Stuart V. takes France

Hello everyone, 

Today is your lucky day! I happen to have a guest blogger named Stuart V. (aka my Dad) to tell you about his ideas of what it's like to prance in France. You can also find some of my commentary interspersed throughout in bold...Enjoy!

Stuart V. writes:

"It took 54 years for me to make my first trip overseas, wow was it the most amazing trip of my life.  The overwhelming support from my Family (including Road Runner Sports) is how this trip came about….so Thank YOU for your love & support.  If you can imagine hiring a tour guide to make all the plans and take care of all the details for the entire trip…..that is what my Daughter Danielle did and as a bonus she speaks French. When I boarded the plane in Atlanta to fly to Paris, I was a bit nervous flying over the Atlantic for a 9 hour flight and concerned about meeting Danielle at the airport.

Despite phone issues and my (Danielle) train hitting a cow on the way to the airport we managed to find each other at the CDG airport easily, although with a little delay. What a way to start the trip!
 

Our first day in Paris was sitting down at Starbucks, having a coffee and then sleeping for 4 hours.  Without calling one another, we just so happened to run into my good friends Joan, Tom, and Rachel Davis.
 

First dinner in PARIS was at  Le Procope (considered the oldest restaurant in Paris)….found out quickly that you need to be ready to drink the world’s greatest wines and lots of it.  Water on the other hand, you have to ask for frequently.  Additionally, found it odd not to tip…you can, but most don’t unless the service is amazing (The basic service fee is already included in the price).  

Great company for our first dinner all together in France.

The first full day was visiting the Orsay Museum (a dream for fans of Impressionism) and the Eiffel tower……it was a big thrill to see art works and the Eiffel tower live in person. I couldn’t help but recall a photo of Adolf Hitler in front of the Eiffel tower and realizing that at some time ago in history this area in the world was occupied by the Nazi’s. God Bless America…….and it made me proud to be an American in a foreign land.

Eiffel Tower Slomberg selfie!

The next day was just walking all over Paris…..visiting the Notre Dame, the Basilica Sacre Cœr, spending time outside the Louvre and of course meeting up with the Davis Family.  

Just doing a little strength training outside of the Louvre...

Our last night in Paris was a dinner cruise on the Seine River.  Seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up at night was incredible…again seeing pictures all of my life and actually being there was very, very cool. 

After that it was off to Southern France via the bullet train. (high speed train which operates at speeds of ~200 miles per hour).  Love the transportation infrastructure in France as it truly is easy to get around and a lot easier than driving. (I confirm the infrastructure is great, but the strikes...not so much. Lucky for us my Dad visited just before a huge wave of les grèves) 
 

Traveling by train to Southern France you really get to take in the beauty of the countryside and as you get closer and closer to the South of France you begin to see the mountains. Breathtaking for sure.

Once in Aix-en-Provence it was then I began to realize just how young the United States really is in comparison to Europe. Once we settled in "x an" (as my Dad likes to call it), we had a yummy burger for dinner and a few beers with Habib (Wuhib) and Panos. Finally got to meet Panos which was good.  Next day was off to the outdoor market in x to buy all fresh food and cook it that day with Danielle's friend Edwidge who is an AMAZING chef. 

Selecting local produce for our Provençal cooking course.

We had the smoothest silkiest smoked lox that I've ever tasted. We enjoyed a few bottles of southern France's best wines (selected just for our meal by the very knowledgeable Yves at La Cave d'Yves) while we made an entrée of tellines (small mollusks) with garlic and parsely.  That was followed by an amazing pan-seared fresh cod with fennel and lemon. Delicious meal for sure and I learned a thing or two about cooking. 

Ready to reap the benefits of our hard work!

That night we then went to Marseille for a soccer game with Danielle's friends. Stadium was huge, around the same size as the football (American) stadium in Seattle. Fans are simply nuts!!!! It appears to me that soccer matches in other countries gives the fans a reason to riot.  My take away for sure.  

Are you ready for some football (aka soccer)?

The following day we left for the French Riviera. Amazing drive along the coast and wow was Nice spectacular.  

View of the Nice coastline and La Promenade des Anglais.

We had lunch in Nice before we headed to Monaco and Italy. We had dinner in Sanremo, Italy (just across the border) which was cool and very inexpensive (wine and full meal for ~ $20 each) for great authentic Italian food. 

Then off to Monaco to gamble.  Monaco was spectacular and we were driving on the same road the Grand Prix takes place.....it was cool that they were setting up the stands for the race while we were there.  Clean and I mean clean city. Smells of the super rich.  The very wealthiest in the world hang out here and you can tell by what stores and banks they have (not to forget the cars they drive). Bucket list item for me was to gamble in the Monte Carlo.  Well that kind of happened and kind of didn't.  They charged me 10 euros to get in and come to find out you really can't gamble there.  They had a few tables going and a few slot machines. Very, very small space and it is a tourist trap to pay money to go in.  Come to find out they have an American style casino one building over, so I went over and played Blackjack and won my ten euros back plus a few chips for souvenirs.  

Final Score: Stuart-1 Monte Carlo-0.

Then it was back to Nice to spend the night (a little cheaper than Monaco...). Never realized that Monaco was a country, so that's 3 countries in 1 day.  France, Monaco and Italy. 

The next day we worked on Danielle's apartment getting her bed bug free and steaming everything she owns (yes, there was a return, but after a thorough fumigation I think we've finally won the war). We ate well, drank well and I enjoyed having a day where we didn't do a whole lot. I needed a break after a week of non-stop work and play. 

Panos pretty much drove us everywhere we wanted to go so I was grateful for him offering to do that as it made it easy to see so much more having a car.

The paying to go to the bathroom is annoying and I'm so happy that the US doesn't follow the lead by charging for the use of a public bathroom. 

The breads and the wines in France are the best I've ever tasted.  I can understand why French wine is so expensive in the US, it is because the French drink most of what they make. Wine for breakfast (I personally haven't taken it this far yet ;)), lunch and dinner.  French wines do not have the acidity of wines that I drink in the US. My dad thoroughly embraced his love of French wine by even taking his vitamins with it...

It was also great to have Danielle represent by speaking French and really serving as my tour guide the entire trip. Seems as though the parent should be doing this for their children, but if was the opposite for us and that's pretty cool and clearly it makes me so proud to be able to say Danielle is my daughter.  

My iPhone decided to go bonkers on me so here I am in Southern France and of all places an Apple store is within walking distance. Danielle translated and within about 2 minutes my phone was fixed.  That never happens in the US, you have to make an appointment and it becomes painful.  Wow was that easy. 

One of my last days we visited a holding camp from World War II. Towards the end of the war over 2,000 Jews were shipped by train to Auschwitz from the Camp Les Milles. We spent several hours touring the camp and reading as to what went on.  The reality of the war really hits you and hits you hard when you are standing on the same ground where horrific acts against mankind took place. I could go on and on about what I learned about Hitler, The French Revolution, the Catholics response to Hitler but I don't want to spend time discussing religious / political view points. Let's just say I learned a thing or two on this trip around what really took place while millions of Jew's were massacred. 

Camp Les Milles, a former tile factory, in Aix-en-Provence.

Found the hotel rooms to be very, very small and the bathrooms small as well. We are spoiled in the States with huge hotel rooms and when you really think about it, when your on vacation you don't spend much time in your room anyway.  The hotel rooms were about the size of a room on a cruise.....and the bathrooms weren't much bigger either. 

One night Danielle and myself made our own sub sandwiches with French bread and fresh cheese and meats. OMG.....it was the greatest sub sandwich ever made....it's all about the bread I tell you.

Going to France was a huge bucket list item for me and I am grateful to have been able to make the trip with everything I have had to deal with personally the past 11 months. Grateful for Danielle and thankful she put up with me for 10 days. The flight back to the US was a long one....Paris to LAX is a 3 movie / 4 hour nap kinda trip. 

Many of my friends have asked if I want to go back to France.....that answer will be based on what Danielle does over the next few years.  I would prefer to visit somewhere new and continue to travel the world as I can see how it is addicting to visit places you would never imagine visiting."   

Until next time!

Dad, thanks for sharing and showing it's never too late to start globetrotting or learning about new cultures! What a great trip! I'm very grateful to have shared in this adventure with you :)

A+
Danielle