Category Archives: France
The Last of Summer Vacation in Port Camargue
I’m reminiscing over my time spent in Port Camargue in the South of France. Even though we spent over 2 weeks there, the camera wasn’t out much so I only have one post to sum up that whole experience. I went to the beach everyday and wouldn’t dare take my SLR with me and risk getting sand stuck inside it’s important parts.
We ate so well in Port Camargue because most of the food was either grown in someone’s garden or fished from the sea the same day. One evening Max and I even fished our own mussels from the sea, brought them home, cleaned them off and enjoyed them for lunch! I have to admit that I wasn’t the greatest at hunting moules because when you pull one off of the rocks, the water gets really foggy and it was so late outside that we couldn’t see much and I was a little scared. We also had to walk on a huge row of rocks to get there and I have no idea why but I am terrified of walking on rocks. It’s like I am sure I am going to fall and crack my head open and p.s. this is a really inconvenient fear!
I was successful at fishing though. I went once and caught 6 fish that we ate the next day!
It was a super relaxing time and a perfect way to end my year in France as only a week after I returned to France, I flew back to Canada.
The Last Day Of Our Special Little Road Trip in Hyere and Cassis
We woke up in the morning, in our car, along the beach and guess what we did first…we took a swim in the ocean! It was the most suitable replacement for a shower…kind of. We also brushed our teeth with water bottles beside the car. So efficient!
Of course we couldn’t visit Hyere without visiting the actual city so we drove into town and did a little (a lot) of shopping in the colourful streets, with salted hair! Fun fact: Max’s mom was born in Hyere.
At one of the shops there was a postcard that caught Max’s eye and it was of the Calonques in Cassis. The postcard was beautiful! After we got back in the car Max and I looked at each other and knew that we were not ready to head to the family apartment in Port Camargue so he asked me where I wanted to go and I said…to the place in the post card. Thank goodness for the GPS!
We arrived at the exact place from the postcard and enjoyed the clear water and fish down below! Really it is somewhere that you need to visit when along the Cote D”Azur.
We still were not ready to go home after that so we took another look at the GPS and we saw that it has some roads that lead no where really and we wanted to take them. Back into the car we drove, following the GPS which lead to a parking lot but the GPS still showed that there was more road…hence the big sign that said “no motor vehicles beyond this point”…we were taking a hike! 2 km later we arrived at paradise!
It was really paradise!
Just look at those last few pictures!
There were only about 10 other people there or less!
Sigh.
Then we were ready to go home.
Posted in France
Tagged calonques of cassis, cassis, cote d'azur, hyere, paradise, the city of hyere
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St. Tropez And A Beach In Hyere At Night
In the morning, we packed up the tent and seated ourselves in the car in search for a bakery along the road. It took us forever to find a bakery and I can honestly say that that was a first. When you aren’t looking for a bakery in France, there is one every 100 metres (no joke), when you are looking for one they are apparently kilometres off. Anyways we found one and enjoyed pain au chocolat and coffee! Always good news!
Our minds were set on St. Tropez for this day so we got back in the car as to not waste any more time and then we were stuck in 3 hours of traffic to travel a distance of only 30 kilometres. Hence the first photo, when we didn’t even need the keys in the ignition!
St. Tropez was beautiful of course. It was a lot higher class than the other cities with designer stores lining the streets and such. We did a little shopping which lead to a little dreaming and in no time at all, the parking meter ran out…off to Hyere!
All the way to Hyere we drove along the road that lines the sea, so the ride was an experience itself. We arrived at the most beautiful, isolated, windy, crystal clear beach to swim and enjoy the view of all the wind and kite surfers before quickly heading out to buy some dinner and check ourselves into some camping before coming back to the beach for sunset. We did find dinner but failed miserably at finding camping after realizing that the possbility of getting a spot in such a bautiful location at 8pm was nil. So we enjoyed our dinner on the beach and eventually slept in our car under the stars to the sound of the waves. Kind of spooky at times but oh so awesome!
Tomorrow I complete this road trip before I throw in a recipe and that back to vacation adventures!
Unnamed Lake, Cannes, St. Maxime and Camping
Our second day of adventure started out by eating the delicious petit dejeuner at the bed and breakfast and sadly (really sadly) checking out. But do not fret! Less than a five minute drive away, Max and I encountered this crystal clear lake and had to jump at the chance to rent a paddle boat for next to nothing and ride around the lake swimming in all the different places! I learned how to dive for the first time. It was scary. And water got up my nose. And my tummy was red for all the failed dives that turned into belly flops. Water sports are my gap in knowledge.
After an hour boat rental we continued with the original plan and set off for Cannes. I thought I’d see movie stars and such but I didn’t instead I saw billion dollar yachts and dreamed of my future. It was pretty but the parking meter determined our time spent there and we had to move on in the adventure of a lifetime!
Our plan was to make it to St. Tropez, spend the evening there and then find a camping place, first seeking our some “creeks” to dive off of along the way. Creeks are beautiful red rocky structures with clear water at their feet. We did find a creek, but to swim from it was impossible and the time was getting late. We didn’t make it to St. Tropez but instead enjoyed a night on the beach in St. Maxime and finally camped in a French camping ground which is so so so different than Canadian ones. In Canada, you camp in national parks with a spcific little “lot that is surrounded by trees and private. You light a camp fire and sing camp songs while roasting marshmallows. Here it’s more of a big piece of land and everyone kind of thrown in their to pitch their tents.
Anyways, more adventures to come and 4 recipes too!!
Have a great Friday!
I’m Back…And…Bed and Breakfast on the Cote D’Azur
I’m back! And so happy to be back! I had absolutely no internet for 3 weeks and it was quite torturous but also kind of freeing…
My vacation was amazing. Before spending two weeks in Port Camargue in Max’s family’s apartment on the beach, Max and I took a road trip along the Cote D’Azur (Cannes, St. Tropez, St Maxime, Hyere).
The first night we splurged and went to a dreamy bed and breakfast which I would highly recommend to everyone wanting to visit the Cote D’Azur…the trip continued with camping and even a night sleeping in the car! But more on that later…first, enjoy our b&b. It was so impressive that I thought it deserved an entire post to itself.
Our room opened right the the outdoors with a view of the landscape. We made sure not to stray far from it while we were there because we only booked one night in this paradise, although we did stray 7 km down the winding road for some dinner!
Can’t wait to visit all of your blogs again! And only 1 more week until I’m back in Canada!
P.s. this dress is one of my creations…
Reims Cathedral Light Show
As last year was the 800th birthday of the cathedral here in Reims (remember the one that Joan of Arc visited), a team of incredibly talented artists and graphic designers put together a light show that is projected onto the Cathedral to scale. The show is choreographed by music and is one of the most impressive things I’ve seen!
The cathedral literally comes alive! There are even parts of the show where there are projected men working on building teh cathedral…or where the audience becomes a king and everyone is bowing to you as the projection is made to look as such.
Last weekend was my 4th time seeing it and I hope they play it for years to come because it is really impressive the amount of work they put into it!
Have a great weekend!
Old King Tut
I flew back into France yesterday after spending four days in Lancaster, England to watch and celebrate the graduation of Max’s brother, Jean-Phillippe. I am terrified of flying but seeing that I am heading to Canada on the 30th of August and then going to Hong Kong in January, I surely need to let this go…once and for all!
The trip was great but more on that later with many posts about the fun and unique activities I experienced while there.
First…remember last week’s post about the Bastille Parade and how I told you that I did something else afterwards? Well, there is a fantastic exhibit happening in Paris right now about King Tutankhamun. I believe they mentioned that he is the most well-known of all the Egyptian Pharaohs. He was lost in history at one point until researchers at the turn of the 20th century discovered that he existed and sought to find his untouched tomb, which they succeeded in.
The exhibit was so well-organized and I was really able to get a full story about this King!! It seemed like such an exciting adventure when the archeologist touched upon his tomb and found all of this treasure untouched…isn’t that every little child’s dream?! That and secret passage ways.
If you are in Paris this summer, I would seriously suggest going to see this exhibit!
Anyways, more from my adventure soon, plus a recipe and I’ve made a total of five dresses and a top so I have some catching up to do with you!
Happy Monday!
The Bastille Parade in Paris
It was Bastille Day in France on the 14th, which was last Saturday. Bastille day is the French national day and according to Wikipedia, French people call it La Fête Nationale. Every year there is a massive military parade in Paris along the Champs Elysee (sadly they do not throw candy to the audience). It was jam packed full of people! At night, like any good celebration of a country, there were fireworks. Max and I accidentally slept through them although we planned on going. So sad but the sleep was nice!
I jumped in front of these army guys for a quick photo!
They just happened to be in the same spot taking the same photo which happened to be the middle of the Champs Elysees where one cannot linger. Notice the massive French flag in the centre of the Arc de Triumph!! So impressive!
We had more adventures from this day but they will come up in a later post. For now, happy bilated bastille day!!
Fun Cup…A.k.a. A VW Beatle Race!!!
Last Saturday we all packed into a car to head over to a city named Spa in Belgium. This is the city where the term “spa” originated from. Seriously.
Anyways, we headed on over to Spa (I wish I could say to “the spa” hehe) to go watch a race of VW Beatles which was 48 hours long but we just stayed for a few of those hours.
We were cheering for team M&Ms which originally had two cars in the race but after 2 or 3 laps around, one of the cars broke down and team M&Ms had to finish the next 47 hours and 56 minutes with only one car. I think they ended up finishing in 8th place which is incredible if you consider the fact that there were 82 cars in the race!!
There were also other races going on before this race that we checked out.
Although the talk of cars really really really really makes me tired for some reason, the sun was beautiful on this day and it was my first experience with this kind of thing so I appreciated it!
Happy Friday and have a good weekend!
More And More Champagne
I had to put that one in 
JP (Max’s dad) has some serious connections with Champagne producers here. I guess that just happens after years of being immersed in this culture. Anyways, he has one favourite Champagne house outside of Reims in a little (itty bitty) town called Ecueil.
When our friends came to visit this past weekend we headed on over to Ecueil to sample some fine champagnes in a very intimate setting. It was my second time visiting in the span of two weeks so naturally I felt like a queen…or something.
It was kind of magical.
And thank you JP!!
Posted in France
Tagged champagne houses in france, champagne producers, ecueil, vely prudhomme
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