Hello family and friends! It's been a while since our last post and we didn't get to finish telling about our trip to France. Barbara gave us her account of the "poultry incident". She actually didn't tell me about that until we were alone. I kept looking at her at dinner while she was giggling, but nope she wasn't going to talk about it yet. Anyway, I'm here to try to recount the rest of our trip.
On the second day, Phillipe took us on a tour of Provence in his car. We slept in and then went to Aix-en-Provence for lunch. We walked the old part of town where everything looks hundreds of years old. We went into a very old cathedral there which was prettier than any of the ones we've seen in England thus far. They had a huge open air market going that day too. They had booths selling: cheese, bread, sausage, spices, clothing, fruits, vegatables, novelties, fabric, and much more. We ate a nice lunch with Phillipe then headed back to the car. He then drove us all over Provence it seemed. We went far enough to notice a handful of different architectural styles. We got to see three or so examples of Phillipe's favorite villages in the area. One of which is Gordes where we looked upon the town that cascades down the hill (refer to our photo album for some of these beautiful views). I'm afraid the names of these other villages escapes me. We also saw a very old village of homes build out of stone called Bories. Even the roof is built out of un-mortared stones, it seems a bit percarious, but they're still standing. The last place we went to was Roussillon. It is a village up on a hill. The earth of this hill is very colorful in shades of read, pink, yellow and white. It has a sandy texture, but it's different than clay. It's called ochre in French (no not the kind you fry). There are also plenty of pics of this interesting substance. After we got back home from our whirlwind Provence tour, we went out to this pizza place in town that I remember going to when I was there and loving. I remember it as the best pizza I've ever had. France isn't exactly known for their pizza I know, but when you put roquefort, brie, and camembert on it, I'm sold. I'll be sure to try Italian pizza too when we go there for all of you purists out there.
The next day, we slept in a bit too. We then spent time with Hugette who took us to see her house in the neighboring village of Rognes. We didn't get to see much of it this time, but it's very picturesque. She then said that since we were interested in going to the beach that she was going to drop us off there for a while. We didn't argue. She drove us to Cassis, which is down the coast a bit from Marseille to the South and East. We killed about six hours there soaking up some sun (yes I had a thick layer of sunscreen on Mom), wading into the Mediteranean (no Blake I didn't wear my Speedo), pestering baby crabs, hermit crabs and barnacles, eating baguette sandwichs and sipping drinks at a cafe. It was a lot of fun. Eventually Hugette picked us up again and we ate dinner at the Casasola's.
On Saturday it was time for us to head to the second leg of our trip. I had booked two nights at a hotel in Marseille so we weren't intruding on the Casasolas for too long. Our hotel was right downtown and surprisingly spacious (after seeing hotels in England, anything looks spacious). Phillipe and Michele drove us to Marseille but they wanted to take us to lunch one last time to a seafood restaurant I had mentioned. It's out of town a ways but I remember eating there very vividly when I was there last (9 years ago). The restaurant is at the end of a peninsula and overlooks a craggy island off the tip. You have to walk a rocky footpath for a few hundred meters just to get there. We had a very leasurly, enjoyable lunch. When I'm in France, I don't even check my watch. I get the impression that none of the French check their watches either, they always seem to live for the moment!
After lunch, Phillipe and Michele said they were going to go see Notre Dame de la Garde in Marseille before they headed back home because Michele had never seen it. It's Marseille's most famous land mark. It's a basilica on top of a big hill in the middle of the city. It is refered to affectionately as the "good mother" which watches over the city. The architecture is striking, especially the ornate interior. I believe Barb got a few pictures in. Any panoramic pictures you see of the city are from atop this hill. After seeing the Basilica, we had one more drink at a cafe and then parted company with Phillipe and Michele. We were now on our own in a foreign country (England doesn't count because they kind of speak our language).
We saw a couple other neat churchs. One was an Abbey that was built in the fifth century! It was very gothic. We also saw the old Parnier neighborhood and the Vieux Port which is a very famous port packed with sail boats. On our last night there, we decided to take a late night cruise. We took one of the last boats of the night to the Frioul islands. They are not far from port and we saw Chateau D'If (an island prison) as we went by. We were on a big ferry with only two other couples on it. When we got to the island they sent us ashore and proceeded to take off back to the mainland. I had no clue they were dropping us off and leaving so I got worried. It was about sunset at this point, and athough I'm sure there are good little hotels to stay at on this island, we had a hotel and a flight to catch in the morning! Luckily I asked somebody and they said the ferry would be back in two and a half hours. So we went on a walk and injoyed the peace and quiet (downtown Marseille feels almost like New York City with all the people crowded together!). We found a cove without a soul in sight and waded into the water. I looked over about three feet to my right and saw a good sized jelly fish. It kept washing up ashore and wasn't able to get back out to sea. It was about the size of my hand. Thankfully I didn't touch it. After it got dark, we found a restaurant and had some drinks (I had Pastis, the official licorice flavored drink of Marseille) and some ice cream. We then wandered the docks looking at boats and enjoying the sound of the waves. We finally got on our ferry at ten thirty and headed back. It was the end to a wonderful week where every day was warm and sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky.
Our flight back was uneventful (which is about all you can ask for these days when you fly), but our train ride back to Reading took twice as long as it did going out! One of the lines on the Tube apparently flooded from too much rain...welcome back to England I guess. We eventually made it back though and slept like babies. After that it was back to business as usual... well I guess as usual as a couple of crazy Arkansans in England gets. Until next post, ciao!
On the second day, Phillipe took us on a tour of Provence in his car. We slept in and then went to Aix-en-Provence for lunch. We walked the old part of town where everything looks hundreds of years old. We went into a very old cathedral there which was prettier than any of the ones we've seen in England thus far. They had a huge open air market going that day too. They had booths selling: cheese, bread, sausage, spices, clothing, fruits, vegatables, novelties, fabric, and much more. We ate a nice lunch with Phillipe then headed back to the car. He then drove us all over Provence it seemed. We went far enough to notice a handful of different architectural styles. We got to see three or so examples of Phillipe's favorite villages in the area. One of which is Gordes where we looked upon the town that cascades down the hill (refer to our photo album for some of these beautiful views). I'm afraid the names of these other villages escapes me. We also saw a very old village of homes build out of stone called Bories. Even the roof is built out of un-mortared stones, it seems a bit percarious, but they're still standing. The last place we went to was Roussillon. It is a village up on a hill. The earth of this hill is very colorful in shades of read, pink, yellow and white. It has a sandy texture, but it's different than clay. It's called ochre in French (no not the kind you fry). There are also plenty of pics of this interesting substance. After we got back home from our whirlwind Provence tour, we went out to this pizza place in town that I remember going to when I was there and loving. I remember it as the best pizza I've ever had. France isn't exactly known for their pizza I know, but when you put roquefort, brie, and camembert on it, I'm sold. I'll be sure to try Italian pizza too when we go there for all of you purists out there.
The next day, we slept in a bit too. We then spent time with Hugette who took us to see her house in the neighboring village of Rognes. We didn't get to see much of it this time, but it's very picturesque. She then said that since we were interested in going to the beach that she was going to drop us off there for a while. We didn't argue. She drove us to Cassis, which is down the coast a bit from Marseille to the South and East. We killed about six hours there soaking up some sun (yes I had a thick layer of sunscreen on Mom), wading into the Mediteranean (no Blake I didn't wear my Speedo), pestering baby crabs, hermit crabs and barnacles, eating baguette sandwichs and sipping drinks at a cafe. It was a lot of fun. Eventually Hugette picked us up again and we ate dinner at the Casasola's.
On Saturday it was time for us to head to the second leg of our trip. I had booked two nights at a hotel in Marseille so we weren't intruding on the Casasolas for too long. Our hotel was right downtown and surprisingly spacious (after seeing hotels in England, anything looks spacious). Phillipe and Michele drove us to Marseille but they wanted to take us to lunch one last time to a seafood restaurant I had mentioned. It's out of town a ways but I remember eating there very vividly when I was there last (9 years ago). The restaurant is at the end of a peninsula and overlooks a craggy island off the tip. You have to walk a rocky footpath for a few hundred meters just to get there. We had a very leasurly, enjoyable lunch. When I'm in France, I don't even check my watch. I get the impression that none of the French check their watches either, they always seem to live for the moment!
After lunch, Phillipe and Michele said they were going to go see Notre Dame de la Garde in Marseille before they headed back home because Michele had never seen it. It's Marseille's most famous land mark. It's a basilica on top of a big hill in the middle of the city. It is refered to affectionately as the "good mother" which watches over the city. The architecture is striking, especially the ornate interior. I believe Barb got a few pictures in. Any panoramic pictures you see of the city are from atop this hill. After seeing the Basilica, we had one more drink at a cafe and then parted company with Phillipe and Michele. We were now on our own in a foreign country (England doesn't count because they kind of speak our language).
We saw a couple other neat churchs. One was an Abbey that was built in the fifth century! It was very gothic. We also saw the old Parnier neighborhood and the Vieux Port which is a very famous port packed with sail boats. On our last night there, we decided to take a late night cruise. We took one of the last boats of the night to the Frioul islands. They are not far from port and we saw Chateau D'If (an island prison) as we went by. We were on a big ferry with only two other couples on it. When we got to the island they sent us ashore and proceeded to take off back to the mainland. I had no clue they were dropping us off and leaving so I got worried. It was about sunset at this point, and athough I'm sure there are good little hotels to stay at on this island, we had a hotel and a flight to catch in the morning! Luckily I asked somebody and they said the ferry would be back in two and a half hours. So we went on a walk and injoyed the peace and quiet (downtown Marseille feels almost like New York City with all the people crowded together!). We found a cove without a soul in sight and waded into the water. I looked over about three feet to my right and saw a good sized jelly fish. It kept washing up ashore and wasn't able to get back out to sea. It was about the size of my hand. Thankfully I didn't touch it. After it got dark, we found a restaurant and had some drinks (I had Pastis, the official licorice flavored drink of Marseille) and some ice cream. We then wandered the docks looking at boats and enjoying the sound of the waves. We finally got on our ferry at ten thirty and headed back. It was the end to a wonderful week where every day was warm and sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky.
Our flight back was uneventful (which is about all you can ask for these days when you fly), but our train ride back to Reading took twice as long as it did going out! One of the lines on the Tube apparently flooded from too much rain...welcome back to England I guess. We eventually made it back though and slept like babies. After that it was back to business as usual... well I guess as usual as a couple of crazy Arkansans in England gets. Until next post, ciao!
3 comments:
hye..it seems u had a great and time!!nice post!!
I love reading your stories! Your thought processes are so familiar and fun. Talk to you later!
In 1996, when my ship stopped in Toulon, I took a side-trip to Marseille by bus. It was very nice! Glad you enjoyed your visit -- keep writing.
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