2026 – Europe

Why come to the French Riviera and Provence in April? The weather is gorgeous, cool crisp mornings with high in the 70s. In bloom are chestnut, black locust and fruit trees, roses, lilacs, irises, red poppies and more! No notes, would highly recommend! Today, despite all agreeing we had seen enough Roman ruins to last…

Spent most of the day in Avignon. First on the agenda was a self-guided (with the world’s most annoying electronic iPad-like device) tour of the Palace of the Popes. Its massive rooms were built to house a second papacy during a schism in the Catholic Church back in the 1400s. Good lunch outside at the…

Another gorgeous day, blue sky and a high of 78. Had a leisurely morning and picnic lunch at our inn. Drove to the unusual village of Roussillon. “Roussillon is a stunning hilltop village in the Luberon region of Provence, France, renowned for its vibrant red and orange cliffs—the world’s largest ochre deposit. Listed among the…

Best laid plans… buy picnic supplies, gas, drive to Provence via France’s “Grand Canyon”, the Gorge du Verdun with a picnic at a picturesque stop along the way. A trip of about 4 hours without stops. Drove to marché in Vence for picnic stuff. Gorgeous, narrow, winding drive up Col de Vence and down the…

Drive to Èze. Very picturesque but very crowded with tourists. Great views to the Mediterranean. Crazy drive to Monaco. One week try before the Grand Prix, so the racecourse is laid out and all the grandstands have been built. Grabbed a quick lunch and then walked over to look at the yachts in the boat…

Breathtaking drive way up to hill town of Gourdon, reputedly the prettiest of France’s Plus Beaux Villages (Most Beautiful Villages). It was extremely pretty and the views were amazing. Grabbed a shady table and had a great lunch on the terrace at La Taverne Provençale (best hot goat cheese salad ever!). Had a little trouble…

Met up with our guide, Cyril, and (just for the day) travel companions, Brenda and Scott, for a train trip up into the French Alps. The weather was perfect, the views stunning, and the commentary excellent. Passed by picturesque Peillon, L’Escarène and Sospel before disembarking and taking a bus to Saorge-Village. Toured the charming town…

Drove to Nice. While Scott and Ron went to pick a device to give us wi-fi at the villa, Karen and Nancy had a nice walk along the beautiful Promenade du Paillon. It’s a recently developed green space over a former river bed/bus station/parking lot. We met back up at the Place Garibaldi for a…

Drove to Grasse, the perfume capital of France, possibly the world. Quick lunch then hoped to catch the little tourist train but didn’t want to wait an hour so got a walking tour map from the Tourist Center and did our own. On the recommendation of the woman working there we drove to Mouans-Sartoux to…

Chickens and rabbits and kids! Oh my! Drove to the town of Brignoles for their Wine Fair. Turns out it was also an “everything you can think of fair” from farm animals to food to tractors to swimming pools to a mayonnaise-making demonstration and much more. Great fun! Back at the villa we celebrated Ron’s…