had some amazing food (Rabbit Club!). There were a little over a dozen other guests on the boat from the US, Germany and other parts European. We were the youngest guests on the cruise. The group of us would all head out on bikes together in the morning with our German guide. As a column of bicycles moves only as its slowest member, we were often a bit frustrated at the pace so we would take off ahead on our bikes and do little side excursions. Once the group missed this amazing olive oil factory by the side of the road, we went in and tasted a dozen olive oils only leaving when we had loaded up on the wonderful olive oil products sold!

The boat/bike tour finally ended in Aigues Mortes and we boarded a train to take us to Burgundy ... Our stay in Burgundy lasted about three days. We lodged at an old castle that was being refurbished and spent the days touring the local countryside. We visited monasteries, castles, manor houses, an amazing natural spring (where we filled a bottle full of water that we used on the rest of our trip just to wash our hands; it made them feel smooth) and quaint medieval towns. The stay at the castle was good although a bit expensive.

In addition to visiting local restaurants, we had a wonderful meal prepared by the hostess done in a traditional medieval style! We enjoyed Epoisses cheese in the village of Epoisses and on the way to Paris we bought Chablis in Chablis! Our trip ended with a weekend in Paris and the celebration of christos's 40th birthday under the fireworks of Bastille Day! A wonderful trip that included the fulfillment of one of Christos' life goals; his birthday in Paris!