Bordeaux and its surrounding region is world famous for its wine. Mom likes wine. I also like wine. Let’s have a wine day!

A one-hour bus ride from the Bordeaux tourist office would take us to the nearby village of Saint-Émilion. The bus took us past acre after acre of rows upon rows of well-manicured grape vines, making a single stop at the town of Libourne. After we passed Libourne, it wasn’t long before we made it to the village at the end of the line.

Saint-Émilion is a beautiful, ancient, town, built out of stone, and surrounded by vineyards. In the main part of town, most buildings appeared to be dedicated to the tourism and wine industry, though there were quite a few monasteries and churches too. Notably, the Monolithic Church, which was built out of a limestone cliff.

When we arrived, we realized that we had skipped breakfast entirely, and found a place to have lunch and some coffee.

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From there, we went up the street to view the tower of the Monolithic Church, and the overlook onto the street below. We then peaked our heads into a nearby vintner. Mom started tasting wines, while I left to go take a phone call from Jessie and Luka. After a quick check-in with my wife and son, I went to check in with my Mom. She was still chatting with the vintner, having found a few bottles she liked. I decided to find a public bathroom, which was surprisingly difficult. I came back, and she was still tasting wines.

I get uncomfortable in situations where I’m being sold to- be it a car, a utility, or in this case, wine. Mom was having a blast however. Obviously aware of our limited suitcase space, she had a plethora of bottles of wine ordered to be delivered to her house before Thanksgiving.

We meandered around the town for a while longer- checking out the various obligatory arts and crafts section of town. We also bought some Macaroons, which the town has been known for since the 1600s. We both heard the siren-call of the fromagerie up the street, where we picked up some cheese and sausage- a very clever industry to have in a town full of wine-stuffed tourists.

We walked to a “Point de Vue” that I had noticed on the map, and got a beautiful view of the countryside. This was definitely a tourist town, but I really can’t argue with it. The food we had was great, the wine experience was lovely, and it’s just all around beautiful on a breezy, blue-sky day.

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We took the bus back to town, and walked through the nearby Jardin Publique, carrying a bag full of macaroons, cheese, and sausage. The park was half open space, and the other half a botanical garden. Only a handful of plants were blooming, but it was still lovely to be in such a green space. The pleasant aromas of herbs and other plants contrasted starkly against the back-of-the-bus smells of diesel we had been contending with.

We finished our day by having dinner, apparently ordering more food than we knew. Luckily not all of it showed up. Once the rugby crowd showed up, we paid, and left, settling in for the day. Apparently France is holding the Rugby World Cup, so there are scores of people from all over the world vacationing in France.

Had things gone according to plan, we would be in Italy today. Yesterday, however, we had decided that we had had enough hot weather and crowds, and that a six hour train ride would be too much. We needed to make a change. Looking at what flights were out of the Nice airport, we settled on Bordeaux. We were able to recover most of what we had spent, but some loss was worth what we had hoped to be an improved trip.

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The morning was spent taking a taxi to the airport, a one-and-a-half hour flight, and a taxi to our hotel in Bordeaux. After settling in, we went for a walk around our little neighborhood, Saint Pierre. We visited a church, browsed antiques, explored a park, and wandered through the old town, down to the river.

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This city was such a welcome change– a stark contrast to Nice. Where Nice is on the sea, Bordeaux is on a river. Where Nice was hot and sunny all day, Bordeaux was cool and breezy. Where Nice was impatient and busy, Bordeaux was relaxed and informal, if even a bit silly.

Our hotel had a rooftop bar where we enjoyed a cocktail, overlooking the river. Afterwards, we had dinner on a riverboat while getting a tour of the city. Admittedly, it was very difficult to understand anything over the loudspeaker, but the views were nice, and the food was great.

We took today a little easy. We got up and ready for a walking tour in the morning, but Mom’s stomach wasn’t feeling the best, so once we got to the meeting place, she went back to our lodging, and I completed the tour.

I’ve done a walking tour of Nice before– way back in 2010. I don’t remember much of it, but enough has happened in the last 13 years to keep things fresh. There were a few highlights for me: The park on top of Castle Hill was shady, cool, and relatively quiet. It offered a gorgeous view of the town, and a welcome escape from the constant commotion that has been getting under our skin. They also pointed out a church nearby, that has a bar run by the church as a way to collect donations. The market in the old-town was also pretty fun. Filled with fresh fruits, veggies, meats, cheese, and gifts, it was open, and somewhat relaxing.

I met back with Mom, who had been feeling better. We decided against continuing on to Cinque Terre, as a 5 hour train ride to an even hotter and potentially more crowded area seemed daunting. Instead, we settled on Bordeaux, and began unmaking, and then making plans. A few bucks lost here and there, but we’re hopeful that it is worth it.

After getting everything straightened out, I took Mom back out to the spots that she had missed. We grabbed some socca– a chickpea / omelette / street food that’s all the rage here. We made it up the hill, and saw the ongoing architectural dig- The foundation of an old abbey had been found on the hill. We watched some youths play Boules.

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From there, we enjoyed the cooler evening air. I shopped for Chartreuse, while Mom shopped for a bag to replace her antique bag she had from college that was tearing at the seams.

I had to return the car to the rental agency, so I left mom to do some planning for tomorrow. Once that was done, we went out to grab some pizza. Mine was lardons, honey, herbs de provence, and some kind of cheese, and mom chose the Niçoise, which was anchovies and olives.

We went to the beach while they were preparing it. The beach near the Promenade Des Anglais was not sand, but smooth stones. If you ask me, it feels somewhere between a tickle and a massage. Mom said it hurt.

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We returned to the pizzeria, picked it up, headed home, and finished our evening with a bottle of wine and a movie.

Today was a big travel day. We got up bright and early at 9am– packing, moving cars from one parking lot to another, and then eventually putting distance between us and La Ciotat.

We arrived at La Tour Fondue, which I was really hoping was what it sounded like, but I guess it’s just an old tower. From La Tour Fondue, we took the ferry over to Porquerolles.

I had read once that Porquerolles had some of the nicest beaches in Europe. I think. I really don’t know how this landed on my radar, but I had bookmarked it even before planning this trip. But it’s true! It’s a small island just to the south of Toulon, with beaches galore.

We rented two bikes and rode them to La Plage De Notre-Dame, the farthest east. The terrain was mostly flat, but a few hills that I ended up walking. I’m not entirely out of shape, but the roads were gravel and the chain kept skipping, not to mention that the tire was fat and a little flat, so I gave myself permission to dismount as needed.

We road to the end of the beach and had a picnic and a swim. Not too many photos taken, since there were a handful of french people bathing as the french do. Mom threatened to join them.

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After we had swam our swims, we road back to the ferry, waited for it to arrive, and took it back to the mainland, where we spent the next few hours driving to Nice!

Today was a big travel day. We got up bright and early at 9am– packing, moving cars from one parking lot to another, and then eventually putting distance between us and La Ciotat.

We arrived at La Tour Fondue, which I was really hoping was what it sounded like, but I guess it’s just an old tower. From La Tour Fondue, we took the ferry over to Porquerolles.

I had read once that Porquerolles had some of the nicest beaches in Europe. I think. I really don’t know how this landed on my radar, but I had bookmarked it even before planning this trip. But it’s true! It’s a small island just to the south of Toulon, with beaches galore.

We rented two bikes and rode them to La Plage De Notre-Dame, the farthest east. The terrain was mostly flat, but a few hills that I ended up walking. I’m not entirely out of shape, but the roads were gravel and the chain kept skipping, not to mention that the tire was fat and a little flat, so I gave myself permission to dismount as needed.

We road to the end of the beach and had a picnic and a swim. Not too many photos taken, since there were a handful of french people bathing as the french do. Mom threatened to join them.

After we had swam our swims, we road back to the ferry, waited for it to arrive, and took it back to the mainland, where we spent the next few hours driving to Nice!

By the time we got to Nice, it was already late. We found some parking, found our AirBnB, and then grabbed some late dinner near a fountain. The restaurant was probably more successful due to its proximity to a fountain, than to its quality.

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Our goal for today was to do some hiking in the Calanques national park. Calanques means inlet, and that is the main feature of this park. It sits between Marseilles, straddles Cassis, and extends over to La Ciotat. Seeing how busy Cassis was yesterday, we decided to do a hike leaving from La Ciotat.

Waking to find a bustling market right outside of our door, we packed for a hike, and took off. We made a few stops along the way to stock up on supplies for a picnic. We also stopped for breakfast, where I got banana bread, and mom got an egg sandwich. We each ordered a cappuccino, but they gave us a third, as I think they made it accidentally.

Sufficiently loaded on calories and caffeine, we strolled past the plentiful tents and restaurants, up and behind the shipyard, and towards the peninsula, which wound around to a wide open bay.

We found a spot along the somewhat sharp rocks, and got ready to swim. I was able to discretely change into a swim-suit a little faster than mom, so I had a head start. With my mask on, I dove in, trying to see what I could. My buoyancy and lack of fins made it difficult to get very deep, but it didn’t appear to be a terribly interesting spot for seeing the undersea flora and fauna anyways. After mom had her fill of swimming, we packed up, and hiked back to a nearby park for a picnic, with the cheese, strawberry jam, and seeded bread that we acquired along the way. Once finished, we walked back to where we were staying.

With over half of the day left, we decided to pick up what we had dropped earlier, and drove out towards Arles. But instead of stopping, we passed straight through, going out to see the Camargue– a boggy region at the mouth of the Rhône. This area is well known as the home of an ancient breed of horses, as well as a breed of domesticated cattle, and a form of wild rice. There’s a very big Cowboy aesthetic to the Camargue Horseman, wrangling the Camargue Cattle. We saw both on our way to see the Camargue’s other famour (though seasonal) denizen: the Flament Rose — AKA the Pink Flamingo.

We drove out to the Ornithological Park of Pont de Gau to see wild flamingos. Nature documentaries have led me to believe that they are only in exotic tropical locations, so maybe Provence is tropical? The park was not terribly big, so we were able to see our pink friends rather quickly. They were also surrounded by terns, herons, and ducks.

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We turned around to drive back towards Arles, admiring the horses, bulls, and apparently the french barbecue competition(?), which we went back and forth over, deciding whether or not to crash it.

Finally in Arles, we parked on a sidewalk (like you do) and went for a walk in the old town. Arles is situated right on the Rhône, and is known for ancient Roman ruins, including a mini-colosseum amphitheater, where bullfighting with the Camargue bulls is common.

Our understanding, albeit limited, was that no bulls are killed during the bullfights here. We got there an hour after the event started, so we decided against getting tickets, but we were able to get a seat at a restaurant overlooking the rear exit, so we were able to at least see something! And I ordered a Camargue beef stew with Camargue rice and Provençal wine, so it felt pretty gosh-danged authentic.

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The evening done, we went back to our car, and made the two hour trek back to La Ciotat, rocking out to Luka’s birthday playlist, trying to understand the speed limit as it jumped without warning between 130kph and 90kph.

Our initial plan for today was to go to Arles and Nîmes. However, after driving for over two hours yesterday, we wanted to spend less time in the car today, and abandoned the idea.

We went to a nearby boulangerie for a breakfast of quiche, croissants, coffee, and a cream puff.

We decided to go west to Cassis (where we initially thought we had booked, before picking an AirBnB in La Ciotat) to catch a boat tour in the Porquerolles. After a short drive to Cassis, we could not for the life of us find a spot to park.

The woman at the art gallery that we had talked to last night told us that Cassis was a much more touristy town than La Ciotat and Sanary-sur-Mer. So after 20+ minutes driving around looking for street parking, or even a lot that was not completely full, we decided to abandon Cassis for Sanary-sur-Mer.

On our way back east, I decided to explore the Route des Cretes, a scenic route back to La Ciotat, that wound it’s way over the mountains, offering breathtaking views of both La Ciotat and Cassis, as well as the blue ocean below.

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We browsed some more shops along the main road, grabbed an Aperol Spritz, and set off to find a vineyard. (Also, it turns out that we were in Bandol, and not actually Sanary-sur-Mer.)

We stumbled upon the vineyard Chateau Canadel, and they were able to fit us in for a tasting. I’m not a wine connoisseur, but it’s always fun to get to have somebody smart tell you about something they love. The man running the tasting was the owner, who ran it with his son and daughter-in-law. We got to taste seven different bottles, comparing some of the different techniques they used, see their barrels, and some bottle storage. The owner was very conversational– having studied business in New York, his English was excellent.

Bandol is apparently an AOC (controlled) wine, using specific grapes and specific aging. All but one of their offerings followed followed the rules. The one that didn’t, they tried just for fun- to mimic how the Romans would have made wine. It was all natural, and not barrel aged. I liked it more than mom did, but I think the owner wasn’t even a fan.

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After the tasting, we drove back in the direction of La Ciotat, driving by a village on a hill. I’m a sucker for a village on a hill, so we set our sites on it, took a few wrong turns, and then ended up at Cadière d-Azur.

Driving through the small town, we saw a handful of restaurants, and decided to have dinner, which was…. duck… and… squid… and loup… which I initially translated as Wolf, but eventually was corrected to Sea-bass. The patrons near us struck up a conversation, with mixed success. Jean-Michel’s English was about as bad as my French, so at least we were on the same level. They had a dog named Prunella. I’m pretty confident he said this was “Jedi Pose”, but I can’t be sure. He also likes the Rolling Stones

This was our first morning in France. There was a lot on our plate, and not a lot of time to do it!

To start our day, we grabbed some pain au chocolate from a boulangerie nearby. We took an uber to the train station Garde de Lyon Part-Dieu (which to me, sounds like a sequel to Part-Un, but in fact means “Property of God”, the name of the business district).

On board the train, we passed the hour and a half ride with a few games of cribbage, where I was summarily defeated after my single victory yesterday.

The train arrived in Avignon, where we picked up some pears, figs, olives, and wine, and our rental car! I was up-sold into a more spacious car. We drove to the old city center to have a picnic- picking up some cheese, meat, and a wine bottle opener (which handily can also function as a cheese knife) along the way. After getting these essentials, we climbed the Escalier Sainte-Anne to the Jardin Des Doms, a garden on top of a hill overlooking the city.

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At the top, we took in the sites, including a river, a small vineyard, and a 12th century cathedral. We ate our picnic under the jealous eyes of some local fauna, including a handful of swans, pigeons, geese, and even got some looks from local schoolkids, who noticed our open bottle of wine. I’m not sure that’s legal. I even got a chance to do a video-call with Jessie and Luka!

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We made our way back to our car, and high-tailed it through skinny, winding roads to Gordes, a nearby commune situated on top of a hill. We grabbed a few Aperol Spritzes, did some window shopping, and took in the views.

From Gordes, we had a long drive ahead of us. It was already 5:30, and we had an almost two hour drive to get to Ciotat. I started feeling tired, so we pulled off, grabbed a coffee, and continued our journey. Either the increased traffic or the cappuccino stopped my road-hypnosis, and we were back on track.

After hitting traffic around Marseilles, we took a detour on a scenic route. This brought us to a small hike to an overlook from which we could finally see the ocean!

The road trip ended when we finally got to La Ciotat. We had to do some running around to get our car parked, but we were finally settled! Our stay is a medium-sized AirBnB near the old city port. This is a busy area full of bars, packed to the brim. Trying to avoid the crowd, we went a few blocks off and grabbed a quick (late) dinner of French Tacos, which as I’ve described before, are a strange perversion of a panini, a burrito, and a thing of french fries. We browsed a nearby art gallery, and had a chat with somebody who worked there. She recommended that we visit Porquerolles (which is on our list) and Sanary-sur-mer (which we had never heard of).

Apparently tonight was France vs New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup, so I can hear a lot of cheering from outside. I think they just won. I’m having a hard time distinguishing the white-noise of the cheers from the white-noise of our Air Conditioner. They may be done cheering by now, but I honestly can’t tell.

Sitting down for dinner at 8:30PM tonight, I was trying to figure out what meal this was.

Surely my breakfast today was cereal. But I think that was actually on Wednesday? I think breakfast must come after a fast, or else what are you breaking? Since I haven’t slept since Wednesday, everything coming after Wednesday lunch must be dinner. So I have come to the conclusion that I was having 4th dinner.

First dinner was at the airport, Wednesday evening.

After picking up Luka from daycare, then picking up Mom from Ahna’s, I was dropped off at the airport. I often get anxious about the start to trips. This time it was especially hard. I’m not sure I yet understand why. Very likely, it’s due to having to say goodbye to Luka for so long. It could also be that I haven’t done a big, wandering, trip like this for a long while either. There was also issues with my seating. Having paid for extra leg room, I was not actually given a seat with any. I just don’t know how to deal with Airlines anymore!

I wanted to get to the airport early to deal with the seating issue. We made it through security and grabbed dinner at Northern Soul. Wednesday was it’s grand opening at the airport. (Highly recommend). After waiting for a few hours and figuring out seating, we had to wait an hour or two until the boarding completed.

After a relatively uneventful flight, including another meal, and some coffee (I think the caffeine is disorienting my internal clock, which is a good thing, right?), we made it to Charles de Gaulle airport. Mom and I both got our first stamps in our passports!

Our train for Lyon wouldn’t leave for another few hours, so we played some cribbage, had a baguette, and just chatted to pass the time. The train would arrive soon after.

The train ride went blindingly quick, going 200mph toward our destination.

From the Lyon train station, we grabbed a cab to where we were staying, near Lyon’s Amphithéâtre des Trois Gaules. We walked past the Bartholdi Fountain to Le Café Des Fédérations for a prix fixe meal.

Mom and I swapped bites. She nearly wretched at the flavor that I was attempting to wrap my mind around. It wasn’t…. great… but I didn’t want to be an uncivilized American. Wikipedia describes my andouillette as such:

Andouillette is a French coarse-grained sausage made from the intestine of pork, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings. Andouillettes are generally made from the large intestine and are 7–10 cm in diameter. True andouillettes are rarely seen outside France and have a strong, distinctive odour coming from the colon.

That was enough to set my stomach churning too. The rest of the meal was quite nice. A pear sorbet, Lyonnaise salad (similar to a recipe I’ve made before), a dijon lentil salad, some wine, and a cheese course.

We went back to our stay, and hopefully will get enough sleep to get on the next train tomorrow!