Wine, ruins and art

Ubermilf posed a very good question. Her questions was, for those of you late coming to the party, “I was going to ask you which you preferred, the south of France or Paris. I've only been to Paris.” Very good question and I have been pondering all morning (while working diligently of course).

The answer is, I don’t know. They are so different from each other; it was like taking 2 separate vacations. We started in the South of France. Gorgeous countryside, sprawling grape vines of the vineyards. Little communities built up in the hills. Every day was a new adventure to see little snippets of history. It was very laid back. So laid back that if we didn’t get food before 6 p.m. we were pretty much out of luck as everything closes. Went to my now favorite French wine town - Chateau Neuf de Pap and bought a bottle of wine that we can’t open for another 4 years.
We took day trips to wonderful places such as St. Remy to see the mental hospital where Van Gogh stayed, and painted. Wow. I couldn’t get enough. Of course, he is one my favorite artists. Actually, he is my favorite artist. Anyway, we saw loads of Roman ruins. We went to Nimes and walked around the huge Coliseum in the middle of town (after having a mental break down due to my husband’s tomfoolery, this may not be one of my fave memories). Spent a day in the fishing city of Marseilles where we had an unbelievable lunch…..for the record my tuna steak cost $18 euro, and the total bill was over $400.00! That story deserves a blog of its own!

Then off to Paris. Wow, what a city. So many incredible things to see. So many little bistros to stop in and have a bottle of wine whilst contemplating where to go next. We saw the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Père Lachaise where, among others, Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, and Gertrude Stein, are laid to rest. Walked down the Champs Elysee and saw the Louis Vuitton store (mecca!). Purchased some pants and a few shirts at some boutiques (after a few bottles of wine) and when I returned home discovered that they were a little too, um, not conservative enough (showed WAY too much skin!). Somehow I didn’t realize this while trekking around the streets of Paris wearing my new duds! The friggin’ Metro rocks! Very clean, very safe. We even had our own neighborhood bar right across the street from our hotel – the Guinness sign was a beacon in the night. They spoke English and served great mojitos!

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to go to Normandy, or the film festival in Cannes. Also we had hoped to get in a day trip to Italy, but it was just too far away even by fast train.

I am leaving so much out because it would take 20 pages to recount the entire vacation. Suffice it to say that it was the best vacation of my life. I was with my husband, and two of our best friends who enjoy drinking French wine as much as we do! If I had to pick whether I liked Paris or the South of France better, I would have to say……I’ll get back to you.

I will continue to post pictures of our trip with a paragraph or two and eventually you’ll have the whole story. Voila!