So my time in Nice started out a lot earlier than anticipated when my 10:20am flight was cancelled (I was supposed to arrive at 5pm after a stopover) and I had to switch flights, landing me in Nice at 9:10am. Never fear: this gave me an entire day to enjoy Nice, a city that my family wasn't planning on exploring much. First things first I'm the realest: crepes.
After wandering around the city for a few hours by myself, it was up to the train station to meet mum and dad after more than 4 months apart. I absolutely adore my family and while FaceTime, Facebook, texting and Skype make the world seem so much smaller, I was ecstatic to be reunited with my parents.
It's worth mentioning at this point that dad had a trip diary that he emailed to family and a few friends, detailing the events of each day. As I'm writing these posts a little bit late, I am reading through them to jog my memory about the specific happenings of this day. Dad told me that I better reference him in my posts, so here's that...however I'll also take the opportunity to say that the mention I got in the trip diary, after 4 months of separation, was 'it was great to see her again'. And that's a direct quote.
Above are a few photographs of the apartment we were staying in. It was pretty exciting to have a large room (and a clean kitchen!) after four months of living in college. However, I was surprised that we managed to make it there at all - it took us about 2.5 hours to drive from Nice to Aix-en-Provence, battling peak hour(s) traffic and dad dealing with driving on the wrong side of the road. Still, we made it there in time for dinner (always important) - a French tart made by the lady we were renting the apartment from (the way she said 'Laura' in her beautiful French accent was amazing!) and some Camembert cheese with breadstick - thank you to the girls at Sussex for teaching me that one!
Our first full day in France was spent wandering around Aix-en-Provence, the main town of Provence that the locals refer to as 'Aix'. My parents, while also being incredibly touristy and wanting to see everything important to see in an area, they break up photo stops and churches with coffee and meringues. Lovely.
Lunch was ham, cheese and tomato rolls (dad managed to correctly order jambon, fromage et tomate - questionable grammar and accent but we got what we wanted). I feel like we walked all over Aix but our favourite part was St Sauveur Cathedral, which has had extensive renovations done to it from the 5th-17th centuries. We also saw the Town Hall, the church of Saint-Jean de Malte and many, many fountains. Another highlight was taking a 'tourist train' around Aix (one of those trains on wheels that are incredibly trashy tourist and therefore right up my alley). We had to drag dad onto it kicking and screaming but once he had the headset blaring historical information at him he was quite happy.
I doubt my photographs do it justice, but Aix was absolutely beautiful. In the evening, we did a quick stop off at the shops and then I made dinner in an attempt to show off my new found cooking habits (or lack thereof) - roasted veggies and some chicken.
Day 2
If anyone thinks that they are hardcore tourists, they have not met my mum and dad. With a week to spend in the South of France, one would think a village a day (or two) would be enough. However, on day two of driving on the wrong side of the road, mum and dad decided that hitting three villages in a day was doable.
And it was.
Our first stop was La Roque D'Antheron, about 40 minutes drive from our house. We made it there relatively unscathed, aside from a brief near death experience when dad drove on the incorrect side of the road (funnily enough, this didn't make the trip diary). We wandered through the town to find the post office, and then walked to Silvacane Abbey, supposedly 1km from the tourist bureau. Well, it was a little bit further and we made the trek on a road that was definitely not designed for walkers, however we arrived in one piece to the 1175 constructed Abbey. It was built by an order that embodied simplicity and so we saw a very elegant and still mostly intact building.
Our next stop was Lourmarin, voted as one of the most beautiful villages in France. I'd agree - this town is so picturesque and looks exactly like the villages of Provence I had been envisioning. There were no cars on the streets in the centre of the town - instead, there were plenty of restaurants and small shops on footpaths that wound down into a large square where we had our lunch.
After a bit of wandering (including through a tunnel that was about 1m tall - 6'2' dad had to duck to get through) we went to Chateau de Louramin. This was a beautiful castle with sweeping views over the village and beautiful gardens. Louramin was one of my favourite towns that we visited during our time in Provence simply because it was everything I imagined a small French town would be. The dance concert happening in the village hall that we watched for a few minutes definitely added some appeal.
What makes Roussillon special is the red ochre in the earth around the village which is reflected in the colour of the buildings. We wandered around, up more hills, and of course made time for a sneaky gelato. When in France, right?
Our first two days in Provence were absolutely wonderful and it was so much fun to spend time with mum and dad again. Stay tuned for the next few days when we battled toll roads and amphitheatres, and a guest appearance from one of my lovely cousins!
Until next time,
Laura
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