A visit to the south of France requires a visit to the most famous city, Cannes. The international film festival is held in May. It was a scenic hour drive from Nice.
I admit, I thought the city would be pretentious and snobby but it was as charming as any of the cities in the south of France. There was more traffic than we had seen before and of course more luxury brand boutiques but after we parked Liv found an American style diner and we bought some ice cream.
We were so sunburned from laying out on the beach the day before, ouch! I was so happy to find my first and only Invader in Cannes.
Liv and I rode the ferris wheel. The city was practically empty.
I normally don’t like riding ferris wheels, but I felt brave and I prefer enclosed rides. The view was worth it.
If I ever go to the Cannes Film Festival (because I totally am) I would like to stay at the Splendid hotel. Now I know the famous Eden-Roc hotel is where all the celebrities stay in Cannes but I feel burned that we were turned away at the gate when we tried to get a drink at the notorious bar. Turns out you can only visit the hotel grounds if you have a reservation and the guy at the gate said there was an opening in 11 months. Cool.
We walked across the street to a little park and found a cute brocantes (antique sale).
I was super tempted into buying a Louis Vuitton travel case that was a bargain for €600 but luckily, she only took cash and I realized, I had nothing that valuable to travel with such an expensive bag.
Maybe one day.
Cannes was lovely but also just a normal French town. I have always associated it with such A-list celebrity, even the public bathrooms were just a fancy port-a-potty.
On the lovely drive back to Nice, Liv asked if we could stop and ride one of the beach bikes. Antz was exhausted so I took one for the team and rode in the blazing heat with Liv and Lulu. The things I do for my kid.
It was actually very fun, it would have been perfect if it wasn’t so darn hot. We rode the breezy coastline for an hour while Antz napped in the car with the air conditioner on.
We couldn’t find a restaurant open to have dinner so I ordered my delicious Mediterranean pasta again from the place in Old Town Nice.
Cannes was a lovely day trip. I would only stay overnight if I chartered a yacht, we didn’t find much to do if you aren’t doing some serious shopping.
Day three in Nice I took the bus to the airport to pick up a rental car so we could drive to a special beach outside of Nice recommended by our friend Louise and drive the magnificent Cote d’Azur.
The only compact car they had with an automatic transmission was a boring black BMW. I always imagined myself driving the cliffs along the south of France in a cute vintage convertible like Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief yet my non-stick driving skills doesn’t make that a reality.
We drove south of Nice to the small coastal town of Saint Jean Cap-Ferrat. The roads were very narrow and curvy.
The roads were right along the cliffs against the stunning blue sea waters and houses were built right into the mountainside. It seemed impossible to walk in the city but we saw women pushing strollers right on the tiny streets. It was such a contrast to the huge, busy beaches of Nice.
It was easy to find our dream house.
Bougainvillea everywhere!
The beach had rocks but we spent most of our time in the water.
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It was a perfect beach, the water was lovely. No seaweed, no sand in your bum and we even saw little fish swimming with our GoPro camera. I can’t believe I just realized that this was the same beach location from one of my favorite Grace Kelly and Cary Grant films…To Catch a Thief!
It finally got too hot for us so we grabbed some lunch at the little cafe and drove back to Nice.
I wanted to take a shower and change clothes because we were driving to Monaco that evening.
There were so many sailboats and yachts scattered in the harbor. It felt like we were in an Alfred Hitchcock movie in the 50s!
The drive to Monaco is less than an hour from Nice. We were stunned by the tunnels built right into the mountainside but also apprehensive driving along the sharp, curvy cliffs. How cute is this fruit stand?
The first time I drove into Monaco, it’s so small I drove right past it! It’s through a tunnel and you have to make a quick turn or you’ll miss it. It took forever to find parking unless you were driving a Maseratti, because there were plenty parked just outside of the Grand Casino.
It was surreal arriving at the Casino Monte Carlo, which I had only seen in black and white on an episode of I Love Lucy.
I just had to play one lucky game of roulette but they don’t allow children inside the casino. Antz and Liv hung out in the ornate salon while I paid the €20 admission fee along with taking €100 out of the ATM. There was a strict no photography policy inside the casino so I was only able to take one shot with my iPhone.
I was surprised to find the casino charged an admission fee. When I went inside there was only a handful of people inside. I sadly didn’t see any celebrities or royalty.
Not as glamorous as I expected. I lost my €100 in an instant. I’m so used to gambling in Las Vegas with free drinks and computerized boards that show the last number drawn in roulette so that threw me off. I was also trying to hurry knowing Liv and Antz were waiting for me.
I disappointingly returned to Liv and Antz and told them about my swift loss. We left the Grand Casino and found another smaller casino right next door.
Since the second casino was free and we felt ripped off from the first one, I sent Antz in and told him to come back a winner. Liv and I hung out in the lobby and waited an hour. He returned with not just my €100 but also another €200! Yippee!
We left just in time to catch the summer night fireworks show.
I don’t know how I made the hour long drive back to Nice but I managed.
We began day two meeting our friends from LA for brunch in Garibaldi Square which was beautiful. We met them at a restaurant/furniture store. All the furniture in the restaurant was for sale. We had an amazing breakfast and the best hot chocolate ever.
I met my dear friend Brandi many years ago through a Mom-only Facebook group we belong to and I reached out to her to ask about life at the French school Liv attended in LA. Her son is a few years older than Liv and I knew she was very involved in the school. So we met for coffee to chat about her experience as a non-French speaking person of color in the private school. I felt like such an outsider before Liv started at the school because we didn’t know anyone or have any connection to the LA French community and Brandi welcomed me with warm arms. She bridged the gap for us at the school and introduced me to another incredible friend of mine. I have since extended the same courtesy to other parents who were interested in the school to pay it forward. I adore this woman so much. PS, she is kinda of a big deal!
Her rad family is living abroad and traveling like us, we were joking about pooling our money to buy a mansion with sea views together. Liv had a ball playing babysitter to her sweet little ones.
Brandi had to go to work for the day so we spent the rest of the morning checking out the Port of Nice. It was a gorgeous day so we took a quick boat ride across the bay.
Posing with my yacht, no big deal. There is a cute ferry that will take you across port for free.
This was Napoleon’s modest 1794 crib in Nice. Now it’s a lawyer’s office.
These two look like sisters!
After taking an Uber back to our rental, we hit the beach and I was surprised to find rocks instead of sand. It’s strange at first but the rocks are smooth and warm so it feels nice on your back, like wearing Crocs. We borrowed a beach umbrella from our rental and bought Liv a unicorn float. The water was the most gorgeous shades of blue. I am so used to filthy, polluted ocean water in LA, it was so nice to actually be able to see through the water. I was so happy not to have to deal with sand in our hair!
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I baked in the sun while Antz and Liv played in the water. I also observed the many topless women and old dudes in Speedos. We actually ended up befriending a nice Mom and her daughter who were laying next to us. It was very hard to carry-on a friendly conversation with them both being topless however, they spoke English and were very sweet. We saw them everyday during our trip.
Antz rarely wears his hair down but when he does I swoon. South of France Antz is so handsome!
We packed up and stopped at a little snack bar near our apartment for an ice cream cone and spent the rest of the night enjoying the air conditioning and watching TV in Italian and French.
We headed down south of France for our summer vacation to sunny Nice. We were excited to visit our dear friends from LA who moved there a few months after we did for a year-long job. I was also excited to find that our friends Louise and Florent (our house swappers) were also there for the summer. We discovered that no one stays in Paris during August due to the extreme heat (and lack of air conditioning) and the flood of tourists. Instead of taking the train, we flew because it’s less than two hours flight and I found tickets on Air France for about €60 each. I couldn’t find any available house swaps that were located close to the beach so I found an Airbnb one block from the beach. I would have preferred to do a house exchange but Airbnb was the least expensive option I could find. There were insane mansion rentals with private pools that were driving distance to the beach that were up to €1,000 per day! Our Airbnb was a studio apartment that was clean, compact and most importantly, it had a pool and air conditioning (Liv and Antz must-haves).
Our flight from Paris was super easy and quick. Our rental was only a fifteen minute Uber ride from the airport.
We had to wait ages for our host to let us into the apartment and we were dripping with sweat, so as soon as we dropped our bags off, Liv and I changed into our bathing suits and jumped right into the pool. Antz had to start work but he was in heaven with the freezing cold air conditioning.
After a few hours of Liv jumping into the pool like a mad woman and me getting sunbaked, Liv and I showered and we all decided to find a place for dinner. The neighborhood we were in barely had any restaurants nearby and everything I saw was closed. It was around 6:30 pm so we were starving. I found an Italian restaurant on Yelp so we took the bus to Old Town Nice.
We got off the bus at the wrong stop so we walked for several blocks and found Old Town a little after 7 pm so we had a wait awhile to be seated. Did I mention it was blazing hot?
At first glance, I wasn’t impressed by the menu and the staff seemed to ignore us. All was forgiven when they finally brought out our food.
This was my first authentic Mediterranean meal and it was DELICIOUS! I am not exaggerating when I say it was the best pasta meal I ever had. I loved it so much, we ended up eating at this restaurant several times during our stay. I even ordered it to go a few times. I don’t know how they made such a simple plate of shrimp alfredo so perfect but I wish I could have some right now. Antz had spaghetti and Liv had pizza as always. They weren’t blown away as much as I was.
By the time we finished our meal, Liv and I had to go to the bathroom. By now, we have gotten used to sharing a tiny European bathroom stall so I asked Liv to hold my iPhone for me. Well, my clumsy self ended up accidentally knocking Liv’s hand and she dropped my iPhone in the toilet! Before I could react Liv screamed like someone got shot. I was so worried about calming her down I just stuck my hand in the toilet and grabbed it. Luckily it was before we used the bathroom. It was half funny and half traumatic. Antz was quick to point out that I had an iPhone 8 (which was brand new) so it’s water toilet proof.
We went to wait for the bus however we noticed no one was waiting with us and it was close to 9 pm so we agreed the buses stopping running by then so we decided to walk back to our rental. It was a beautiful and breezy walk back along the Promenade des Anglais next to the beach. We didn’t realize it was over an hour walk but it was so nice out, we didn’t mind.
Our first day in Nice was chill. I honestly didn’t think it was that pretty of a city as I expected but I later found out we were staying on the wrong part of town closer to the airport in a more tourist area.
Day two is when we found the true beauty Nice had to offer.
I used the hashtag #niceforwhat for our trip on my Instagram. If you are old and lame like me this is what the kids were listening to last summer! Apparently, it’s a bop.
A few years ago I made a crazy goal of visiting twenty countries in under two years. I sat down with Antz and Liv and we looked through our MAPS book to decide which countries interested us most and what we would do in each destination.
I have the obvious must-see locations but I also wanted to challenge myself to see places that aren’t frequently visited. After reading about the rad landmarks and festivals across Europe I put together my dream list. In the back of my mind I sort of thought of it as a silly fantasy but now that I am actually living in Europe, it feels like we can certainly accomplish it!
The best part is since we are already here, airfare and trains are a fraction of what it would cost flying from Los Angeles. YAY! After surviving driving in London, I feel brave enough to handle road trips so we can experience more cities in France. As long as we have reliable wi-fi and a clean/cool place to swap, I would love to visit these incredible destinations.
France – Calais, Lille, Normandy, Cherbourg, Nantes, Aix-en-Provence, Rouen, Riems, Dijon, Poitiers, Lyon, Biarritz, Marseille, Brittany, Bordeaux, Deauville, Nice, Cannes, Strasbourg, Arles, Gordes, Montpellier, Avignon, Annecy, Alsace region Antibes and St. Tropez *quite possibly more cities!
Italy – Rome, Florence, Pisa, Milan, Venice, Turino, Naples, Capri, Positano, Sorrento, Cinque Terre, and Sicily *Malta (technically not Italy but close)
Spain – Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Málaga, Seville and Granada
Portugal – Lisbon, Porto, Madeira Island and Sintra
Look at this colorful castle in Sintra, Portugal
Morocco – Marrakesh, Fez, Essaouira, and Casablanca *Rock of Gibraltar
Germany – Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Leipzig, Bavaria, Frankfort, Heidelberg, Trier (to see the Burg Eltz Castle) and Saxony (Die Rakotzbrück/Devil’s Bridge)
England – London, Salisbury, Bristol, Brighton, Bath, Oxford and the Cotswolds
Scotland – Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Lochs
Austria – Salzburg, Innsbruck, Hallstatt and Vienna
Switzerland – St. Moritz, Geneva, Zürich, Montreux, Grindelwald, Lucerne, Interlaken, Chur, Basel and Lausanne
Belgium – Brussels, Brugge, Ghent and Antwerp
Netherlands – Utrecht, Rotterdam Delft and the Hague
Russia – Moscow and St. Petersburg
Denmark – Copenhagen
Sweden – Stockholm, Gothenburg, Gotland Island and Mälmo
Norway – Oslo and fjords
Finland – Helsinki and the Arctic Circle (My friend Aura lives there so I’m sure she will know cool places to visit)
Poland – Warsaw, Krakaw and Oświęcim (Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau)
Czech Republic – Prague, of course!
Bonus Destinations
21. Japan – Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, Osaka and Yokohama
22. Romania – Bucharest (we are dying to see Dracula’s Castle)
23. Turkey – Istanbul
24. Croatia – Dubrovnik, Split and Dalmation Coast
24. Singapore (Antz has been 3 times!)
26. Faroe Islands
27. Australia – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth
28. New Zealand – Auckland and Wellington
29. India – Agra, Mumbai and Jaipur
30. South Korea – Seoul and Busan
**Bonus: US – New Orleans, Alaska, Hawaii, Florida (for DisneyWorld and Harry Potter) and somewhere cool in Maine.
I have dreamed of seeing the world my whole life, so living in Europe feels surreal. We have so many beautiful and historic places right at our fingertips. I tend to get overwhelmed when I plan our trips because there is so much I want to see and unfortunately, we don’t have a limitless budget or time so I must contain our trips to weekends and school holidays. That’s always been the hardest part for me, waiting to find the best deal during the time Liv has off of school.
This is the beautiful town of Hallstatt, Austria
Do you have any must-see places in Europe I have missed? Would you prefer visiting the city or the countryside?
My bestie Aimee came to visit us for ten days in July! The last time we were together in Paris was March 2015.
Since it was the middle of summer and unbearably hot in Paris, we took a road trip to the seaside towns of Deauville, Trouville and Honfleur. Lucky for us, the weather was much cooler. We stayed at a beautiful, historic bed and breakfast in Deauville. I finally struck gold with my car rental skills. Not only did I get the actual car I reserved, a sweet ass brand new Volvo, but it was white which they never have (so sick of driving silver and beige cars!) If we ever buy a car in Paris, I am seriously considering a Volvo. I mean, if I can’t find a vintage Fiat Pop 500 with an automatic transmission or my dream car this light blue beauty. I guess Liv would have to sit on the hood.
It was a quick two hour drive west so we stopped in the village of Buorneville which is in the Normandy region. We needed to stretch our legs and I had to take a pic in front of this adorable Mairie. Little did we know that we stopped right in the middle of an insect horde and we were covered with hundreds of tiny black bugs. It was awful. Liv noticed them first and next thing we knew they were all over us. I have many things I cannot tolerate and bugs is high on the list. They were in my braids, all over the rental car, in our clothes. I was miserable during the rest of the drive. I planned to take photos of the picturesque village of Pont-Audemer but we just drove through without stopping. We felt like there should be warning signs saying watch out for tiny almost microscopic bugs that don’t bite but crawl all over you! Has that ever happened to anyone else? I still itch just thinking about it.
When we arrived in Deauville at our hotel Villa L’Augeval thirty minutes later we immediately jumped into the shower and changed.
Our room was quaint. Aimee, Liv and Lulu had their own tiny room to share.
The view from our window was more impressive than the room. This lovely church bells chimed every hour. Liv was stoked because our hotel had a pool.
We headed to a restaurant in Trouville-Sur-Mer for dinner which was highly recommended by our French friends.
Trouville-sur-mer is a 15 minute drive from Deauville and it’s so cute. Most of the houses have a Art-Deco Victorian style. We drove around picking which mansion would be our future beachside vacation house.
I am no fan of onions, as many of you may already know, however I have always been enticed by the smell of French onion soup in the past. I saw it on the menu and decided that I would be brave and give it a try. Aimee was excited to order seafood and oysters. Antz got a steak and Liv ordered something simple from the kids menu. Lulu just ate bread.
Well my dears, the onion soup was a big disappointment! I was excited to see the raclette of cheese covering the top and it smelled yummy but beneath the bland cheese was a bowl of warm water and big, almost raw onions. I was hoping for the creamy broth of soft onions I have seen at restaurants in LA but this was Normandy style which seems to translate to no seasoning. The plate of shrimp I ordered were served cold to my dismay and Aimee didn’t enjoy her food either. Yet another expensive meal we wish we just went to McDonalds. I swear I am trying my best to open my palette to French cuisine but no luck so far!
Liv got an ice cream cone for dessert. Antz took these lovely photos by the Trouville harbor, I love my new Modcloth dress which was giving me 1950s vibes and it has POCKETS!!
We dropped Aimee off at the hotel so she could take a nap and sleep off her horrible dinner and we drove to the beach to catch the sunset.
The Deauville American Film Festival has taken place since 1975. The Promenade des Planches was built in 1923 and now has the names of popular American actors and directors. I was surprised by some of the names we saw but happy to find my imaginary lover Jeffrey Goldblum. Olivia only knew Jessica Tandy from her role in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.
The next day happened to be July 14th which is Bastille day in France! We began the day with a refreshing swim at our hotel.
She still loves to bellyflop!
We checked out of our room and headed to the beach for breakfast. But first, Liv challenged us to a game of table tennis. I beat them both!
I found the OG actors on the planches further down the boardwalk. Liz Taylor, Bette Davis and my girl Grace Kelly.
After promising Liv we would return so she could spend a day playing in the sand. We headed to Honfleur to spend the rest of the day before driving back into Paris.
Somehow there is an unspoken rule that when we see a Ferris Wheel, Liv must ride it, no questions.
It appears carousels follow this same rule as well.
Being weird with my best friend 21 years later.
The Honfleur harbor is giving me Copenhagen vibes.
Aimee was super stoked to finally get a delicious bowl of mussels! I don’t know how she eats them.
We listened to a French band play while we dined. There was a World Cup game playing so the entire town was distracted. I drove through Versailles to see if we could watch the Bastille day fireworks on our way back to the city but it was so crowded we couldn’t find parking and we were tired, so we zapped a few Invaders (how cool is this beheaded Louis the XVI?) and like the old, lame folks we are, we went home to bed.
I sometimes freak myself out at how much I OVER-plan things for us to do. We were pretty tired from our trip to Cherbourg but I couldn’t resist getting tickets for the magnificent Marie Antoinette fireworks show. Since I still had the rental car for one more day, I decided it would be worth going since we could drive there from Paris. It was on a Friday evening so we surprised Liv after picking her up from school. The event was held in the beautiful Jardin Orangerie at Versailles. Of course, Liv wore her Marie Antoinette dress.
Although it was entirely in French, we were able to follow the story of Marie Antoinette’s life in Versailles. It was a whimsical show mixed with classical music and the most insane fireworks ever. Even the character’s costumes had fireworks. As tired as we were, the show was definitely worth it. We all agreed that it was the most spectacular fireworks show we have ever seen!
However, it was painful to get up at 5am the next morning to catch our 6am train to Reims. The good news was the trip was only 90 minutes long which felt like an instant on the high speed train. We were able to take a quick nap on the train.
Traveling from Gare l’est is the best. It’s only a ten minute bus ride away and it’s one of my favorite stations as far as cleanliness, food kiosks and because I use the SNCF app, I just scan a QR code on my phone to board the train.
Reims is in the Champagne region of eastern France and as much as you may want to pronounce it was Rey-ims…for some weird reason it’s pronounced Rance, like rhymes with France.
We hopped on the tram as soon as we arrived. Hooray for easy, accessible public transportation! This was a rare occasion that I didn’t have an itinerary scheduled for a trip. I always check out the Atlas Obscura website when we visit a new place. I usually visit the local church first, then see a landmark the area is known for and find somewhere off the beaten path. Liv and I also use our MAPS book as a guide to learn about the location we are seeing. It’s super informative and we adore the illustrations. I knew we wanted to go to the local champagne tasting rooms but since Liv was with us, I didn’t make a reservation. I wanted to check out the school named after President Roosevelt where the Germans signed the unconditional surrender of WWII. Liv got May 7th off from school in Paris for Victory Day. I never heard much about WWII when I was in school in America other than Pearl Harbor and Memorial day (which is pretty much celebrated with douchey spring break partying rather than reflection on the horror of war). My Mom always tells me that the reason why Europe is so forward thinking, and provides universal healthcare for their citizens is because they survived a war, so they know how to come together as a nation. Americans are a mess, PLEASE VOTE IN NOVEMBER!
Proud history nerd! Next we went to see Our Lady of Reims cathedral. It was built in 1211 and it is where all the kings of France were crowned. The church has been destroyed by fire but rebuilt many times. In 2011, the city of Reims celebrated her 800th anniversary! The French really know how to build a church.
Of course Liv lit a candle and we bought a souvenir coin to add to her collection.
Our next stop was to find a place for lunch. We walked around town but most places were closed since it was too early. We stopped in Flying Tiger because Liv loves that store.
I wish I bought this cute hand-crank fan because it was the hottest day ever! We couldn’t resist to pick up a bag of chocolates to snack on while we searched for a place to eat.
It was during World Cup fever so we got soccer themed white chocolate. We stopped by Maison Fossier, Liv loves their rose biscuits but we didn’t want to carry around the huge box all day and they sell them at Monoprix.
We encountered this awesome farmers market and sampled the fruit but they didn’t have any restaurants so we continued our search. We always seem to be too early or too late for lunch!
We noticed brasseries began to put out champagne bottles while we were walking by but we couldn’t start drinking before eating something. Liv and I got a ice cream cone to cool us down since it was like 100 degrees.
As tempting as those lovely avocado tarts looked, we continued walking around town to find a place to sit down and eat. We kept getting unlucky because I wanted to visit the town hall but of course it was closed for repairs.
We finally found an interesting place that was opening for lunch in a few minutes wait.
We were so happy to order fish n’ chips!
We enjoyed being able to lounge and get out of the sun. Of course as soon as we started eating the crowds arrived and everyone started smoking, cough!
So I knew it was time for a glass of champagne. We walked to this cool looking place.
When we inquired about a tasting they informed us they were closing early so no walk-ins. Merde! I called to see if we could make a reservation for the Perching bar which was outside of Reims.
I saw it on Pinterest and it looked very cool however they didn’t allow anyone under 18 inside so if we went, Liv would have to stay outside of the bar area. There was also a 40 minute drive to get there and Reims didn’t have Uber. The owner gave me a phone number of a car service but the driver wanted €45 each way in cash. We decided to decline because it would have taken too long to drive out there, plus the fare seemed excessive. We ended up walking back to the place we went to for lunch because I couldn’t leave without having some champagne.
To be honest, the champagne was just meh. Antz likes it more than I do. I think it’s too expensive (a bottle started at €75!) We noticed the Veuve Clicquot tasting room was closed while we were walking to the train station.
If you want to go champagne tasting in Reims, make an advance reservation!
We walked past a medieval church and a plaque dedicated to Joan d’Arc. It was too hot to really enjoy a walk around town so we headed for the train station a few hours early and waited in their air conditioned lobby.
Au revior Reims! Antz and I will have to return without the kid to share a bottle of bubbly.
June is always a busy but special month for me. Liv’s birthday is at the beginning of the month, then Father’s Day and ends with Antz birthday. I rented a car and we drove to Cherbourg for a weekend trip for Antz birthday. I have wanted to visit Cherbourg ever since I saw the French musical “Les Parapluies de Cherbourg” Since Cherbourg is near the beaches of Normandy, we spent the day visiting Sainte-Mère-Église village, the Omaha Beach Memorial and the American Cemetery. The drive was over five hours and even though I normally would be able to drive longer than that in LA (I drove for eleven hours for our road trip to Portland) something about the French highways seems to lull me to sleep. I drove the first three hours and then Antz took over for the last two.
There were many tolls heading west towards Cherbourg. We also noticed livestock on the sides of the highway. At first we thought we were looking at sheep but with a closer look, they were golden cows! They were so pretty we pulled over and tried to snap a photo with some of the cows. The countryside is insanely pretty.
I was surprised at how small Cherbourg was. Our hotel was just across the street from the harbor.
We went for a walk around the town looking for a place to eat for lunch. Of course it was after 3 so we missed lunch and nothing was open until after 7pm.
We found this gorgeous fish market but they didn’t cook the food. Liv bought a bag of apricots, Antz and I got crepes to tide us over.
Les parapluies were everywhere. I only recently saw the French musical in the last few years although I have always been a big Catherine Deneuve fan. I also discovered that the guy who directed The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of Liv’s friend’s from school grandfather! How rad is that?!!
We walked around for an hour then hung out in our hotel room. By 7pm, we were starving so we went to the first restaurant we found that was open. We ordered a plateau de fruits de mer for Antz birthday dinner. To our surprise, shellfish is served cold and there’s no melted butter to dip. Sadly, no matter how many times we have tried, we don’t like oysters. As fancy as the meal looked, we really missed our annual seafood meal from Duke’s in Malibu.
We drove around town looking for the Cherbourg sign. Oddly, we could find it’s location on Google Maps so I relied on photos from Pinterest and my intuition. Finally, just as I was about to give up I drove right past it on a steep hill! Since the sign was so big, one of us had to run into the street to get a photo. We waited forever for someone to get a photo of all of us but it’s an isolated area. This selfie has made me want to travel with a reliable tripod. I just don’t see where we could have set one up since there were cars passing in the street.
The next day we grabbed breakfast at our hotel and headed out early.
I had to take a photo with my umbrella by the harbor before we left. Our first stop was Sainte-Mere-Eglise. We learned the heroic story of Private John Marvin Steele. As the 82nd Airborne soldiers parachuted into the village, they were under heavy attack by Germans. John survived the jump but his parachute got caught in the spinnet of the church. He hung there limp, playing dead for two hours before he was taken prisoner. He later escaped and captured 30 Germans. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his valor. He is featured in the classic film The Longest Day.
Miraculously, it didn’t rain. The sun actually came out as we headed towards the American cemetery. I spent hours explaining the D-day invasion to Liv and she listened intently. I was surprised to see how interested in history an eight year old was. I think it hit her the most when I told her how many men were drafted into the war and how her Dad would have most likely been sent to fight if we were alive during that time. During the summer of 1944 over 100,000 total men died.
This was the most incredible experience for our family. France has always been a romantic place for us but visiting these sites where close to 10,000 people lost their lives felt very somber. We visited the memorial and watched a short film about World War II.
Below is Omaha beach.
Our last stop wasn’t planned but Liv was asking what happened to the German soldiers so we stopped at La Cambe German war cemetery. It definitely had a different vibe to it. There were very few people there. Over 21,000 German soldiers are buried there. The cemetery has 1,200 maple trees as a gift of peace.
If you are a history buff, I strongly recommend making this trip. Normandy Discovery Tours offers a tour by French locals. We saw a group of school children at the Omaha beach memorial. I really think that the difference between American children and European is our approach to the past. I feel like Americans shield their kids from the dark side of history but I believe that is doing them a disservice. They lack empathy and may grow up to make the same mistakes of bigotry and complacency. I talk to Olivia about everything, not to frighten her but to open her eyes to the world she lives in. She is a multiracial child so she doesn’t have the privilege to ignore the past suffering of her ancestors. Every accomplishment she makes in her life, she has many generations of proud Mexican and Black people cheering her on.
Liv and I were super bummed to find that we missed this year’s Fêtes Galantes (which is a fancy dress up event) at Versailles so I started researching castles nearby to visit. I decided it would be fun to play tourists and booked a day tour with Viator. We took a luxurious air conditioned coach to Château Vaux Le Comte and Fontainebleau. I was pleasantly surprised with the group we traveled with, mostly older folks but very friendly and lovely, not obnoxious tourists types. No-one even took pictures with an iPad!
Our first stop was the Château Vaux le Comte which is a baroque French château located in Mainly just southwest of Paris. The château was constructed from 1658 to 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis de Belle Île, Viscount of Melun and Vaux, the superintendent of finances of Louis XIV. I read that this place was the inspiration for the palace of Versailles. Olivia was in heaven. She would wear her Marie Antoinette dress everyday if we let her. It was nice to visit a place that wasn’t packed with crowds and we were able to explore the château at our own pace.
This was the tree lined road to the château!
WOW! We walked up a narrow staircase to the tower.
This was a master bathroom from the 1600s!
The kitchen was in the basement to keep the food cool. Along with the Man in the Iron Mask.
We spent so much time in the chateau that we only had 45 minutes left to explore the huge gardens. We rented a golf cart and wow, it was so fun!
We made it back just in time to our coach and drove about a half an hour to château Fontainebleau. The earliest record of a fortified castle at Fontaineau dates to 1137. It became a favorite residence and hunting lodge of the Kings of France because of the abundant game and many springs in the surrounding forest. it took its name from one of the springs, the fountain de Bliaud, located now in the English garden, next to the wing of Louis XV.
I mean, I guess it’s alright.
To top off the opulence, there was a live piano concert playing in the enchanting musicians gallery.
As we were leaving we saw several wedding parties taking photos in front of the chateau. Tell me that sky is not painted.
Strasbourg is located on the French/German border in the Alsace region of eastern France. We were super excited to visit this city. It’s a four hour train ride from Paris and since it’s so close to Germany, it has a Bavarian vibe to it. Most of the people speak German. We arrived on an unbelievably hot day so we were so happy to relax and enjoy our hour long river cruise! We only had five short hours in the city before we had to take the train back so we rushed through the sightseeing.
Gare de l’est is one of my favorite train stations in Paris. It’s smaller than it’s neighbor Gare Nord but it has a charming appeal and a turn-of-the-century vibe to it. Amelie was filmed there so of course I adore it.
We had breakfast at Starbucks and had some freeloaders came begging for our crumbs.
The train ride to Strasbourg was a long one, over four hours, however we had an awesome Club four seat which meant we could play games and spread out comfortably.
We arrived in Strasbourg a little after noon and hopped on the tram to take us into the city center.
The city was packed with tourists. We immediately hit the Strasbourg Cathedral of our Lady. It’s enormous, you can’t miss it. Mozart played the organ in the cathedral! The Sherlock Holmes sequel was filmed there.
The cruise was super cute, you listen on headphones to characters give the history of medieval Strasbourg. We were so grateful for the air conditioned covered bateau!
This was our first time passing through a river lock. There are parts of the river that are higher so you go inside a tunnel part of the water (this is the lock) and a door closes behind the boat, then for four minutes water floods the area and the boat rises. Then the door ahead of us opens and we continue up the river. Locks are more common in England but there are some at the canal Saint-Martin in Paris.
Those holes you see in the walls were where they placed canons. Did you know that Strasbourg is one of the capitals of the European Union?
Don’t tell anyone, I don’t like pretzels unless they are the sugary, American kind from Auntie Anne’s in the mall. The architecture of the city blew me away. It’s like walking through a fairy tale!
While we were on our cruise, we missed the Pride parade. There are more students living in Strasbourg than any other age group. During our canal tour we learned that close to 50,000 students attend the University of Strasbourg.
Since we were in a rush, I almost left without seeing the place that was my entire reason for visiting Strasbourg, this lovely river side restaurant I found on Pinterest. I didn’t know the name of the place so the only clue I had was the sign on the covered ivy. Luckily I could make out “Au Pont St. Ma—” after a Google search and asking locals, we found it. Most of the places I visit are inspired by a photo I found on Pinterest. My travel board has over 600 places I hope to visit one day.
After staring at the river for awhile, we had to call an Uber to rush back to the train station to make our train back to Paris.
We loved Strasbourg so much that we were bummed we didn’t get to spend more time exploring. Luckily we are planning a trip to Colmar which is near Strasbourg soon.
Batorama boat tour
Embarcadère : Palais Rohan
67100 Strasbourg
