Je t'aime, France… Thanks for the Vin and Views (& Cheese… & Bread)!
We hopped back into a car to explore the south of France. This was a bit of a redemption trip from one that we had planned in the summer of 2020 with Britt’s high school friends (shout out five dots ⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️) to celebrate their 30th birthdays. So, while we were bummed they couldn’t join us this time around, we were excited to finally make the trip happen.
We flew into Nice, where we spent three nights staying with a woman and her daughter, which ended up being one of the quirkier Airbnb hosts we have had. On a few occasions, Britt would try to make conversation with the host who, even though it appeared she spoke very good English, would at times just stare back blankly at Britt and give her one long, “Hmmm”. Justin would hear the train wreck from afar and come to help, and miraculously she always understood. We can’t say this is the first, or even the second, time this exact scenario has happened throughout our travels, but we chalk it up to the fact that Britt talks too fast fast at times. Everything was great, and it just made for a few good giggles. We loved exploring Nice, especially the cute old town with its small alleys and tiny shops. It was so quaint and French!
While in Nice, we took a day trip to Monaco. We happened to be there just a few weeks after the F1 Grand Prix, so we were able to see some of the residuals from the race, including the starting grid, viewing stands, and tire marks on the ground. You may remember from one of our first newsletters, we love the F1 Netflix series (we binged the whole thing in a week), so it was pretty exciting for us to visit Monaco and see the city that feels like it’s built all around F1. Next time, we will try to show up when the race is actually happening!
On our last day in Nice, we met up with our friend Melissa, hopped into our rental car, and headed to the French Riviera! Our first stop was Saint Tropez, and it was a sight to be seen. The main promenade was incredible — there were massive yachts with people partying on one side and swanky restaurants with more people partying on the other. We even ran into a group of influencers of which Melissa and Britt recognized two. A highlight from our time in Saint Tropez was day at Nikki Beach Club, where we spent the afternoon chatting, dancing in the pool, people watching, and enjoying the theatrics of bottle service. We even made friends with a group who we happened to take a photo for the day before. They shared their table service with us and introduced us to a new way of taking tequila shots… splash of lemon juice with a slice of orange as a chaser. We highly recommend you try this out at your next party.
After spending the weekend in Saint Tropez, we headed west towards Bordeaux, stopping in small towns and cities along the way, checking out the local shops, eating cheese, buying wine, and snacking on baguettes at every corner. We ate and drank those three things pretty exclusively throughout our trip. They were so inexpensive and absolutely delicious. We love the French way of dining — Step 1: Grab a baguette; Step 2: Take a large bite from baguette as soon as it is purchased; Step 3: Bring baguette home to pair with wine and cheese later in the day.
We stopped at Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Toulouse, and Bordeaux. Our favorite of the big cities was Toulouse, but our favorite stop on the trip was Saint-Emillion, a small town outside of Bordeaux. We stayed here for two nights at our favorite Airbnb of the entire trip thus far. We stayed with an older French couple who spoke little English, but somehow were always there when we needed them. They had a beautiful garden with a pool overlooking vineyards as far as the eye could see. We loved going to the local grocery to gather the goods — fruit, cheese, baguette, wine — and spending the late afternoon into the evenings enjoying the views of the vineyards, watching the sunset, and listening to a book. While in wine country, we of course visited a few vineyards and wineries, and we took a tour of two. The first was a beautiful chateau in the Languedoc region where we had a private tour for over two hours. We were first greeted by the owner and head winemaker, before being given a tour by the Director of Sales. He walked us through the chateau, explained the architecture and decor, and told us all about its history as it passed down from owner to owner. The landscape was incredible and it was apparent that the family prided themselves on maintaining the authenticity of the property and the vineyards.
Our next tour was of a wine co-op where grapes are purchased from local vine growers who primarily grow grapes as a hobby or who do not have the facilities to produce wine. After purchasing the grapes, the co-op produces, bottles, and distributes the wine. Once again, we had a private tour with a very knowledgeable guide, and we learned more on this tour than any other winery tour we have ever taken. We’ve always known that the French take their wine seriously, and on this trip we learned that this is for good reason. The passion and dedication to wine was palpable throughout the country, especially in the Bordeaux region. Anytime we spoke with someone about wine, we could feel their love for it in the stories they shared, and it was really beautiful. In the past, we have tended to shy away from French wines, primarily because we were intimated by the number of choices which made it difficult to know where to begin. However, now having visited the region, learned a little bit of the basics, and met some wonderful people, we will definitely be enjoying more French wine at home.
Overall, our time in France was delicious! 😋 We will say… our itinerary did feel a little bit rushed because we stayed only one night in a couple different cities. This made things feel a bit more hectic than necessary. After reflecting on this, we decided that moving forward, we will reserve spending only one night for just sleeping somewhere without the intent of really exploring. We hope to apply this to our next road trips in Switzerland and the Balkans!
