As noted above, just returned from the south of France. If you love SBH, you need to go here as well. It was our third trip to the region. In the past, we have spent more time in Provence. This trip was confined to the coast line. On balance, we prefer the ambiance and the towns along the coast. Provence is nice, but I think the reputation is larger than the actual experience. Towns like Aix and Avignon are fairly large places and we found the small hill towns along the coast, as nice as the ones to the north.
We flew AirFrance both directions. Overnight flight from DC, quick connection in Paris and to Nice by mid morning. Frankly, its not that much more difficult than an all day three legged trip to SBH. We also brought our two yorkies who took the trip over very well. We arrived on a Saturday morning and checked into the Chateau Chevere D'Or for five nights.
Room was ready on arrival. The hotel experience as extraordinary. The views, serivce and amenities were just exceptional. The hotel is at the top of Eze village. Eze is somewhat touristy, but we headed out in the mid morning and did not return until late afternoon. By then the tourists were gone and we had the streets and alleys of the mid evil town to ourselves. Eze has a nice assortment of restaurants and cafe's so you don't have to drive if you don't want to. There is also a train station at the bottom of the mountain.
Spent Sunday at the Monaco Grand Prix. Also a facinating experience and great people watching. In relative terms, the tickets were not that expensive and getting in and out of Monaco by train on race day was not that big of a deal. Sort of reminded me of our Christmas trips to SBH. Busy yes, but not unmanagably so.
Spent most of the next several days exploring the small towns around the coast. We rented a car and the driving was easy. Our trips included Grasse, St. Paul De Vence etc.... Had a perfume custom made in Grasse which was interesting.
Food and wine absolutely amzazing everywhere. Like SBH, you can spend as little or as much as you want.
From there we went to St. Tropez for five nights. Stayed at Pan De Palais. Another beautiful hotel. Lots of asian influence. In many respects, St. Tropez is very similar to some aspects of SBH. All of your favorite retailers are there - Blanc Blu, Kiwi, Mogan et toi etc.... Spent the days shopping, eating and touring the small towns near by. Cannes is about an hour away and made for another nice day trip.
As noted in an earlier post, if you like SBH and french culture with a seaside ambiance, you should give this area a try. The weather was perfect this time of year. Warm enough for the beach and not too hot for signtseeing. In addition, the history is so much deeper and there is much more to do.
On the way home, we spent one night in Nice. Left Nice at 7 and were on the ground in DC by about 1:30 or so.
Frankly, from a cost standpoint, we were adding things up on the plane and its very similar to what we spend in SBH, including the air to and from. We use the 2 for one business class through AMEX platinum. Food and so forth is very comparable to the cost of the same things in SBH, in fact, it might be even a touch less in France.
I can't recommend both hotels highly enough.
Similarly, we did an interesting trip to Corsica last year. That is also worth a look for those that are wanting alternatives to SBH from time to time. Things there are even less expensive than the south of france.
We flew AirFrance both directions. Overnight flight from DC, quick connection in Paris and to Nice by mid morning. Frankly, its not that much more difficult than an all day three legged trip to SBH. We also brought our two yorkies who took the trip over very well. We arrived on a Saturday morning and checked into the Chateau Chevere D'Or for five nights.
Room was ready on arrival. The hotel experience as extraordinary. The views, serivce and amenities were just exceptional. The hotel is at the top of Eze village. Eze is somewhat touristy, but we headed out in the mid morning and did not return until late afternoon. By then the tourists were gone and we had the streets and alleys of the mid evil town to ourselves. Eze has a nice assortment of restaurants and cafe's so you don't have to drive if you don't want to. There is also a train station at the bottom of the mountain.
Spent Sunday at the Monaco Grand Prix. Also a facinating experience and great people watching. In relative terms, the tickets were not that expensive and getting in and out of Monaco by train on race day was not that big of a deal. Sort of reminded me of our Christmas trips to SBH. Busy yes, but not unmanagably so.
Spent most of the next several days exploring the small towns around the coast. We rented a car and the driving was easy. Our trips included Grasse, St. Paul De Vence etc.... Had a perfume custom made in Grasse which was interesting.
Food and wine absolutely amzazing everywhere. Like SBH, you can spend as little or as much as you want.
From there we went to St. Tropez for five nights. Stayed at Pan De Palais. Another beautiful hotel. Lots of asian influence. In many respects, St. Tropez is very similar to some aspects of SBH. All of your favorite retailers are there - Blanc Blu, Kiwi, Mogan et toi etc.... Spent the days shopping, eating and touring the small towns near by. Cannes is about an hour away and made for another nice day trip.
As noted in an earlier post, if you like SBH and french culture with a seaside ambiance, you should give this area a try. The weather was perfect this time of year. Warm enough for the beach and not too hot for signtseeing. In addition, the history is so much deeper and there is much more to do.
On the way home, we spent one night in Nice. Left Nice at 7 and were on the ground in DC by about 1:30 or so.
Frankly, from a cost standpoint, we were adding things up on the plane and its very similar to what we spend in SBH, including the air to and from. We use the 2 for one business class through AMEX platinum. Food and so forth is very comparable to the cost of the same things in SBH, in fact, it might be even a touch less in France.
I can't recommend both hotels highly enough.
Similarly, we did an interesting trip to Corsica last year. That is also worth a look for those that are wanting alternatives to SBH from time to time. Things there are even less expensive than the south of france.
