Back from France and we loved it! (Monica)
May 28th, 2002, 11:14 AM
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Back from France and we loved it! (Monica)
Greetings fellow fodorites. Reenie and I had a great time while in France. We flew out the 8th and returned on the 23rd. We were even bumped up to business class coming home. What a treat that was! New (future) goal: travel business class! <BR><BR>I will be updating my web site soon (http://www.luvtotravel.homestead.com/home.html) but thought I’d provide some information here.<BR><BR>We spent our first 3 nights in Paris at Grand Hotel des Balcons, my 4th visit there. I will say again that I enjoyed my stay there. We were in room #401, which is a corner room with a twin bed and full size bed, small balcony, t.v; large bathroom with tub (no curtain), small window. Friendly staff and excellent location. <BR><BR>We used the 3-day museum pass those first days in Paris, including a visit to Versailles on Thursday. We were in luck as the fountains were turned on a short while before we were ready to head back to Paris. Lovely sight to see, especially with the classical music playing. <BR><BR>We met with Tammy and her Mother Alice for dinner at Le Bistrot de Breteuil (yes, we did dine in several restaurants that I enjoyed on previous trips to Paris). We had a lovely evening.<BR><BR>We took the TGV train from Paris to Avignon, picked up our rental car and headed to Saint Remy. We enjoyed the next 7 days in Provence visiting many towns: L'Isle sur la Sorgue, Lacoste, Ménerbes, Bonnieux, Fontaine de Vaucluse, Oppède Le Vieux, Gordes (just for a photo op), Roussillon, Nimes, Pont du Gard, Les Baux, Avignon (spent 3 nights there), Arles, Orange, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The weather was lovely every day except for our last day. We met up with Miriam and Oliver from Frankfurt while in Avignon and had an enjoyable time with them.<BR><BR>While at Residence Les Sources in Saint Remy, we had a great evening event with Philippe (owner of Les Sources), his wife Vivian, Patricia from Maussane, and 3 other couples that were staying at the B&B. We had a great dinner in Rogonas, which is close to Avignon. <BR><BR>Back in Paris (via the TGV) for our last 4 nights, we did a day trip to Rouen and ½ day visit to Chateau Vaux le Vicomte with Paris in between (Eiffel tower, Paris Passages, some shopping along the way). On Tuesday evening, we went to Saint Chapelle for a concert: Les Quatre Saisons de Vivaldi. How wonderful that was listening to Vivaldi music while enjoying the stained glass windows. I even purchased a CD and had my photo taken with the violinist.<BR><BR>That’s it for now. I will have lots more information on my web site but will be happy to answer any questions you may have! <BR><BR>Thank you to those of you who helped me out with this trip, especially with Provence. We certainly had a wonderful time.
May 28th, 2002, 11:55 AM
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Hi Monica. Glad you enjoyed your trip. Could you tell me some highlights of your trip to St. Remy and about some of the vineyards you went to. I would also appreciate hearing (first hand) about any restaurants you especially enjoyed.<BR>Welcome Back home.
May 28th, 2002, 12:10 PM
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Pam, the highlight of Saint Remy was Wednesday's market day. We wish we had spent more than the 1.5 hours there as we were off to Nimes and Pont du Gard. The market was a lot of fun with many, many different things to buy: foods such as foie gras, herbs, spices, fruits, Provencal materials such as place mats, bread baskets, etc; there's a great wine shop in the town's center place that one can bring in empty bottles to have filled. I didn't have one with me, so she sold a liter bottle. I paid 3.45 euros ($3.19) for a liter of Cote du Rhone local wine. Can't beat that! We picked up 2 bottles and enjoyed them for several days. <BR><BR>We didn't stop at any vinyards on this trip. We visited several towns/villages. Just south of town is Glanum, a wonderful sight of Roman ruins. <BR><BR>As for restaurants, I plan to update my web site this weekend to add my restaurant listing.
May 28th, 2002, 02:56 PM
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Monica!! Hey, you are back!!! Details, details on the towns!! what made them special to you? How long was the train ride Paris-Avignon? Car ride Avignon-St. Remy?<BR><BR>I got your e-mail upon return from travel (for work, ughhh!). John is doing somewhat better, nowhere near he was. Thank you for asking. Bu, for now, please, please details!! Are the towns as cute as the town in "Chocolat"?
May 28th, 2002, 05:22 PM
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Hi Monica!<BR><BR>Glad you had fun in France. I remember a post of yours regarding picking up your train tickets. You said you pre-purchased them from the U.S. and said you would be able to pick them up when you arrived in France. How did that work out? Any problems? I plan to pre-purchase mine (overnight train) via the internet 2 months ahead from the U.S. Do you think I'd have any problems or is this okay? Thanks for any info!
May 28th, 2002, 05:39 PM
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Hi Monica...Enjoyed reading about your trip. My husband and I leave for Paris on Thursday, June 6th. Our first 3 nights we are staying at the Grand Hotel des Balcons as well. I am glad to read that this was your 4th time staying there. It sounds like you enjoy staying at this hotel. My concern right now is the weather in France. I have been monitoring the weather on Yahoo and it does not look like terrific weather in France right now. Did the weather bother you at all? I just want our first trip to France to be great and really enjoyable. Any insight you can share would be greatly appreciated.<BR>Thanks for your time to answer.<BR>Phyllis :=)
May 28th, 2002, 05:50 PM
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Hi Monica..I finished my reply to your thread and thought of something else to ask you. I have really bad feet, and wear nothing but open toe sandles. Is this appropriate for Paris? I don't want to bring the wrong shoes for our visit. We will be with a wine tour group, so we will be walking around quite a bit, including visiting some wonderful wine caves. Do you think that this shoe attire is appropriate. My dress sandles are also opened toe. This may sound silly, but I think about these things, I want to fit in, but be comfortable as well. Thanks again..<BR>Phyllis
May 29th, 2002, 04:15 AM
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Hi Maira, I’m glad to hear your husband is doing somewhat better. Did you at least get to travel to a nice place for your job? As for towns (no, I didn’t see Chocolat and will have to rent it), I really liked Lacoste. It was lovely with its narrow streets and there were a few arched doorways or pass-throughs. Gordes was beautiful, but we just stopped for a photo op as I was told the town was very touristy. Didn’t have the time anyway. Roussillon was lovely with its ochre colored buildings and various colors of the earth. We had a nice walk up to Oppède Le Vieux. Great views from there. All towns were lovely in their own way. We felt that Fontaine de Vaucluse was very touristy. Lots of people and many, many souvenir shops. <BR><BR>Anon, I picked up my TGV tickets at the St. Michel RER/metro stop. There is a SNCF ticket office and all I did was give my name and the credit card that I used to reserve our tickets to get them. It was very easy and took only minutes. You’ll have not problems booking via the internet and picking them up once in Paris. We also went ahead and purchased our tickets for our day trip to Rouen. That was nice to get that out of the way and not have to return to the ticket office at a later date. <BR><BR>Phylis, we had a mixture of weather. Paris for the most part was cloudy with some rain the first 3 days of our visit. The last 4 days were partly cloudy, partly sunny, a little rain now and then, but warmer than the first 3 days. Provence was beautiful with blue skies every day. You may want to check the weather temps for early June because Hotel Balcons does not have a/c. As for shoes, wear what is comfortable for you! I saw some women wearing sandals, mostly tourists. Don’t worry too much about fitting in. You’ll stick out like a tourist no matter what, so be comfortable. <BR><BR>Arjau, it’s been a while! My first visit to Balcons was back in 1999. It is a great hotel, even though some of the rooms are small. I just love the location and their friendly service.<BR><BR>Thanks Tammy, Judy, and Art!<BR>
May 29th, 2002, 05:33 AM
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Monica, I second your opinion about Lacoste in Provence. The view of Bonnieux from there is lovely, isn't it?<BR><BR>Thank you again for helping us save a few sous on our railway tickets - like you, we just picked up the tickets we'd ordered on-line by presenting our CC. Used the money saved to buy a few bottles of local plonk to enjoy, a much better purpose for our hard-earned cash!<BR><BR>Some people write that Chateau Le Vicomte is a more intimate experience than Versailles, so they liked it better. Others say that it was more difficult to reach from Paris...what, now that you've seen both, is your opinion?<BR><BR>Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip!<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>
May 29th, 2002, 05:43 AM
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Sue, the views from most towns were just lovely. Gordes was a sight to see. I might visit there the next time I head to Provence, even though it’s a touristy town! And there are plenty of other towns to visit too.<BR><BR>As for Chateau le Vicomte, I agree that it is more difficult to get to. The train ride from Paris on the RER was very easy (the RER goes every 30 minutes) but then one has to take a taxi to the Chateau from Melun. That was a $12 one-way ride. It’s best to find another couple to go with to split the cost of the taxi. We did enjoy the Chateau as there were only about 20 others visiting the place. It’s so much more quiet and peaceful than Versailles. I enjoyed this Chateau because I purchased the use of the voice recorders and it was much more enjoyable and interesting going from room to room listening to the history of the place. I will definitely recommend this Chateau to anyone interested, despite the out of the way location. I was very happy to have gone there! <BR>
