The South of France

Our European Summer was one for the books! Having a direct flight straight to Nice from Philadelphia was absolutely ideal. This holiday came to fruition due to my best friend getting married. Their intimate wedding was in Vence, France which is about 45 minutes from the airport, in the mountains, North of the French Riviera. They rented the most stunning villa situated on the hilltop of Vence overlooking the town and if you look close enough you can see the sea at the edge of the horizon.

The welcome dinner took place in a lovely village called Saint-Paul-de-Vence which is a drive away*. The winding cobblestone streets and stone walls surrounding the village were stunning. We had a reservation at Les Ramparts overlooking the hills while the sun set eating tiramisu, you can not get any better than that!

*If you decide to go North of the French Riviera and outside of the main towns, I do recommend to either get a rental car or prebook your transportation with Bolt or Uber as it can be hard to get a car to come to you. We had better luck with Bolt or choosing Berline on Uber.

The wedding day was unreal, taking place at the villa with perfect views and great memories! We then headed into the closest village called Tourrettes-sur-Loup for the reception dinner. We walked the winding streets to our table at Le Bouchon. A small family owned restaurant with a lovely 5 course meal, I highly recommend the violet spritz if you go! In Tourrettes-sur-Loup, they are known for their violet flowers, you can find a variety of violet-flavored drinks. These include violet liqueur, often used to flavor wine or champagne, and violet-flavored ice cream. The town's annual Violet Festival in March celebrates this local specialty with numerous violet-infused treats.

Our last day of the wedding festivities consisted of exploring Nice. I’ve been here one other time back in 2016 when Nice hosted the 2016 World Cup, but exploring it this time around with less tourists was very nice. One of our favorite stops was at the picturesque spot, Le Plongeoir for drinks. We did not need a reservation for the bottom lounge with our 8 person guest count and we were able to get a nice spot for the views and to sip some rosé. You can even take a quick dip down the stairs if you want to swim between the rocks!

Cafés, restaurants, + markets:

-La Réserve de Nice

-Deli Bo pastry

-Les Bains du Castel

-La popote d’Ondine Blacas

-Pl. Massena

-La Villa Massenet

-Gina

Beaches

-Paloma Beach

-CoCo Beach

-Plage des Bains Militaires

-Ruhl Plage

East of Provence

We woke up early the next morning and said our goodbyes before heading off to the Gorges du Verdon. We had a rental car*, which is the easiest way to get to the canyon since it is pretty North of any major towns. It took us a little less than 2 hours, driving up the most beautiful winding roads. I definitely suggest preparing sandwiches for the trip or picking something up along the way since there is not a lot once you are there. There is one small store that is part of a gas station about 5 minutes from the bridge if you do miss any stops through the small villages. They have some pre-made sandwiches, snacks and drinks.

We were able to park* South of the bridge at the first parking lot and take one of the paddle boats out from there. There are docks along the way with other boat rentals if this one is not available as a first option. I marked a few in my google list that you will see at the bottom of this post.

We took our paddle boat through the gorge for one hour (25 euro), but you can definitely keep it for longer depending on how long you want to be on the water. An hour was enough to see a good amount, but depending on if you want to take your time and make more stops along the way you can add an hour or two! We brought our sandwiches and ate them on our paddle back to the dock, even taking a pit stop at a little waterfall to jump in and feel the fresh water. Definitely a bucket list item for sure!

*We used Hertz at the Nice train station since we could use the train before and after having it, which was super easy, fast and cost efficient! (we had a prepaid booking at Enterprise, but on the day we were supposed to pick up the car they said they didn’t have any left when we arrived, so be wary of them).

*I’ve heard you should arrive by 9 or 10 AM to get a boat or parking spot, but we did not arrive until noon and there were plenty of both in the beginning of July. They have paddle boards, kayaks, paddle boats or electric boats depending on what dock you stop at.

Provence

We probably passed over 50+ lavender fields and sunflower fields on our way to our accommodation in Provence from the gorge. We did end up stopping at a few, just pulling over to the side of the road to take a few pictures. Along the way were stands full of lavender products where we of course got plenty of lavender soaps, oils and gelato! I did mark some well known beautiful fields and châteaus on my France google maps that you will see at the bottom of this post if you don’t pull over to any random lavender field like we did lolol.

Domaine Des Andéols has been by far the most breathtaking location and hotel I’ve ever been to, with rolling fields of lavender, olive trees and so many more trees, plants and flowers as they use a lot of their own products for their many restaurants on the property. We stayed in a junior suite with the most beautiful view from our own private porch. The 3 restaurants on site were lovely from exquisite decor to sweeping orchard views. Our favorite was Le Platane, which was situated under the largest tree I’ve ever seen. I will forever be dreaming of the fresh truffled risotto, local wine and chickpea fries.

It was so tranquil and refreshing among the lavender and hum of bees while reading by the pool. I would’ve stayed there forever if I could, pictures don’t do it justice. I was in awe of the beauty with every turn we took! Aidan was even able to take an hour run around the property’s roads and gardens, that’s how big it was!

French Riviera

After our short pit stop in Provence we did make our way back down to the French Riviera to a village called Vallauris. Our bed & breakfast was a 5 minute walk to the train station and sea. We were a 5 minute ride from both Cannes and Antibes (19 to Nice and many more towns spanning the entire the coast).

We stayed at La Bâtisse en Blanc and we couldn’t have picked a better stay! The location and town was quite perfect for what we were looking for since we dropped off our rental car and wanted easy access to the train. The attention to detail throughout the entire villa was so nice, every corner was beautifully curated. We had a lovely breakfast every morning made by the hosts. Virginie was very fast to reply and communicative over email when booking since we only had time to stay for 2 nights, while their booking on line were minimums of 3 days. The rooms were spacious and the air con was ideal with the heatwave we experienced while we were there. Overall we highly recommend and hope to be able to go back one day!!

We did not have much time in Cannes, but we walked around the marina with the jumbo yachts, and walked up a winding street to get some dinner at Restaurant MEAT & FISH, the swordfish steak with the mango sauce was divine. The entire street had loads of restaurants and tables outside! I have more places pinned on my France map of places to see. Beach and night clubs are a big part of Cannes, so I do have a few of those marked as well!

Antibes was my favorite of the 3 coastal towns we visited. We walked all around the streets and stopped at so many boutiques, pottery shops and galleries. I found the most lovely decor and clothing to bring back home, I love collecting pieces from our travels to showcase our memories from our favorite places in our home or the clothes or jewelry I wear.

We ended up having some beer and cocktails across from some of the galleries before heading over to one of our favorite meals of the trip. Bistro Chez Jules was a restaurant we passed earlier in the day and thought it was so cute with their decor of fruit and veggies in vases on the tables, so we decided to head back there around 9 PM for dinner. I am so glad we did, the owner and his son were amazing and even pick their tomatoes by hand in Provence that we would then eat before our entrees. The juiciest heirloom tomatoes I’ve ever had, along with the yummiest truffle gnocchi and tiramisu.

What to check out in Antibes:

-Mistinguett cafe Brasserie Comptoir (bar outside galleries)

-Entree Libre Bis (jewelry, the owner is amazing and saw what I was wearing so she let me know the more delicate gold pieces are located in 2 bins, I got the prettiest pearl necklaces).

-Choopy's Brunch & Coffee shop

-Elena City

-Marché provençal (market)

-Definitely look into the antique market on Thursdays & Saturdays

-BAM (bar)

-Restaurant L'Arazur

-Musée Picasso

-La Taille de Guêpe

Check out all my Pinned Places located in France to go to in google maps for precise locations!

Tip: use an eSIM for data, its electronic and easy to do instead of spending $12/day with Verizon’s travel pass you can spend $16 for 10GB for 15 days with Vodafone.

I also reccommend you have a hand fan, either paper or battery/charged for the summer months because a lot of places either don’t have AC or most things are outside and it is HOT. Most pharmacy or boutiques (or airport) will have these if you forget to get one before you leave for your trip. It was my lifesaver daily on this trip.

Boulangeries are every where in France, they are bakeries with the freshest pastries, treats and sandwiches. I lived off them during the days!

French beauty products are where it is at, here is my haul for the year!