Apr 27, 2017
Join Us in France Travel Podcast
My guest today is Christine
Hegerty from Australia, and she joins me today to talk about
visiting Southern France in winter. They started
their trip in Nice and exited via the Basque Country, so they
really went all the way across.
What is it like in France in the
winter? Are the weather conditions good enough for touring? Aren't
most attractions closed? Christine answers all my questions and
brings a lot of zest and astute observations about France in the
winter.
Places Mentioned in this
Episode: Nice, Toulouse, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille,
Nîmes, Pont du Gard, Uzès, Montpellier, Carcassonne, Mirepoix,
Forges de Pyrène, Grotte de Niaux, Foix, Camon
(09), Rennes-le-Château, Carla-Bayle, Grotte du Mas
d'Asil, Toulouse, Albi and the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum,
Cordes-sur-Ciel, Moissac, Bordeaux, San-Sebastian, New
Caledonia
Episode Highlights with Timestamps
- [7'15] Why did you choose to
come to France in the winter?
- [8'50] What sort of weather did
you encounter?
- [10'30] Flying into Nice
instead of Paris
- [12'30] Finding
accommodations where we could park a car + using a car elevator in
Toulouse
- [15'] A lovely cooking class in Nice
- [22'] Panisse and Socca, food
specialties from Nice
- [23'] Aix-en-Provence and
Marseille by Regional Bus
- [24'] Cours Mirabeau, Les Deux
Garçons, and the Christmas Market in Aix-en-Provence
- [24'45] A day in Marseille:
Musée d'Histoire de Marseille, great street for restaurants, rue
Sainte, lunch at Les
Echevins (best steak ever says John!),
- [28'30] Walking tour with a
volunteer greeter, meeting on Quai des Belges in Marseille, a look
at the Mirror
Pavilion by Foster
- [30'] Musée Archéologique de
Marseille in Le Panier
- [31'45] Marseille City
Greeters
- [33'06] Lovely Tea House called
Cup of Tea, tea shop and book shop
- [34'] Great food in Marseille,
and not just Bouillabaisse!
- [35'] The realities of
planing a trip from home vs. taking the trip: cutting things
out
- [36'] Worries about leaving
luggage in the car and Annie's recommendation about
that
- [37'48] Two nights in Nîmes and
what they loved about it: les Arênes de Nîme, la Maison
Carrée
- [39'] Carré
d'Art by Norman Foster in Nîmes, a great place for photography,
among other things
- [40'] Stumbling Upon a light
show projected on the Maison Carrée in Nîmes. This happens a lot
around Christmas, not just in Nîmes, but in other French cities
too.
- [42'] Around Christmas is busy
for people, but tourist attractions are empty.
- [43'] Pont du Gard and getting
lost looking for it. Don't set your GPS to the village called
Vers-Pont-du-Gard. Set your GPS to either the attraction called
Pont du Gard OR the village of Remoulins or Collias.
- [46'] Lunch at Uzès on Place
Aux Herbes, great place to spend a couple of
hours.
- [47'] Tour Magne, Le Jardin de
la Fontaine, le Temple de Diane in Nîmes
- [48'] Montpellier, a large and
charming city. Air B&B apartment that used to be a butcher's
shop for one night.
- [50'] Musée du Vieux
Montpellier, running into churches with Crêches and Santons,
and
- [50'30] More podcast listeners
eating at L'Entrecôte, they should sponsor the show!
- [52'] What's nearby? Sète,
Camargue
- [53'30] Daylight hours are
shorter in winter, fewer hours for touring.
- [53'47] Christmas in
Carcassonne, lunch at the Michelin Star at the Hôtel de la Cité, La
Barbacane.
- [57'39] Carcassonne is not busy
and crowded in the winter, and certainly not on Christmas
Day!
- [58'33] The Christmas Market in
Carcassonne.
- [62'] Staying in Mirepoix for
one week.
- [65'] New Year's Even in
Mirepoix, le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre with a group of
all-French people who didn't speak English! <--Funny
- [68'] Typical New Year's Eve
celebrations in France
- [72'] Attractions near Mirepoix:
Montsegur (Cathat, hike), Les Forges de Pyrène (demonstrations of
old techniques), Grotte de Niaux (painted caves), Foix
(hike).
- [78'] Most Beautiful Villages in
France: Camon. Beautiful but completely empty this time of year.
This is an obvious problem with visiting southern France in winter:
many things are closed!
- [80'] The Arriège is a part of
France that doesn't get a lot of tourists any time of the year, and
in the middle of the winter, you have to find ways to keep
busy.
- [81'] Market Day in Mirepoix is
Monday, the town comes to life. Visiting Rennes-le-Château, must
read-up on the conspiracy theories. Pack a picnic!
- [83'] Even in a remote part of
France that is not very touristy, the food is quite
good.
- [84'] Visiting Carla-Bayle and
the Grotte du Mas d'Asil on the way to Toulouse. Don't go in the
middle of the winter, it's empty!
- [86'] Toulouse is like a small
little Paris, a lot of life, even in the middle of the
winter.
- [88'] Going to Albi and the
Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, Cordes-sur-Ciel (Cordes is also dead in
the winter!)
- [89'] Museums in Toulouse:
Natural History Museum, Musée Saint-Raymond, Basilique
Saint-Sernin, Musée des Augustins, Musée des Abatoirs, Les Jacobins
where Saint-Thomas Aquinas is buried.
- [91'] Which Toulouse Cloister is
nicest: Jacobins or Augustins?
- [93'] General observation about
French Museums: they are well curated.
- [94'] Go to the big open-air
food market in Toulouse (Marché du Cristal, 33 boulevard de
Strasbourg), every morning.
- [97'] WizEat in Toulouse and the
Toulouse accent.
- [100'] Stop in Moissac to visit
the chruch with beautiful cloister--but the cloister was closed on
a Saturday morning (again, an issue with visiting southern France
in winter).
- [102'] Bordeaux: swapping the
red stone of Toulouse for the white stone of Bordeaux.
- [104'] The shopping areas were
busy in Bordeaux (probably due to sales coming up, people like to
"stake-out" the stores where they want to go back on the day when
sales start.
- [104'30] Attractions in
Bordeaux: Saint-André Cathedral, Flea Market near the Saint-Michel
Church, Marché des Capucins (covered market).
- [115'] Instead of walking to the
Cité du Vin, they took a ferry which gave them a great perspective
on the city.
- [118'] For a great view, go up
the Tour Saint-Andrée, fantastic at sunset time.
- [118'40] Another great thing to
do at dusk in Bordeaux is to go to Place de la Bourse to see the
water mirror.
- [120'] Taking the bus between
Bordeaux and Saint-Sebastian. They used OuiBus and had a good
experience. The bus took them through several cities between
Bordeaux and Saint-Sebastian and they enjoyed seeing them briefly.
Christine recommends
taking the bus.
- [126'] New Caledonia, also in
France, even though it's close to Australia.
To learn about Join Us in France
Tours, visit Addicted
to France
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