Sep 23, 2012 - Bonjour. We arrived safe and sound..

....but no suitcases! Thankfully Air France just delivered them. Have to give AF a good review, they gave us a new white tee shirt to sleep in, a small bag of toiletries and a voucher for one hundreds euros each! We've already used part to purchase wine..decided we would use only for our wine. Given we bought awesome wine last night for four euros we should be ok with our wine budget. Sherry you wine diva..would love it here. This morning I walked down to the port where there's a lovely daily market with food, antiques and food vendors in...

Sep 21, 2012 - My first visit to Provence, France

On September 21th I fly to Paris to meet my friend Toni who will be flying in from San Francisco. We arrive only 30 minutes apart so that's cool. After customs we'll catch a short flight to Marseilles where we have a private transfer to our apartment. We are staying in the beautiful town of Bandol http://www.francethisway.com/places/bandol.php which has the oldest vineyards in France. We'll have to sample a few of those and plan on bringing a few bottles back. Our apartment is part of villa and a short walk to the Mediterranean sea. Trains...

Oct 12, 2007 - No particular place to go

We regretfully checked out this morning; our room, breakfast, internet and several bottles of wine averaged just over 100 € a might. After a short run to Eze, just north of Villefranche, for a stop at the Fragonard Perfume factory (actually, it was the perfume factory giftshop that had the allure) and the purchase of some good smelly things, we hopped on the A8 auto route on our way to Toulon and Bandol. Actually, hopping is a good term since we had to switch-back our way up to the top of the hill to get to the toll way and hopping would...

Sep 12, 2007 - Fine wines from Bandol and more beautiful sunsets

Market day in Cassis. We wandered around and bought very fresh cheeses and produce. Then on to Bandol for a brief visit and a drive on a very narrow but very scenic mountain road to the small and oh so charming hillside village of La Cadiere d'Azul where we discovered the Domaine La Garenne winery. There we tasted the best red we've had so far. We then found a great picnic spot after which we stopped at the towns of Ollioules and St. Anne D'Evens for tastings. On the way back to Cassis, we took the very high and very thrilling road to Cap...