2022 - Fall in Europe and More

I have been captivated with the French Riviera since I first saw it in 1979.  However, my love of the tropical climates goes back long before that.  My parents took me to Disneyland in 1958 when I was 10.  The first time I saw palm trees I thought they were amazing and I couldn't believe people actually had oranges growing in their yards - remember, I was only 10!  My good fortune continued when, at 16, I got to vacation in Hawaii for two weeks with a high school friend, staying with my aunt and uncle who were living there.  The warm, gentle breezes, the colour of the water, the beaches, and the laidback lifestyle made quite an impact on me.  Over the next few decades, I returned often to both California and Hawaii.  Then, at 31, I went to Europe and it captured my interest and has been my focus ever since. Everything about the Cote d'Azur has what I fell in love with as an impressionable teenager - warm, azure-coloured waters, mild temperatures, beaut...

This long vacation of mine is basically in three stages (etapes):  the Cote d'Azur, following by a cruise and then a trip with my sister to Munich, Vienna, Prague, Berlin and Frankfurt visiting Christmas markets with a birthday celebration squeezed in there.  Today, marked almost the end of the first part.  Delcie left for home this morning and I have another week in Nice until I move on to Part 2.   Before dropping the car yesterday, we did actually try to visit Tourrettes sur Loup but it was market day and there wasn't a parking space to be had in this pretty village perche.  However, we did get a good view of it from the road heading to it. So, we decided to head for the coast and visit the town of Antibes.  We parked in Port Vauban, the harbour, where there are some serious boats! Then, it was a matter of walking into the Vieux Ville and wandering around until we were ready for our lunch.  Antibes is really pretty and I always enjoy visiting i...

First off, I am asking myself, what's in a name?  Well, apparently a lot if you're not paying attention to names of towns in France!  Anyone who has travelled here likely knows that many towns and villages have the same name but have a "sur" or other word after the name to distinguish where they are.  For example, there is Villefranche sur Mer, Villefranche sur Saone, and Villefranche de Rouergue.  Usually, however, these town/villages aren't close together and are usually in quite different parts of the country.  Well, not Tourrettes.  W hen I was planning this trip, I wanted to spend a few days in the hills above Nice visiting some of the pretty villages there.  So, I was looking for a hotel in Tourrettes in Provence; however, it escaped me that there might be two towns named Tourrettes in the same region.  A couple of days ago when we plugged the address of our hotel in the GPS, I was quite surprised that we would not be staying where I had tho...