The Amazing Adventures of JJ and Donna: Eurotrip 2007

After Paris, we took to the trains and headed south. We went to Avignon first, a very medieval looking city.

The Palais des Papes where the Popes used to live.

Overlooking Avignon.

The Pont d'Avignon.

The next day, we stopped at Arles, where Vincent Van Gogh spent the later years of his life. You can find many of the scenes from his paintings here.

Cafe de Nuit

There's a little place that reconstructed Van Gogh's bedroom painting. Tacky, but funny.

We also had two of the most incredible meals ever, Le Caveau du Theatre in Avignon and La Paillotte in Arles, thanks to Elise's excellent restaurant recommendations. Something of note that neither of us had ever seen before was an appetizer called an asparagus cappucino, which we had in Avignon. We were both weirded out by the description of it but went ahead and ordered it anyway. When it came, it had the most interesting mix of texture, flavour, and presentation! The best part was that it was DELICIOUS!

We ended our France tour with two nights in Nice. We actually used Nice as a launching pad for our full day excursion to Monaco. The weather cooperated with us that day too. A good thing, since Monaco was one of the most beautiful places we saw on the whole trip.

In all the other cities we visited, we had to rely on maps and travel guides to get around, but not in Monaco. Maybe it had something to do with playing F1 on the PS3 for countless hours on the Monte Carlo track? The F1 race was held just days before we got there so most of the stands, signage, and even the pit row were still up. We knew every turn of the course and didn't need any book to tell us where to go.

The famous hairpin turn, which the F1 cars take at 50km/h.

The next day, we saw a little more of Nice and the French Riviera and relaxed by the sea before heading back to London.

We ended up back in London for a night before our flight back the next day. We took it easy and did some limited leisurely touring. We have to come back here another time to see Wimbledon so we're saving the real touring for another trip.