As we've been doing after every time we switch locations, we've posted a review. But to post a review on Avignon is not really fair since we didn't even stay in Avignon. We actually stayed in Les Angles which is located just across the Rhone to the West of Avignon. So instead here are some thoughts on the whole region of Provence.
Food
I wasn't expecting the food to be so drastically different than Paris - but it was in a good way. Provancale food shouts out simplicity where the concentration is on the natural flavour of the ingredients to be on full display. The prominence of open air markets is a must when visiting here. They are in general 4 times bigger than anything we've seen in Paris, while the one in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is an attraction in itself as it seems the entire village becomes the market. Another surprise is to see the heavy dose of Spanish offerings this far North of Spain. Paella is everywhere and the Italian eateries are also plentiful.
Navigation
If you visit Provence, renting a car is a must since the region is really made for exploring this way. Getting lost in the winding roads as you past vineyards, sunflower patches, and lavender fields will be some of our best memories. When visiting the region, most people use either Avignon or Arles (30 km to the South) as a hub for your adventures. As cool as Arles is with its heavy Roman influences, we preferred Avignon which is considered the cultural capital of France. Attending the Festival d'Avignon is proof of this. Either way though, from both locations you are well situated to go to the Luberon region to the East, Orange & Vaison de la Romaine to the North, Pont Du Gard and Nimes to the West, and Les Baux to the South. A GPS is another must as I don't see how you would get around without one unless you learned all the roads.
Climate
I won't sugar coat this - it was an absolute scorcher here. I believe that the lowest it ever got was 28 with a high of 37 and an average of 33.
Time
I can't count how many times we've asked one another what the time was and the person who answers is off by 2 hours. Things seems so relaxed year that we lost all sense of time altogether, a stark contrast the mega cities of Paris and London.
Overall
I can't shake this feeling that this area reminded me a lot of California. The climate, the great food and wine, and the diverse topography immediately reminded me of our time in SoCal. I think its a good analogy since many of Europeans come here for a break too. All California is missing are the 1000 year old castles and bridges ;)
Next and Final Stop (I can't believe it's almost over) - Nice.
2011-07-08
2011-07-06
Open Air Markets in Provence
Open air markets are huge in Provence. By huge, I mean size, popularity, greatness, and anything associated with the word HUGE. Markets in Paris were a bit of a disappointment, but the markets in Provence are incredible.
The first market we went to was our local small town one in Villeneuve Les Avignon. Already, we were impressed by the size and variety of things you can find here. We picked up a pair of sandals for Isaac here. We could have also bought some mops, or garlic grinder, or discount swimwear along the way. If the kids weren't melting in the heat, I would liked to pick up some linen dresses. The produce is so fresh you can see sap dripping from the stems. There are butchers, fish stalls, rotisseries selling farm fresh chicken or rabbit, and lots and lots of melons and peaches.
The second market we went to was the granddaddy market of them all in Isle-Sur-La-Sorge town. This town is called the Venice of Provence, because of all the water ways all over town. It seems like the entire small town is converted into a large market, with stalls crammed along all the streets. There were lots of antiques there, but digging though flea market stuff in 33C heat and crowds of people spells trouble with kids. We were there for probably 2 hours, but didn't make it through the whole market. There were provencal fabrics, stinky cheeses, tapenades, food vendors, purses, toys, you name it. Unfortunately, Chloe developed a heat rash and was scratching and screaming like a dog with lice. So we had to leave. We had to leave before the heat and crowds swallowed us up, but what an incredible experience it was to visit these markets.
Signs that you are still a tourist
Just when we think that we are beginning to fit in - reality hits during these times.
1. You have your Nikon strapped on your neck 24/7
Although it is becoming more common for locals to carry their cameras around to take some shots of daily life, nothing will give you away more as a tourist than a camera around your neck. It's a good thing that people here don't automatically assume English. I've had Japanese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and Korean spoken my way - mostly by other Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean tourists asking me a question. The French - usually default to French which is a nice opportunity for me to practice.
2. You don't dress the part
This is part of my own doing as I'm definitely not known to be stylish even in my own country, but next the camera around your neck, your clothes are a huge giveaway that you are from abroad. When people guess where I'm from, even before I speak English, they usually guess right in saying either US/Canada. Perhaps it's my ECCO hikers, my North Face shorts, Eddie Bauer travel shirt, and Oakleys that gives my Canadian roots away. If I was from Asia, I'd probably have one of two outfits: dress shoes, dress pants, collared shirt, cardigan, and LV man-bag OR white sneaks, jeans, pink polo (turquoise acceptable), and... LV man-bag.
3. You buy time in the car as your GPS is "Recalculating"
Fortunately this hasn't happened too often as I'd like to think I'm fairly decent with directions and don't panic if I miss my turn. However, when I do and there is a lot of traffic at high speed, those few seconds that it takes the GPS to recalculate the best route after you've screwed up sure feels like an eternity.
4. You crave a food from back home that you can't get locally
Maybe a by-product of me being away for so long - but I already know what my first meal will be when I get back to Calgary: AAA Alberta Rib-Eye with long grain rice and choy sum.
1. You have your Nikon strapped on your neck 24/7
Although it is becoming more common for locals to carry their cameras around to take some shots of daily life, nothing will give you away more as a tourist than a camera around your neck. It's a good thing that people here don't automatically assume English. I've had Japanese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and Korean spoken my way - mostly by other Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean tourists asking me a question. The French - usually default to French which is a nice opportunity for me to practice.
2. You don't dress the part
This is part of my own doing as I'm definitely not known to be stylish even in my own country, but next the camera around your neck, your clothes are a huge giveaway that you are from abroad. When people guess where I'm from, even before I speak English, they usually guess right in saying either US/Canada. Perhaps it's my ECCO hikers, my North Face shorts, Eddie Bauer travel shirt, and Oakleys that gives my Canadian roots away. If I was from Asia, I'd probably have one of two outfits: dress shoes, dress pants, collared shirt, cardigan, and LV man-bag OR white sneaks, jeans, pink polo (turquoise acceptable), and... LV man-bag.
3. You buy time in the car as your GPS is "Recalculating"
Fortunately this hasn't happened too often as I'd like to think I'm fairly decent with directions and don't panic if I miss my turn. However, when I do and there is a lot of traffic at high speed, those few seconds that it takes the GPS to recalculate the best route after you've screwed up sure feels like an eternity.
4. You crave a food from back home that you can't get locally
Maybe a by-product of me being away for so long - but I already know what my first meal will be when I get back to Calgary: AAA Alberta Rib-Eye with long grain rice and choy sum.
2011-07-05
Review on the Run: Pont Du Gard Roman Aqueduct(5 out of 5), Haribo Candy Museum(1 out of 5)
Pont Du Gard
Pont du Gard is a perfectly preserved Roman aqueduct built in 19 B.C. Not only is the sight awe-inspiring and beautiful, the area surrounding it is a beautiful park filled with treed trails, with a shallow river for wading and swimming. The kids enjoyed throwing rocks into the shallow river and spotting tadpoles and fish in the pools of water. The walk up to the panoramic point to view the aqueduct is breathtaking. Maybe I'm biased because I am just so impressed by the engineering of the Romans. By dropping one inch for every 350 feet, it supplied nine million gallons of water per day to Nimes, one of ancient Europe's largest cities. The structure is made to hold without mortar (entirely held by gravity of the stone arches), and withstood floods and natural disasters for thousands of years. This is the second highest standing Roman structure (Roman colosseum is only 6 feet taller). We saw some people float down the river on kayaks. If you're brave, you can swim through the arches too.
Haribo Museum
The only reason this got 1 star rather than no star, is that the candy here is actually REALLY good. The museum itself was mildly interesting, if that. Maybe I'm not being fair, because the second floor was closed for renos when we were there, but there really wasn't much to see there. I thought we could taste more candies and see more being made. Out of all the machines they had, half of them were broken. The only one working was for packaging ready made candies, not for actually making them. The site was a disappointment, but the candy is really the freshest and yummiest candies I've ever had!
Signs that you are becoming a local
Some things that have happened along the way that have made us feel like that we are beginning to fit in.
1. A local asks you for directions
In Paris one our way home after a long day of sightseeing, a lady stops us and asks in in French if we know the direction to the nearest metro station. We say one word "Cite" [the name of the metro station] and point. We passed with flying colours.
2. Your daughter picks up an English accent and keeps it for the duration of the trip
I can't pin the precise moment, but believe she picked it up from here Cardiff cousin's. We did a double take when she asked "Dad. Do you still have my train ticket?" in a very Michael Caine sort of way and had to laugh. Chloe hasn't lost the accent since.
3. You start getting annoyed at tourists who are driving a rental yet you yourself are one
Nothing more annoying than being stuck behind a person that can't make up their mind on where to go. "Um, should I turn here? Let's slow down to see the road sign. Nope. Next one. Wait a second... nah. Speed limit is 90, so I'll drive 35 just to be safe." I wish people would just pull over to the side and get their bearings instead of not admitting defeat and causing havoc on the roads.
4. You don't freak out when there is no soya sauce
Ok. Asian thing. You are in a rental and bought a huge slab of veal that you want to season. Standard marinade of garlic, ginger, light soya, sugar, star anise, and sherry right? Except you are in Provence and they have no concept of more than one type of soya sauce, their ginger is way too young, star anise seems to be a foreign ingredient, and cooking with sherry is sacrilegious. That's ok. Iron Chef it with garlic, honey, fleur de sel, balsamic vinegar, and "herbs de provence"... yummy!
1. A local asks you for directions
In Paris one our way home after a long day of sightseeing, a lady stops us and asks in in French if we know the direction to the nearest metro station. We say one word "Cite" [the name of the metro station] and point. We passed with flying colours.
2. Your daughter picks up an English accent and keeps it for the duration of the trip
I can't pin the precise moment, but believe she picked it up from here Cardiff cousin's. We did a double take when she asked "Dad. Do you still have my train ticket?" in a very Michael Caine sort of way and had to laugh. Chloe hasn't lost the accent since.
3. You start getting annoyed at tourists who are driving a rental yet you yourself are one
Nothing more annoying than being stuck behind a person that can't make up their mind on where to go. "Um, should I turn here? Let's slow down to see the road sign. Nope. Next one. Wait a second... nah. Speed limit is 90, so I'll drive 35 just to be safe." I wish people would just pull over to the side and get their bearings instead of not admitting defeat and causing havoc on the roads.
4. You don't freak out when there is no soya sauce
Ok. Asian thing. You are in a rental and bought a huge slab of veal that you want to season. Standard marinade of garlic, ginger, light soya, sugar, star anise, and sherry right? Except you are in Provence and they have no concept of more than one type of soya sauce, their ginger is way too young, star anise seems to be a foreign ingredient, and cooking with sherry is sacrilegious. That's ok. Iron Chef it with garlic, honey, fleur de sel, balsamic vinegar, and "herbs de provence"... yummy!
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