France...Thank you !

[board]

This is a long over due post ! THANK YOU ! to all the Mags who responded to my France info request. I've been putting off writing the trip report because I've been uncharacteristically busy and we had such a kick ass time in France I wanted to really put forth a great TR but I'm quickly realizing I needed to put something down or it's just going to slip away without a sound.

Anyway myself and the wife flew to France last month with outstanding results ! We somehow managed to sleep on the overnight 10:00pm -11:00AM ( adjusted for time zones ) flight and arrived at the cigarette smoke filled Charles DeGaul Airport wide awake and ready to go. The smoke filled airport was actually a very appropriate social decompression chamber because the next 7 days would only intensify in their smokiness. The drive from CDA to Paris proper was fast, efficient and except for smaller cars and French road signs could have been the outlying area of any Midwestern metro area, however once we hit the city there was no doubt that we were in France.

The 1st thing that jumped out to me was the architecture ! elegant comes to mind...I was thinking New Orleans with more class. Another thing I definitely noticed was the scooter population ! WOW everyone 3rd vehicle was a scooter or a motorcycle of such small proportions it was scooter enough for me. We spent most of the 1st day just wandering the Latin Quarter observing the vibe of the city and enjoying the cafe culture. Damn it felt great to sit down and enjoy a glass of wine at 1:00 PM without feeling like some degenerate. Later that night we went to the Marais neighborhood to have dinner and found " the little horseshoe " incidentally the named turned out to be very literal. Literal in that I order the Plat du jour which turned out to be one of the more delicious steaks I've ever had slightly different though seeing that it was horse !

The next 2 days of Paris were spent hitting all the major sites, Louver ( this could be an entire post in and of itself ),NotreDame,Eiffel Tower, etc but most importantly we didn't rush ourselves we sat around in cafe's allot and observed, we ducked down side streets and looked around and we treated the experience like we were coming back ( which we will ). We tried our best to speak French and had a blast doing it, the locals tried their best to speak English and NEVER gave us ANY attitude ! BTW - an observation...Paris seems almost devoid of beautiful women ! I mean this is one of the model capitols of the world right ? I saw some cute girls every so often but there was a definite lack of talent in that city. For example on our flight from Denver to Paris we had a 5 hour layover in NYC so we went into the city and met a friend of mine for drinks during that 2.5 hours I saw 3 times as many gorgeous women as I did my entire time in Paris !?!?!?!

next up we flew from Paris to Marseilles ( southern coast of France ) rented a car ( small Peugeot turbo diesel ) and drove up into Provance to a small town called Monasqe. My wife's company put us up in a bed and 3 or 4 star restaurant that we most likely could not have afforded on our own. This place was swank to say the least ! apparently at one time it was a private retreat of The little Napper himself aka Napoleon. I would describe it as a Tuscan Villa, tiled roofs and olive groves. Simply incredible actually too nice as it was a little hard returning to my miserable life. That night we ate a meal that I won't attempt to describe further than PERFECTION ! The wait staff spoke almost zero English so I couldn't really describe it very well even if I tried.

The next day we headed down to Antibes which is between Nice and Cannes on the Rivera. Great old ( 2000 plus years ) city with soft sand beaches ( rare I guess for some parts of the Cote D' Azure ? ) warm water and nice laid back vibe. sort of a vacation from our vacation. Basically we got up every morning whenever we felt like it, sauntered down to the cafe's for espresso and breakfast then to the outdoor market to fill up on olives, cheese, baguettes, sausage, tapanades and wine for our lunch which we would eat on the beach then nothing but sun swimming and relaxation till late afternoon. We would finish off the day with a kick ass meal and a little nightlife one place stuck in my mind club " Tequila Snack " at least that was the translation ? only to get up and do it all over again !

Bottom line is France was a blast ! everything went off smoothly, the people were great, no language troubles really, a little expensive seeing the dollar is about 20 cents less than the Euro but oh well I would do it again in a second ! So thanks to all who offered advice / help much obliged.

[Benny Profane]

All the beautiful women in Paris are on holiday, dummy, just like the rest of Paris.

I'll never forget walking along the left bank on my visit with the ex, just strolling around, and passed a beautiful old loft like building right on the river. The door opens, and a stunning example of the female race pops out, slowly looks both ways , and strolls off, literally into the sunset. Sigh.

Beautiful city, but, yeah, NYC has them in all the colors of the world.

[yogachik]

nice TR - I was wondering how your trip went! I was able to relive those lazy Cote d'Azur cheese & wine afternoons through your story - thanks

p.s. - we told you that it would be the best food of your life

[Superstar Punani]

Ou sont les photos des femmes nues chaudes?

J'aime grand tetons et petit chattes!!!

[crashnburn'd]

I get to go to Montpellier, France (near Marseilles) for work at the end of next week.... So stoked, this just added to it.

[CantDog]

Originally posted by crashnburn'd
I get to go to Montpellier, France (near Marseilles) for work at the end of next week.... So stoked, this just added to it.

You sure its not Montpelier, VT? That would be a big let down. Although they'd be pretty similar, women dont shave at either place.

[homerjay]

Nice write-up!

Let's ride soon.

[crashnburn'd]

Originally posted by CantDog
You sure its not Montpelier, VT? That would be a big let down. Although they'd be pretty similar, women dont shave at either place.

Nope, this one's spelled with 2 l's

[board]

Originally posted by Punani
Ou sont les photos des femmes nues chaudes?

J'aime grand tetons et petit chattes!!!

Who doesn't ! ! ! !



unfortunately my wife while topless herself, was not cool with me doing a photo documentary of the beach and trust me I wish I could have !

btw Benny didn't make the Catacombs in Paris, as you know NOTHING in Paris is open consistently.

[3o3]

Originally posted by board
unfortunately my wife while topless herself, was not cool with me doing a photo documentary of the beach and trust me I wish I could have !

Sounds like a great trip board.

And... no disrespect intended, but those of us who have met your wife are gleefully picturing the above.

[board]

Originally posted by 3o3
Sounds like a great trip board.

And... no disrespect intended, but those of us who have met your wife are gleefully picturing the above.

None taken mang ...there were several marble sack wearing, hairy back sporting dudes on the beach who seemed to share your " enthusiasm " though. This momentarily filled me with murderous rage until I caught sight of the most beautiful half Amazon/half German girl I have ever laid eyes on urge to kill receding, receding ...

[supercastor]

Nice you enjoyed the trip, I wonder what's your opinion about the smoking habits? your report sounds like you noticed them in a bad way...
Tapenade+baguette+wine = happy hollidays in provence

crash'nburn : Montpellier is about 2 hours from both Marseille and Toulouse, we wouldn't say it's "close" BTW this city is a summer nightmare, and, apart for the old town, is hideous.

punani > nice french, but bad use of the plural, and "chaudes" should remain implicit in this context. I give you a 3

[board]

Originally posted by supercastor
I wonder what's your opinion about the smoking habits? your report sounds like you noticed them in a bad way...

The ONLY thing I could compare the French smoking habits to was the " Hayman Fire " we had in Colorado

one memory that sticks out in my head was a women of about 65-75 riding a bike no handed through Paris traffic and lighting up a fresh smoke as she was flicking out her finished butt.