Avignon, France

Avignon - what an interesting city center! The entire city is surrounded by an old castle wall, with a few entrances for car/bike/scooter/pedestrian traffic. There were tons of people walking the streets and as a driver in the car, you do not have the right of way here. If there is somebody walking in the street, they may move, or they may not. And you drive behind them until you reach your destination or turn. Thankfully we found the hotel and parking early enough so we could explore the city.

The streets were all pretty small...

We found a small candy store that specialized in caramels, nougats, and hard candies. After about 15 caramels and a handful of hard candy later, we headed down the streets more. Lots of shopping and great places to explore. Something that many European cities offer is a public bicycle rental, in the case of Avignon, was the veloblue. With a credit card and a bit of patience, you can rent a bicycle for about 1 euro an hour. It is complete with gears for hills, a small basket in the front, and a bike lock. We rented two bikes and rode around the city for a while. We got lost, but it was ok, as we found cute stores to stop in and really got a feel for the city. We also discovered an indoor farmers market to explore - and I loved it! There were several little counters/vendor stalls all over, some offering fresh cheese and butter, another just seafood, then one with just pastas, tapenades, pestos, and spices. Claudia bought some butter and fresh goat cheese so we could go sit down at a cafe with some fresh bread and coffee.

We sat a small cafe near the market and ate our bread with some delicious coffee. I actually had two different coffees only because I enjoyed the coffee so much! And while I was relaxing, and Claudia was off in a store across the way, I made a friend. See below:

This little guy came down the stairs inside the cafe and was all over the place and skittish. Then he just walked up to me, hopped up in the chair next to me and meowed. So we sat and spoke cat for a while, until some kids on a scooter went by revving the engine and scared him. He came back for a while, but he was already distracted by the kids and wouldn't relax. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

We went to the edge of the city center to explore the bridge and a bit of the outside of the castle. The bridge didn't go all the way across as there was a flood a long time ago that washed out half the bridge. But it was neat to walk along and view the water and castle from there.

I enjoyed Avignon alot - especially riding the bikes around. However it was time to head to Lyon! I hope to see this city again one day...

Now - let's go to Lyon!

Aix-en-Provence

Arriving in Provence late was how we started the day. We tried a hotel near the city center and all the hotels in the city center were booked. Great. So we headed back towards the edge of town and stayed at a Novotel... which I can say that both of us have stayed in better rooms. I slept great though... We got right up in the morning and headed into town. I expected something completely different in my mind... however the city center itself was quite small. A large fountain dominated the street, seen below:

Otherwise the town itself seemed quite small to me... However while walking the streets, we came across a wonderful boulangerie called Paul. Breads were coming out of the oven hot and fast, and WOW the smell of the bread was intoxicating! We went right in and ordered two paninis and to desserts. Simple, yet so amazingly delicious... I can't stop thinking about it even right now... my mouth is watering. I hope to come across one in Paris so I can eat more of those delicious paninis and desserts!

Around 2 pm we headed up a street to Paul Cezanne's house. I couldn't remember any of his works off the bat, however when we went into the ground floor and I saw a few prints of his on calendars and bookmarks and such and I remembered instantly who he was. See the painting example below:

We walked the grounds of his house and actually were able to enter his studio where he did all of his paintings. It was quite untouched and you could feel an energy in the room that was inspiring. The bottles and jugs represented in many of his paintings could be seen in his studio... However we were not able to take any pictures of the studio itself. We enjoyed the visit to his studio and the stroll along the grounds of his house... but it was time to move on.

We hopped in the car and drove on the scenic roads towards Avignon... I thought I had seen rain until we got on the scenic road. The drops of rain were so big and coming down so hard, it was absolutely crazy. We had to slow down and pull off the road for a few because it was just too much. Then flashes of lightning and a loud thunderclap above our heads caused us too little "chickens" to get back on the road. It cleared up after a while... and the road to Avignon was really pretty. (Well, it was even pretty in the rain, but you know what I mean.) There were wineries, farm stands of fresh fruit and vegetables, small towns with brightly colored shuttered windows and pretty flowers in all the windows. This is what I expected to see in Provence. The drive was wonderful, and before we knew it we arrived in Avignon. Here are some pictures below of the drive.

See you all in Avignon!

South of France - Nice, France

We finally made it to the French part of the journey, but it involves leaving Switzerland, and entering Italy! We drove for 7 hours to reach the South of France in rain the entire way. The journey through Italy seemed quite long because of the rain, and it was night time... But the countryside was nice. We crossed into France and Italy from Switzerland, and while passing through France at one point we actually took the Mt. Blanc tunnel and got pretty up close and personal with the glacier... See below.

Well, not THAT up close and personal, but for being in the car and driving to our destination, this was quite cool! There are other pictures of the drive to Nice, France via Mt. Blanc in my photo gallery.

When we arrived at 11pm in the South of France the weather was great, a warmth was in the air... When we found some hotels in Nice, we finally settled on one right across from the sea. Settled and tired, we grabbed some South of France cuisine (ala the "golden arches of McDonald's) and went to bed.

Waking up in the morning, we thought we had ditched the rain, but not so... However here is the view from the room.

We headed out for some coffee on the run and headed to the train station to go to Monaco. The rain had washed out a hillside and it was blocking the train tracks, so we opted to take the train to Cannes. We arrived there within a half hour and explored the city. It was raining on and off and it was more or less much like Nice. We strolled the streets with umbrellas in tow and used them on and off. We headed back some hours later and headed into the streets of Nice for some dinner. We found a little cafe on a busy street and had dinner there... steak and veal, salad, and some wine. Not too bad... Sat next to two gentleman who were from the east coast. Nice guys... We chatted on and off for a while, then Claudia and I headed out for some gelato... And as we headed out from under the cafe awning, the heavens decided to open. It was raining pretty hard. We grabbed the gelato and sat and ate our dessert as the rain fell around us. It only rained harder and harder, so we decided to head back under the use of our trusty umbrellas.

Maybe 10 minutes later we were in the room, and feeling soaked and a bit cold. However, we enjoyed walking in the rain and I would do it over again. And the best part, as we were turning in for the night, Claudia yells, "OOH I saw thunder lights!" I thought, "what are thunder lights?" My reply to her, "Do you mean lightning?" ... I've learned that she has her own language over time...

We woke the next morning and WOW - check out the view now!

The day only got better! We loved the weather and found ourselves swept into the magic and allure of the South of France!

After sitting around and people watching we took a walk and soaked up the sunshine! Oh and don't think we didn't head out for Monaco! We sure did! We drove over to Monaco and took a tour of the city on a little city train and saw everything there was to see in a short time as Monaco is quite small.

This picture was taken in the plaza in front of the Monte Carlo casino... We went inside and played 5 euro each... No big winner here! Left without my 5 euros, as did Claudia...

The views all over Monaco were so amazing... Especially the drive to and from Monaco... I would love to spend some time along the water and work on a tan... or in my case a nasty sunburn. :)

We enjoyed our time here and took some great pictures... I think I posted all of them that are in the gallery, but I can't recall, so feel free to explore the gallery! On to Aix-en-Provence!

Geneve, Switzerland

We arrived in Geneve rather late, but found 2 hotels side by side to check out. One of the hotels was recommended by a World Hotels book found in our room at the Hotel Allegro in Bern. When I found out the hotel was booked full with only smoking rooms remaining, we headed next door. They had rooms available, and we had a nice room... spacious with a couch and coffee table a few small closets, and a simple bathroom.

Here is where things took a turn towards "interesting"...

Throughout Germany and Switzerland we were unable to really locate any laudromats... so besides hand washing items in the sink at the hotels, it was a good thing we both packed many shirts and pants and sweaters to choose from. However, we were at the end of the line for "clean clothes"...

SOOOOOOO

We asked the hotel for the closest laundromat and it was just up the street, turn left, and head down a few small streets, it will be on the right hand side. By this time it was something like 8:30 pm. We drove down the street and it was like turning down the street into a bad movie you'd watch on TNT at 3:30 in the morning. Not only did the steet seem sketchy, but every other store had XXX signs flashing... Then the women, or I think some of them were women, were wearing less and less clothing. We parked the car and headed into the laudromat. I had seen worse, but there were all sorts of people doing their clothes. Nothing scary, or should I say too scary. We loaded the clothes into the washers and headed to the change machine. Not working. I went to two or three little stores and nobody would change my bills for coins. (5 euros, and 1 euro coins only would be accepted.) After 15 minutes, only 1 american lady helped me, and she actually just gave me 2 euros. THANK YOU STRANGER AMERICAN LADY! So we only needed like 40 more euro coins! Claudia and I walked up and down the street hitting little stores up for change. Sometime after 9pm we finally had enough money to wash clothes.

By this time, there were twice as many "ladies of the night" walking the street and just as many men ummm... "window shopping." Not to worry though, we were safe inside the laundromat. Until an older "lady" walked in and spoke spanish. She was changing her wash to the dryer... while her "customer" waited outside the door. They walked away hand in hand. Very weird.

We opted out of having COMPLETELY dry clothes as we were tired and a little weirded out by the local "clientele"... Starving, and the room reminiscent of a christmas tree ornaments of wet socks, undies, shirts, and pants we ordered room service and passed out around midnight I think.

The next day we headed into the city for a bit. I really enjoyed the old town area. Starving we saw quite a few people standing around a lunch truck that served a vast selection of paninis. We each ordered one and WOW, they were great! We ate while we walked when we found a Globus shopping center which was FANTASTIC. The "food court" area was busy with men in business suits, women on the go with their shopping bags, and the occasional tourists. There were several food choices, but not what you would normally see in any shopping center. This was upscale, friendly, and clean. There was one area for just coffee and wine, one place just for breads and pastry items, another for chinese food. All the tables were bar height and glasses, napkins, straws, condiments etc were all available in the middle of the table. We had coffee at the coffee bar and watched the people come and go. Then it was time for some shopping! I finally purchased a swiss army knife, just a small one for my keychain. We also bought some candies/chocolates and some meringues to munch on while on the road to the South of France.

It was overcast when we finally headed out to the water for some pictures, but I did enjoy the old town and the shopping choices... Here are a few photos...

Next stop, the South of France!

Bern, Switzerland

Arriving in Bern was nice, as it was a gorgeous day, and the city was amazing. No wonder it is listed one of the UNESCO world heritage sites. The city was bustling with people, bicycles, and once again, very few places where cars can actually go. We searched a few hotels, until we found one on the other side of the water from the old town, called Hotel Allegro... The view from the room below:

The first photo shows the view to the old town. It was really pretty. The hotel had it's own casino, which we did not explore, and a nice restaurant downstairs. We headed into the town just after 8pm or so and everything was dead... nobody was walking around anymore, very few people in the cafes, and all stores were closed. We tried to find a fondue place, but couldn't locate it anywhere. We eventually gave up and didn't feel like eating at any of the 14 pizza places we passed up on the streets. We then went back to the hotel and ate in the restaurant. It was a great meal, steak and risotto with steamed vegetables... Delicious!

Off to bed, we were both exhausted. When we awoke in the morning we showered and headed downstairs for breakfast, which was the same old thing as everywhere else we had been in Europe. We ate until we were both content, then checked out and decided to relax in the lounge downstairs. We each had a drink at the bar and then eventually headed into town around 2pm. Bustling with people, we explored a few of the city streets. A small fair was going on where cows and cheese were the main focus, but you could buy other items like hand made jewelry, hand spun wool yarns...

We walked through it and then decided to head back to the hotel to pick up the car. We were ready to head out to Geneve, Switzerland, but not without some beautiful pictures from the bridge! See below!

Next stop Geneve, Switzerland!

Luzern - Mt. Pilatus

It was an early morning for us - 6am wake up call so we could take the first boat out at 8:45 to Mt. Pilatus. It was a chilly morning which made sitting on the deck of the boat a bit difficult. We sat inside and ordered coffee and watched the scenery pass by for the 90 minute ride. Some gorgeous views, however very overcast. Which I knew would kill the view from Mt. Pilatus, but I had hope that the sun would burn through it!

We then arrived at the dock right on schedule and walked over to the funicular to take us up the mountain. I had never taken a funicular, so I was pretty excited! It was a STEEP journey up the mountain.

As we got higher and higher up the mountain, the overcast skies completely covered the view. In fact, we reached 7000 feet and the view was supposed to be spectacular, but we couldn't see ANYTHING. You got the occasional glimpse a few hundred feet down, but we couldn't see down below. We scaled a little trail to a peak above the station where we arrived via funicular, which seemed to be the highest point.

Quiet, chilly, and just a few of us sitting upon this perch with a "blind" view below, we could hear the horns playing below, about 3 or 4 of them. It seemed to get even more quiet when they played, as if there was some sort of noise in the background below, but when they played all was still. The horns echoed ever so slightly, and the music they played was amazing... We sat and listened for quite some time, when a couple who had arrived at this perch prior to us stood up and started singing... as if they were inspired by the horns. They sang two separate times, and it made the experience all the more magical. I've included the video I shot of them as they sung in the gallery, labeled Singing Couple.


We sat for a short while longer, then scaled back down towards the station to take us down the mountain in aerial cable car. Much of it was "blind" from the overcast/fog that engulfed the mountain. As we got further down the mountain we could see more... and it was quite beautiful. I have decided that I need to return to the mountain again, on a clear day, to take in the majestic beauty.

We arrived to the bottom in one piece and took the bus back to Luzern so we could head out for Bern, Switzerland. I enjoyed the trip to the mountain, even if we couldn't see anything. There is something about Mt. Pilatus... Not sure exactly what, but I do want to return to see the view from the top.

As we left for Bern, we stopped by the Lion Monument, which was well worth it. Mark Twain called the Lion Monument 'the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.' It was... I didn't expect it to be so big, and the emotion coming from the monument was intense... causing goose bumps to travel up my spine, literally. I enjoyed Luzern... I hope to return to spend more time strolling the streets, climbing a mountain, and spending some time at the monument again... On to Bern!

Luzern, Switzerland

Arriving in Luzern was a breath of fresh air. The city held a charm that I fell in love with. We stayed across the bridge from the town center/old town and it made it very easy to walk back and forth. Once we found the hotel we got ourselves settled and explored the streets. I enjoyed the old town area alot; cafes lined the water and there was a long wooden pedestrian bridge panning across the water that gave the whole area a sort of small town feel.

Not suprising we were hungry so we headed over to the cafes and strolled along until we came upon a small italian cafe and the food looked awesome! We sat at a table right next to the water and watched around a dozen or so swans, ducks, and other water fowl cruise the water looking for people to throw scraps of bread down to them. None of them looked starved.

Shortly after we sat down a couple sat down next to us and they seemed to be just as relaxed as we did. And if anyone has ever dined at these little cafes, sometimes the food can take a while to arrive. When on vacation, it doesn't bother me, nor did it seem to bother the couple next to us. At some point, Claudia engaged in conversation with them, and soon a few kind words turned into an hour or so of laughter, stories, and fun. William and Veronica from Scotland were a lovely couple, and even though he is a golfer and plays competitors clubs, I let it slide due to the fantastic conversation. :)

After we finished dinner, we left William and Veronica and strolled along the water for about an hour. It was so nice... Nobody was in a hurry, the world kind of stood still for a while. We strolled along the wooden bridge, took some pictures, and then headed back for the hotel as we were going to wake up bright and early to head Mt. Pilatus! Below are a few pictures taken just before we had dinner with our Scottish friends!

Additional pictures will be in the gallery... Thank you to all for following along even though I'm a few days behind!