Two Weeks in Southern France
If you had asked me when I was in my early 20’s what my life would look like at 40, I probably would have painted a very different picture than that of how my life actually looks. Fortunately, I can very honestly say that this newly minted 40 year old has a life that far exceeds the expectations of my younger self.
How We Spent Two Weeks in Southern France
My husband and I are blessed to have multiple friends that, like ourselves, enjoy international travel almost as much as they enjoy celebrating even the smallest of milestones with other members of our circle. It goes without saying, that when I announced my desire to spend my 40th birthday in southern France, everyone was on board.
The 15+ Day Itinerary
*Of the group of eight adults going on this trip, there were a total of 5 different travel itineraries as well as varying departure days, but for the purpose of this post, I will be focusing on my personal travel itinerary.
+MAY 18th - Depart Kansas City, MO USA > Change Planes in Atlanta, Georgia USA > Depart for London, UK
+MAY 19th - Arrive London, UK
+MAY 20th - (Yay, birthday!)
MAY 21st - Depart London, UK > Arrive Toulouse, France > Train from Toulouse to Carcassonne, France
MAY 22nd - Explore Carcassonne
MAY 23rd - Depart Carcassonne for Trebes > Board moored barge in Trebes, France
MAY 24th - Depart Trebes for Marseilette
MAY 25th - Depart Marseilette for Homps
MAY 26th - Depart Homps for Le Somail
MAY 27th - Depart Le Somail for Capestang
MAY 28th - Depart Capestang for Beziers
MAY 29th - Depart Beziers for Colombiers > Depart Barge and take train to Aix-en-Provence, France
MAY 30th - Depart Aix-en-Provence by train for Nice, France
MAY 31st - Photoshoot in Nice
JUNE 1st - Beach Day
JUNE 2nd - Day trip to Eze, Day trip to Monte-Carlo
JUNE 3rd - Day trip to Grasse
JUNE 4th - Depart Nice for London, UK
Highlights of Carcassonne
By far the most exciting fortress I’ve toured in Europe, what really sets this place a part, is the combination of preserved medieval design, and incorporation of modern life within its walls. Anyone can enter this walled fortress and visit the shops, eat at the many restaurants, or stay at the hotels housed in original structures protected by these ancient stone walls. That said, there is a palace contained within this massive complex, which does require a small fee to enter, but it’s absolutely worth paying.
Carcassonne Advice:
Prior to our arrival, I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of food options within the citadel, but there’s a very generous supply of them and a range from sandwich counter, all the way up to Michelin star. If you plant to stay in or near the Narbonne gate entrance of the citadel, you’ll be fine to plan for eating all of your meals inside, so long as you abide the very French business hours.
If you’re arriving by train (as we did), don’t count on easily being able to get a cab or uber, you may need to call a cab company or your hotel to have them send one for you. We chose to walk the mile from the station to our hotel, but it was uphill on poor sidewalks.
With regard to how long you should stay, the absolute minimum should be two nights. I would have really enjoyed staying at least three, but as compared to the rest of our friends who only stayed one night, our experience was MUCH better for having stayed two.
If you want to see a little more of Carcassonne from a personal perspective, you can watch a short video from my recent trip with friends, HERE.
Highlights of Our 7 Day Barge Cruise
Spending a week on a converted barge was never on my bucket list, but it is now the best week of any vacation that I’ve ever had.
Canal Du Midi Cruise Advice:
We traveled from Carcassonne to Beziers (which is a North’ish to South’ish path) for seven days and six nights but after two days on the barge, we wished that we had chosen the 12-day option and continued down through the Camargue region, which our crew said was their favorite stretch of water/landscape.
In general, I don’t have many regrets or things I would do differently, but after having experienced the many water locks on the canal, I'm happy that we chose to book passage on a piloted boat, rather than the much more abundant “self-drive” options.
If you want to see more about the boat we rented, I’ve created a series of videos that document our experiences during our week, as well as our first day on the boat we chartered, HERE, and for a full description of our cruise, you can read more HERE.
Highlights of 5 Days on the French Riviera:
Unlike our barge cruise on the canal, where we visited small rural villages and didn’t encounter many (if any) non-french people when we reached Nice, we found them all. Not to say that anywhere we went was “overrun” with tourists, but it had a distinct tourism-oriented feel to it. The highlights for me were the various markets that operated on different days in Nice, the dining options were out of this world (I particularly enjoyed breakfast at La Femme du Boulangerie and dinner at Le Plongeoir), and the many easy day trips reached from Nice.
Riviera Advice:
Transportation to coastal towns is super simple with the train, however, if you want to venture inland at all, things get a little more complicated, a little more sparse, and a little more expensive. We primarily used Uber for anything inland, but took the train for all coastal destinations.
The village of Eze was an absolute highlight of our time on the Riviera, and despite it being a little pricey, I would suggest trying to spend one night there.
In terms of disappointments, Monaco was a real letdown for me…I don’t know exactly what I expected, and perhaps if I had more than just a few hours, I may have seen something to change my mind, but in general, it felt very much like an expensive shopping mall and was devoid of any real character. If you’re at all limited on time, skip visiting Monaco.
My favorite organized activity was our day trip to Grasse, where we did a workshop at the Fragonard perfumery. I agonized over which Perfumery to reserve a workshop through, but am SO glad I booked the one at Fragonard. I’ll write a separate post about that experience.
If you want to watch some of what we experienced in each of the places mentioned here, you can view a video I put together HERE.
Questions about something you saw here or just want to chat all things “Nice?” Leave me a comment below!
