Ah, Paris.. It’s always been a pleasure to visit this city regardless of what we ended up doing. So this time around was no different. Since Brigitte’s been here a hundred times (and about half dozen for me), we opted to skip the touristy stuff. We had 4.5 days here during which we mainly put in time to see and hang out with friends. We also had the good fortune of shacking up with them since 31 Rue Duret (Brigitte’s dad’s old place) was no longer an option (as they moved out of Paris).

Our last few days in Marseille are coming to an end and there are still a few things we’d like to do/see before we leave. We started our morning with the typical breakfast we’ve been enjoying for the past few weeks – crispy chocolate croissants, fresh baguette with butter and fruit jam plus tea or coffee. France has really spoiled us with its simplest of foods which in my mind are the tastiest.

After really enjoying Porquerolles, we decided to take another one of Loïc’s recommendations for his ultimate favorite place in France – the Gorges du Verdon. And so we headed out for another 2-day mini trip. We decided to make the 2+ hour drive via the smaller departamentale roads (non-highway) to see more of the beautiful countryside – vineyards, orchards, quaint villages plus sunflower and lavender fields (one of the trademarks of Provence).

After a weekend in Toulon, the time had come for us to finally visit the island of Porquerolles just off the coast of Hyeres. If you spend any time in Toulon (or the Toulon area), Porquerolles is a must-see and do. We also wanted to get Loïc off our back as he had been diligently insisting that we go (it’s apparently one of his favorite places in the world).

On our way back to Marseille from the Southern Rhone region, we decided to stop in Gordes (a medieval town). But just before we made our way into the town, we stopped at the “Village des Bories” about 1.5km west of Gordes. Village des Bories is made up of about 20 stone huts that go back to the 18th century. What’s impressive about the huts is that limestone and a hammer were the only items utilized to construct them (no mortar).

The day I’ve been anxiously awaiting had finally arrived (a day of meandering through wine country and tasting some of France’s finest). We planned for a full day with a morning visit of Avignon followed by tastings in Chateauneuf-du-Pape (a 5-star wine region in my book), Vacquerays and Gigondas. (We actually arrived in Avignon the night before and took a few night pictures of this beautiful city).

Today we set out for a 3-day expedition around Provence (in the departments of Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhone). We’ve been hearing quite a bit about the town of Arles (about an hour drive from Marseille) so this was our first stop. This ancient town dates back to 800 BC but it was the Romans who really left their mark here and this is still evident today.

After relaxing in Toulon for a long weekend we decided to see more of Marseille on Day 20. The dilemma confronting us was figuring out which part of this city’s splendors we would tackle. Luckily the super hot weather aided our decision – we set out to see the corniche (the road that runs along the coast and faces the Mediterranean Sea).

Marseille We arrived in Marseille on Day 15 after a long travel day from Dakar via Madrid. Our layover in Spain was 5 hours (4am – 9am).. we had a few hours to kill and hoped to pass out (on a bench, on the floor, anywhere really), before the early morning rush hit the airport. We passed out on the floor for about an hour and at around 6:30am the airport came to life with travelers, airport personnel, and routine security announcement in every language imaginable (not cool when you’re running on only 3 hours of sleep – a few silent moments can be so precious).

Evian, so much more than just a pretentious water brand. Today we finally tackled this old town via a historic tour and found it to be a gem nestled along Lake Geneva’s waterfront. This medieval town dates back to the 12th century and it’s also the birthplace of Evian natural mineral water which trickles down from the Alps. The wild thing is that the original source/well is still an open tourist site and anyone can just drink from it or fill up a few bottles.