the only problem with france is ... the french.

... or so the saying goes, we found the french to be friendly, patient, welcoming and quick to speak english.

though i'm writing this from the cafe savoy in prague ("bloggin' at the savoy!"), the topic is the south of france. we wanted to give this region its due. we've been in prague for 3 days now, long enough to appreciate how great our month in provence was, i think we'll look back at it as one of the best month's of our lives.

*cruisin'
we drove a lot in provence (2400km/1500miles in 24 days); for the most part, we tried to stick to the back roads, where we'd be rewarded with dramatic views of sunflowers or lavender or vineyards. since cath can't drive stick, navigation duties fell to her. the french signs pose a bit of challenge but she did pretty well (now that i don't have to drive, i'm glad to have the map back in my hands). from the radio, we ascertained that the french love the black-eyed peas, katy perry, beyonce, bruno mars and a song about a girl accidentally shooting some dude (rum-pum-pum). unfortunately, we don't. even w/ a terrible soundtrack, the views made driving a pleasure. when we did take the auto-route, we were averaging 90mph, which was a good time.

chinese tourists taking ridiculous pictures in the lavender


CASSIS/CALANQUES

30 minutes south of us on the mediterrean is the coast town of cassis and its famous "calanques" or coves. cassis is known as a "poor man's st. tropez" but seemed pretty nice to us :) we hiked to a few calanques, passed some nude beaches (and quickly) and went swimming in the blue crystal-clear waters (actually, i went swimming, it was too cold for the polska).

MARSEILLES

in marseille, we were lucky to be able to meet up w/ an old friend, julian courbon. julian had come the U.S. 10 years ago w/ geoffroy and made an impression when he gave my parents a bottle of french wine. he then instructed them not to drink it for 12 years :) only 2 more years to go! during his visit, we spent a few memorable nights in vegas. what happens in vegas, stays in vegas -- even for the french. suffice to say, julian said if he had one place in the states he'd like to visit, it'd be vegas.

julian was nice enough to show us around town, coming to rescue us downtown when i called and reported myself lost and scared. we had lunch at his flat overlooking marseille and the sea w/ charlotte, his wife, and 2 happy boys - charles and gauthier. from there, we toured marseille while cath and tina - our friend from georgetown who visited us for a week - battled the wind and tried to not flash the frenchies (see pic).

another goal was to find bouillabaisse, a classic french fish soup. julian took us to cassis where we feasted on an authentic version (though there is some debate among the french as to what constitutes "authentic"). our version had 5 fishes, all displayed to us after cooking. the waiter then went to work filleting the fishes for us, which we added to our broth. it was pretty outstanding.

WINE TASTING - COTEAUX DE AIX dE provence, COTES DU RHONE (VACQUEYRAS, GIGONDAS, CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE)

this section probably deserves its own post (or book). we visited a number of wineries in the provence and cotes du rhone regions, went to a wine festival in vacqueyras on bastille day, which led us to our main problem - too much wine, too little time. at one point, we had 16 bottles and 7 days to drink it. as marlo from "the wire" said: "sounds like one of them good problems." indeed. our favorite spots were gigondas and chateauneuf de pape. at one winery after some healthy pours, cath was considering buying 2 cases of wine, shipping it to paris for 3-5 years, then re-selling it at a profit. this would've required about $1800. when i suggested just getting one bottle, she said "matt, are you crazy?! it's like $70 a bottle". you're right, cath, let's get 2 dozen instead. fortunately, sanity prevailed and we walked away w/ a single bottle of 2007 maison trintignant, which we had w/ our final supper in aix.

HIKING - MONTAGNE ST VICTOIRE
cezanne, the impressionist painter, loved montange st victoire, a mountain just outside of aix-en-provence. though it looks imposing, its a pretty gentle 4 hour hike to the top. we did it twice (first hike was quite challenging) and were rewarded w/ great views, solitude and 30mph winds from le mistral.

those were some the highlights from the south. we already miss the sunshine (we saw blue sky today in prague for the first time), the fresh fruits and vegetables, the friendly people. we hope to return ... maybe for longer than a month next time.