(Not quite) 24 hours in Marseille

My final visitor arrived in Paris last Wednesday. We'd planned a weekend trip to Marseille, which ended up getting cut short due to Sandy's imminent arrival in the U.S. So here's what we did in half a day or so.

Our plan was to take a half-day cruise along the Mediterranean. When we arrived at Vieux Port,  however, the tour company representative informed us that all trips had been cancelled due to high winds. She recommended that we instead try a train that would take us to the basilica at the top of the hill overlooking the port. We didn't have other plans, so we gave it a try.

The ride was beautiful. The pictures don't quite do justice to the color of the Mediterranean. 

We arrived at the basilica and our driver told us that we had 20 minutes to look around. The views were quite breathtaking.

When we returned to the parking lot 20 minutes later to find that our train was gone. We were left behind, along with four others. Fortunately, there was a public bus in the parking lot that went back to Vieux Port. We happily paid 3 euros for a ride back and considered ourselves lucky that we weren't hitch hiking down the hill. One couple went with us. The other couple, apparently new to French customer service, opted to call the tour company and demand that someone come pick them up. They are probably still waiting there.

Upon our return to Vieux Port, we found a restaurant crowded with locals and ordered salted cod and paella. The food was delicious. We both agreed it was the best shrimp we'd ever had. I tried one snail and decided that was enough.

We had a good time, but I'd say Marseille is probably only worth a day trip or as a base for touring around the coast or the rest of Provence.

Provence

Last weekend I met my parents in Provence. We ate, drank, canoed, and got fingerprinted by the police.

On Saturday, we took a canoe trip to see a Roman aqueduct. This was my first time canoeing in, oh, 20 years or so. I was not the most effective paddler. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures from the canoe trip because I didn't want to risk getting my camera wet. Here's a picture courtesy of the internet:

Unfortunately, when we got back to the car, the window was broken. Someone stole my mom's binoculars. We flagged down a police car that just happened to be driving through the parking lot, apparently because break ins are so common (note to small Provencal French town: a sign to this effect might have a chilling effect on break ins). We were invited to the police station, where the very nice officers dusted the car for fingerprints. Since my mom and I both touched the door handles before we realized the window was broken, we were fingerprinted. Neither of us can commit a crime in France now, as we are in the system. 

Here is the cute little hotel where we stayed (kudos to my mom for picking some excellent inns in both Burgundy and Provence with local charm and character).

After a post police station glass of wine, we headed into St. Remy for dinner. I'd made reservations at a place with good reviews on Trip Advisor. Interestingly, none of the reviews mentioned that the restaurant was also a clothing store.

We were a bit skeptical, especially because there were people trying on clothes as we sat down to dinner, the owner was both waiting our table and assisting his retail customers. The food, however, was delicious. The owner is of Italian descent and has some of his grandparents' recipes on the menu. My mom called it one of her two best meals ever. The owner sat down to dinner with his family across the restaurant from us.

After dinner we walked through picturesque St. Remy. 

On Sunday we drove through the Luberon. We hiked to a gorge and stumbled upon an olive grove. It was like something out of a Van Gogh painting.

We drove through the hill towns and vineyards (or rather, my dad drove through the hill towns on some pretty narrow and steep mountain roads).

We stopped in Isle sur la Sorgue before boarding our train back to Paris.

Other than the break in, Provence was lovely. So go, but don't leave your car unattended in a small town parking lot.

Burgundy

My parents arrived in Paris at the beginning of October. These are my parents in front of Notre Dame. Proof that they voluntarily visited a city. For fun!

After a few days in Paris, they headed to Burgundy and I met them there for the weekend. I haven't spent much time outside of Paris, so it was nice to see a bit more of the country.

We spent Saturday biking amongst the vineyards and small towns.

We did a wine tasting in a tiny little town on our bike route. A sign outside a house indicated that wine tasting was available. An older gentleman opened the front door and seemed surprised to see us, but invited us in for a tasting. We essentially sat at his dining room table while a man in his underwear washed the grape presser in the back. We tasted a couple wines and he told us (in French) about his wine. We got the gist of it. Afterwards, we got a tour of the grape presser. It was probably the most authentic wine tasting I'll ever have. Most French wineries are small, selling around 75,000 bottles a year (with the obvious exception of the Champagne region, which is looked down upon for its un-French marketing and commercialism). Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. We were in someone's house and the French can be touchy about pictures. I learned this after getting reamed for taking a picture in a Paris bakery. Of bread. But I digress...

On day two in Burgundy, we went to a nearby town for market day and unsuccessfully searched for a canal (I'm told the canal was later found). We visited a medieval castle (that turned out to be more of a 19th Century castle).

I was mildly obsessed with this gorgeous red ivy.

We drove around the country side and did another wine tasting. We learned that wine tasting in France is just that-- a quick taste and then you're encouraged to dump your wine and move on to the next one. No lingering and looking at the scenery. This means you have the equivalent of two glasses of wine in about 15 minutes.

I headed back to Paris for work on Sunday evening. My parents headed to Provence... which will be featured in the next blog post. It's dinner time.

Parade

I've been fortunate enough to connect with some lovely ladies here in Paris. When they invited me to a parade on Sunday afternoon, I thought marching bands and floats. Turns out the parade was more like a concert. We joined the crowd at the Bastille and watched the bands come by on trucks. When you see one that you really like, you're supposed to follow it along the parade route. We chose to follow this float. It wasn't a band-- just a bunch of people dancing to music, with a few hundred of us following them. Definitely an interesting experience. 

Budapest

Charles and I went to Budapest last weekend. He has cousins there, who graciously hosted us. We had a great time site seeing and visiting with the Kubinyi family. They picked us up at the airport, piled everyone into the minivan, and we were off to see the city.

We went to Buda hill and saw the sites.

And a wedding...

 Saw the city from Fisherman's Bastion...

Then we headed to Pest, or as Dori calls it, "real life." We walked around Pest and had dessert for dinner (even in Hungary, Hungarians seem to eat dessert before or in lieu of dinner!). Then we saw beautiful St. Stephen's Cathedral at night.

On day two we toured Parliament. This is Charles with Zsofia. I might have earned myself the nickname "Prime Minister" on this tour.

On to Hero's Square and some cousin bonding.

Feeding the ducks.

This is Eszter with a (virgin) Pina Colada. She is the youngest cousin and an absolute joy. She doesn't speak English, and we don't speak Hungarian, but she showed us that you need not have language in common to enjoy one another. Eszter was so excited to have us visit. She sat back at every meal and said my name, then gestured that I should choose my food first. She also drew a picture of my cat as a gift for me to take home.

This is Dori with her father, Jozef. They both took off all four days of our visit from work to host us. Jozef drove us all over the city and tirelessly entertained us. Dori spent much of our trip as translator and took us out on Margit Island.

Go kart racing...

This is me and Eszter after we won our respective go kart races. I beat Charles and she beat her siblings.

Chemistry homework in Hungarian! With the help of an English-Hungarian dictionary and some props, Charles was able to put his Ph.D. to good use.

Dori and Jozef took us bowling. This is Charles celebrating after a successful round. I beat him the first time, which motivated him to put on a very good performance in the second game.

Group shot.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the mounds and mounds of food that Kota and Ibolya made for us. They must have spent days cooking. We had stuffed cabbage, chicken schnitzel, fried cauliflower and dumplings, floating island, chocolate cake, gerbeaud cake, and much more. If we so much mentioned that we liked something, they wanted to make it for us. It was all delicious.

And all too quickly, our visit was over. We piled everyone into the minivan again (we even picked up a child we saw walking along the way) and headed back to the airport to say goodbye. But we'll be back.

Company!

Last weekend marked my transition from solo living in Paris to hosting company in Paris. My aunt and her cousin (my first cousin once removed, hereafter "cousin") came to visit for a long weekend before heading to the south of France. We had a fantastic time. I'd never met my cousin before, but we all got along fabulously (and the true test of getting along fabulously is sharing a 150 square foot room with them).

We did the usual museums and landmarks, and I was able to show them around the neighborhood. It's nice having a traditional French market a couple blocks away so that I can give people a genuine French experience. I took them to Place de Vosges for a picnic and to my watercolor artist who sells his work in the corner of the park. We walked to Notre Dame at night and sat in front of the Eiffel Tower waiting for it to light up. We went to an Alsacean restaurant near my flat to celebrate my aunt's 39th birthday. But I think my favorite night was their last night. We got a poulet roti, cheese, fruit, and a baguette, finished off two bottles of wine and some macaroons, and talked and laughed around my very small table until we realized it was after 11, and we had to get up in less than six hours.

Their visit made me feel more at home in Paris than six weeks of being here on my own did. I hadn't quite realized how well I've gotten to know my little neighborhood and the idiosyncrasies of the language and culture. It was fun to share it with other people. And I'll have the opportunity to do so. Charles arrives for his second visit tomorrow. Two days after he leaves, my parents arrive for two weeks in and out of Paris. I have a friend who will visit just before I leave. I will also visit Burgundy, Provence, and Marseille. It's going to be a busy and very fun six weeks.

Produce

This is less than $4 worth of produce from my market. All organic and grown in France. I think this would have cost about $20 at the Farmers Market in DC. And we wonder why Americans don't eat enough fruits and vegetables.

Weekend Recap

This is the first weekend that I haven't really planned anything. I guess that means that I'm settled in Paris. I did the usual things this weekend-- grocery shopping, cleaning, and laundry. On Saturday, I walked to the Luxembourg Gardens and read for a few hours. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite places in Paris.

Today I did my market shopping-- apples, zucchini, tomatoes, and grapes. Oh, and a delicious rotisserie chicken that will last me at least four meals. A huge bonus when you only have two hot plates for cooking (and zero counter space). I walked up to Pere Lachaise cemetery and walked around, stopping at Oscar Wilde's grave. Then I headed up to Parc des Buttes Chaumont. Very pretty and very crowded park. I think Luxembourg Gardens are still my favorite, followed by Place de Vosges (which fortunately is only a few blocks from my flat). The park is off my map, which is not good. I got lost coming home. Here are some pictures of today's adventure.

Pere Lachaise

 

 

Oscar Wilde's tomb. Apparently people like to kiss it?

 

 

 

Parc des Buttes Chaumont

 

 

London

I visited London this past weekend. Loved it. It's as if someone took the best elements of DC and New York and combined them into one British version of a city. My only complaint is that the time passed too quickly. Oh, and the weather. It was cloudy and cold the whole time. Not quite raining, but the air was wet and misty.

My London weekend started out with drinks with my friend from Thailand travel, George.

It was great to see her again, and this time under better circumstances. Very few people can understand that moment when you wonder if your untimely death will come from drowning in the Gulf of Thailand. When we realized we were having drinks across from a store called Monsoon, George said, I'm going to give you my parents' phone number here in London, just in case something happens and you need it. Fortunately, no natural disasters in London. Moving on!

Saturday started with grand ambitions for a full day of site seeing. I mostly succeeded. I started off the day at St. Paul's Cathedral. I had an embarrassing tourist moment when I asked someone to point me in the direction of the cathedral and he pointed... up. In trying to decide whether to turn left or right, I failed to look behind me. I can no longer silently mock tourists who point to the White House and ask me if it's really the White House.

 

 

I thought the cathedral was beautiful and couldn't quite imagine how Kate Middleton turned it down. I thought the tribute to American soldiers was very touching, particularly after going to the WWII section of Paris' Army Museum that failed to mention the U.S., British, and Canadian forces in the section on France's liberation. I walked along the Thames to...

Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Beautiful place, rich with history and the bodies of dead royals.

 

 

You can't take pictures in either church (nor Buckingham Palace for that matter), which was nice because you can just enjoy the visit.

 

 

I walked up Whitehill Street and peeked in at 10 Downing Street. You can't really get a good view.



Next stop, Buckingham Palace. I got a ticket to tour the State Rooms and the Queen's diamonds. The place was packed, but interesting to see. I'd say the rooms fall somewhere between the White House and Versailles. There were 19 State Rooms alone, so much much bigger that the White House and more ornate. I have to say, if the goal is for the tourist to come away with a more positive view of the Queen, the tour was successful. The staff were incredibly nice and helpful and told us that it is the Queen's wish that everyone who visits Buckingham Palace be as comfortable as possible. She even had a coloring room set up for the kids. Good work, Queen Elizabeth.

I took a quick stroll to window shop on Sloane Street and popped into Harrod's. It was a bit overwhelming to say the least. I went home to change and put my feet up briefly, then headed to the West End for a show. I saw The Lion King. The show was fantastic, and I sat next to a very friendly military family from the U.S. stationed in Germany. After the show, I went down to the embankment to see London at night.

 

Sunday began another day of site seeing. First, to the Tower of London... more like 20 towers. This is practically a medieval city.

 

Great views of Tower Bridge.

 

 

I didn't make it to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, but I did see them do it at the Tower.

 

 

The best part of the Tower of London are the "Beefeaters." There are 37 trained tour guides that provide colorful commentary for tour groups. They are all decorated former military officers and live at the Tower with their families. It's considered a high honor to become a Beefeater (they used to be paid in the King's Beef; not anymore). 

 

I took a cruise down the Thames, back to Westminster Pier...

to tour the Churchill War Rooms. This ended up being my favorite attraction, I think. It's an underground bunker where Churchill, his advisors, and numerous support staff worked during WWII. You see where he slept and the meeting rooms and offices. Many of the people who lived and worked there for the better part of six years or so were women, secretaries and operators. They worked 16 hour days and risked their lives to help with the war effort. The conditions were not pleasant-- no real air, vermin, no sunlight for days on end. The museum contains everything (and more!) you ever wanted to know about Winston Churchill. The experience inspired me to read a Churchill biography, as I couldn't possibly take in all the museum had to offer.

 

 

My next stop was a brief visit to Notting Hill. I'd wanted to get there for the Portobello Road market on Saturday but ran out of time. I perused the shops and restaurants for a bit. 

My final stop was a "curry" for some Indian food. Hands down, the best Indian food I've ever had. Wish I could have taken the leftovers on the train with me.

And that was it. I headed back to the train station and 2 hours later, I was in Paris. It's baffling that such different cities are so close, geographically speaking. I love Paris, but I have to admit, it was really nice to have a weekend of welcoming people and easy communication. Approaching each and every interaction with some level or worry that you will have some kind of language or cultural miscommunication grows tiresome.

Two days is not enough for London. Can't wait to go back.