Alpes Maritimes, Var, and Bouches du Rhone

I got to go to France again! I didn't keep a journal each day, but I did take a ton of photos - over 600, to be more exact, and I recently posted over 100 of them on my Instagram page. I got to experience a lot more this time than I have in the past, while still being able to visit family, so it was a very enjoyable two weeks in France.

First, the negatives. (What negatives?) The flight was very long. I'm not a fan of those long flights. However, this was my first time in an Airbus A380, and we got to sit on the top deck, which was really cool. I noticed it was much quieter up there, probably because we were further away from the engines and wings. Second, the time change is a whopping 9 hours. I got used to it pretty quickly, thankfully. And lastly, being in France made me realize how much I'm missing here in the United States. I love the food-centric culture, and how the people there are much less work-focused. Cities are also designed much more organically which makes them more interesting to explore, with many places to stop and sit outside for a non-alcoholic drink. There is a lot more history in Europe, too, probably since it was around for so much longer than the United States.

Now for the positives. I visited many new places than I have before. On a road trip from Cannes to Toulon, we stopped in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, Saint-Raphael, and Saint-Tropez. In Saint-Tropez, we saw the citadel, which was an old, water-facing fortress which is now a museum and there are several peacocks wandering the grounds there. On a road trip from Toulon to Marseille, we drove along the Route des Cretes and stopped at the Parc National des Calanques, which are basically huge sea cliffs with water inlets. At Marseille we went to the old port for lunch and then walked up hundreds of steps to get to the Notre Dame de la Garde.

We spent most of our time at Toulon, which was also a beautiful place I've never stayed in before. We rode the gondola to the top of Mont Faron and saw some old military equipment, a small sanctuary, great views, and even a zoo at the peak of the mountain! I was surprised the gondola rode right above people's private property. If you look straight down, you'll see their backyards and pools. In Toulon, we also took the ferry to Saint-Mandrier for a hike, but I wasn't wearing the right shoes, so my feet were sore later.

After Toulon we went to Le Castellet, which was a scenic French town on the edge of a cliff (and there were a lot of cats!), Cuers, a winemaking town where we had a fancy lunch, Biot, where we saw the glassworks shop, and made brief pit stops in Antibes and Nice. In all, 2 weeks were not nearly enough time, but I'm glad I got to take the time off work. I'm still waking up in the French timezone several days after coming home. I hope to go back again soon and see more of France!