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July 2010

Dreaming of Mediterranean Weekends 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

Dreaming of Mediterranean Weekends

Here I am again. Didn’t expect me again so soon, did you? I have to move along quickly now, as I come home on Saturday. 7-1/2 weeks ago it seemed like a long time, and now our sojourn in France is quickly coming to a close.

We bade farewell to our hostess at La Cordiere and headed south to the Mediterranean and Le Ciotat, but not without a pit stop in Aix-en-Provence. Why, pray tell, do you think we would make a stop on a drive that would only take at most an hour-and-a-half? Have you so soon forgotten La Tropezienne? – the cream puff? Doesn’t that seem like the perfect breakfast? We pulled into town and dropped the B’s off in front of Bechard, made the block and came back ‘round to pick them up. Of course, they weren’t there, so I just pulled up and waited…and waited…. and….soon they appeared. It was apparently a hot spot that morning, but they bought me calissons and all was well in the world.

We arrived at Le Ciotat by 10 a.m., checked into the hotel, Hotel Plage Saint Jean, and headed for la plage. Well, Amanda and I headed for the beach. The Bs now had A/C and were going to make the most of it. They said they stayed at the hotel beach for an hour before heading in for a late morning siesta, but I’m not buying that story. In any event, Amanda and I bought a big beach umbrella and a burger and fries, and proceeded to enjoy the water, read, rest, repeat scenario. There is a great sandy beach here and it is fairly shallow for a long distance out, with that wonderful deep blue color you just don’t see anywhere else. It just makes you sigh and know that when you are at home you will be dreaming of returning.

Amanda at La Ciotat beach

When we knew we had enough sun and surf and people watching, we emulated our amis and returned to our room to crank up the A/C. Took a little afternoon nap to refresh ourselves for dinner. Hotel Plage Saint Jean is not on the strip, but is in a nice area. It has an indoor pool and spa and is a very short walk to the rock beach. What it lacks in character it makes up in having modern amenities and cleanliness. It is definintely moderately priced and has parking!

In Le Ciotat, there is a very, very long beach-front drag taking you from where the sandy beach transitions to a rock beach down to the original port town where the fishing boats dock. This, we assumed, was where all the tourists ate. Hence, we set off to find a local’s hangout. Try as we did, even using our handy GPS, we struck out. Every entry led us back to the drag. Finally, we parked our car, which was a feat unto itself as there was a paucity of parking. However, the area we were headed to was a bit farther down than we thought, kind of like thinking the Rockies are close when you are in Hope, Colorado.

View of La Ciotat from near our restaurant

After a little hike, working up our appetite, we got to the port area. We had no idea which restaurant we wanted, and they are lined up one after another around the U-shaped port, all with tables spilling out onto the sidewalls and colorful umbrellas inviting you in. The menus are posted on large placards out in front and just make the decision harder. We pick one, I think because Beverly didn’t want to sit at the plastic chairs of the one next door. I mean, when you cannot pick a café that’s as good a reason as any. However, we peruse the menu, the waitress brings a carafe d’eau, but we can’t find anything we want. We leave. This is a recurring theme in our travels. We move along a couple of places down and choose another.

This one is a good choice. La Grotte. They are serving food and it makes our mouths water. Amanda and I choose the scallops and ravioli in, what else, a truffle cream sauce along with a toasted chevre salad. The B’s ordered some kind of sea bass and a seafood appetizer. We saw people getting pizza and it looked fantastic. Thin, crispy crust – just like I like it. Sitting outside under the umbrellas as the sun was getting lower, with the sea breeze gently blowing in from the Mediterranean, and enjoying a delectable meal. How divine. I thought we were full – at least I was. However, they had set up a small market of sorts lining the street outside the restaurants for the evening, and we were lazily strolling looking at the wares, when, lo and behold, there was an ice cream shop. I guess by now we were beyond resistance. Story over.

We took a circuitous walking route back though the alleys of the town, but finally hit the drag again and headed toward the car. On the way, we happened upon a little festival of sorts in a courtyard off the street with belly dancers for entertainment. Well, they were students of the art and a couple were fairly good. I am sure one was the teacher. But it was festive and fun. At the end they invited people up on stage and a couple of OLD men got up to dance with the young girls. Now that was entertainment.

La Cadiere d’Azur

Cassis Beach

Day two we headed out to take a drive along the coast south of us. There was no real coastal road to view the ocean, although we did see some exquisite countryside and a particularly lovely town called La Cadiere d’Azur. But lacking a good road to view the sea, we headed back north to Cassis. This is originally where I wanted to stay, but finding no rooms in our allotted price category, we ended up in La Ciotat. While La Ciotat has a great beach and the port area is nice, it is not as fetching as Cassis, so if you plan to come to this area book in advance. The town is built on a fairly sharp rise which, obviously, lends itself to a more picturesque setting, and it also has a nice sandy beach with a lot of activity. We didn’t stay here too long, but long enough for gelato! Maybe one day I’ll return for a beach holiday. It is really quite lovely and not as hectic as the beach towns around Nice.

Cassis in Town

It is time for the B’s afternoon siesta and Amanda and I for some more beach time. This time we use the hotel’s beach area which is solid rock. Not rocks like Nice, but solid rock. We find a little alcove, like a topless cave, and settle in. Speaking of topless, there are some sights to behold here. Some things you just don’t want to see. I mean I am of the opinion that just because they make it in your size doesn’t mean you should wear it and just because they make a bikini doesn’t mean you should either and just because it is a beach you don’t have to take it off…. But for some of you out there, there are definitely some sights you wouldn’t mind seeing. Amanda and I wonder that if there is so much skin to be seen all the time, doesn’t that take the mystery out of it. I mean, if you can see it anytime on the beach it is just not special anymore. Just an observation.

Beach at Hotel Plage St Jean

Looking up from our open-air grotto

Beach Hotel Plage St Jean

Mediterranean view from Hotel Plage St Jean

Sitting in our private alcove, we can see from the point south of La Ciotat across to the point of Port d’Alon and the expanse of crystal blue sea in between. We dream of boating from town to town along the coast and planning places we would like to see. We watch the clouds and the seagulls and the yachts, which is where we got the idea of boating. The afternoon passes quickly and we realize we are supposed to catch a boat at 5:30 and we have to find a parking place – and it is later than we thought.

BUT, we did it, parked and made the boat. This is for a ride through the calanques. I have been wanting to see them for years now. They are, for lack of a longer and more geological explanation, looking like mini fjords, but in warmer water. They are magnificent. We meet a Moroccan guy and his wife onboard. and Hakeem attaches himself to us and gives us tidbits of information, since we cannot understand the guide on the loudspeaker (French). He really likes us…. The water color in some of the calanques defies explanation, it actually glows. It makes you want to jump off the boat and relish in the sheer brilliance of it all. If I return, I will find a boat ride that allows you to do just that. Gary will love it! A thoroughly outstanding afternoon.  It was very hard to choose just a few pix from this calanques trip; it was so amazing.

The Amazing Water of the Calanques

Calanques 1Calanques 3

Calanques 2

After returning to the room to refresh for dinner, we find that the B’s have consumed a bottle of wine betwixt themselves before leaving, so they are a bit giddy. We are just walking from our hotel and have three choices of restaurants, but the decision still eludes us. Is it just us, or do other people have such a hard time choosing? We make our choice based on….was there a reason? Pizza. They have an outdoor brick pizza oven. That was it. It was good pizza – and Dizzy ordered herself and BS more wine. Ooops. They had already had enough and this was enough to tip the cart. Suffice it to say, you might be glad you weren’t at our table. We were loud Texans. I am glad I drink water, else who would record the evening for posterity. Did BS proposition the waiter? She did break her glass, but she breaks at least one every trip. It is a good story. We like good stories. I don’t write about the good stories here.

We make it through the evening unscathed, relatively. When we were back in our respective rooms I get calls from both B’s. They are amusing. If you ask, I just might tell.

Another segment of the trip over, except for a stop at the corner boulangerie for breakfast before heading to the Dordogne. The brioche was just okay, but the B’s got a sort of cream puff they say was heavenly, maybe better than Aix, but much smaller. As far as I am concerned, that is just hearsay.

Recent Memories of Provence 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

Recent Memories of Provence

Checking in again. I fear I am not good at making time for writing while traveling, not to mention working whilst traveling. I need to wrap up the week in Provence, having only reported on the first two days of the trip. Trying to “wrap up” writing about Provence is going to be difficult as I am going to write about four days in this short venue, so here goes….

Tuesday was a gorgeous day, big blue skies and quite warm weather, really a day to lay by the pool;

Now it’s sunflower fields forever

however, alas and alack, we had no pool. One of my traveling companions was eager to call home, so we drove over to Cavaillon to find an international phone shop. We had been here in the past and hoped it was still in business. As luck would have it, we found it rather easily, and headed back to Lourmarin, as it was too hot for a couple of my friends to weather (snigger, chortle, guffaw). I doubt they will be traveling in the summer anymore, anywhere. Even to see the sunflower fields, which cut wide swaths in the countryside. Too much a reminder of bright, sunny, hot days.

So my daughter and I headed out for Roussillon. This is unlike most of the other towns in the

Roussillon The Red

Luberon, which are basically cream-colored structures. It is located in the heart of one of the biggest ochre deposits in the world and is famous for its magnificent red cliffs and ochre quarries. The vivid blue of the Provençal sky and the exceptional quality of light make this a magical site. The ochre façades of the buildings are intense with shades varying from light yellow to dark red, set off by brightly-painted shutters and doors. It is a don’t miss village if you happen to be in the area. However, this particular day it was quite crowded, most probably lending to the pending holiday on the morrow, so we didn’t stick around long.

Back to Lourmarin and the sleeping beauties. Relaxed the rest of the afternoon away on the terrace overlooking our lovely courtyard. Please forgive me, but I failed to get the name of the establishment where we dined on one of the best pizzas ever. Maybe I’ll come across a picture and return to correct this text at a later date; however, it is in the center of Lourmarin and has a large terrasse for dining in the back, so shouldn’t be diffucult to find. I believe it is right next door to a gelato shop, which, I might add, is some of the best gelato you will find anywhere. The fraise yaourt is fantastic and the noix de coco et chocolat……….what can I say.

Ooolala – La Tropezienne – the King of Cream Puffs!

On to Wednesday and Aix-en-Provence. It was 14 Juillet, Bastille Day. Most things were closed and they

Bechard – Fabrique de Calissons – Aix en Provence

were gearing up for the night’s festivities; however, Bechard was not closed (12 cours Mirabeau). It is a fabulous, elegant patisserie, truly, with an amazing collection of mouth-watering choices. Everytime I am in Aix, this is the first place I go. It is like a Christmas dream: “visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.” I do have a favorite, which is the tropezienne (originated in St. Tropez). It is kind of like a cream puff on steroids made of brioche and, of course, cream. They make this in varying sizes. YUMMMMM. They also make my favorite calissons which are a, well not a cookie, but are an addicting almond…confection? And Aix is famous for them. Aix is great for shopping, but not today.

A little slice of Aix market

There was a street market in Aix and it was rich with the colors of summer gardens, pictures for your enjoyment below. So here is our weird French guy story. We were snapping pictures right and left, thoroughly enjoying the abundance and variety of this market when one of the vendors told us we couldn’t take pictures! HA! Of vegetables and fruit?! What? Some sort of trade secret? Designer green beans? He said we weren’t buying, so no pix. Whatever. So I meandered over to the fish market, looking for dinner that night. He actually came over to the the fish market and told them not to let me take pictures, imagine him waving his arms ranting about touristes… They looked at him like he was crazy and we smiled. They were then so nice, and after helping me pick out fish for dinner threw in a lot of shrimp for free. We asked about him and they said he was crazy, but they loved America! It was fun. Then we bought our veggies and walked by his stall with all our bags and smiled. I think he flipped us off afterwards. Armed with food for dinner and having eaten our cream puffs, we headed back for Lourmarin with visions of returning for more cream puffs still in our heads.

Didn’t quite get to make dinner, because we were missing items. However, we found the cutest restaurant

Sweet Restaurant under the stars

in town, down a tunnel falling into an open courtyard. Twinkling lights and discreet lamps, along with good Provencal fare and the occasional screaming from the street due to it being the last game of World Cup Soccer. In fact, our wait staff and some customers would run out when the screaming started to see what was happening. But back to the decor, there were candelabras, perfect green chairs with funky accents and color, even a mini laser light show with crystal chandeliers hanging off trellises of colorful flowers. A cacophony of styles and patterns playing well off one another. Simply perfect evening.

Thursday, it was hot and our friends were suffering so without good old American A/C and ice, so we headed for the beach for a little refreshment. Just picked a spot on the map and headed south to Sausset-les-Pins, only an hour or so drive. Got in fairly early and they had a market on the boardwalk, not the stimulating eye candy of Sorgue, but an enjoyable stroll along the boat docks. Picked up towels at the market for the beach and then realized there wasn’t really a beach there. So after a morning repast, we headed for Carry-le-Rouet, just a few minutes down the coast and a sweet drive, we landed at a sandy beach on the Mediterranean and rented some chairs and umbrellas. As you know, I love a beach day: Sparking Mediterranean water, read, water, read, etc. Headed back about 4:30 and cooked a fabulous meal of fish with white wine reduction cream sauce, fresh green beans a la Mari and my version of a Viennese potato au gratin, along with fresh tomatoes, olives and bread – all sitting on our courtyard terrace. Again, yummm. Wish I knew what kind of fish those guys sold me.

La Plage Carry le Rouet

He had fabulous stuff – would have bought more if only I had room…

Last full day here and it is Friday, and it is market day here in our little village. And what a market it is; I certainly didn’t expect the size of it. Markets are just quite heady for me. I continue to write about them, but I love them. Well, I like shopping in general, so it’s not a wonder that I like markets. I like the crowds, the colors, the smells, the entertainment and sensation of it all. There are many things to tempt one, but it is the food that pulls me in. If I don’t buy anything else, if the soaps don’t grab me, if I can’t find the right outfit, I will inevitably buy food – jelly, tapenade, patisserie – something yummy, and this time was no different. Let me just say, whatever kind of artisanal cheese that was (and I made of the mistake of not writing it down), I will go back just to buy it again.

There are so many things left out, but I will add links to pictures later to fill in some of the gaps.  Oh, but let me throw in a plug for La Cordiere, our studio apartment in Lourmarin. It is located in the village and is an excellent location in the Luberon. Francoise is quite fluent in English, and in French, Spanish and Italian at the least. She is quite nice and helpful. It is modest and our room was without A/C, but is priced well and clean. Ours was with a kitchen, but there are just rooms with breakfast, I believe, also.

Fav shop in Lourmarin village

LAVENDER FIELDS FOREVER…. 768 1024 Mari Bickmore

LAVENDER FIELDS FOREVER….

Le Cordiere – Our Gite in Lourmarin

Well, gentle readers, I have been to Provence in the spring, when the flowers were blooming and the Mistral swept down from the mountains cleansing everything in its path. Spring with bold blue skies and promise of newness in the air and I fell in love. Then I returned to see Provence in the Fall, still tasting the summer warmth in the air with the blazing colors of a bounteous harvest at the village markets and orchards redolent with apples. A collage of sight, smell and sound emblazoned in my memories. You don’t have to dig far in your imagination to know why artists and poets have been drawn to this little piece of God’s green earth.

Now I am here to tell you that the lavender fields of summer are amazing. Traveling along the winding

Lavender Fields In Provence

roads, up and down and to and from the perched villages, the fields are checkered with a vibrancy of purple that is mesmerizing. It was so mesmerizing, that amidst our photo shoots, we had to take a little lavender too. In fact, there was this one field that was so much more electric purple than all the others we had seen. The Bs and Amanda went to take pictures, but I was waiting in the car this time (after dozens of fields it was welcome to wait). I guess it was so tantalizing, just too much, that B2 just had to have some of this forbidden fruit. BUSTED. Just as they got to the car and threw the bouquet in the trunk, out of nowhere races this little white van and the farmer jumps out of it and runs to the car yelling “Vous me couper les lavande! Pourquoi?” Beverly tried to apologize and offered to pay, but he was way too mad for that. Oops….

Meanwhile, the other Beverly, BS, had hightailed it the opposite direction. Only when the coast was clear did we see her face and had to go down the road to pick her up. Those of you who know her will appreciate this part of the story! Wish that had been caught on film.

Blazing Lavender, AKA Forbidden Fruit

Speaking of markets, we had hit L’Isle sur La Sorgue the day previous to this. This has to be my favorite market of all, which is why this is my fourth trip here. It is situated up in a delightful town  right on the Sorgue River. There are cheeses that are lined up to be tasted and are scrumptious. I love that word and it is very appropriate here. There are lots of sacissons (sausages), many with the aroma of smelly feet. I typically don’t try these. But the best melons in the world are Cavaillon melons. They are similar to a cantaloupe but smaller and the flavor is much more intense. In 1864, the Cavaillon library asked writer Alexander Dumas to donate some 400 volumes of his work to the town. He complied on one condition — that he be given a dozen melons every year. Until his death in 1870, the author received his supply. So you know that must be good.

Sights at the Sorgue Market

The peaches are great, the strawberries, the watermelon. It’s all there amidst the locally-made soaps (especially love the lavender and almond), the bright Provencal fabrics and pottery. It snakes along the river and down into the winding streets of the town. There are singers on corners and vendors hawking their wares. It is a sensation! I didn’t make it to the antique stores this year, but they are only a street over and have wonderful finds, but not cheap ones.  I know when I am home I will wish I had insisted on going into at least one of them.

On our way back we took a couple of side trips.  One to the Gorges de la Nesque, which was quite stunning.  As far as the other, we were quite hungry, having basically missed lunch, so we saw a sign for fresh goat cheese and make a sharp right — just 2.5 km down the road.  Well, if you could call it a road, more than a well marked trail, that got worse.  That was a really slow 2.5 km.  The further back we got the more I could hear the theme from Deliverance reverberating in my brain.  Then Hotel California came on the radio.  This much I can say, we did survive and came out with some pretty good goat cheese.  The other thing I can say is, “Yes, hillbillies are alive and well in southern France.”

Gorges de la Nesque

Well, signing off for the night as we have an early day tomorrow. Enjoy!

Celebrating 4th of July In France – We Did What We Could! 1024 927 Mari Bickmore

Celebrating 4th of July In France – We Did What We Could!

It sounds so good, I’ll say it again – Woke up in Deauville, but this time Saturday morning and a cool front had blown in overnight! No beach

Sweet Little Store

today. However, Deauville, being an upscale spa town, it had plenty of upscale shopping. Since it is the time of Soldes (sales) in France, we went downtown and shopped. For an example, they had Au Printemps, Louis, Maje, etc. Didn’t find any great deals and were very hungry since we somehow missed breakfast and were just a breath away from passing out because of a huge drop in blood sugar. Well, that was my story. Glorious – a morning town market! We found local pear juice, cherries, and absolutely the best loaf of brioche that ever touched my lips.

Yummmmm

Omaha Beach Monument

We then packed it up and drove to Port-en-Bessin near Omaha Beach. Got in early afternoon and made it to the Musee D-Day. Quite interesting. Saw a short film on Operation Overlord and items from the war and bought an American Flag for the cemetery tomorrow. Then we headed for the beach just down the road with the yummy Brioche from the morning’s market in Deauville. There was a huge monument for the Liberation up on the seawall and a fairly new, very large commemorative piece of sculpture down on the beach. Just sat on the seawall and ate and talked and ate and watched people play and fly kites and totally finished off the brioche. I am still salivating in remembrance.

The water there seemed a little chillier than the day before, I am assuming due to the cold front, but we still walked the shoreline a bit. As we were leaving a woman asked me if I thought the monument was pretty and if I was English. After a short time of conversation, I knew my French was going to run out,, but the other woman with her starting speaking English to me, although chastising me for not trying to speak more French. But we all got into a conversation. The French are actually very nice if you are nice. I figure the people who say they are rude have an attitude that is reciprocated, except for the crepe lady near Les Puces in Paris; but that is another trip and another story entirely.

My Footprint on Omaha Beach

Fleur de Sel

In any event, after the lengthy conversation, one of the ladies asked if we ever played Boules. I have read about this game in books. It is apparently a national pastime, particularly in the small towns. I will not explain the rules or how to play; you can easily look it up if you are interested. She went to her car and got her boules balls, and Amanda, her friend, Martine, and I played. Guess who won?!?! YEA ME! Beginner’s luck I guess. It was a lovely afternoon hanging with the locals. That is one of the best slices of life you can have. We didn’t get back to the room until 8:30, but headed directly for the restaurant. We weren’t going to miss another meal with pizza in the room. We went to Fleur de Sel in Port-en-Bessin, which was highly recommended and had a Michelin rating; however, I am not sure I agree. The main course was good; but the rest was just okay. Luckily, just moderately priced. But comfortably full and definitely tired, back to a comfy bed at the Ibis (great prices) and free parking wifi!!! Off to dreamland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR2rvxSUr7w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znEePD1nJxo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-9_fDEsv-Q

It is the 4th of July! We went to the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach. It is absolutely breathtaking. I had to reflect on what the world might have been like had these brave young men had not liberated the world from a monster. Looking out on the sea of crosses and stars, one cannot help but be greatly moved.  We found an unknown soldier’s grave and planted our American flag in his honor.  Again, the day was glorious with big blue skies and we were proud to be Americans (sans Obama). Onward to Utah Beach and the last stop on our 4th of July journey to honor America’s finest. They knew how to fight a war to win it!

A sea of crosses

All in all, we wish we had stayed a month in Paris and left for the second month to explore . All the smaller towns are so beautiful and, as always, is the countryside of France. Especially after having to drive back to Paris. Never. Let me repeat. Never. Ever. Drive back into Paris on a Sunday afternoon. A 3-hour drive became a 6-hour drive and I missed turning my car in that day because they closed at 8 p.m. and we got back at 9:15. Another day, another dollar (more likely another $100).

But it was the 4th and we hit the Metro and landed at Hard Rock Café for an All-American burger and fries to celebrate with a bunch of other displaced Americans. It was loud and really red, white and blue! Life is good.

The Girls Love Deauville 1024 768 Mari Bickmore

The Girls Love Deauville

Deauville Plage

Woke up in Deauville, France, Friday morning! The sun was shining, the seagulls were “singing” and this little corner of the world was magnificent. As usual, we were a bit late to rise, so we just put on our flipflops and headed for the beach, with a little pit stop by the boulangerie for a baguette and the market for some meat and cheese, oh and some butter cookies. Lucky! I snagged a free parking spot (no small feat)! And we rented two chairs with a big umbrella and settled in. I don’t get to the beach more than once or twice a year, unfortunately, but I cannot remember the last time I was on a beach that had shells, and I mean a lot of shells. We were amazed! I’m bringing home a shell for you!

Being the Atlantic, the water wasn’t actually what you would call clear, and it certainly wasn’t what I call warm. But, then again, I like the warm, bath water of the Gulf of Mexico in mid to late summer so maybe I’m not the best judge. This was what you might call very refreshing, and I am a pansy when it comes to cool water, so Amanda had to coax me to go out further. After staying in a bit and acclimating, it became, well, comfortable. Strangely enough, early July and the beach wasn’t crowded at all.   But now I remember how much I like a beach vacation.  So relaxing.  Read a little, comb the beach a little, play in the water and repeat and repeat and repeat.  Lovely.

Speaking of lovely, did I say how lovely Deauville is? I am ready to move here. Originally, it was just a small fishing village from about 1060, but around 150 years ago it became a planned city/spa town by the Duc de Morny, for the most part. A place for the fashionably wealthy to unwind, with the train to Deauville/Trouville sur Mer direct from Paris opening in 1863. There is a casino, a racetrack, spas, a harbor and, as I said, a great beach.  They have patterned cobblestone streets with lane after lane of architecturally delightful homes and shops, which are all just a shell’s throw from the beach.

Girls at Normandy Barriere

After a relaxing day at the beach, we got back to our room in the late afternoon, took a little nap and dressed for dinner. Meaning that we did not get out until 8:30 and then drove down to Trouville, which is an older, very cool town right across the harbor form Deauville.  We strolled around trying to decide where we wanted to eat. Always a problem for me is finding the perfect place to eat. Always. These little restaurants are like flowers, we flit from one to the next reading their menus and can’t decide where to land. Finally, since we got too tired to walk back to where we should have eaten, we decided to drive back out to a little auberge near our hotel. How weird is that. Well, we get there at 10:07 p.m. Oops, too late for dinner! What a life – only being open from 7 until 10! So we were stuck with emporter pizza in the room. Not what you want to eat with all those quaint cafes and fresh seafood available. Obviously our own fault.

View from Pont L’Eveque

Okay, So It’s Partially Eaten – It was so yummy!

I do have to interject that when we arrived the afternoon prior to Hotel Mercure Deauville Pont L’Eveque, after sunning by the pool and walking the pathways around the beautiful grounds of the hotel, we happened upon a restaurant in Pont L’Eveque, another small town nearby. I believe it was called Les Tonneaux. It was a gem. I had the local fondue avec mixed viandes and Amanda had the specialty of the house, Tarte Leontine. It was delish and reasonable. I would actually say it was the best meal we had on this trip. I have a few pictures, but forgot to take them before we started eating, so they may not be as appetizing as they could have been.

These have been perfect days away from the hustle and bustle of Paris. I wish I could share this place with all my friends.  I might not stay at the same hotel, as it is a little tired and further from the actual town and beaches of Deauville than I would have liked, but it does have free and easy parking. That may have been the reason I chose it, and it was available at the last minute. However, I would definitely like to spend more time here and explore the quaint shops and cafes, and maybe a spa or two, so I am wishing and hoping that I get to do just that. This was our jumping off point for our 4th of July tribute weekend through Normandy, and it was a great start!

A Perfect Day