Last stop on the road trip

I spent a few more days in Toulouse which was really lovely.  The architecture is distinctive and the stones used for building are pink.  I even bought a pink stone ring to remind myself of the place.

I visited one last museum with a selection of French art...got my last Monet fix in.

And bought a leather purse in a market.

Then, on to my last stop on the whistle-stop France tour with Bordeaux.  I didn't have very high hopes for Bordeaux as it's such a tourist draw but I was pleasantly surprised.  Because it was a rich port throughout the past centuries, it has these big wide open boulevards and plazas everywhere.  They've also just spent ten years cleaning the 18th century limestone buildings so the whole city looks sparkly with it's unique classical decorations.

 Also, they've also finally gotten enough money to restore recovered bronze statues that were removed during WWII. 

I did some souvenir shopping and, of course, took a wine tour out in the gorgeous countryside.

Learned some unique things on this tour such as how the barrels are made by hand by a cooper.  Not surprisingly, coopers are getting harder to find these days.

Tried some sweet whites, dry whites and reds.  Although I enjoyed this tour more, I think I  like the Burgundy wines that I tried on my Dijon tour more.

I'm back to Vancouver next and I can already feel myself going into croissant withdrawal...not sure what I'll do!

Carcassonne

Carcassonne is the city built up around a little hilltop that has had people living on it since people were living in France.  The little hilltop became a fortified walled city about 1000 years ago and was added onto and built up over the centuries.  Currently, it's the oldest fully walled medieval city in Europe and it's enchanting.  Now it's filled with shops and restaurants and tourists but you can imagine what it might have been like with knights galloping around and the peasants going about their daily business.  They actually have a few actors wandering around in costume which sounds kitschy but which was kind of cute.

I also had lunch there and tried the traditional 'cassoulet' which is a stew made with white beans cooked in duck fat and then baked with chicken and pork...delicious!

Trains

After a crazy day of traveling, I'm now in Toulouse. 

I've only got one more train ride to go so I feel somewhat qualified to make some comments on traveling by train in France.

1. If you have heavy luggage, are disabled or older, you're screwed.  There are always stairs and the lifts and escalators are turned off or non-existent.  I think they're labeling this under 'austerity' measures but I'm putting under 'mean'.

2. There is always one woman on every train who will talk non-stop in rapid-fire French the entire journey.  She will ignore all glares directed her way and will only pause for breath as she's leaving the train.

3. The train conductors are there to make sure you have a ticket.  They are not there to help you with your bag, find your seat or ensure that you know when to exit the train.  Stop bothering them!

4.  The toilet in your car will be broken...always.

5. Never catch a taxi at the train station as they add a luggage fee and a station fee...I think this is basically a stupid-tourist-tax.

6.  Your ticket price is directly related to how popular the route is and how close the departure time is so buy your tickets early and go to boring destinations if you want to save money.

7.  You have a fifty-fifty chance of sitting next to a chain smoker who, of course, won't be smoking on the train, but will have smoked an entire pack before boarding to brace themselves for their journey.  Keeping an emergency scarf in your bag may save you from asphyxiation.

Let's look at the pros;

8.  The view outside your window will be spectacular so always book a window if you can.

9.  Buying tickets online and then printing them at the station is unbelievably easy.

10.  The train stations always have somewhere to buy chocolate croissants which makes them magical places, in my opinion.

Life of the rich and famous

So to join the rich and famous in Monte Carlo I took the 1.50euro bus from Nice because I'm not rich and famous myself.  It turned out to be a great idea as this was typical of the view en route.

Then to the home of the Formula 1, the world's first casinos and way too much money, Monte Carlo.  I took the hop on/hop off bus and listened to a bit of history as I got driven around.  Apparently, the country used to be quite a bit bigger and have huge orange orchards as their main source of income but in the 1860s those areas seceded and King Charles had to come up with a new source of revenue.  He created Monte Carlo (Mount Charles) and brought in the casinos. 

It was a bit shocking walking through the marina and seeing dozens of these floating monstrosities and the parking lots filled with expensive sports cars...everyone there seems to have money to burn.

To try to get some of that money for myself, I went up to the world famous Monte Carlo casino.  They charge 10 euros just to walk in this lovely building designed by Charles Garnier so I went to the free casino next door.  I didn't win any money or see James Bond but it was fun anyways.

I didn't really think much of the city.  It's overly complicated getting around because of the raceway, it's very mountainous and seems a real hodge-podge of new and old construction side by side which makes it feel disjointed.  There's also a huge, loud and tacky amusement park along the entire waterfront.  An interesting trip but not somewhere I'd want to stay.

The next day I went to a great outdoor flower market in Nice.

I would love to live in a place that had a market like this every day.

Entrevaux

I had heard about these cool little trains that took you into the mountains to see the medieval towns so I spent today doing just that.  They have special tourist trains with big windows and, apparently they usually have a tour commentary but they didn't today. 

 

The train ride wasn't quite as pretty as I had hoped partly due to the sun being so low in the sky this time of year.  It was kind of blinding on one side but when it dipped behind the mountains, the fall leaves were brilliant.

 

 

Entrevaux dates back to the 1500s and was repeatedly fought over...here's a list of occupiers courtesy in just six years.

It was a pretty little town but mostly shut down for the winter.  I was going to hike up to the monastery at the top of the mountain but the ticket dispenser was broken...my thighs seemed pretty grateful about that.

Nice is very nice

So, Nice is now my favorite place in France.  It's so pretty here and it smells good...strange but true.  My first day, I took a leisurely five hour walk.  I started at the azure blue sea by walking along the beach and then up to the top of the, once fortified, castle grounds.

 

On the other side of the hill, you can see the marina.

There's a cemetery and beautiful park at the top of the hill.

Then I went back down into the medieval part of town for a wander.

This is my favorite part of the city...narrow, winding alleys with colourful shops and restaurants.

Then, as it was my birthday, I treated my self to a huge Panini with various meats and cheeses on it and a chocolate covered something for desert.

Dijon

Well, it started raining the minute I walked out of the Dijon train station and didn't stop until I left three days later.  I suppose I shouldn't complain since they've had the best weather this fall that anyone here can remember.  I did go out into the stormy weather but mostly looked at it from restaurant and café windows.  It's a shame because the old town looked very inviting.

What to do when it's rainy and windy and icky outside....drink wine in underground cellars!  I took a tour of the local Bourgogne/Burgundy wine area and did a little sipping.  It was a great tour and I learned all about the complicated wine labels and the crazy rules of wine making in the region. 

Strasbourg

So, I've left my cozy Paris apartment and headed out into the countryside.  First stop; Strasbourg, which is a ridiculously adorable town on the border with Germany.  It has an odd history as it has been passed back and forth between Germany and France repeatedly since Charlemagne died.  It's now the home of the European Council and the European Court of Human Rights which is a nice result for a town that has been the prize of a tug-a-war for centuries.

I stayed in a very cute hotel in the Cathedral square.

The only problem was this;

Less than 100 feet away were 16 cathedral bells that rang every 15 minutes....starting at 7:00 am.  Seriously!  Every 15 minutes.  Apparently the Vatican hasn't figured out that we've all got time devices of our own now.   Other than that, this 900 year old cathedral was really gorgeous with pink stone and odd animal statues interspersed with the gargoyles.

I took the walking tour.

An old girl's school

Old City fortifications

Fisherman's wharf

The guide talked all lot about the struggle between Germany and France with the tour ending in Republic Square with this war memorial.

The female character represents Strasbourg while the two nude males represent all the dead from both Germany and France.  They're nude to show that in death it doesn't matter which side they were on.  Strasbourg mourns for them all.

On the tour, I met an interesting woman from the UK who is working at the Human Rights Court and we had dinner together in Petite France.

 

Petite France is the original city and was eventually turned into a hospital/brothel for syphilis patients.  So French!  Now it's just beautiful with tiny cobblestone streets and wooden framed houses.

 

 

On the other end of the scale, here's the European Human Rights Court that I saw while taking a boat tour of the Ill River

 

It probably doesn't hurt that it's sunny and 22 degrees but I really like Strasbourg.  I'll have to come back one year for their Christmas Market.  Tomorrow I'm off to Dijon for some wine tasting.