Europe Impression - B & B experience in Avignon

Many people have said that you must stay at hostel or at least bed and breakfast in order to experience the real Europe. I found a few lists from airBnB , a website recommended by a friend but none had worked out. I finally booked my bed and breakfast via Avignon official tourism website and bedandbreakfast.com and was very happy with what we had got.  I didn't intent to stay at two different places but with the plan change and the room availability, I had to.

The first night we stayed on a boat by River Rhone. It is on the other side of the river, which is about 15-20 minutes walk or you have to call a taxi to get to the town center, but the experience offset the inconvenience. The host Laurent is a funny guy who practices Qi Gong and Acupuncture and his dream is to go to China some day for these two things. No wonder this place is called Qi. Laurent speaks pretty good English but every time when he switches between English and French, his French accent becomes more obvious. Laurent gave the new guests a formal greeting on the broad to introduce the facility and guests. We also received a city map and some useful tips from him. The pink wine that Laurent used to welcome us was sweet and smooth so I finished a whole glass before I even realized it. Then I was drunk like walking on the cloud!   

The room I booked is the captain’s room. It is a suite with a litter kitchen area, living room, bathroom and the private balcony. I made terrible fried eggs but good veggie soup with the limited supplies we got from Carrefour just to make sure the kitchen was functional. J

Living Room

We apparently forgot buying oil

Swimming Pool

Breakfast on the deck

The breakfast on the deck was gorgeous. Besides the classic croissants, French bread and toast, Laurent also prepared the fresh figs and the fresh dates. He told us that the dates were transplanted from China. Maybe that’s reason why the shape of the date is different from what we had in China. We also had a great breakfast chat with other guests from different countries. I think that’s the biggest benefit about staying at the hostel/B&B. Sitting on the private balcony to enjoy the river view was also unforgettable. 

The downside about this place includes the aforementioned inconvenience, carrying the luggage up to the dock then passing through the narrow sideboard wasn't easy; low ceiling and the bathroom without a shower head holder. One side note is the owner preferred the cash payment.   

comfy mattress

The second B&B BARAILLERIE is in the town center and is a beautiful private home. Our room is remodeled from an attic of the three-floor house. There are glass windows on the ceiling for the light and the fresh air. The room decoration is fairly modern and impressive. I believe the place was converted to a guest room not too long ago since everything in the room looked new. The one exception is the record player and a good number of record collections. I did take the advantage of that and the stereo system was excellent! 
The downside about this room is no shower curtain to keep shower water from spilling out on the floor outside and the restroom, is tiny and you can't stand up inside.

Love the Vinyl Record Player 

Restroom lamp 

The owner Veronique is an artist and a psychologist and gave us warm hospitality. The breakfast in the garden was a surprise! I didn't know I could eat that much. If we didn't need to catch the train, we wouldn't mind spending the entire morning there.  Veronique called the taxi to take us to TGV station. When the taxi arrived, we were still busy on the payment, chats and hugs and didn't notice we kept something that we shouldn't until we got on the train from Avignon to Lyon. Well, now we have got something to do in Lyon.  

Europe Impression - Avignon

We almost missed the stop in Avignon SNCF station. The travel time between Avignon center and Arles is only 18 minutes (48 minutes to Avignon TGV station) and we kind of missed counting whether there was a stop or not before we got to Avignon.  Taxi was easy to find outside of the station.   The cost is a flat rate – 10 Euro.  While the driver making the sharp turns in the narrow streets, we felt not renting a car was definitely a right decision. The driver didn't complain or charge extra when we found out the destination I first told him was for the next day and needed to re-route.

Overlook from the top of the Palace

Avignon Bridge

Avignon has completely different style than Arles. It is more active. The fashion and the antiquities mix very well here. When walking on the main street - Rue de la Republique, you would think it has no much difference from other big cities. At least McDonald's is seen here :). But when going into the back streets, you see the history of the town.

Everyone comes here would like to visit Palace of Popes (Palias des Papes) and Avignon Bridge. The  introduction on wikimedia. provides the complete story of the Palace. The line to purchase ticket was so long and you won't believe how small and dark the ticket office is. Before we entered the building, we were asked to select a audio device with our preferred language and used it as tour guide for the main attractions inside the Palace. It took us 2 hours to walk through the Palace. It has great architectural details, which made me wondered how creative the people was and how difficult to build something like this without any electronic equipment.  I was impressed by the underground treasures storage and the huge dining hall! After touring the Palace, we went up to the outdoor garden. From here, it gives a great overlook on the River Rhone and part of the town.

The details on the roof of the Palace

The door shows history

Lavender Field

Lavender processing - taken from store video

Harvesting lavender - taken from the store video

There is a big shopping area just a few blocks away from the Palace. I could tell that area is for tourist but we had fun looking/shopping around. I found two favorite stores here. One is called Le Chateau du BOIS Provence. It is a store that sells fine lavender products. We watched an interesting video that showed the lavender production process. This was the first time I learned how lavender is harvested - very amazing. I was really drunk by the color and the smell of lavender and the fascinating view of the purple field!  I hope that I can go back again during the lavender season! Colorado offers the climate that required for planting the lavender: high altitude, dryness and sunshine. I should be able to grow my own lavender on my balcony!

Lavender Harvest  - from the store video

 Another store is a corner gift shop with a great sales - a 6 year old girl (the store owner's friend's daughter). She claimed that she was born in HK and had lived in UK for a couple years so she could speak great English. She followed us entire time and told us what she liked at the store. She also was so happy to be the translator between us and the store owner. After we took a picture with her, she offered that we could take a picture with her 3 year old brother although he can't speak English. Great shopping experience here!

Shopping area

Musician is everywhere

Ancient city wall

France is also a bicycle kingdom

             

Our hostel host recommended a dining area with many options in the town center. We picked Merci Ton Ton because the owner was very friendly to explain each dishes for us when we looked at the menu outside of the restaurant.  It provides a Tuesday menu with smaller portion and reduced price to attract more customers. The waitress didn't speak English but she tried very hard to help us, including body languages, drawing, and asking for help etc. Because of her patience, we finally got to eat like locals.    When we checked out the CD sold at the restaurant, the other customers at the restaurant were so excited to introduce the music for us. When the music played, some of them even wanted to dance. That was the first time I experienced the well-known outgoing side in French's characteristics.

Merci Ton Ton's Tue Menu

A popular French Band's CD

Ham & Artichoke  

Last but not least, if you know how to sing this song, you would definitely feel closer to the people in Avignon.  

Europe Impression - Arles Part 2

On the Monday morning, the town woke up with the crowd and the traffic. After being in the French world for two days, we felt encouraged to try out the local restaurant for breakfast. We ended up running to escape from the big laughs behind us. We probably looked so silly by trying to speak two French words we know and hoping people would speak English to us or at least understand our body languages. It was embarrassing but it was also so fun to do something silly like a tourist. People here actually are pretty friendly and indulgent to tourists. For example, a store owner asked us to try a type of berry before we paid just because she was afraid we wouldn’t like it.  We finally got our breakfast and some supplies from a nearby supermarket.

Old Town gates

River Rhone

Patron Saint of Arles?

It took us a while to find ‘Espace of Van Gogh’ – used to be a mental hospital where Van Gogh was locked after cutting off his ear. It is a bright yellow building with a big courtyard in the middle.It is now a tourist site for people to memorize this great artist who had never been able to sell his paintings when he was alive. I recently watched a movie, 'Lust for Life', that tells a brief story about this artist. Even though Van Gogh didn't get recognized until he past away, he was so lucky to receive a life time support from his brother, Theo.  If you want to keep going with more Van Gogh sites, you may go to St Remy, where is only 18 miles away from Arles. 

I like the gift shops inside the Espace Van Gogh. Besides the painter related products, there were many delicate decoration items, even the fridge magnets were special and beautiful. A place to shop for family and friends.

Espace Van Gogh

Espace Van Gogh

We picked a café by the arena for lunch. While we were scanning the French menu with an IPhone app Word Lens that instantly translates the French into English word by word on the screen of the phone, the owner came over and handed us an English menu! How nice! I would definitely appreciate the idea of the visual translator but I think there is long way to go before you can really rely on it. Also keep in mind that many restaurants in French don't have a paper menu. The App probably won't work for the menu on the blackboard.  We were not sure whether the crepe we ordered is considered as authentic French taste because of the other funny American/Asian beverages on the menu. At least the food was good and fresh and it was so nice to have the great view of the arena. 

Crepe

Arles is listed as the UNESCO world heritage site so you don't want to miss these ancient Roman buildings -  the list from wikipeida.org.

• Arles Amphitheatre
• The Roman theatre
• Cryptoporticus and Roman forum
• The Thermes of Constantine 
• Ramparts of the Roman castrum
• The Alyscamps
• The Church of St. Trophime
• Roman exedra (Muséon Arlaten)

We didn't get to see the Ramparts and Exedra.  If you are really into the details of all these accient architectures/ruins, you could spend days here.  I think Arles is a unique town that really keeps its heritage well. Even with all the tourists, I could still feel the peace everywhere in the town!

Republic Square

Ruins of Thermes of Constantine

Ruins of Thermes of Constantine

Drawing of original Thermes of Constantine

Roman Theater

Church of St. Trophime

My original plan was to go to Nimes for Arena of Nimes - the second largest Roman arean, then Pont du Gard for Roman aqueduct bridge then stay in Avignon by bus. I changed my mind after we got to Arles. The reason was we like Arles and would like to spend more time and we didn’t feel like beating ourselves up from running among the attractions within a short amount of the time. I did prepare the bus schedule for the trip. The bus number from Arles to Nimes is C30, Nimes to Pont Du Gard is B21 and Pont Du Gard to Avignon is A15. The schedule makes a day trip among these three places feasible.

It is time to leave for our next stop - Avignon by train. The train station is only 5 minute walking distance from the hotel. We got there earlier than the schedule because it would be our first time travelling by train in France. BTW, the train time table came with the EURAIL pass is something you want to keep with you all the time although some of the private run routes/schedules are not listed. There are two main railway companies in France, SNCF and TGV(mostly are high speed trains with less stops in between). You can take both at many stations but there are exceptions. Do check when you plan your trip. Our destination in Avignon is the SNCF station in old town, where is close to most of the attractions. The TGV station is a bit away from the old town. Just to be safe, we paid extra 9 Euros to reserve the seat on TGV train from Avignon to Lyon for two days later. We also validated our EURAIL pass here so we could start using it for our train travel. A Canadian traveler at the station was nice to explain the validation process for us. Not complicated but it could be a bit confusing for first timer. It wasn't difficult to communicate with the station clerks either. 

This is a very useful website for travelling in France. 

Reference: http://www.beyond.fr/villages/arles-provence-france.html

Strawberry Cheesecake & Cassava Cake

We had lots of snow in April and the latest one we got was on May 1st. I don't remember when was the last time we got snow in May prior to this year. Well, it might be a good time for me to have some baking experiments at home. 

My philosophy about food is try to keep eating as healthy as possible without comprising too much on taste. Here comes my 'healthy' version of two cakes.

Strawberry Cheesecake 

I adopted the recipe from allrecipe.com 

2 packages (8 ounces each) Neufchatel cheese (claimed 1/3 less fat than cream cheese)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 (9 ounce) graham cracker crumb crust
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 lb fresh strawberry
1 Lemon zest
1 tablespoon water

I didn't make my own crust but I still baked the cake as per the recipe on allrecipe.com. It turned out well. I brought it to work and people all liked it :). 


Cassava Cake

The recipe is from a cooking forum on a Chinese website. I used Honey to replace the palm sugar because I didn't have it. If you like coconut flavor, it is a good snack for you. It is probably not sweet enough for people who are used to the sweetness from white sugar.

2 fresh cassava (aka Yuca Root) about 2 lbs 

1 cup coconut milk
11/2 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoon corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg
200g Honey
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon Unsalted butter
2 tablespoon coconut powder

The last one is the real healthy food - Baked Okra.  It is also from allrecipe.com. I didn't add bread crumbs but added more tomatoes because I like them :). 

Snow on May 1st

Snow on May 1st