Life as J

For my last day in Nice, there wasn't much left to do - we just had 2 things left: see the local market and eat the local specialty, socca. Of course, we couldn't begin the day without coffee, so we headed back to the Tunisians, where they now anticipated our order. Hooray, we had achieved temporary "regular" status! After our caffeine, we explored the markets north of the train station - booth after booth of fresh produce for sale, offering local varieties as well as imported (from Spain and Italy). It reminded me a bit of farmer's markets at home, except these markets were a daily occurrence and it seemed this was how everyone bought their groceries. I couldn't resist loading up on whatever was convenient to consume - cherries, apricots, peaches, tomatoes. They all looked so fresh and tasty! Loaded up with fruits and veggies, we headed back to the apartment to have lunch. It was a marathon of eating - we demolished half a kilogram of cherries! With ful...

Today was spent wandering through shops to see if there was anything worth buying, and also relaxing at the beach. The only store worth mentioning was found in Galerie Lafayette - a department store filled with sections of brand-named clothes, similar to Japanese department stores. On the first floor, we found a Pierre Hermé macaron store! I'd heard of the great debate: which macarons reign supreme - Pierre Hermé or Ladurée? I was only able to track down the Ladurée macarons in Paris, but now I could try the challenger! Immediately, I could tell from the display that these macarons were more adventurous - compared to Ladurées classic macarons (e.g. chocolate, vanilla, rose), Pierre Hermé's creations were wild: olive oil with mandarin orange; vanilla, violet and blackcurrant; jasmine, mango and candied grapefruit. I bought 4 to try and, with great anticipation, bit into the macarons after finding an open seat at Place Masséna. The flavors were interesting, but I thought the te...

More sunshine accompanied us as we left Cassis and traveled to Nice - following the Côte d'Azur all the way via high-speed trains. Shimmering seas and endless beaches eventually lulled me to sleep on the train until we got to the bustling city of Nice. As soon as we arrived, we noticed lots of people and cars - back to the big city environment! We walked to the apartment we rented and met our host, who showed us in and helped us get settled into the environment. Anxious to eat, we lightened our load quickly and grabbed essentials before heading out to the main street to find food. Fortunately, we happened upon a row of restaurants that were still open for lunch, one of them advertising a daily special of gambas pasta for €12. Done! We sat down and ordered, only to find out that they had run out of the special. Darn. Disappointed, we ordered the closest item on the menu - seafood pasta - which turned out okay, but not great. Since we were famished, we gobbled down the pasta in n...

Ah... sun, sea, beach... what more could you ask for? For our last day of the tour in Cassis, we had a clear schedule. We had already prepared our bikes for pickup yesterday, and gathered all the materials we needed to return to the tour company, so today was much ado about nothing. Except laundry. That was the only chore we needed to get out of the way in the morning. After laundry, we just wandered and did as we pleased. There were touristy things to do, but this small seaside town was tourist central, so I didn't really feel compelled to follow the other tourists. For lunch, we stopped by a sandwich shop and grabbed a couple of baguettes to eat by the beach. Watching the swarms of French people shed their formalities by the water was fun - turns out they are just like everyone else at the beach! They like picnicking, tanning, and running into the waves. There was one downside to this particular beach - wind. Every once in awhile, a strong gust of wind would pick up the sand ...

Last day of cycling in sunshine! We ate a continental breakfast at the Hôtel Le Couvent Royal Saint Maximin, which surprisingly had bacon. Mmm... so good. Today's cycling route was supposed to be easier than yesterday, and yielded a better option for food - we had lunch reservations along the way. We set out excited, and fairly easily found our way towards Saint-Zacharie. Too easily. There was really nothing to see before the restaurant, so we ended up arriving an hour early - which is a major no-no for the French. I think they were annoyed at our presence before the restaurant was officially open for lunch, especially since we were in cycling gear. Fortunately, we did have reservations, so they let us sit at a table and we tried our best to while away the time quietly while sipping some drinks. Lunch itself was decent, though we were robbed of the opportunity to take advantage of their more affordable weekday menu because today happened to be another National holiday (Pentecôt...

With our bikes ready to go and the weather treating us to another rainless day, we set out from Aix-en-Provence and headed for the Sainte-Victoire mountain. Today would be the toughest climbing day, and it was front-loaded with the majority of the uphill in the morning. Off we went! We entered the Parc Départemental de Roques-Hautes, and saw the ground turn from brown to red as we gained elevation. As we climbed, we saw other cyclists zoom down the opposite side of the road, so we knew we weren't the only crazy ones! Then, eventually we reached the tourist attraction near the top of the mountain - Maison de Sainte-Victoire, which had a dinosaur exhibit on display. The exhibit was small, but the bathrooms were much appreciated! After a brief rest for our legs, we continued the journey up until the road gradually curved downwards towards Puyloubier. Time for lunch! We found the only restaurant in town that was open on a Sunday and asked for a table, only to be turned down. They w...

After two days of cycling, sleeping in and having a late breakfast at the hotel was the perfect beginning to our rest day. Next on the agenda? Laundry. We split up into two groups to tackle laundry and bike maintenance. This worked out pretty well - we were able to get both tasks done by early afternoon. That left just enough time to lazily explore Aix-en-Provence - grabbing a snack at the boulangerie, and wandering along the main street where there was a band playing on a stage. I guess there must have been some sort of festival in town. It was interesting walking around and seeing shops and products catering to tourists - H&M, bubble tea, California ice cream - in a tiny French town. Aix-en-Provence is supposed to have lots of fountains, and I counted a few as we walked around - the most spectacular being the fountain in the Rotonde, especially at night. We had dinner at Le P'tit Bout, a restaurant tucked in a tiny street under construction. The hostess led us down stairs...

The brilliant sun woke us up for our second cycling day. After packing up our stuff, we headed downstairs for the continental breakfast. I'll say this, after eating pastries every day, even the hotel croissants are flaky and soft in France! Good thing we're doing all this cycling. We took back roads out of Maussane towards Aix-en-Provence, admiring the long stretches of fields and thankful that the mistrals were relatively quiet. One of the best views today was of fields of wild red poppies, dancing lightly under the sun. I was hoping for a similar sight except with lavender, but was told it might be too early since lavender season is supposed to be in June/July. Navigating through some of the countryside was tricky, but we made it to Salon-de-Provence in one piece for a light lunch. Lucky for us, there was a grocery store right next to a boulangerie - so we got some salads from the boulangerie and then restocked on juice and fruits from the grocery store. From there, we tr...

I now know what Provence mistrals are. Today was the first day of the cycling portion of our trip - beginning with the continental breakfast provided by our hotel. There was a decent spread put out - breads, croissants, yogurts, fruits, and cereals - which fueled us for a couple of hours. As we made our way out of Avignon towards Maussane, we took back roads as instructed by the directions we were provided. Doing this kept us away from most cars - we saw a few, but not too many - and allowed us to really see the countryside. Almost right from the start, we noticed heavy winds blowing the foliage sideways and either giving us a huge boost or halving our speed. We had to be careful to watch our balance whenever the winds hit us sideways, especially if there were cars around! Luckily, everything worked out, and we kept each other safe on the roads. Our first stop was in a small town for pastries and coffee. I had a bite of an almond croissant and a cup of coffee, before we continued o...

Our second day in Avignon was pretty relaxed - we started off with pastries in the center of the city, nudging shoulders with all the tourists. From there, we packed up and moved to the Hotel Ibis, arranged for us by the bike tour company. It was a surprise to see the tiny hotel room, which reminded me of Japanese hotels, but I was happy with the cleanliness! Everything was spotless! The rest of the day was spent exploring the parts of the city we didn't see yesterday - the papal palace, the palace gardens, the famous bridge that was damaged by floods, and the many shops lining the cobblestone streets. I was very impressed by the condition of all the old buildings in the city that have been meticulously restored and preserved - we even saw them power-washing the cobblestones on one of the side streets! The best part of the city was definitely the palace gardens - sitting at the top of the city, they offered an amazing view not only of Avignon but of much of the Provence region. W...

Another travel day! We had a semi-early start in order to leave Lyon and catch our train to Avignon. This time, we avoided mediocre food at the train station and got up early enough to grab breakfast at a local boulangerie - hooray! With our stomachs satisfied, we made our way back to the Lyon Part-Dieu train station, and eventually ended up at the Avignon Centre TGV station. As soon as we exited the train station in Avignon, it was obvious which direction we were headed because we were faced with the city walls right across the street. Avignon is famous for being the home of the Popes (yes, that's right - the popes were not always in Vatican City) - and has the unique characteristic of being protected by stone walls. It's modernized now, in that the city's buildings now are used as retail stores instead of workshops for guild members. Walking along the main street (Rue de la République), we saw much of the old city preserved - it made me feel as if I was seeing history. ...

I had the luxury of sleeping in past 9:00 today, which felt amazing after having to wake up at 5:00 yesterday. There was no plan for today other than dinner, so we took it pretty easy. First, there was a trip to the local bakery, of course. Breakfast/brunch consisted of a tangy rhubarb pastry, apple tart, and plain Viennese roll. Bonus: in Lyon, it's possible to get your pastries and coffee from the bakery! Granted, this means the coffee is probably not great, but it is convenient. Next, we headed back to the apartment to take care of laundry and lounge around. That is something that's different in France - they don't have dryers at home, so laundry requires some planning in order to make sure your clothes are dry by the time you need them. Since we're leaving Lyon tomorrow, that meant we had to make sure our clothes dried in time for us to pack. In the afternoon, we headed to downtown Lyon to walk around and run more errands - to the post office for stamps, grocery...

It was 5:00am when the alarm went off, telling us to wake up to catch the train. Well, it was really to make sure everything was packed, breakfast was had, and the apartment was cleaned up before we left to catch our train to Lyon. Everything went fairly smoothly, with no hiccups, resulting in us dropping the keys off at about 6:15. We decided which metro lines we'd have to take in order to get to Gare de Lyon, and followed the now-familiar path to the metro platform. It was a good thing we started out early because we found the trains to be far less frequent on Sunday mornings. With time left to spare, we arrived at the TGV station and were able to walk around (or get coffee) before boarding the train to Lyon. The train journey was fairly uneventful - I tried to sleep for most of it, with partial success. Once we arrived in Lyon, we walked over to the apartment we had found through airbnb, passing an outdoor market along the way. Our hosts had warned us that we would be able t...

Last day in Paris! We started off the day pretty relaxed, with baguettes from the bakery down the street and the rest of our fruit supply. Then we headed out, this time away from the touristy areas, to the Parc Georges-Brassens in the 15th arrondissement. I was trying to find an outdoor market that was open late on a Saturday and discovered this book market. This was definitely unique and quiet - there were old comic books (Asterix and Tintin), books about music, cars, poetry, and even vinyl records! It was serene and peaceful, walking amongst the piles of books, without having to worry about pickpockets and being nudged by other tourists. After perusing through the market, it was time for coffee and pastries - we grabbed the pastries first, then sat down at a café to enjoy our coffee. For the pastries, we decided to head into the Parc Georges-Brassens to find a bench. With the sun shining, and locals going about their business, it was the perfect opportunity to breathe some fresh ...

Today, I was aiming for a relaxed day of unbounded exploration of Paris. After sleeping in, we got up and gathered together the food we bought from the grocery store yesterday, along with fresh baguettes and pastries from the bakery we found, for an indoor picnic. It's amazing how good simple ingredients can taste if they're fresh! Once we finished eating, we set out for the famous Champs Elysées. I wasn't sure what to expect - I knew there would be serious shopping, so maybe something like Robson in Vancouver? Or Ginza in Tokyo? Champs Elysées was much grander - the regal architecture carried over from the historical buildings could be seen all over the place - and "blingy". This is where people go to shop if they have deep pockets. That's obviously not me, so the only thing I bought was macarons from Ladurée. I was expecting an outrageous bill for a dozen macarons, but it turned out to be fairly reasonable: €24 total. At the end of the avenue was the Arc...

We left Blois with excitement and a twinge of fear - our host in Blois bade us farewell with a warning to watch out for pickpockets. I knew that it might be sketchy in Paris from guidebooks, but to hear it from a local meant that there really was cause for concern. As we sat in the train station with our breakfast ordered to go, we relished the safe environment around us and reflected on the great experiences thus far. When our TGV train to Paris arrived, we boarded and were off to visit the City of Lights! We returned to Gare d'Austerlitz and took the Paris metro to Montmartre, clutching our backpacks to our chests, watching anyone and everyone around us. As we surfaced from the subway to the sidewalk, we noticed the swarms of tourists rushing to see the Basilica (today was a national holiday). We managed to find our way to the apartment and our awaiting concierge helped us get settled in. Immediately, it was obvious we had moved to the big city - the apartment was seriously dec...

Our last day in Blois had a bit of a rocky start. We were headed to Chenonceau and had checked the train schedule last night, so we knew we had to catch the 9:20 train out of Blois. The only thing we had to do was buy tickets. I was tasked with getting these tickets from the machine. It was my first time using the ticket machine and I went through each step: 4 passengers, departing from Blois, arriving at Chenonceau, 2nd class seats, return trip included. Then it asked me how many, and I mistakenly keyed in 4. When the total charge was displayed, I knew something was wrong, but I also knew the train was leaving in 20 minutes. We had no idea how much it was supposed to cost. And everything was in French! I panicked - I began to think of alternate ways of getting to Chenonceau. Bus? Nope, it only goes to Chambord and Cheverny. Taxi? But it seems pretty expensive too. Another train to Amboise? Then a bus from Amboise? But wait!! I realized my mistake, and tried the ticket machine agai...

Today was my first time cycling in France - we left the apartment as early as we could to head to the bike rental store. At first glance, the selection wasn't great - all hybrid bikes - but this turned out to be a blessing. We ended up on cobblestones and gravel many times so the comfortable saddle, leisurely riding position, and tough-as-nails tires served us very well. First stop was for breakfast, and we couldn't help but head back to the same boulangerie that offered us such sumptuous pastries yesterday. This time, I tried a chocolate croissant (yum!) and a potato galette. The potato galette (galette de pomme de terres) turned out to be pretty good, considering my initial surprise - I had actually meant to order an apple galette (galette de pommes). We also tried an olive baguette, which was bursting with olives. For coffee, we had to try a different café because yesterday's provider only opened at 11:00. We found one along the Loire, and enjoyed café au lait bef...

After a long day of traveling, it was only fitting to enjoy a day of relaxation. What better way to start than with a pastry-filled brunch? I looked up the closest boulangeries and patisseries, which led me to Artisan Boulanger. There, I feasted on an almond croissant (taste and texture reminded me of the one I had in Montreal, with the closest contender in Vancouver being French Made Baking), coupled with a few bites of their plain croissant and apple tart. It is hard to describe the joy of eating a well-made pastry - so deeply satisfying that it fueled me for the rest of the day until dinner. The rest of the day was spent exploring the center of Blois around the castle, with the highlights being the grocery stores (I love seeing what locals eat and what ingredients they use in their cooking), cafés, and tourist information office. We tried both café experiences (a quick espresso at the bar, versus sitting down and sipping a café crème while sitting and watching street pedestrians)...

I'm in France! Blois to be exact - a small city in the Loire Valley. It was an interesting journey here, beginning with a flight from Vancouver to Frankfurt. Nothing really notable about this leg except the German woman next to me climbing over me as I was just about to fall asleep, abruptly jostling me awake. I really wish she would have just tapped me awake because after that, all attempts to sleep failed miserably. That means no sleep on the plane. Next stop, Frankfurt! I have to say, returning to Frankfurt airport was a pleasant experience. It's a well-organized, efficient place where you can find decent food (a tasty sandwich and nut croissant for those in a hurry, plus healthy juice to boost the immune system) and tons of washrooms! Too bad we didn't have enough time for a sit-down meal, but that's ok. Onto Paris! Oh wait. Not so fast. As we were boarding the flight to Paris with Lufthansa, we were stopped because we had 2 carry-ons. Ridiculous! I forgot tha...

It is springtime, and that means another trip! I'm excited for yet another adventure overseas, and this time with company - 3 others, to be exact. There was no doubt that cycling would be part of this trip, and the destination of France somehow made its way into our conversations around mid-2014. As home to the largest cycling event in the world, the Tour de France, and the most famous culinary institution in the world, Cordon Bleu, why not? Similar to my trip to Japan, we'll be spending one week cycling, but at the tail end of the 3 weeks. Trains will be the primary mode of transportation for the first 2 weeks, as we explore the Loire Valley, Paris, and Lyon. From there, we'll head to Avignon and bike the rest of the way to Nice and the French Riviera. Flights and Accommodations Flights were booked first, almost as soon as the idea of travelling to France was conceived. Then, because of my paranoia that the best accommodations get booked well in advance, we also nail...