Oh la la! La France!

A long, LONG overdue post about our trip to France, August 2012. Unfortunately the camera memory card has been misplaced and all I have are iPhone/instagram snapshots. 

Originally I had planned a 4 day weekend trip to Paris but what started out as a short getaway turned into a week long adventure with several destinations that left me only one day of Parisian bliss! 

I blame Kimball.

Upon our arrival in Nice we had a bit of a rough start that included an accident, hitting a guy and his girlfriend on a moped with our rental car and getting to the hotel in the middle of the night. The following morning we sat down to our first french breakfast. Cheese, bread, juices, hot chocolate, jams, tea, yogurt, fruit. 

A much needed feast that lifted our spirits and got us in the mood for adventure.

Best breakfast of my life

Next stop, the beach. Beautiful smooth pebble beach. My favorite kind! No sand in your stuff. Or your undies.   

French Riviera

The city of Nice is a well visited tourist destination with all that it entails so naturally we headed out of there as soon as possible!

The next day we traveled inland to a little quaint picturesque town called Gringan, 

a couple of hours northwest of Nice.

We visited the old restored castle and enjoyed exploring the village and the winding streets and hidden nooks and crannies. Incredibly charming and beautiful. If this doesn't make you love France, nothing will!

Grignan castle

We visited the old restored castle and enjoyed exploring the village and the winding streets and hidden nooks and crannies. Incredibly charming and beautiful. If this doesn't make you love France, nothing will!

Winding street of Grignan

Old gnarly trees

The Inn we stayed at in Grignan

We toured around wine country for a couple of days and made it to Avignon.

Wall around Avignon

It's a historic, vibrant old city full of activity and beautiful buildings surrounded by a tall stone wall. Our hotel was right in the centre of the city on the edge of the court of the Palais des Papes. The Popes Palace. 

Palais des Papes

Incredible building. 

It boggles the mind how crude tools and simple equipment built such a gargantuan building. Absolutely stunning as is everything in Avignon. 

We strolled around all evening and stopped to have my portrait drawn by a street artist while eating gelato. Hippies, tourists, locals, vagabonds, bums - all creating a vibrant almost circus like atmosphere in the heart of the city. 

On the ferris wheel in Avignon

He's pretty cute

We drove back to Nice, paid a visit to the local police station that hadn't seen fresh paint (or fresh anything) since the 80's to make our statement. My crummy french got us through and things got sorted. 

We headed out of the city and crossed the border to Italy and made it to a hotel in a little beach town a couple of hours past the border. The place was quiet, full of restaurants and shops.

Photographing the photographer in Italy

  

Kimball bought a speedo in a small men's clothing shop run by a tiny old italian lady who didn't speak a lick of english. Hilarity ensued. 

We had Italian pizza that I as a European appreciated but my American family were not as easily convinced. A teen beauty pageant was being held in the town and I gotta say, Italians are SO cheesy!

The music and the clothes were terrible! It was like stepping back in time to the 90's, a decade that wasn't kind to anyone. 

The water turns green on the Italian side of the Mediterranean rather than the aqua of the French coastline. Warm and clear water! We played with some Moroccan immigrant kids whose families came over by boat to try to find work. Many of these people sleep on the beach during most of the day.

The beaches are covered with sunbeds and shade for rent. There was really only a small spot to enter the water and access the beach for free on basically the entire beach.

We headed back to Nice for one last night before heading to Paris.

The Eiffel Tower

I love Paris. 

It's true. 

And most people that have been there or lived there will say the same. It's an incredible city. Beautiful, rich in history and art!

Champs Elysees

Impressive handiwork

We walked from our Best Western situated on a side street a stones throw away from Champs Elysees all the way to the Eiffel tower.

It was crowded as always so we boarded the Seine river bus that stops at all the main points of interest and enjoyed the ride and were content with the distant views of Notre Dame. We wandered around the city while eating candy, across bridges, through gardens, past the Louvre and made it to the mini carnival. 

Hot man on a boat.

It was sheer pleasure! Feet hurt so bad at the end of the day but nobody cares.

The next morning I flew back to Sweden by myself to spend some more time with my family and pick up Lois. My 4 day Parisian getaway turned into only one short but splendid day.

I can't wait to go back!

Emily's favorite car

Paris