London and Southern France, November 2023
Saturday, Nov 4, 2023
We opt to lose a day in London by being booted off our Atlanta to London flight. In exchange for that lost day in London, Delta gives us a hotel room, three meals each, and $1,400 each. We will use the cash for two round-trip flights for each of us to Europe sometime in the future.
A telling thought occurs to me about this change in plans. While I have a great deal of interest in walking the streets of London, my sudden opportunity to spend a day in Atlanta holds zero interest for me. A stark indictment of the awfulness of large American cities in contrast to the splendor of large (and older) European cities.
Sunday, Nov 5, 2023
We fly Atlanta to London
Monday, Nov 6, 2023
Spending a day in the surprisingly picturesque city of London. We walk nearly all of Old Town London on a crisp, sunny Fall day. I am quite impressed by the many narrow cobblestone streets we encounter and walk. London is clearly one of the great cities of the world. People seem more attractive and thinner than Americans. I notice relatively few emergency vehicle sirens – and think to myself that in the future, if we are to consider ourselves to be a civilized society, sirens will be banished as part of a barbaric past. There are relatively few over-sized roads or STROADs in London. I also notice relatively few homeless people in London. We encounter many festive pubs and cafes in the city. I am surprised to realize I could be happy living in this city. Surprised because it is exceptionally rare for me to think that when I am in a relatively large city (almost 9 million in London today).
Hyde Park is possibly the most famous park in London, and it is one of the largest. The park has historical significance, having hosted a number of demonstrations and protests including protests by the Suffragettes. The park’s famous Speaker’s Corner is still occupied by debates, protests, and performance artists every week. The park is home to several memorial features, as well as two bodies of water, the most famous being the Serpentine. Here you can go paddle-boating, see a number of swans, and take in a breath of fresh air in the center of the city.
Westminster is considered the political hub of London and is home to the Houses of Parliament and the world-famous Big Ben. Big Ben is the name of the bell housed within the iconic clock tower, and it still chimes every hour.
Tuesday, Nov 7, 2023
We walked much of Old Town Nice on the French Riviera. Primarily Rue Droite, which is the lovely, human-scaled main street in Old Town Nice (total city population in 2023 was 948,000). Filled with charming shops, markets, cafes, and restaurants. The ambiance reminded us of the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Many small, ancient streets to explore and get lost in near Rue Droite. Turquoise water at the beach along the Mediterranean. Impressive cemetary. Includes a walled Jewish section. Wine is tasty and affordable at the wine bar we sample (including ham prosciutto) before our dinner. Our dinner was lovely. Nestled in a small, quaint, charming space, the restaurant was filled with happy locals serving and enjoying popular Nice cuisine. We had octopus with potato, medium-rare beef, goat cheese for dessert, and a ¼ carafe of affordable house red wine served in a "Grolsch Beer" bottle.
Our apartment requires us to ascend nine flights of lung-busting stairs.
Wednesday, Nov 8, 2023
This morning we trained to Monaco (population in 2023 was 36,000) at the eastern edge of the French Riviera. As is so often the case, we thoroughly enjoyed the Old Town charm of this city-state. Fantastic architecture and romantically narrow streets. Later we train to Cannes France, home of the world-famous film festival. We both agreed that Cannes shines more pleasantly than Monaco and Monte Carlo. Better streets, better and quieter transportation. Better views. Monaco traffic is louder, more angry, and more dangerous. In part, that is surely due to the unusually large number of bright red Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Maseratis we encountered there.
I noticed a number of women in Cannes who were “dressed to the nines.” I told Maggie that my guess on seeing this was that a number of women in Cannes are hoping to become movie starlets by being noticed by a prominent film director.
In Cannes, we shot a photo of ourselves in front of the famous Red Carpet of the annual Cannes Film Festival. The Red Carpet of the Cannes Film Festival is located near the central entrance of the Palais De Festival in Cannes. The Opening and Awarding Ceremony, also all main screenings and world premieres of the Film Festival, take place in the Grand Theatre Lumiere with the famous Red Carpet. Walking up the steps has become an iconic ritual for film stars: along 60 metres of red carpet, and up 24 steps that lead to the top and the Palais des Festival. Although the red carpet is part of what makes Cannes Cannes, it wasn’t until 1984 that it became an official staple. The red carpet has been used to welcome high-profile guests since Antiquity. The decision was a hit: now almost forty years later, the walk up the steps along the red carpet is considered one of the highlight events at the Festival de Cannes.
Thursday, Nov 9, 2023
Cold, rainy day as we left Nice. Making matters worse was that our bus was an hour late, leaving us shivering at an exceptionally poorly protected bus stop. Fortunately, the weather cleared just as our bus pulled into town center Marsielle (population of 1.6 million in 2023) at the western end of the French Riviera. On our walk from the transit center to our apartment, we are dismayed to notice the loud, gritty, grimy nature of the city. We are reminded of the character of Napoli in Italy. Many of the streets have undergone expensive pedestrian enhancements (including the installation of bollards and granite block). But the streets we see – many of which are now pedestrian malls -- are mostly empty of pedestrians or active shops. Several of the streets that allow motorized traffic are one-way, and the traffic seems loud and dangerous. Lots of loud scooters and motorcycles.
Our apartment in Marseille is a breeze compared to our apartment in Nice. Here we must “only” ascend eight flights of stairs, not nine.
Friday, Nov 10, 2023
Day two in Marseille changes my assessment for the city in a strongly positive direction. After an espresso and latte, I immerse myself in the daily morning outdoor produce market in one of Marsielle’s historic neighborhoods. Festive and full of fresh vegetables and fruit, the market is overflowing with happy, spirited locals.
I then visited the historic town center – this part of the city contains a few of its founding buildings in 600 BC. Romantic granite steps are abundant in both this ancient place as well as the historic neighborhoods.
Saturday, Nov 11, 2023
Maggie is bedridden with a nasty cold, so I set out on my own for a day in Aix en Provence, a town a short distance north of our Marseille base. I stop at a café facign the marina for a coffee. I then walk for 30 minutes to the transit center where I will bus to Aix en Provence. Just before I step on the bus, a horrifying thought strikes me like a Bolt From Hell: I AM CERTAIN I SET OUT THIS MORNING WITH A BACKPACK ON MY BACK, AND IT IS NOT ON MY BACK NOW!!! I MUST HAVE LEFT IT BACK AT THE CAFÉ!!! TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, MY PASSPORT IS IN THAT PACK!! YIKES!!! Using a half-sprint, I arrive back at the café, sweating and huffing and puffing. The backpack is NOT where I left it, but at the moment I notice that my wait staff person sees me and informs me she set aside my bag inside the café. HUGE RELIEF!
Back at the transit center, I board my bus and disembark 40 minutes later at Aix en Provence.
Population in 2022 was 149,000.
The town immediately charms me. Lots of romantic, lovely, human-scale-narrow granite cobblestone streets, lovely medieval architecture, and enormous, packed, affordable, and fun-loving outdoor produce market filling the historic streets.
I decide that this is my favorite southern French city we have visited so far in this trip. I could live here…happily…
Sunday, Nov 12, 2023
We are happy to report that we are reliably being served absolutely delicious food here in France. Had we been eating medicore food, it would have been unbearably frustrating, as France is known far and wide for its spectacular food.
This morning, for example, we were fortunate to eat a seafood paella brunch at the Marseille marina that was splendid. Accompanied, no less, by a jolly musical band that serenaded those of us enjoying the outdoor produce market.
We boarded a “Flexibus” to make the relatively long journey (2.5 hours) to Montpellier, a city of 278,000 people. We had given little thought to this city, which made it particularly impressive when we soon discovered what an overwhelmingly charming, romantic, old-world town center is found here. So impressive that we decide this is our most loved city so far in our southern France tour of cities. We fell so very much in love with the splendor, relative quiet, and relatively calm motorized traffic that we now consider this city to be high on our list of cities we may want to reside in someday. Utrecht and Haarlem in the Netherlands – not to mention Assissi and Siena and Ortigia in Italy -- are still at the the top, but Montpellier is not far behind.
"L’Écusson" is the historic neighborhood we walked in Montpellier, and it is the heart of the city.
As an aside, I am ashamed by the fact that recent generations consistently make our world more ugly when we construct buildings. In general, I've noticed in my travels that when it comes to city town centers and neighborhoods, the older the better -- that is, older tends to be more beautiful. Newer means more ugly and less loved.
I struck up a conversation with four women sitting next to us at a café in Montpellier. It turned out that they were from the US but had successfully obtained citizenship in France and now lived in Montpellier. To say I was green with envy was an understatement. They informed us they will never go back to living in the US.
Montpellier, we were told by them, is a college town with eight colleges in the region, and tourism had not been a problem for them. Apparently, Montpellier has not been “discovered” as an important tourist destination. I am now convinced the stunning charm here will soon change that.
Montpellier Cathedral: The French Wars of Religion in the 16th century took their toll on Montpellier’s churches, but despite sustaining damage, the gothic Cathédrale de Saint-Pierre survived. It hasn’t actually always been a cathedral either, as it started out as a monastery chapel until the diocese of Maguelone was switched to Montpellier during the reign of Francis I in the mid-1500s. The most arresting feature is that imposing portal with its twin pillars that are more than 4.5 meters in diameter.
Arc de Triomphe provides a regal entranceway to the Promenade de Peyrou. It was modeled on the Porte Saint-Denis in Paris and completed in 1693.
Our apartment here in Montpellier, where we will reside for the next few days, is lovely with its arches and ancient stone walls.
Monday, Nov 13, 2023
On our second day in a city we have fallen in love with, we walk to a newer part of Montpellier on its east side -- Place de l'Europe. Newer tends to hold no interest for me, but in this case I decide it is worth our while. Here we find newly-built buildings built in a classical design. A highly unusual yet admirable assemblage, as by definition, classical is attractive and inspiring. Unusual because in our age, the tragic modernist architectural paradigm has made traditional or classical design politically incorrect – disparaging and discouraging it by calling it “criminal” or “nostalgic” or “copycat.” And yet, despite this, the buildings are beautiful.
When we reach the eastern edge of these buildings, Maggie is horrified to realize she does not have her cell phone! No!!!! She frantically informs me that we and our trip are doomed if she has lost it. Almost in a full sprint, I rush back to a glorious fountain (“Place de Thessalie”) we sat at about 15 minutes ago, thinking that this would be a likely place for her to have left the phone. Miraculously, I am overwhelmed with relief as I spot that telltale shiny glass and black little box sitting alone on the extremely public bench. Somehow it was not taken – not even by a “do gooder” who might have walked by and brought it to some sort of administrative office lost and found.
That night, Maggie is excited to make reservations at what online appears to be a happy family-style restaurant near us. Inside, the place is not at all for tourism. No chairs match. Indeed several are broken. Clutter is everywhere, and offers the impression that we are in a garage. Nevertheless, the food – once again! – is magnificently delicious. Our waiter, who also appears to be the proprietor, is an exceptionally nice guy, and helps us immensely in his impressive spoken English to allow us to know what to order on his menu.
Tuesday, Nov 14, 2023
Day 11 of our trip found us taking a train to the ancient city of Carcassonne. This place is everything everyone raves about regarding this medieval town. WOW!! Many of our friends have confirmed what we had previously seen online as they urged us to visit. This city is overwhelming in its medieval charm. You step back in time to the age of ancient castles when you visit this place.
The insurmountable walls and 52 towers are deservedly the center of attention and go on for three kilometers around the old upper city.
According to Wikipedia, the ancient city of Carcassonne, on the right bank of the Aude River, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. It is a tourist hotspot, with nearly 4 million visitors each year, including nearly 500,000 visits to the count's castle and the ramparts. It is the second most visited tourist site in France after Mont-Saint-Michel.
It is a unique medieval ensemble in Europe due to its size and state of conservation. The city is surrounded by two rows of ramparts and has a castle, the count's castle and the Saint-Nazaire basilica. The new count's castle was built at the beginning of the 12th century. From 1240 to 1250, the construction of the enclosure was undertaken to fortify the castle. This belt is made up of a curtain wall, round towers, the entrance gate, the barbican and the moat.
The Saint-Nazaire basilica is a church of Romanesque origin dating from the 11th century. The church blessed and consecrated as a cathedral by Pope Urban II in 1096. The crypt also dates from the time of the construction of the new cathedral by the Trencavel family. The basilica's original stained glass windows are in the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.
The cathedral is built of sandstone on the exterior. It was enlarged between 1269 and 1330 in the Gothic style imposed by the French who became masters of the region, with a very slender transept and choir, a decoration of sculptures and a set of stained glass windows which are among the most beautiful in the south of France.
The church was built over several hundred years from the 800s to the 1300s and what makes it rare is the way romanesque and Gothic design coexist so comfortably.
The sense of harmony is easy to see in the church’s interior, which escaped Viollet-le-Duc’s intervention and boasts romanesque sculpture, stonework and stained glass windows side by side.
In the choir, the long central stained glass window is from 1280, and so one of the oldest outside northern France.
From above or below, on the ramparts or inside the walls, Carcassonne’s double line of fortifications is a sight to behold.
The impregnable walls and 52 towers are rightfully the center of attention and go on for three kilometers around the old upper city.
While in the ancient city, we dined in a lovely, leafy outdoor patio for lunch. We opted for the grilled duck kebobs and a charcuterie board of local meats and pate, which was an excellent decision.
After a day of what I like to call “Splendor Exhaustion,” we returned to our Montpellier base. Online research led us to “The Acolyte” restaurant. We dined at an outdoor cocktail table on a charming cobblestone street. The proprietor could not be nicer to us, and our waiter seemed like a professor from one of the many colleges in the area. Once AGAIN, our meals were unspeakably delicious. Particularly the sheep cheese whipped cream, the pork filet, and the bone marrow. Maggie would not allow me to order the “lamb brains” from the hilarious, mischievous menu. One item stated you could “order sliced ham to share – or not.” Another helpful section contained a list of entrees that “made our restaurant famous.”
Just before our meals arrived, we noticed a noisy parade with tubas and drums and torches passing by on a nearby street. I shot video of the event, but we were unable to translate the messages written on the signs being held by many on the route. Was it a celebration? A protest?
After dinner, we decided the nighttime weather was so delightfully warm that we would walk nearby as yet unseen streets to explore parts of a city we keep saying we want to someday move to (more than once, Maggie expressed regret that we would have to leave this wonderful city tomorrow). Just down the street from The Acolyte and our apartment, we serendipitously stumbled upon a number of blocks of streets that were filled with funky, crowded, edgy, joyous bars and restaurants filled with local fresh foods and homemade local microbrew wines and beers. It was as if we had a choice of attending any one of 15 cool, fun parties in close proximity to each other. I told Maggie that this city would be worth moving to for no other reason than to be able to enjoy this section of time on a regular basis.
No matter how hard we try, our restaurant meals in France are always spectacular. We do not seem capable of finding mediocrity at French restaurants.
One thing I’ve noticed as we travel from city to city is that every available square inch of land in the French countryside seems to be used to grow grapes.
Wednesday, Nov 15, 2023
Avignon became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 thanks to its ramparts, palace, cathedral and bridge. It is perhaps best known though for its theater festival, which takes place every July. One of the things I notice upon arrival in Avignon is what we had noticed in Montpellier as well. There is almost a complete absence of emergency vehicle sirens. An extremely welcome, quality-of-life boosting attribute for a city. This is NOT because there are no medical or police or fire emergencies in Avignon or Montpellier. It is city policy to not allow emergency vehicles to degrade the quality of life. Indeed, during our first day in Avignon, I watched an emergency vehicle with its lights flashing roll on down the street WITHOUT using sirens. Both cities – particularly for their size – are noticeably and enticingly quiet and peaceful. My hat is off to the leadership in these cities that made this happen.
Avignon has noticeably more cobblestone streets, polished stone block streets, and ancient Roman architecture than Montpellier.
We spent much of this rainy day touring Palais des Papes. You can’t comprehend the scale of the 14th-century Papal Palace until you see it in real life. You could fit four gothic cathedrals in here and there are 24 rooms to visit on the tour. It’s the marquee attraction in Avignon’s World Heritage site and one of France’s most famous and valuable historical buildings.
We viewed Pont d'Avignon from above in the Papal park we were visiting. Known to all as the Pont d’Avignon, the mythic bridge is from the late 12th century, linking France with Papal Territory. It was positioned on the tightest part of the bend in the Rhône to lessen its exposure to the river’s notorious strong currents. Originally there were 22 arches, of which four remain today, and the bridge was 915 meters long, sensational dimensions for the time it was built. Over the next few hundred years the bridge was damaged and rebuilt by flooding, until finally a catastrophic flood in the 17th century carried off most of the arches.
Basilique Saint-Pierre was wonderful. Local folklore has it that this church’s predecessor was destroyed by the Moors in the 7th century. The current gothic building was started in the 1300s during the papacy of Innocent IV, who was the fifth Avignon Pope.
There is an old street that traces the ancient Vaucluse Canal. Rue des Teinturiers was the intense center of Avignon’s silk spinning and dyeing industry from the 1300s up to the 1800s. The canal still retains wooden paddlewheels used to generate power for the industry. Along the canal one night we encountered a “third place” – a gathering of locals who were drinking and socializing along the canal. I told Maggie I so envy such experiences that I would regularly attend this gathering and would want to live in this city for this reason alone.
Maggie and I spend much of the day teasing each other about why, in my opinion, Avignon would be a better city to live in than Montpellier, and why, in her opinion, Montpellier would be better than Avignon.
Thursday, November 16, 2023
Maggie and I were fortunate to stumble upon a wonderful annual wine celebration here at the Halles market in Avignon at a market near our apartment today. It is the annual introduction of new wines from this year (les enfants). A favorite wine label name was “enfant terrible.” We sampled wines from EIGHT wine vendors. At TEN in the morning! (when in France, do as the French!). We also got to chat with many of the wine-makers.
What could be more fun?
Tonight, after the colorful parade, we will be attending a small street-side event where the wineries will be providing samples of all their wines. Following the tasting, we will be dining at one of the many sponsoring restaurants that have designed set menus to complement the regional wines.
Today was a day of pleasant and astounding surprises. Not only did we accidentally discover the annual wine festival and parade. And some wonderful streets and buildings we had not previously seen in Avignon.
But I also experienced what, for me, was by far, the most staggering, unlikely “small world” experience of my entire life. No other experience was even remotely close. While we were sampling wines and strolling to taste another, I suddenly hear a familiar voice say, “Is that Dom?” My jaw literally dropped as I turned and was face to face with old good friend Perry Maull, a guy I had met 27 years ago in Gainesville FL. Over the years, we had developed a strong bond due to our both working for the same city government employer and sharing similar views on transportation and urban design. We traveled many times together and had kayaked countless Florida creeks together. He even let me stay at his condo for a few months when I moved to Boulder CO in 2009. But I had not seen him for at least 15 years. Not only were the chances infinitesimally small that we would be in the same city at the same time on the other side of the world from where we lived, but that we would ALSO be attending the same event in that city at the same time, and then to actually bump into each other during the event – completely unaware of the fact that the other was in Europe at the time. Wow.
On Saturday night the 18th, we learned that it gets even MORE spooky. We just ate dinner with Perry at a restaurant so good that he has eaten there several times in the past. It is operated by a one-person staff: A black man from Africa who moved here a few years ago and cooks excellent French food. He does all the cooking and waits all the tables and washes all the dishes. During dinner, we learned that we will be ON THE SAME FLIGHT HOME WITH HIM when we fly back to the US on 11/24! We also just learned that here in Avignon, we are staying in apartments that are just A FEW FEET FROM EACH OTHER. His address is 20 Rue Galante. Ours is 9 Rue Galante. Will the impossible coincidences ever end with this? Perry suggests we buy a lottery ticket when we get home.
Friday, November 17, 2023
Nimes (pronounced Neem), a city of 151,000 people, has a striking array of ancient Roman architecture, including the ampitheatre and the Jardin de La Fontaine gardens. An important outpost of the Roman Empire, it's known for well-preserved Roman monuments such as the Arena of Nîmes, a double-tiered circa-70 AD amphitheater still in use for concerts and bullfights. Both the Pont du Gard tri-level aqueduct and the Maison Carrée white limestone Roman temple are around 2,000 years old.
The Roman amphitheatre in Nîmes (Amphitheatre of Nîmes) has proudly stood the test of 2,000 years and looks great for its age. The arena is still used for celebrations and concerts, and every May is a solemn scene for six days of bullfighting during the Feria de Nîmes.
Nîmes Cathedral is a document to the tumultuous history of Nîmes, and as soon as you see the western facade you’ll know that it has taken a lot of punishment in its time. There has been a religious building right here since the Roman temple of Augustus, and the northwest tower and a few arches on the facade were constructed in the 1100s. They are all that survived the French Wars of Religion in the 16th and 17th centuries, so the rest of the building has a 19th-century neo-gothic design, while the interior also got a neo-byzantine overhaul.
Maison Carrée is an exemplary piece of Vitruvian architecture, Maison Carrée is almost unparalleled in the former Roman world for its completeness. It has been here for more than 2,000 years and the only signs of age are a bit of weathering on the columns in the marvelous portico. The temple was dedicated to Gaius and Lucius Caesar, two grandsons of Emperor Augustus who died in their youth. In the next 20 centuries it became a house, granary, church and was also the mooted tomb for the 16th-century Duke of Uzès, Antoine de Crussol. All these functions helped to keep temple in one piece for so long.
Jardin de La Fontaine is a city park. City parks don’t get much grander than these 18th century gardens around the water source where ancient Nîmes was founded. There are regal balustrades, broad stairways, statues and marble vases, but also exciting Roman monuments. When the Jardins de la Fontaine opened in 1745 it was one of Europe’s first public parks, and came about after attempts to channel the natural spring led to the discovery of a temple to Augustus and theatre.
Temple de Diane are the ruins of a chamber with a long barrel vault that caved in centuries ago. To the sides are passageways with centuries-worth of graffiti etched into the walls, and there are fragments of expertly-carved stonework in the main room. The site is called the “Temple of Diana” although the exact purpose of the building is unknown – it was possibly a library instead.
Tour Magne, in its prime, was the tower at the top of the Jardins de la Fontaine. It soared to 32 meters, dwarfing every other building in the city. The tower is all that is left of the fortifications erected during the rule of Emperor Augustus in 15BC. From its pedestal at the highest point of Nemausus it would have been a crucial beacon and watchtower controlling the plain.
We once again almost randomly selected a small French restaurant on a small side street with views of nothing of interest (i.e., a place that would not attract tourists). While the outside glass façade suggested expensive elegance inside, the inside was clearly local and blue collar. Our food was AGAIN simply delicious. I am increasingly convinced that the French maintain such a high-level of quality cuisine that any restaurant that expects to open for business in France MUST offer superbly flavored, delicious foods in order to have a chance to survive in this fiercely competitive French restaurant market.
I have noticed that in several of the French cities and towns we have visited, sycamore trees are used as street trees on many streets. In France they provide a magnificent enclosed tree canopy and a wonderful esplanade. I am puzzled, as in my work as a town planner in Gainesville FL, I had the understanding that sycamores – while wonderful for quickly achieving a large tree size due to relatively rapid growth – tend to be undesirable as street trees due to their relatively short life. I wondered if French cities contend with this by interplanting with slower-growing yet longer lived street trees so that a tree canopy will remain after the sycamores have died off? But then I learned that the sycamore used in Europe lives for hundreds of years.
Saturday, November 18, 2023
On Saturday morning, we were awoken at 2:30 in the morning by the sounds of drums from a marching band. This went on for at least an hour. Do these people never sleep? (Or perhaps a better question is “Do these people ever stop having fun?”) But then it occurred to me. Of course! This must be Saint Anthony’s Feast of the Sleepless Night!
Arles, France, the town we visit this morning, has a population of 53,000 people, and is famed for inspiring the paintings of Van Gogh. Once a provincial capital of ancient Rome, Arles is also known for many remains from that era, including Arles Amphitheatre (les Arènes d'Arles), now hosting plays, concerts and bullfights.
Arles turns out to be a lovely, cute, and lively little town full of medieval architecture and sweet, quiet little streets.
Arles Amphitheatre was constructed in 90 AD. The amphitheater seated over 20,000 people during its heyday and provided entertainment such as chariot races and gladiator battles to local residents.
The Roman Theatre of Arles is an ancient theatre that also dates back to the 1st century. It was constructed during the reign of Emperor Augustus, shortly after the Roman colony was founded. Today, there is not much left of this ancient theatre, though it is quite astounding to think about just how long these ruins have survived.
Place de la République is a large open square in Arles, where the town hall is found. At the center of the plaza, you’ll see the Obélisque d’Arles, a 4th-century Roman obelisk made of granite from what is today Turkey.
Place du Forum is a beyond beautiful plaza with charming flower boxes in the windows and dozens of restaurants with outdoor seating. The plaza was so endearing that Van Gogh even made a painting inspired by it called Café Terrace at Night in 1888.
Cloître Saint-Trophime is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I’ve added Arles to the growing list of towns we’ve visited on this trip I could happily live in for a few months (or several years). The list also includes Montpellier, Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, and Nimes.
Sunday, November 19, 2023
We train from Avignon to Lyon (pronounced LEE-OWN). But first, we stop at the Halles food market for one last look for fun. We sample a spectacular soft cheese that literally melts in your mouth. We then join locals at a market bar for a café crème. Although we learn that on a Sunday at 9 in the morning, many locals are already drinking beer and wine!
Once we arrive at the Lyon train station, we walk to our apartment. Of course, this being a quite large city (1.4 million), the buildings are neck-aching tall towers, and being in the newer part of town, they are unlovable modernist blocks and cubes with no ornamentation. Indeed, one of the buildings we pass looks like an 80-story lit cigarette.
Happily, there seems to be ample bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in the town center, and we see many on bicycles as we cross the mighty Rhone River bridge. The Rhone here is quite wide and the current looks quite strong. We cross a large pedestrian/walking street on our way to the hotel, and spot a few older, ornamental buildings – particularly as we enter the old town. Older, more lovely bridges we seen crossing the Rhone suggests the city – despite its large size – must not have been considered of strategic importance during WWII, as older bridges would have surely been destroyed during the war if the city was militarily important.
We ate dinner tonight in a spectacularly charming, painfully romantic and cute old town section (could it have been otherwise?) tonight. The Vieux Lyon neighborhood. I could not stop snapping photos of the cute-as-can-be cobblestone streets. Once again, the food was otherworldly delicious. We dined at Restaurant Le Vieux Lyon. I’ve now decided that over the past two weeks in southern France, I’ve never, ever eaten food so delicious. Since we put almost no sophisticated effort into selecting restaurants over that time, it MUST be that French cuisine is simply unparalleled. After all, we tried what amounted to a random selection of foods and restaurants, since we had no biases or plan when selecting. Even though I’ve always been certain Italians make the most delicious food on earth, I’ve now officially changed my mind. The French are superior.
One of the many things I am immensely enjoying in our tour of French cities is the abundance of sculptures of heroic and beautiful people. Cities, to improve citizen knowledge, and induce civic and historic pride, should see that sculptures of important historical people are placed in important civic locations. Sadly, American cities tend to provide a shameful lack of sculptures. And in recent times, to make matters worse, many of those already scarce sculptures have been torn down for what I believe are inappropriate political reasons.
Monday, November 20, 2023
On our last day in Lyon, we found the bicycling easy, safe, and comfortable in the city when we took a few Velo bike share bikes for a spin in the morning.
For shopping, start at the pedestrianized Rue de la République where all the high-fashion brands await.
Vieux Lyon neighborhood is so lovely and romantic in its cobblestone charm at night that I happily shot a set of “Vieux Lyon at Nighttime” photos. Vieux -- the old quarter – was populated by the silk merchants.
The Ancient Theatre of Fourvière is a monument high on the left bank of the Saône River.
And 2,000 years after it was built it is still a performance venue during the Nuits de Fourvière drama festival every June and July.
At its peak it would have held 10,000 spectators, but only the middle and lower terraces of the cavea remain.
Where the seating has been lost though, you can see the fascinating substructure of the cavea, which continues far up the hillside.
The theatre was rediscovered in the late-19th century and restored over the next 40 years.
The city’s fabulous cathedral is a mostly Gothic construction built between the 12th and 15th centuries.
The majority of the original stained-glass windows are still here and date to the 1300s.
They had been dismantled and packed away during the Second World War to save them from bomb damage.
Tuesday, November 21, 2023: Paris Day 1
We trained from Lyon to Paris for our final city visit in France. The Paris architecture in the old town never fails to stagger me in its beauty. The ancient Montmartre neighborhood, it goes without saying, is, in my opinion, the most lovely neighborhood in all of France (the recipe is nearly unvarying: Older is more lovable, newer is less lovable). Fortunately, it is the location of our Paris apartment during our stay. Unsurprisingly, nearly all of the most beautiful and stroll-able streets in Paris are found here. Perched on the ‘Martyr’s Hill’ from which it gets its name, Montmartre has stunning cobbled streets, picturesque squares and plenty of bars and restaurants where you can sit back and soak up the artistic atmosphere.
Wednesday, November 22, 2023: Paris Day 2
Paris is one of the great cities of the world. The enormous monumental nature of the structures found here is enough to announce that. We never seemed to be away from the bakeries or (iconic) outdoor cafes. Every time we looked up, they were there beckoning us. Paris is a foodie city on steroids. I read yesterday that there are well over 44,000 restaurants in this city. Fortunately for us, choosing from that staggering selection is somewhat manageable, as we are only interested in those places found in the older, slower, quieter parts of the city. Such as Montmartre – where our apartment is located – and The Latin Quarter.
While Paris is wonderful in so many ways, it also suffers from notorious “urban” problems that tend to be associated with relatively (but not always) large cities. Paris is far more noisy than the southern French cities we had visited in previous weeks. There was an exceptionally noticeable increase in the number of emergency vehicle sirens that assaulted us – particularly noticeable after so many days in extremely quiet, siren-free southern French cities.
Getting around by bicycle is dangerous, disconcerting, and somewhat frightening – I say that as someone who is an experienced, relatively skilled and fearless, battle-worn cyclist who has bicycled all over the world. While there is a relative abundance of bicycle lanes (some grade-separated) and a fairly large number of bicycling local citizens (safety in numbers!), I generally felt intensely wary and unsafe on the many oversized, higher-speed roads and extremely large intersections. I often had little idea of where I should be on the road, when I should be moving or stopped, and whether I’d abruptly collide with a pedestrian or motor vehicle. My only (minor) comfort was to simply bicycle in the middle of packs of Paris bicyclists near us and assume the pack knew how to be safe.
Overall Food Impressions
Over the past few weeks, we’ve enjoyed access to an enormous range of French-made breads. So irresistible in taste that despite being a no-bread paleo with my diet, I’ve eaten more bread in those few weeks than I’ve eaten in the past five or so years.
It saddens us to think that we will soon be leaving behind this extraordinarily delicious food when our trip ends. Nothing in the US comes close.
Summarizing the Trip
This trip was magical. Unforgettable. The French Riveria is so wonderful that we are now thinking we’d like to live – for an extended time – in a few of the cities there.
I’ve NEVER eaten more delicious restaurant food than what we enjoyed in southern France. We also loved the wine, the architecture, the tiny little medieval cobblestone streets, as well as the fit and fashionably dressed residents.
It was clear that French cities — at least the several we visited — have more respect for protecting and promoting quality of life than in American cities. Not only is it the case that French town centers show better architectural design of buildings, smaller and slower dimensions of streets, and better food than in American cities. But also, importantly, there is a relative lack of the use of emergency vehicle sirens and leaf blowers in France compared to America.
Following the trip, here are my updated preferences for cities to live in, in order of desirability:
Haarlem
Utrecht
Ortigia
Bologna
Siena
Avignon
Aux en Provence
Montpellier
London
Barcelona
Berlin
Palermo