Trip Report - 7 weeks in France - Roussillon, Provence, Alsace, Paris
Oct 23rd, 2011, 12:47 AM
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Trip Report - 7 weeks in France - Roussillon, Provence, Alsace, Paris
I have submitted several trip reports in the last couple of years, covering our travels in Scotland, England, Italy, New Zealand, and Queensland, Australia. We're just back from 7 weeks in France so I thought I would post a report although I'm not sure that it will be of wide interest. I say that because we have travelled quite a bit in France and it may seem that we have avoided many of the sites/sights that would normally be of interest to visitors to the regions where we spent time.
We flew with Thai Airways from Melbourne to Paris and the flight was quite smooth and arrived on time. We were not greatly impressed by the new herringbone seat arrangement in business class from Bangkok to Paris - couples can’t sit side by side - but all other aspects of the flight were good. I believe that the quality of food served on Thai Airlines has improved significantly in recent years.
We were off the plane and through immigration/customs etc remarkably quickly – I’d guess about 20 mins from arrival to being outside the terminal. The only problem with that was that we then had longer to wait for our TGV to Montpellier. We picked up our rental car at Montpellier and then had a drive of about an hour and a half down to the house in Claira, near Perpignan.
A long transit – Heather calculated 39 hours door-to-door – probably too long.
The car was a Seat Leon and was quite comfortable and very economical. The only thing that was a bit disconcerting was that it switched itself off when stopped in traffic – it restarts when you push the clutch pedal down.
In previous trip reports I have given a description and assessment of our accommodation and provided a link to the property. On this trip our first two rental properties were ones in which I have an minority (8%) interest so I will not comment on the property, just give the link.
http://users.tpg.com.au/adsl8fbu/Clairanew.htm
Over the first few days our trips were limited and close to home, mainly to the various beaches – Canet Plage for a walk and an ice cream, Leucate Plage & Port Leucate for a stroll, St Cyprien & Argeles sur Mer for a look around, and Torreilles Plage for a swim. This coast has many long sandy beaches, much more like home than the pebbly beaches further north.
On the first Thursday of our visit we drove inland to one of our favourite villages in the area, Villefranche de Confluent, stopping at Eus on the way, a small village, built up the mountainside, with some nice views.
Villefranche is located in a valley, overlooked by the Fort Liberia, and inside its intact walls it is filled with craft shops and restaurants. From Villefranche we continued just a few kms to Fillols to find the road up to the Chalet des Cortalets, which is the start of the main walk up to the peak of Mont Canigou but after a short while the road deteriorated and was closed to cars. To do the walk you need to get a 4x4 taxi up to the start so we didn’t end up doing the walk. It remains an ambition though.
On to Vernet les Bains which is a nice little town and then home with a stop at the Abbey of St Michel de Cuxa.
In the evening we had dinner with some local friends at Casa Salsa, a Catalan restaurant in Perpignan and then they took us to an outdoor audio-visual presentation as part of the “Visa Pour l’Image” festival. This is an annual event which highlights a selection of photo-journalism from around the world. As you’d expect some of the photos were a bit confronting but overall the exhibition was very good.
On Friday we spent some time in Perpignan browsing and and then went to the beach at Le Bacarès.
Saturday we again headed inland to visit the ruined chateau of Puilaurens. Like all the “Cathar” chateaux in this area it is perched in a commanding position with a bit of a slog up and great views from the top. We then continued through some scenic country to Rennes-le-Chateau. This small town is in a great location and is the centre of rumours surrounding building works undertaken between 1885 and 1917 by the local priest; apparently he spent much more money than he should have had and that led to speculation that he had found buried treasure. There are signs in the village saying that digging is not permitted. Having said that, there is not much to see there.
We returned via the Gorges de Galamus which were much more impressive than I remembered from the first time we saw them.
On Sunday, after a coffee at St Laurent we drive to Prades to see an artisan exhibition that we had seen advertised. Unfortunately it was not very big although there were some nice ceramics – now my special subject as I have started taking lessons. As we were close, we returned to Villefranche as I wanted to revisit a couple of pottery shops there. In the afternoon we went down to St Cyprien for a swim and a walk along the beach. For dinner we tried the new restaurant in Claira – Tapas Drop – which was very good.
Monday was another day spent mainly at home due to various commitments but we made up for it by going in to Perpignan for dinner at L’Arago which has always been reliable for good food and a nice ambiance sitting outside.
Tuesday was a full day out. We started with a drive to Ceret for our morning coffee and then continued into the Pyrenees to Prats de Mollo, then up and over the Col d’Ares into Spain. The drive between Ceret and Prats de Mollo was slow, with lots of traffic, but the drive up through the mountains was great with some lovely views. Not sure why, but the Spanish side of the mountains seemed greener and more arable than on the French side.
We stopped first at Camprodon which was a very nice town with an impressive roman bridge and lots of well maintained old medieval houses. Next stop was St Joan de les Abbadesses – a pretty, small town with an interesting monastery & museum. We then continued to Ripoll where we had lunch while waiting for its monastery to open at 3:00 pm. It turned out to be worth waiting for, a very solid undecorated church and an impressive 2-storey cloister. We then drove east to hit the autopista near Figueres then north back into France and home.
Every time we visit this area Collioure is always on the agenda and we decided to visit on Wednesday. It is a lovely town and is always busy so we left reasonably early. We had not allowed for it being market day however and we could not get a park anywhere, even in the overflow car parks, so we had to leave! We came back up the coast a few kms and stopped at Argeles sur Mer for a coffee before returning to Claira.
After a break we decided to go into Perpignan to see some more of the photos from the Visa pour L’Image collections. The photos are displayed in a number of public buildings in Perpignan and we saw quite a few – the highlight was a collection of underwater photos by a National Geographic photographer. Later in the afternoon we returned to St Cyprien for another enjoyable dip in the Mediterranean.
On Thursday we left a little earlier for another go at Collioure and this time we had a great morning. We found a park easily, had a nice coffee overlooking the beach, visited the chateau, where there was an exhibition of funeral pottery from around 1000 BC, browsed the shops for a while before returning to a beachfront café for a cold drink and then returning to Claira for lunch. Dinner at Au Mas in St Laurent de la Salanque, a village just 5 kms from Claira, sitting out on the terrasse on a warm night was very pleasant.
Friday was our last full day at Claira and we started with another trip to Perpignan for our morning coffee and then split up to wander around the shops then back to Claira to start tidying up and packing. After the riots a few years back a lot of government money seems to have been spent on Perpignan and it has really improved significantly. For our last night in Claira we returned to Tapas Drop for another good meal.
Saturday morning we left Claira for the 3 hour drive to Beaumes de Venise in Provence. Driving there directly would have got us to the house before it was ready so we detoured to Vaison-la-Romaine, one of our favourite towns in the region for lunch and a quick look around.
We flew with Thai Airways from Melbourne to Paris and the flight was quite smooth and arrived on time. We were not greatly impressed by the new herringbone seat arrangement in business class from Bangkok to Paris - couples can’t sit side by side - but all other aspects of the flight were good. I believe that the quality of food served on Thai Airlines has improved significantly in recent years.
We were off the plane and through immigration/customs etc remarkably quickly – I’d guess about 20 mins from arrival to being outside the terminal. The only problem with that was that we then had longer to wait for our TGV to Montpellier. We picked up our rental car at Montpellier and then had a drive of about an hour and a half down to the house in Claira, near Perpignan.
A long transit – Heather calculated 39 hours door-to-door – probably too long.
The car was a Seat Leon and was quite comfortable and very economical. The only thing that was a bit disconcerting was that it switched itself off when stopped in traffic – it restarts when you push the clutch pedal down.
In previous trip reports I have given a description and assessment of our accommodation and provided a link to the property. On this trip our first two rental properties were ones in which I have an minority (8%) interest so I will not comment on the property, just give the link.
http://users.tpg.com.au/adsl8fbu/Clairanew.htm
Over the first few days our trips were limited and close to home, mainly to the various beaches – Canet Plage for a walk and an ice cream, Leucate Plage & Port Leucate for a stroll, St Cyprien & Argeles sur Mer for a look around, and Torreilles Plage for a swim. This coast has many long sandy beaches, much more like home than the pebbly beaches further north.
On the first Thursday of our visit we drove inland to one of our favourite villages in the area, Villefranche de Confluent, stopping at Eus on the way, a small village, built up the mountainside, with some nice views.
Villefranche is located in a valley, overlooked by the Fort Liberia, and inside its intact walls it is filled with craft shops and restaurants. From Villefranche we continued just a few kms to Fillols to find the road up to the Chalet des Cortalets, which is the start of the main walk up to the peak of Mont Canigou but after a short while the road deteriorated and was closed to cars. To do the walk you need to get a 4x4 taxi up to the start so we didn’t end up doing the walk. It remains an ambition though.
On to Vernet les Bains which is a nice little town and then home with a stop at the Abbey of St Michel de Cuxa.
In the evening we had dinner with some local friends at Casa Salsa, a Catalan restaurant in Perpignan and then they took us to an outdoor audio-visual presentation as part of the “Visa Pour l’Image” festival. This is an annual event which highlights a selection of photo-journalism from around the world. As you’d expect some of the photos were a bit confronting but overall the exhibition was very good.
On Friday we spent some time in Perpignan browsing and and then went to the beach at Le Bacarès.
Saturday we again headed inland to visit the ruined chateau of Puilaurens. Like all the “Cathar” chateaux in this area it is perched in a commanding position with a bit of a slog up and great views from the top. We then continued through some scenic country to Rennes-le-Chateau. This small town is in a great location and is the centre of rumours surrounding building works undertaken between 1885 and 1917 by the local priest; apparently he spent much more money than he should have had and that led to speculation that he had found buried treasure. There are signs in the village saying that digging is not permitted. Having said that, there is not much to see there.
We returned via the Gorges de Galamus which were much more impressive than I remembered from the first time we saw them.
On Sunday, after a coffee at St Laurent we drive to Prades to see an artisan exhibition that we had seen advertised. Unfortunately it was not very big although there were some nice ceramics – now my special subject as I have started taking lessons. As we were close, we returned to Villefranche as I wanted to revisit a couple of pottery shops there. In the afternoon we went down to St Cyprien for a swim and a walk along the beach. For dinner we tried the new restaurant in Claira – Tapas Drop – which was very good.
Monday was another day spent mainly at home due to various commitments but we made up for it by going in to Perpignan for dinner at L’Arago which has always been reliable for good food and a nice ambiance sitting outside.
Tuesday was a full day out. We started with a drive to Ceret for our morning coffee and then continued into the Pyrenees to Prats de Mollo, then up and over the Col d’Ares into Spain. The drive between Ceret and Prats de Mollo was slow, with lots of traffic, but the drive up through the mountains was great with some lovely views. Not sure why, but the Spanish side of the mountains seemed greener and more arable than on the French side.
We stopped first at Camprodon which was a very nice town with an impressive roman bridge and lots of well maintained old medieval houses. Next stop was St Joan de les Abbadesses – a pretty, small town with an interesting monastery & museum. We then continued to Ripoll where we had lunch while waiting for its monastery to open at 3:00 pm. It turned out to be worth waiting for, a very solid undecorated church and an impressive 2-storey cloister. We then drove east to hit the autopista near Figueres then north back into France and home.
Every time we visit this area Collioure is always on the agenda and we decided to visit on Wednesday. It is a lovely town and is always busy so we left reasonably early. We had not allowed for it being market day however and we could not get a park anywhere, even in the overflow car parks, so we had to leave! We came back up the coast a few kms and stopped at Argeles sur Mer for a coffee before returning to Claira.
After a break we decided to go into Perpignan to see some more of the photos from the Visa pour L’Image collections. The photos are displayed in a number of public buildings in Perpignan and we saw quite a few – the highlight was a collection of underwater photos by a National Geographic photographer. Later in the afternoon we returned to St Cyprien for another enjoyable dip in the Mediterranean.
On Thursday we left a little earlier for another go at Collioure and this time we had a great morning. We found a park easily, had a nice coffee overlooking the beach, visited the chateau, where there was an exhibition of funeral pottery from around 1000 BC, browsed the shops for a while before returning to a beachfront café for a cold drink and then returning to Claira for lunch. Dinner at Au Mas in St Laurent de la Salanque, a village just 5 kms from Claira, sitting out on the terrasse on a warm night was very pleasant.
Friday was our last full day at Claira and we started with another trip to Perpignan for our morning coffee and then split up to wander around the shops then back to Claira to start tidying up and packing. After the riots a few years back a lot of government money seems to have been spent on Perpignan and it has really improved significantly. For our last night in Claira we returned to Tapas Drop for another good meal.
Saturday morning we left Claira for the 3 hour drive to Beaumes de Venise in Provence. Driving there directly would have got us to the house before it was ready so we detoured to Vaison-la-Romaine, one of our favourite towns in the region for lunch and a quick look around.
Oct 23rd, 2011, 01:17 AM
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Well Greg, we can relate to the 'off the beaten track' flavour of your trip. In 2008, we stayed for a week in Eus and had a wonderful time. I can still see us on the balcony of our rental, enjoying a glass of wine as other tourists explored this lovely village. We felt priveleged to be there.
On Sunday, we walked up to St Martin de Canigou and sitting on a stone wall as the bells rang out was a sublime experience for an ordinary couple from country Queensland. During the week we visited some of the places you mention. Next year we are staying for a week in the Aude region to explore further. Cathar castles, Corbieres wines, old villages - roll on 2012.
There is a lot to be said for travelling like this.
On Sunday, we walked up to St Martin de Canigou and sitting on a stone wall as the bells rang out was a sublime experience for an ordinary couple from country Queensland. During the week we visited some of the places you mention. Next year we are staying for a week in the Aude region to explore further. Cathar castles, Corbieres wines, old villages - roll on 2012.
There is a lot to be said for travelling like this.
Oct 23rd, 2011, 01:24 AM
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St Martin de Canigou is in a lovely setting but it is a steep walk up. We did it a couple of years ago on quite a hot day - my lasting memory of the walk is being passed very 10 minutes or so by the 4x4 taxis which left a trail of diesel fumes for us to walk though. Fantastic experience at the top though.
Oct 23rd, 2011, 01:33 AM
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We were there at the end of April, did not know about taxis to get there. After the tour we saw one couple getting a ride back down. Everyone else walked up and we were glad we did - a great experience, even if it was hard work at times. As I listened to the bells, I found it hard to believe I could be there.
Oct 23rd, 2011, 01:42 AM
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Our next 3 weeks were spent in the village of Beaumes de Venise, about 30 kms from Avignon and 9 kms from Carpentras. As before I'll make no comment about the accomodation, just give the link:
http://www.users.tpg.com.au/adsl8fbu/bdv.htm
As we had three weeks we did not race around and there were been some days where we did not do much at all. I had intentions of doing a bit of bike riding in the area but only made one excursion.
We started most days with a coffee down in the village – our preferred café has been done up and one of the changes is to their coffee which is now very much to our taste. We have enjoyed sitting out on the terrace watching the world go by -helped greatly by the lovely weather.
This was the grape harvest season so there was a constant stream of tractors with trailers loaded with grapes going to & from the wine co-op, also the occasional grape harvesting machine and other heavy equipment – plus of course hundreds of cyclists as this is a very popular cycling area.
Beaumes de Venise is surrounded by lots of small villages and we revisited many during our stay, as well as taking a scenic drives in the area, such as through the Dentelles de Montmirail, the rocky hills that form a backdrop to BdV and many other local villages
My new interest in pottery led us to several villages to visit pottery studios and some of those were very interesting. In particular, in our first week we went to St Quentin-la-Poterie, which is a small village about an hour away, with 22 pottery studios. I enjoyed visiting the studios but the village was very nice as well and we had lunch there before driving back through the Gard countryside, with a brief stop at Chateauneuf du Pape along the way.
We also made several visits to Avignon & Carpentras, the larger local towns, to have a look around but also to pick up some provisions and some maintenance items for the house.
On our first Friday we went to the movies. I had seen a promotion for a new documentary film on the Chauvet caves which are not too far from here. They were discovered in 1994 and contain hundreds of magnificent paintings estimated to be around 34,000 years old. The caves will never be open to the public so this was as good as it gets – although there is some talk of an exact replica being built nearby (as at Lascaux). Prehistoric cave art is one of my favourite subjects so this was a real highlight.
One of our favourite places in the area is Fontaine de Vaucluse. It is in a lovely setting where the river Sorgue emerges from a spring at the base of a cliff. The village itself is full of tourist shops but we like to get there early before it gets busy and just enjoy the setting. The day that we visited we also continued on to another of our favourite villages, Roussillon, which sits next to the old quarries where ochres were mined for paint colours and dyes.
The second Sunday of our visit was one of the Jours de Patrimoine that take place every September. There are special prices on many museums and access is given to lots of buildings that are not normally open to the public. We spent the day in Avignon and visited several museums and exhibitions – and then a gelato from Amarino which capped it off beautifully.
We finished the day with a concert of baroque music in the church at BdV – we were in the audience, not playing.
On the second Tuesday we started with a visit to the weekly market at Vaison la Romaine – another of our favourite towns and a great market. Later that day we drove to Beaucaire to see the Abbey St Roman – the ruins of a troglodytic abbey just out of town – and that was quite interesting. We also called at the Abbey of St Michel de Frigolet which was in the area but was less interesting because it is still active and the only access was to the church. This was an OK day but there was a lot of traffic around Avignon and we seemed to spend a long time driving.
We returned to Avignon on the Wednesday to see an exhibition on ancient Egypt – always an interesting subject, but not an enormous collection.
On the Friday we drove to Aix-en-Provence, a bit over an hour away, to see an exhibition of works collected by Jean Planque, an unsuccessful painter who worked in the art world and met many famous painters. This exhibition had quite a few works by Picasso and a couple of Cezanne watercolours but not a lot else that excited me. Aix is a lovely city, with a very Parisian feel, and we stopped there for lunch and a wander around.
Over the three weeks we treated ourselves to some quality meals at local restaurants. L’eloge in nearby Vacqueryas is relatively new and is located in a former wine storage shed – it’s a big space divided up by semi-transparent curtains so quite interesting inside as well as good food. We also visited the Relais de Dentelles here in BdV for a lovely meal, sitting out on the terrasse on a nice mild night. Another treat was the Hotel Restaurant Montmirail near Gigondas where we enjoyed another lovely meal. We were also fortunate to be invited for dinner with some friends and neighbours.
One Sunday we took a day trip to the Vercors, a couple of hours north of BdV, and an area of stunning scenery. Our plan was to drive to Die and then take the road up to a ski village Font d’Urle where we could take a walk. However, 10km short of Die the road was blocked due to a cycle race and we had the choice of backtracking about 25 kms to detour or waiting at least an hour.
We elected to take the detour which was a good choice as we found some great scenery that we may have otherwise missed – in particular, we stopped at the Col de la Bataille for a short walk along the escarpment for fantastic views across the valley and mountains.
We then continued to Font d’Urle where we nearly missed the start of the walk but ended up finding it and were again rewarded with some great views. We then took the road down to Die – one of the most spectacular roads I have driven, with endless switchbacks and towering cliffs.
After a couple of quiet days “at home” on our last Wednesday we drove to the Côte Bleu, a strip of coast to the west of Marseille, and south of the industrial areas around Marignane. We’d not been there before and it read quite well in the guide book, with rocky inlets and small fishing villages. The villages were certainly small – with about 20 parking spaces in some – and single lane access roads, but there really wasn’t much to see. To the east of Marseille, around Cassis, these inlets are much bigger and we were probably expecting a bit much from this excursion. Overall this was a long day; I was happy to have seen these places but wouldn’t rush back.
One aspect of coming back to the same place is the tendency to seek out new things which almost certainly are not as attractive, or as easily reached, as places closer to BdV. Interestingly, we found that revisiting familiar places has been one of the highlights of this trip and there is really no need to look too far away.
From BdV we headed north to Beaune, in the heart of the Burgundy wine country, where we stayed just one night to break our journey to Colmar, in Alsace. We had a most enjoyable visit to Provence and were blessed with lovely weather throughout.
http://www.users.tpg.com.au/adsl8fbu/bdv.htm
As we had three weeks we did not race around and there were been some days where we did not do much at all. I had intentions of doing a bit of bike riding in the area but only made one excursion.
We started most days with a coffee down in the village – our preferred café has been done up and one of the changes is to their coffee which is now very much to our taste. We have enjoyed sitting out on the terrace watching the world go by -helped greatly by the lovely weather.
This was the grape harvest season so there was a constant stream of tractors with trailers loaded with grapes going to & from the wine co-op, also the occasional grape harvesting machine and other heavy equipment – plus of course hundreds of cyclists as this is a very popular cycling area.
Beaumes de Venise is surrounded by lots of small villages and we revisited many during our stay, as well as taking a scenic drives in the area, such as through the Dentelles de Montmirail, the rocky hills that form a backdrop to BdV and many other local villages
My new interest in pottery led us to several villages to visit pottery studios and some of those were very interesting. In particular, in our first week we went to St Quentin-la-Poterie, which is a small village about an hour away, with 22 pottery studios. I enjoyed visiting the studios but the village was very nice as well and we had lunch there before driving back through the Gard countryside, with a brief stop at Chateauneuf du Pape along the way.
We also made several visits to Avignon & Carpentras, the larger local towns, to have a look around but also to pick up some provisions and some maintenance items for the house.
On our first Friday we went to the movies. I had seen a promotion for a new documentary film on the Chauvet caves which are not too far from here. They were discovered in 1994 and contain hundreds of magnificent paintings estimated to be around 34,000 years old. The caves will never be open to the public so this was as good as it gets – although there is some talk of an exact replica being built nearby (as at Lascaux). Prehistoric cave art is one of my favourite subjects so this was a real highlight.
One of our favourite places in the area is Fontaine de Vaucluse. It is in a lovely setting where the river Sorgue emerges from a spring at the base of a cliff. The village itself is full of tourist shops but we like to get there early before it gets busy and just enjoy the setting. The day that we visited we also continued on to another of our favourite villages, Roussillon, which sits next to the old quarries where ochres were mined for paint colours and dyes.
The second Sunday of our visit was one of the Jours de Patrimoine that take place every September. There are special prices on many museums and access is given to lots of buildings that are not normally open to the public. We spent the day in Avignon and visited several museums and exhibitions – and then a gelato from Amarino which capped it off beautifully.
We finished the day with a concert of baroque music in the church at BdV – we were in the audience, not playing.
On the second Tuesday we started with a visit to the weekly market at Vaison la Romaine – another of our favourite towns and a great market. Later that day we drove to Beaucaire to see the Abbey St Roman – the ruins of a troglodytic abbey just out of town – and that was quite interesting. We also called at the Abbey of St Michel de Frigolet which was in the area but was less interesting because it is still active and the only access was to the church. This was an OK day but there was a lot of traffic around Avignon and we seemed to spend a long time driving.
We returned to Avignon on the Wednesday to see an exhibition on ancient Egypt – always an interesting subject, but not an enormous collection.
On the Friday we drove to Aix-en-Provence, a bit over an hour away, to see an exhibition of works collected by Jean Planque, an unsuccessful painter who worked in the art world and met many famous painters. This exhibition had quite a few works by Picasso and a couple of Cezanne watercolours but not a lot else that excited me. Aix is a lovely city, with a very Parisian feel, and we stopped there for lunch and a wander around.
Over the three weeks we treated ourselves to some quality meals at local restaurants. L’eloge in nearby Vacqueryas is relatively new and is located in a former wine storage shed – it’s a big space divided up by semi-transparent curtains so quite interesting inside as well as good food. We also visited the Relais de Dentelles here in BdV for a lovely meal, sitting out on the terrasse on a nice mild night. Another treat was the Hotel Restaurant Montmirail near Gigondas where we enjoyed another lovely meal. We were also fortunate to be invited for dinner with some friends and neighbours.
One Sunday we took a day trip to the Vercors, a couple of hours north of BdV, and an area of stunning scenery. Our plan was to drive to Die and then take the road up to a ski village Font d’Urle where we could take a walk. However, 10km short of Die the road was blocked due to a cycle race and we had the choice of backtracking about 25 kms to detour or waiting at least an hour.
We elected to take the detour which was a good choice as we found some great scenery that we may have otherwise missed – in particular, we stopped at the Col de la Bataille for a short walk along the escarpment for fantastic views across the valley and mountains.
We then continued to Font d’Urle where we nearly missed the start of the walk but ended up finding it and were again rewarded with some great views. We then took the road down to Die – one of the most spectacular roads I have driven, with endless switchbacks and towering cliffs.
After a couple of quiet days “at home” on our last Wednesday we drove to the Côte Bleu, a strip of coast to the west of Marseille, and south of the industrial areas around Marignane. We’d not been there before and it read quite well in the guide book, with rocky inlets and small fishing villages. The villages were certainly small – with about 20 parking spaces in some – and single lane access roads, but there really wasn’t much to see. To the east of Marseille, around Cassis, these inlets are much bigger and we were probably expecting a bit much from this excursion. Overall this was a long day; I was happy to have seen these places but wouldn’t rush back.
One aspect of coming back to the same place is the tendency to seek out new things which almost certainly are not as attractive, or as easily reached, as places closer to BdV. Interestingly, we found that revisiting familiar places has been one of the highlights of this trip and there is really no need to look too far away.
From BdV we headed north to Beaune, in the heart of the Burgundy wine country, where we stayed just one night to break our journey to Colmar, in Alsace. We had a most enjoyable visit to Provence and were blessed with lovely weather throughout.
Oct 23rd, 2011, 02:16 AM
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Spending longer in an area is something we would like to do -hopefully after DH retires. In 2008, we also spent a week in a gite on an olive farm near Mazan. From here we ventured up to Vaison, down to Gordes, Rouissillan. Had an anniversary lunch in Gigondas. Definitely an area we hope to revisit on the trip after next.
Burgundy is a favourite area for us- four weeks in different parts, the most recent being in the Maconnais region which we loved.
Also spent a week near Strasbourg in 2006 and hope to go back. Had a great traditional meal of choucroute at a little auberge off the tourist trail- I don't think they had had Australians in there before and the elderly lady who did the cooking kept coming out to chat . My schoolgirl French and her non- existent English. It is still one of our hard to beat experiences. So I know you had a great trip and we are enjoying reading about it.
Burgundy is a favourite area for us- four weeks in different parts, the most recent being in the Maconnais region which we loved.
Also spent a week near Strasbourg in 2006 and hope to go back. Had a great traditional meal of choucroute at a little auberge off the tourist trail- I don't think they had had Australians in there before and the elderly lady who did the cooking kept coming out to chat . My schoolgirl French and her non- existent English. It is still one of our hard to beat experiences. So I know you had a great trip and we are enjoying reading about it.
Oct 23rd, 2011, 07:45 AM
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Interesting off the beaten path report. thanks for the goof effort.
I remember coming upon the Gorge du Galamus sort of by accident on our return from a day visiting Cathar castles on a trip to France about 15 years ago. we were thrilled with the ride, though one seldom hears of it.
I remember coming upon the Gorge du Galamus sort of by accident on our return from a day visiting Cathar castles on a trip to France about 15 years ago. we were thrilled with the ride, though one seldom hears of it.
Oct 23rd, 2011, 08:32 AM
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"I thought I would post a report although I'm not sure that it will be of wide interest."
You are wrong on that account! ;^) I spent a pleasant hour or 2 Sunday morning following your travelogue using Google Streetview.
Looking forward to more...
You are wrong on that account! ;^) I spent a pleasant hour or 2 Sunday morning following your travelogue using Google Streetview.
Looking forward to more...
Oct 23rd, 2011, 06:24 PM
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rhon, retirement has a lot going for it - as long as you can afford to travel. We quit work about 3 years ago and we are having a great time, enjoying extended stays where we can. Wherever possible we try and spend at least a week in a house/apartment and rarely stay in hotels. Apart from the sense of having your own space the ability to cook meals 'at home' means that the eating out budget can afford some nicer restaurants.
TDudette, taconictraveler, Paris Amsterdam - thanks for your positive comments.
I'm about to post the next report, covering Beaune and Alsace - I hope I don't good it up . . . . sorry goof it up.
TDudette, taconictraveler, Paris Amsterdam - thanks for your positive comments.
I'm about to post the next report, covering Beaune and Alsace - I hope I don't good it up . . . . sorry goof it up.
Oct 23rd, 2011, 06:40 PM
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We left Beaumes de Venise Friday 30th September and the 4 hour drive up the autoroute went smoothly, getting us to our hotel in Beaune mid-afternoon. Our hotel was an easy walk from the the town centre and was very comfortable and good value.
http://www.hotelpaix.com/
We checked in and went for a stroll around town. We’ve visited Beaune a couple of times before so did not visit either of the two main tourist sites, the wine museum and the Hotel Dieu, but just enjoyed a walk around the town. N & C, also co-owners of the BdV house, were staying at the same hotel on their way south and we met up with them for dinner.
N had done some research on the internet and thought that Le Benaton would be worth trying and he was certainly right. This was not a cheap meal but worth every euro with beautifully presented and delicious food - I think one of the nicest meals I have ever eaten. Highly recommended.
http://www.lebenaton.com/fr/index.php
On Saturday morning we had breakfast with N & C and then headed off to Colmar, about 4 hours drive away. We broke the journey with a stop at the Musée National de l’Automobile at Mulhouse.
For anyone with an interest in cars this is a spectacular collection.
The Schlumpf brothers built up the collection while running a textile business in Mulhouse and were preparing to launch a museum in 1976 when their business failed. When the unions discovered the extent of the collection they occupied the factory and lengthy discussions about ownership and worker entitlements followed.
The collection was eventually sold to the government and the museum opened in 1982. The number and range of cars on display is just amazing and it is impossible to do them justice in one visit. We spent a couple of enjoyable hours there and then set off again for Colmar.
http://citedelautomobile.com/en/home
We arrived in Colmar in good time, parked the car and found our apartment but needed help from the owners to get the car in through the pedestrianised centre to unload. Secure underground parking was provided close by but getting the car in & out required a degree of concentration as there was about 1 cm clearance each side of the rear view mirrors. Our apartment was on the second & third levels of an old building right in the heart of Colmar – really convenient and quite comfortable. We had nice views of the old town from our windows but the highlight was probably the stork sitting on the nest on top of the cathedral spire. This was now October so I'm not sure why this one bird was still around but it was nice to see it from our lounge room.
http://www.homelidays.co.uk/colmar/a...-319702en1.htm
We had been to Colmar for a couple of days in 1996 and enjoyed it but I had forgotten what a lovely town it is, much larger than I remembered, and with a very complete old centre. We spent a couple of mornings & evenings of our stay strolling around the town.
We enjoyed dinner at a small restaurant in Colmar, Le Cocotte de Grandmère, with a pleasant atmosphere and a very nice meal at reasonable prices. While in Colmar we also enjoyed a lovely meal at Aux Trois Poissons, in the Petite Venise area of the town.
For our first excursion from Colmar we elected to revisit the Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg.
One of the key attractions of this chateau is its commanding position and views over Alsace but on our first visit the whole plain was shrouded in fog so we missed that aspect. Apart from the views, the chateau itself is spectacular and we spent a couple of hours exploring before heading down from the hills and visiting Obernai which was a very attractive town.
The plain between the Rhine river and the Vosges mountains is a famous wine producing region with picturesque small villages scattered throughout the area and over the course of the week we visited several.
On Monday we visited Kayserberg and then on to Riquewhir. Both of these villages have intact medieval centres and are extremely attractive – I would guess that many buildings would have suffered damage during WW2 but,if so, all have been restored authentically.
After spending Tuesday morning in Colmar we then drove to Ribeauville, another gorgeous village about 1/2 hour from Colmar and on Thursday we visited Eguisheim, following that with a scenic drive through the Vosges, including a short walk to the ruins of 3 chateaux overlooking the town.
The next day we got away fairly early for a day in Germany, heading for Freiburg, about an hour’s drive from Colmar.
Freiburg turned out to be a lovely town but we almost gave up trying to find the right car park to visit the old town.
We’ve driven in Italy & Spain before, not knowing the language, without a problem but we really struggled with signage in Germany where we recognised almost no words.
Eventually I twigged that “Aldstadt” meant “old town” and that we could take any of several car parks around the centre so, after only 2-3 circuits of the ring road, we parked the car and set out to find the tourist office. We then enjoyed a coffee followed by an enjoyable stroll around the town following the circuit in the visitors guide.
At the tourist office we picked up a suggested drive through the Black Forest and we followed that to Titisee, where we missed the turn to see the lake, and then on to Feldberg, the highest point in the Black Forest where we stopped for a baguette & cheese lunch. We did not walk to the peak as it was a skiing area and lots of not very attractive infrastructure etc but we continued to Schaunisland, the second highest peak, where we did do the walk for some lovely views of the hills and also right across the plains into France. We then continued down the mountain and through Freiburg for the return to Colmar.
We had quite a bit of trouble finding our way on this outing with a lot of stops to work out where we were and where we were going - in town, in the mountains, and on the way home – the lesson learned is probably to be a bit more prepared with maps etc for a more relaxed drive.
Friday was our last day in Colmar. We had planned to visit Strasbourg but decided instead to get to Strasbourg early on Saturday – our train was scheduled to leave there at 12:10 – and have an hour or so in town before catching the train so we had a full day available. We decided to go north to Saverne, which was described as an attractive town, and then to visit the Chateau of Haut Barr and the Abbey Church at Marmoutier. While Saverne was quite nice, it was not exceptional, the chateau of Haut Barr offered nice views but there was not a lot to see, and the Abbey Church at Marmoutier had an impressive facade but was closed for the lunch period when we were there. Overall we were a bit disappointed with our last full day in Alsace but we had enjoyed a great week up to then and it’s hard to get every day right.
One thing that I had hoped to do in Alsace was to visit some sites from WW1 & WW2 but we found that many of these were on restricted opening hours after 1st October. The Fort de Schoenenberg, north-east of Strasbourg was said to be the best to see the Maginot Line fortifications but was only open weekends and we would have had to go on the first Sunday – but did not realise that at the time.
We woke early on Saturday morning and left Colmar about 7:30 as heavy rain began to fall - the first real rain in 6 weeks. We found our way into central Strasbourg without any problem and parked the car while we had a brief look around. We then returned to drop off the rental car and pick up our luggage and caught the TGV for Paris.
http://www.hotelpaix.com/
We checked in and went for a stroll around town. We’ve visited Beaune a couple of times before so did not visit either of the two main tourist sites, the wine museum and the Hotel Dieu, but just enjoyed a walk around the town. N & C, also co-owners of the BdV house, were staying at the same hotel on their way south and we met up with them for dinner.
N had done some research on the internet and thought that Le Benaton would be worth trying and he was certainly right. This was not a cheap meal but worth every euro with beautifully presented and delicious food - I think one of the nicest meals I have ever eaten. Highly recommended.
http://www.lebenaton.com/fr/index.php
On Saturday morning we had breakfast with N & C and then headed off to Colmar, about 4 hours drive away. We broke the journey with a stop at the Musée National de l’Automobile at Mulhouse.
For anyone with an interest in cars this is a spectacular collection.
The Schlumpf brothers built up the collection while running a textile business in Mulhouse and were preparing to launch a museum in 1976 when their business failed. When the unions discovered the extent of the collection they occupied the factory and lengthy discussions about ownership and worker entitlements followed.
The collection was eventually sold to the government and the museum opened in 1982. The number and range of cars on display is just amazing and it is impossible to do them justice in one visit. We spent a couple of enjoyable hours there and then set off again for Colmar.
http://citedelautomobile.com/en/home
We arrived in Colmar in good time, parked the car and found our apartment but needed help from the owners to get the car in through the pedestrianised centre to unload. Secure underground parking was provided close by but getting the car in & out required a degree of concentration as there was about 1 cm clearance each side of the rear view mirrors. Our apartment was on the second & third levels of an old building right in the heart of Colmar – really convenient and quite comfortable. We had nice views of the old town from our windows but the highlight was probably the stork sitting on the nest on top of the cathedral spire. This was now October so I'm not sure why this one bird was still around but it was nice to see it from our lounge room.
http://www.homelidays.co.uk/colmar/a...-319702en1.htm
We had been to Colmar for a couple of days in 1996 and enjoyed it but I had forgotten what a lovely town it is, much larger than I remembered, and with a very complete old centre. We spent a couple of mornings & evenings of our stay strolling around the town.
We enjoyed dinner at a small restaurant in Colmar, Le Cocotte de Grandmère, with a pleasant atmosphere and a very nice meal at reasonable prices. While in Colmar we also enjoyed a lovely meal at Aux Trois Poissons, in the Petite Venise area of the town.
For our first excursion from Colmar we elected to revisit the Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg.
One of the key attractions of this chateau is its commanding position and views over Alsace but on our first visit the whole plain was shrouded in fog so we missed that aspect. Apart from the views, the chateau itself is spectacular and we spent a couple of hours exploring before heading down from the hills and visiting Obernai which was a very attractive town.
The plain between the Rhine river and the Vosges mountains is a famous wine producing region with picturesque small villages scattered throughout the area and over the course of the week we visited several.
On Monday we visited Kayserberg and then on to Riquewhir. Both of these villages have intact medieval centres and are extremely attractive – I would guess that many buildings would have suffered damage during WW2 but,if so, all have been restored authentically.
After spending Tuesday morning in Colmar we then drove to Ribeauville, another gorgeous village about 1/2 hour from Colmar and on Thursday we visited Eguisheim, following that with a scenic drive through the Vosges, including a short walk to the ruins of 3 chateaux overlooking the town.
The next day we got away fairly early for a day in Germany, heading for Freiburg, about an hour’s drive from Colmar.
Freiburg turned out to be a lovely town but we almost gave up trying to find the right car park to visit the old town.
We’ve driven in Italy & Spain before, not knowing the language, without a problem but we really struggled with signage in Germany where we recognised almost no words.
Eventually I twigged that “Aldstadt” meant “old town” and that we could take any of several car parks around the centre so, after only 2-3 circuits of the ring road, we parked the car and set out to find the tourist office. We then enjoyed a coffee followed by an enjoyable stroll around the town following the circuit in the visitors guide.
At the tourist office we picked up a suggested drive through the Black Forest and we followed that to Titisee, where we missed the turn to see the lake, and then on to Feldberg, the highest point in the Black Forest where we stopped for a baguette & cheese lunch. We did not walk to the peak as it was a skiing area and lots of not very attractive infrastructure etc but we continued to Schaunisland, the second highest peak, where we did do the walk for some lovely views of the hills and also right across the plains into France. We then continued down the mountain and through Freiburg for the return to Colmar.
We had quite a bit of trouble finding our way on this outing with a lot of stops to work out where we were and where we were going - in town, in the mountains, and on the way home – the lesson learned is probably to be a bit more prepared with maps etc for a more relaxed drive.
Friday was our last day in Colmar. We had planned to visit Strasbourg but decided instead to get to Strasbourg early on Saturday – our train was scheduled to leave there at 12:10 – and have an hour or so in town before catching the train so we had a full day available. We decided to go north to Saverne, which was described as an attractive town, and then to visit the Chateau of Haut Barr and the Abbey Church at Marmoutier. While Saverne was quite nice, it was not exceptional, the chateau of Haut Barr offered nice views but there was not a lot to see, and the Abbey Church at Marmoutier had an impressive facade but was closed for the lunch period when we were there. Overall we were a bit disappointed with our last full day in Alsace but we had enjoyed a great week up to then and it’s hard to get every day right.
One thing that I had hoped to do in Alsace was to visit some sites from WW1 & WW2 but we found that many of these were on restricted opening hours after 1st October. The Fort de Schoenenberg, north-east of Strasbourg was said to be the best to see the Maginot Line fortifications but was only open weekends and we would have had to go on the first Sunday – but did not realise that at the time.
We woke early on Saturday morning and left Colmar about 7:30 as heavy rain began to fall - the first real rain in 6 weeks. We found our way into central Strasbourg without any problem and parked the car while we had a brief look around. We then returned to drop off the rental car and pick up our luggage and caught the TGV for Paris.
Oct 24th, 2011, 03:02 AM
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Languedoc Roussillon is not really "off the beaten track". It is the third most visited part of France after Paris and Côte d'Azur : 6 millions visitors in 2009 and 28 millions "nights" spent in hotels or camping sites.
Oct 24th, 2011, 05:08 AM
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there was about 1 cm clearance each side of the rear view mirrors
******
I've always wondered how one actually gets in and out of the car in such cases? DH and I saw cars in garages just pinned against the wall so please do tell!
******
I've always wondered how one actually gets in and out of the car in such cases? DH and I saw cars in garages just pinned against the wall so please do tell!
Oct 24th, 2011, 01:05 PM
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Fortunately the parking 'box' was slightly wider once the roll-up door frame was passed so as long as I angled the car a bit once I was through I could usually squeeze out. Also walls betwen each 'box' were wire mesh so they could be pushed out a bit. On more than one occasion I got sick of trying to position the car just right and ended up clambering over and out the passenger door.
Oct 24th, 2011, 01:41 PM
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Our TGV left Strasbourg a few minutes late and arrived at the gare de l’Est in Paris pretty much on time. Our apartment in rue Charlot, in the 3rd arrondissement (the Marais) was just a 10 minute cab ride from the station and we were settling in by about 3:30 Saturday afternoon.
The studio apartment was quite small, but still large compared to the average Paris hotel room and we were very comfortable there. It was located on the ground floor facing the interior courtyard of an old building and as a result it was very quiet. Entry was via pin code on the big wooden double doors off the street so we felt like true Parisians.
http://www.vrbo.com/49273
Our local area was very well supplied with cafés (unfortunately very strong & expensive coffee), an excellent boulangerie, butchers, a cheese shop, mini supermarkets, as well as an indoor market. We quickly discovered that there was an Amarino gelati shop not far away so that confirmed we had made a good choice of location. The only negative for this apartment was that it is not really close to any Metro station, although a couple of bus lines did pass nearby. The flip side of that is that there was no rumbling as trains passed below as is often the case with buildings in Paris.
For our first full day in Paris we started with a long walk, firstly to the Place des Vosges, then across to the rue de Rivoli and on to the Ile St Louis to check out a restaurant recommended by friends. We then crossed to the Ile de la Cité and walked past Notre Dame cathedral. I was interested in climbing the tower but lines were quite long so we left it for another day. Then on to the St Michel area which was very busy as usual, packed with (other) tourists but an enjoyable stroll. We checked out Café Malongo – I had found a recommendation from a Melburnian via a google search – for a very good coffee. We then walked back across the river to the Louvre where we topped up our Navigo cards with a one day metro pass and a one week pass to start on Monday. We also picked up a 4 day Musée & Monument card which gives access to about 50 sites in & around Paris and usually allows you to bypass queues.
On Monday we firstly took the metro to La Defense then changed to RER for a trip to St Germain en Laye. This former palace is an impressive building with a striking interior courtyard and now houses the archaeological collection of France. The very early material was excellent but I was less interested in the roman collections which are probably better illustrated in other museums. Apart from several school groups we had the place almost to ourselves which is unusual for a museum in Paris. There was a free exhibition & film in the chapel about the discovery of the decorated caves at Lascaux and that I found very interesting.
We took the train back to the Louvre where we had lunch in the adjoining food court and then went for a walk in the Tuileries Gardens before taking the metro to Chatelet to find the FNAC store at Les Halles where we bought tickets for an exhibition that we had seen promoted – Cézanne and Paris.
The next day we walked to the Hotel de Ville metro station and took the train to the Louvre food court for our morning coffee. We then walked through Tuileries Gardens to the Orangerie to start using our museum card . . . . only to find it is closed Tuesdays! Oh well, we decided to continue over the river and visit the Musée D’Orsay instead and see the impressionist collection there. When we got there the lines were very long – although the museum card line was a lot shorter – but we noticed that the impressionist area was closed for renovations and we decided not to go in and walked instead to the Invalides, the military museum and Napoleon’s Tomb, in the dome church there. We had been there before but the dome church is impressive and we were pleased to see it again. The military museum is enormous, with lots of collections of objects that are of limited interest to non-specialists; for example whole rooms of sabres, or muskets and this time we only visited the Occupation/Deportation/Liberation section which was both interesting and moving. The displays incorporated individual stories with personal effects from the people involved.
We then walked towards the river to Quai Branly where there was a free exhibition of photography along the banks of the Seine. Some good photos but variable in my opinion. After taking the metro back to St Michel we caught the 96 bus which should have taken us close to our apartment but terminated at Hotel de Ville due to road works so we walked back from there. A lot of walking today!
On Wednesday we took the bus to the Ile de la Cite and queued for Notre Dame towers. It was a good day for it, cloudy but very clear air and excellent visibility and we enjoyed great views across Paris; worth the almost 500 steps up.
Next stop was the Louvre where we concentrated on the Egyptian displays and early ceramics. The Louvre is so large that you really need to see it in instalments – that’s where the museum card is handy as there is no extra cost for multiple visits.
It was then time to try again for the Orangerie so we again walked through the Tuileries to see the Monet waterlily paintings and a number of our favourite post-impressionist paintings. Although we’ve seen them before it’s always a surprise to see how big the waterlily paintings are.
We returned to the apartment for a break and called the restaurant that we had seen on the Ile St Louis but could not get a reservation for any day before we left. We were a bit disappointed with that and thought about trying Le Train Bleu, which is a restaurant in the gare de Lyon, famous for it’s spectacularly ornate interior, but couldn’t convince ourselves that it would be worth the very high prices. In the end we booked at La Fontaine Gourmand, a local restaurant recommended by previous visitors to the apartment. We enjoyed a very nice meal but were the only people there . . . maybe 7:30 was a bit early for the locals.
After dinner we went for a walk through the Marais which becomes very busy in the evenings with bars, cafés, and restaurants filled with people, shops open, and narrow streets bustling with pedestrians.
On Thursday we both woke early, with Heather feeling a bit unwell, so we took it a bit easy. We first visited the Musee Guimet which specialises in Asian art. This was our second visit but we loved it again. It is filled with beautiful objects from Vietnam, China, Japan, Thailand, Korea, India, and elsewhere.
We returned to the apartment for lunch and went out again in the afternoon to see the Museum of Judaism which is not far away in the Marais. We were a bit disappointed in this museum which didn’t seem to have a consistent theme and the building which was described as ‘beautiful’ in the guidebook had few original features at least in the interior.
After another walk around the Marais followed by dinner at a pizza place just off the rue de Rivoli.
On Friday we returned to the Louvre, this time to see the collections from Iran/Mesopotamia. We both love the giant statues and friezes from the Palace of Darius. Lots of nice pottery and cylindrical seals as well – these have been a favourites of mine since I first saw them.
We followed this visit with some souvenir shopping along the rue de Rivoli and around St Michel and again went back to the apartment for lunch. In the afternoon we paid a visit to the aquarium – mainly because it was on our museum card and we’d not been there before. It was quite good but a bit old fashioned, with lots of smaller tanks, rather then the big enclosures that most aquaria have these days.
In the early evening we had drinks with a Parisian couple in the 5th arrondissement. We had “met” them via a home exchange website and we had an enjoyable chat but unfortunately they won’t be in a position to do an exchange in the near future. Pity, free accommodation in Paris would be rather attractive.
We followed drinks with a lovely dinner at Louis Vins, a restaurant we found on a previous visit - very french with lots of locals and we really enjoyed it.
For our last day in Paris we started with our 9:30 timeslot at the Cezanne & Paris exhibition in the Musée Luxembourg. This was a very good exhibition of works by my favourite artist – some from Parisian museums, some on loan from other galleries, and some from private collections. Excellent value at 12€ and not too crowded.
We then walked back to the Louvre for a coffee and continued through the Palais Royal to see several of the “galeries” (arcades) just north of there. Then back to the apartment, stopping in rue Bretagne to pick up bread & cakes for lunch ( we deserved the cakes after this very long walk) then made a start on packing. Later in the afternoon we took the metro to Montmartre – very busy of course on a sunny Saturday, but oddly no waiting at the funicular. We just had a stroll around and enjoyed the views.
After a visit to W H Smith looking for some English language magazines for the flight home we headed back to do some more packing.
For our last night we had planned to try a local area restaurant that we had walked past several times but unfortunately they were booked out so we tried another basically at random. Unfortunately it was a pretty ordinary meal so we skipped dessert there and picked up an ice cream at Amarino – where we were now recognised as regulars – and went for a walk down rue de Rivoli, across the island to Notre dame, on to St Michel, and then back on the bus.
On Sunday our cab arrived right on time and we were at CDG within about 35 mins, right on time to check in. The women at the check-in counter took our tickets . . . and said . . . “you are leaving tomorrow”. Of course we knew that was a mistake . . . ours as it happens. We then remembered that we had opted for an extra day in Paris when our travel agent could not get us on the early flight for the Sunday – but we had never done anything about booking another night in Paris; we just forgot about it. Neither of us can understand how we missed the discrepancy as the date was clearly recorded on our tickets and we did check them before we left . . . but not well enough it seems.
We could get on the later flight out – a wait of 6 hours at CDG – and we elected to do that rather than book into an airport hotel or go back into Paris, even though there was another 12 hour wait at Bangkok for the connection. So, a long time to get home, but both flights were on time – in fact our Melbourne flight got in 1/2 an hour early. We were out of the airport 20 minutes after the plane reached the terminal so that was a small win.
We used Europcar for our rental and found them very good. No problems with pick up or drop off.
Thai Airlines were on time for all legs of the trip and provided good service; their food has definitely improved over the last year or so. The only problem we had with them was the herringbone seat configuration on the Bangkok-Paris leg that I referred to earlier. No doubt this allows them to squeeze in a few extra seats but it means that couples have to either sit across an aisle or one behind the other – there are no paired seats. We’d be reluctant to fly with that set up again.
Overall this was a fantastic trip. We were away for 7 weeks but the time just seemed to disappear and the weather was as close to perfect as you could hope for.
I will post a few photos later today and will post a link in case anyone is interested.
The studio apartment was quite small, but still large compared to the average Paris hotel room and we were very comfortable there. It was located on the ground floor facing the interior courtyard of an old building and as a result it was very quiet. Entry was via pin code on the big wooden double doors off the street so we felt like true Parisians.
http://www.vrbo.com/49273
Our local area was very well supplied with cafés (unfortunately very strong & expensive coffee), an excellent boulangerie, butchers, a cheese shop, mini supermarkets, as well as an indoor market. We quickly discovered that there was an Amarino gelati shop not far away so that confirmed we had made a good choice of location. The only negative for this apartment was that it is not really close to any Metro station, although a couple of bus lines did pass nearby. The flip side of that is that there was no rumbling as trains passed below as is often the case with buildings in Paris.
For our first full day in Paris we started with a long walk, firstly to the Place des Vosges, then across to the rue de Rivoli and on to the Ile St Louis to check out a restaurant recommended by friends. We then crossed to the Ile de la Cité and walked past Notre Dame cathedral. I was interested in climbing the tower but lines were quite long so we left it for another day. Then on to the St Michel area which was very busy as usual, packed with (other) tourists but an enjoyable stroll. We checked out Café Malongo – I had found a recommendation from a Melburnian via a google search – for a very good coffee. We then walked back across the river to the Louvre where we topped up our Navigo cards with a one day metro pass and a one week pass to start on Monday. We also picked up a 4 day Musée & Monument card which gives access to about 50 sites in & around Paris and usually allows you to bypass queues.
On Monday we firstly took the metro to La Defense then changed to RER for a trip to St Germain en Laye. This former palace is an impressive building with a striking interior courtyard and now houses the archaeological collection of France. The very early material was excellent but I was less interested in the roman collections which are probably better illustrated in other museums. Apart from several school groups we had the place almost to ourselves which is unusual for a museum in Paris. There was a free exhibition & film in the chapel about the discovery of the decorated caves at Lascaux and that I found very interesting.
We took the train back to the Louvre where we had lunch in the adjoining food court and then went for a walk in the Tuileries Gardens before taking the metro to Chatelet to find the FNAC store at Les Halles where we bought tickets for an exhibition that we had seen promoted – Cézanne and Paris.
The next day we walked to the Hotel de Ville metro station and took the train to the Louvre food court for our morning coffee. We then walked through Tuileries Gardens to the Orangerie to start using our museum card . . . . only to find it is closed Tuesdays! Oh well, we decided to continue over the river and visit the Musée D’Orsay instead and see the impressionist collection there. When we got there the lines were very long – although the museum card line was a lot shorter – but we noticed that the impressionist area was closed for renovations and we decided not to go in and walked instead to the Invalides, the military museum and Napoleon’s Tomb, in the dome church there. We had been there before but the dome church is impressive and we were pleased to see it again. The military museum is enormous, with lots of collections of objects that are of limited interest to non-specialists; for example whole rooms of sabres, or muskets and this time we only visited the Occupation/Deportation/Liberation section which was both interesting and moving. The displays incorporated individual stories with personal effects from the people involved.
We then walked towards the river to Quai Branly where there was a free exhibition of photography along the banks of the Seine. Some good photos but variable in my opinion. After taking the metro back to St Michel we caught the 96 bus which should have taken us close to our apartment but terminated at Hotel de Ville due to road works so we walked back from there. A lot of walking today!
On Wednesday we took the bus to the Ile de la Cite and queued for Notre Dame towers. It was a good day for it, cloudy but very clear air and excellent visibility and we enjoyed great views across Paris; worth the almost 500 steps up.
Next stop was the Louvre where we concentrated on the Egyptian displays and early ceramics. The Louvre is so large that you really need to see it in instalments – that’s where the museum card is handy as there is no extra cost for multiple visits.
It was then time to try again for the Orangerie so we again walked through the Tuileries to see the Monet waterlily paintings and a number of our favourite post-impressionist paintings. Although we’ve seen them before it’s always a surprise to see how big the waterlily paintings are.
We returned to the apartment for a break and called the restaurant that we had seen on the Ile St Louis but could not get a reservation for any day before we left. We were a bit disappointed with that and thought about trying Le Train Bleu, which is a restaurant in the gare de Lyon, famous for it’s spectacularly ornate interior, but couldn’t convince ourselves that it would be worth the very high prices. In the end we booked at La Fontaine Gourmand, a local restaurant recommended by previous visitors to the apartment. We enjoyed a very nice meal but were the only people there . . . maybe 7:30 was a bit early for the locals.
After dinner we went for a walk through the Marais which becomes very busy in the evenings with bars, cafés, and restaurants filled with people, shops open, and narrow streets bustling with pedestrians.
On Thursday we both woke early, with Heather feeling a bit unwell, so we took it a bit easy. We first visited the Musee Guimet which specialises in Asian art. This was our second visit but we loved it again. It is filled with beautiful objects from Vietnam, China, Japan, Thailand, Korea, India, and elsewhere.
We returned to the apartment for lunch and went out again in the afternoon to see the Museum of Judaism which is not far away in the Marais. We were a bit disappointed in this museum which didn’t seem to have a consistent theme and the building which was described as ‘beautiful’ in the guidebook had few original features at least in the interior.
After another walk around the Marais followed by dinner at a pizza place just off the rue de Rivoli.
On Friday we returned to the Louvre, this time to see the collections from Iran/Mesopotamia. We both love the giant statues and friezes from the Palace of Darius. Lots of nice pottery and cylindrical seals as well – these have been a favourites of mine since I first saw them.
We followed this visit with some souvenir shopping along the rue de Rivoli and around St Michel and again went back to the apartment for lunch. In the afternoon we paid a visit to the aquarium – mainly because it was on our museum card and we’d not been there before. It was quite good but a bit old fashioned, with lots of smaller tanks, rather then the big enclosures that most aquaria have these days.
In the early evening we had drinks with a Parisian couple in the 5th arrondissement. We had “met” them via a home exchange website and we had an enjoyable chat but unfortunately they won’t be in a position to do an exchange in the near future. Pity, free accommodation in Paris would be rather attractive.
We followed drinks with a lovely dinner at Louis Vins, a restaurant we found on a previous visit - very french with lots of locals and we really enjoyed it.
For our last day in Paris we started with our 9:30 timeslot at the Cezanne & Paris exhibition in the Musée Luxembourg. This was a very good exhibition of works by my favourite artist – some from Parisian museums, some on loan from other galleries, and some from private collections. Excellent value at 12€ and not too crowded.
We then walked back to the Louvre for a coffee and continued through the Palais Royal to see several of the “galeries” (arcades) just north of there. Then back to the apartment, stopping in rue Bretagne to pick up bread & cakes for lunch ( we deserved the cakes after this very long walk) then made a start on packing. Later in the afternoon we took the metro to Montmartre – very busy of course on a sunny Saturday, but oddly no waiting at the funicular. We just had a stroll around and enjoyed the views.
After a visit to W H Smith looking for some English language magazines for the flight home we headed back to do some more packing.
For our last night we had planned to try a local area restaurant that we had walked past several times but unfortunately they were booked out so we tried another basically at random. Unfortunately it was a pretty ordinary meal so we skipped dessert there and picked up an ice cream at Amarino – where we were now recognised as regulars – and went for a walk down rue de Rivoli, across the island to Notre dame, on to St Michel, and then back on the bus.
On Sunday our cab arrived right on time and we were at CDG within about 35 mins, right on time to check in. The women at the check-in counter took our tickets . . . and said . . . “you are leaving tomorrow”. Of course we knew that was a mistake . . . ours as it happens. We then remembered that we had opted for an extra day in Paris when our travel agent could not get us on the early flight for the Sunday – but we had never done anything about booking another night in Paris; we just forgot about it. Neither of us can understand how we missed the discrepancy as the date was clearly recorded on our tickets and we did check them before we left . . . but not well enough it seems.
We could get on the later flight out – a wait of 6 hours at CDG – and we elected to do that rather than book into an airport hotel or go back into Paris, even though there was another 12 hour wait at Bangkok for the connection. So, a long time to get home, but both flights were on time – in fact our Melbourne flight got in 1/2 an hour early. We were out of the airport 20 minutes after the plane reached the terminal so that was a small win.
We used Europcar for our rental and found them very good. No problems with pick up or drop off.
Thai Airlines were on time for all legs of the trip and provided good service; their food has definitely improved over the last year or so. The only problem we had with them was the herringbone seat configuration on the Bangkok-Paris leg that I referred to earlier. No doubt this allows them to squeeze in a few extra seats but it means that couples have to either sit across an aisle or one behind the other – there are no paired seats. We’d be reluctant to fly with that set up again.
Overall this was a fantastic trip. We were away for 7 weeks but the time just seemed to disappear and the weather was as close to perfect as you could hope for.
I will post a few photos later today and will post a link in case anyone is interested.
Oct 24th, 2011, 11:38 PM
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Yes ParisAmsterdam, we said the same. The really annoying part was that it was totally our own error.
If anyone is interested in seeing some photos from our trip just follow the link - there are 4 albums each starting with France 2012. Not many photos from Paris as we didn't take the camera much of the time.
https://picasaweb.google.com/GregYeaman
If anyone is interested in seeing some photos from our trip just follow the link - there are 4 albums each starting with France 2012. Not many photos from Paris as we didn't take the camera much of the time.
https://picasaweb.google.com/GregYeaman
