Blog

As you may have noticed Kelly gathers friends around the world.  When she decided to get some online teaching a couple years ago she signed up with Karen, an American in Paris, apparently there wasn’t anyone available in the US.  Karen and her French husband Jean recently moved from Paris to a lovely home in the south of France near Avignon.  When Karen learned we were going to be in the south of France she invited Kelly to spend a few days with her, I am not sure she knew she was getting me in the bargain, but I am becoming adept at crashing French gatherings. 

With a couple open days between the farmhouse in Dordogne and the modern house in Avignon, Karen suggested we check out Aigues-Mortes. In true French fashion this town is pronounced EgMort, the French may out do Americans in the use of uneccesary silent letters.  Regardless of the pronunciation,  it turned out to be lovely stop.

We were able to rent a room on a barge moored just outside the gates of the walled medieval old town.  I doubt Aigues-Mortes is mentioned in any American guidebook as I am fairly sure we were the only English-speaking tourists in town. 

The town has an amazing history dating back to the 1200s, it was the jumping off point for two crusades and a major producer of salt, if you have ever purchased a box of Sel de Mer it probably came from here.  Walking the walls of the city you get a very good history lesson that mirrors so much of Europe. 

First the Catholics and Protestants fought and killed each other for several hundred years and then when they got tired of that they sailed off to fight and kill Muslims.  And this children, is why the founders of our country did not want a state religion, a point too many people fail to understand.   While religion has produced many good things, history shows us that it consistently leads to the slaughter of anyone who has different beliefs than the majority.

While wandering France we have settled into a habit of only one major meal a day, maybe a croissant and coffee in the morning and cheese, fruit and bread for either lunch or dinner.  This minimizes our calories and allows us to use most of our food budget on one nice meal.  Most of France has great two and three course set meals for around $35 a person. 

Which meal above is more apetizing and which is less expensive? Answer, the meal depicted without the food critic. Our first night in EgMort we had a fantastic meal at Bistro Paiou, but the second night we had a horrible meal at Bistro Dit Vin which was recommended by a fellow traveler. 

We had a similar bad experience in Lyon with a restaurant recommended in a Rick Steves guide book.  Bad overpriced food at a touristy location.  I know my sister is reading this and saying “you are such a food snob, it was probably just fine”.  There may be some truth in her statement, but a few slices of tough beef in brown gravy is not worth $35.  And Kelly’s $50 three course lunch was almost inedible, really it was. 

When we commented to Karen about our mixed reviews on French food she said “you should use the Michelin guide app”.  We knew about Michelin starred restaurants which cost hundreds dollars but was unaware the guide recommended other less expensive restaurants.  They don’t review all restaurants, in our current location there are probably a hundred restaurants, but the guide only lists about 20.  In the past few days we have tried three and never had a bad meal.  Lesson learned.

Karen and Jean were wonderful, they made us meals and toured us around their new to them town,  the town itself dates back to the 1200s.  We were able to treat them to a great meal out followed by a night-time visit to the Pont Du Gard, the 2000 year old Roman Aqueduct is only a few minutes from their house.  We also searched out lavender fields and explored the hill town of Grignan.  A beautiful little town where we wandered the streets, enjoyed coffee and toured the local castle.  Spending time with locals gives us an opportunity to experience the French life with new friends.  We hope we can return the favor and have them visit Arizona.  They are avid golfers and we do have access to a few golf courses but no cute, castled villages.

We ended the week in Lyon, a city I had never visited and Kelly had stopped in on a Viking Cruise a few years ago.  We rented an Airbnb which turned out to be our favorite so far.  An old apartment in an old building with a quirky layout, like the bath was in the bedroom and the toilet in the entry closet.  But it was amazingly comfortable, in a very central location with air conditioning, a must as the temps were still in the 90s as France suffered through a major heat wave with temps 15-20 degrees above normal.

The city itself is at the confluence of the Rhone and Saone rivers.  It is very similar to Paris but on a smaller scale.  It doesn’t boast all of the site seeing opportunities but has its share of café street life, beautiful churches and some impressive Roman Ruins.  It is definitely worth a stop and we easily filled our 48 hours.  See you in the Alps.