Life in the South of France - Cannes

By the time we got to the last day of our trip it was smoking hot, we were tired from walking countless miles and many hills, and I still couldn't quite kick my cold.  So we decided to take it easy and just take a quick trip over to Cannes to check out the locale of the annual film festival.  It's a nice place to wander away an afternoon - we spent much of it people watching in the shade, which was definitely an interesting way to spend an hour or two.

On the train again...

Promenading in Cannes

More yachts, yachts, yachts.

I'm sure this red carpet sees much more stylish walkers than me!

Lots of famous hand prints along the walk in front of the theatre.

There is very little free beach area in Cannes - most of it is covered with beach chairs that you can pay 25 Euros a day for the privilege of sitting on.

And on the way home again.

Life in the South of France - La Belle Nice

La Belle Nice is where we spent our first day exploring in the south of France.  Nice isn't small - Wikipedia tells me it's the fifth largest city in France, but it has a compact old town that is close to the beach and some nice sights to fill up a day or two.  The size also helps it absorb the gads of tourists that flock there every year.  After a rainy final day in Paris, we walked into weather that was about 28 degrees but felt like 35 degrees with the humidity.  It was actually a nice, if somewhat sticky, change.

One of the big squares, as viewed through my Mom's new sunglasses.

There's a nice little flower market that runs daily and also sells all kinds of fruits, veggies, and touristy treats.

The old town is a really lovely place to wander around, people watch, and take pictures.

You can also climb up to the top of a hill where there was once a castle to get some spectacular views along the coast.  My Mom is going to be mountaineering with my brother if she keeps this up - she was game for the hike up despite the heat.

She lost a few bravery points, however, as she went to dip her toes into the Mediterranean for this shot.  Nice is notorious for its very rocky beaches that are steep at the edge and hard on the feet, and let's just say there was some complaining about foot pain... Right, Mom?

We finished the day lounging on the beach as the sun started to go down, eating a delicious Italian dinner, and wandering back through the big square, which has Buddha-looking guys lit up in different colours at night.  Lovely!

Riding the TGV

My Mom and I arrived in Vancouver safe and sound last night, but before I get into to that, let me finish off with our adventures in the south of France.  On Monday we took a TGV from Paris to Marseille, and then another from Marseille to Nice.  (Note: You can take a TGV directly from Paris to Nice.  The short reason that we made a change is that raileurope.ca sucks.  The long answer is available upon request).

This was my first TGV ride and my Mom's first big train travel day.  I have to say that travelling along at 300 km/hour is pretty impressive.  The scenery goes by so quickly it's almost nauseating at times (in a good way!) and you pass traffic on freeways as if it is standing still.

A few shots from our travel day.

Ready to go!

The nice view from the Marseille train station when we popped out during our quick stopover.

Where is that train anyway?

We covered the 783 kilometres from Paris to Marseille in just under four hours, and then it was another 2 and a half hours on a slower track to Nice.  Not bad for a day's work!

Yes, Nice is Nice

It's one of the oldest jokes in the book, but Nice is a nice little town. We made it down here on the TGV on Monday afternoon and have filled our days with shopping, exploring the old town, climbing to the top of various hills for the views, and promenading with the other tourists. We also did day trips to Monaco and Cannes to see how the other half lives.

The one thing Nice doesn't have is a wireless connection friendly to my laptop so I can upload some of our many photos; those will have to wait until I'm home on Saturday. It's hard to believe that our first two and a half months are over tomorrow! It's been an amazing time but Chad and I are looking forward to a summer exploring vistas closer to home before heading for South America in the fall. That's all from France - see many of you soon!

The Sights of Paris

My Mom and I leave Paris for Nice tomorrow, and it is hard to believe how quickly our four days here have flown by.  We have managed to cram more sightseeing and shopping and eating and wandering and fun into these four days than I would have imagined possible.  We were slowed down a bit yesterday by jet lag (for Mom) and today by a cold (for me) plus a relentless rain all day today, but nonetheless managed to squeeze as much fun as possible out of Paris before tomorrow's departure.  So what have we been up to?  Scroll down to relive our adventures with us.

My Mom is now a maestro of the Paris metro system.  The Paris metro system is claimed to be the best in the world, and I can see why - it ridiculously easy to access and cheap to ride.

Not sure who this guy is or why he's so angry.  Maybe it's the bird on his head?

We braved the 284 steps and climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe for some fantastic views, despite the threat of rain.

We shopped the Champs-Elysees with minimal damage to our bank accounts, and wound up at the Place de la Concorde.

We dined at a typical French brasserie with waiters in bow ties who brought me 'vegetarian' food that I managed to order in French ('vegetarian' because I'm pretty sure that wasn't vegetable broth in that lentil stew... Luckily I didn't have the vocabulary or inclination to ask!)

We wandered the Seine some more and entertained ourselves on the Ile St-Louis.

My Mom tried the ice cream from the famous Maison Berthillon.  She chose salted butter caramel and says "best ice cream I've ever had"!

We finished Day 2 by heading to Trocadero to watch the Eiffel Tower light up.  And on June 22, that doesn't happen until late.  The lighting up around 10 pm is pretty.  The flashing light show starting at 11 pm is almost seizure inducing.

The next day we took the train out to Versailles to visit the palace.  This place is huge and outrageously ornate.  It was also jam packed with tourists, despite the fact we got there at a reasonably early hour.

There's an art exhibition going on right now that has modern art placed throughout the palace.  My Mom wasn't convinced she liked it, but I thought it was kind of a neat juxtaposition of very modern versus very old.

Maybe she looks a little TOO at home in the palace...

This was a piece of the modern art we both thought was pretty cool.  There are actually two of these shoes, and they are made of pots and lids.

We didn't get to visit the gardens, as they were shut down for a special event that day.  But they looked lovely from the outside!  And with that, we hightailed it back to Paris.

We found a book market in the Latin Quarter, but sadly it was only books en francais.

My Mom tried out fruit jellies from one of Paris's many chocolatieres.  The verdict?  Delicious!

The lovely Place des Vosges.  We had dinner at an equally lovely cafe nearby, where the locals entertained us with their enthusiasm for the game of Hearts and were gracious enough to wait until we finished eating to smoke.  People in Paris are much friendlier than their reputation gives them credit for.

This morning was the first day it rained - and I mean really, really rained - all day.  Luckily we had planned a morning at the Louvre.  The waterproof camera was enough to capture these obligatory proof we were at the Louvre shots:

The upside down companion to the pyramid atop the main Louvre entrance.

I think you all know who this is... in real life, this painting is much smaller than one would expect.  There were just as many people here to visit it as there were when I pushed my way in to see it 12 years ago.

Venus de Milo

A gigantic sphinx, though not the biggest there was to see.

The jugs they're carrying are full of beer!

Our plan for the rest of the day was to visit Sacre Coeur Cathedral and wander Montmartre.  This was compromised by the rain, so we were forced to seek shelter and drink grog for part of the afternoon.

And that's our visit to Paris!  We leave tomorrow morning for Nice on the TGV, so stay tuned for more adventures from the south of France.