Venice: Busy but Beautiful

Don’t believe all the negative points you hear about this unique city. Yes its busy during the summer months and yes its expensive, but isn’t every popular European holiday destination?

 

We went to Venice in July for my 40th Birthday, if it wasn’t a special trip then we might have gone out of season.  With a good exchange rate and the common sense to save up I didn’t spend my time checking if I had enough money for a gondola ride (80€) or drinks in St Mark’s Square (50€ for 3 soft drinks), I did both! As for the crowds, the majority of them were day trippers and had gone home or back on their cruise ships  by 7pm, so much quieter at night.

 

 

We stayed at the Hotel Bonvecchiati, everything was excellent about this hotel, I can’t find any faults...apart from its American guests were always moaning.  There was nothing about this hotel to complain about, it wasn’t the hotel’s fault it was extremely hot this particular week (grazie for their air conditioning). The helpful staff, cleanliness in the hotel and our room (maid service twice a day), the view from our superior deluxe canal view room (canal obviously and the top of the Campanile/Bell Tower and St Mark’s Basilica), the breakfast (buffet) and most importantly the location, only two minutes from St Mark’s Square and five minutes (if you don’t get lost) from the Rialto Bridge and the Grand Canal. All good!

 

Our canal view

Good Morning Venice

 

 

We were only there are 4 full days and we saw the main sites:

(If we had another day I would of visited the islands of Murano and Burano or queued to go to the top of the Campanile)

 

• Grand Canal and view of Campanile di San Marco – just like the postcards

• Rialto Bridge: from a far a nice photo, close up not so good, lots of building work and when you cross the bridge it’s just touristy shops on it.

• Saint Mark’s Basilica: Beautiful building (minus the scaffolding) inside and outside.  We chose to take a pre booked tour, a bit boring and hard to hear the guide but much better than standing in the long queues.

 

•  Doges Palace: Found our guide and the palace more interesting than the Basilica. Perfect for art lovers, painting everywhere, the prisons and walking over the Bridge of Sighs were my favourite parts. Lots of stairways and no air conditioning.

Inside Doges Palace

Bridge of Sighs and the view from this Bridge 

 

• Saint Mark’s Square: It’s a big square so enough room for everyone and during the day the crowds are queuing to get into the Basilica and the Palace, so you can enjoy the atmosphere and people watch while drinking a lemonade for 16€ at the Caffe Florian, it 10€ for the drink and 6€ for the music, the music sounded better with a beer (13€ + music charge). But who cares about the price I was on holiday!

• Gondola Ride: Had to be done, it would be like going to Paris and no seeing the Eiffel Tower. 80€ for 30 minutes before 6pm, 100€ after 6 (per boat not per person). No haggling – the rate is set for all.  Very good experience of seeing the city  from the canal at a very slow pace. We got our Gondola ride near the Rialto Bridge and our route took us ‘around the block’. Maybe taking a Gondola near Doges Palace would have been better, as I really wanted to go under the Bridge of Sighs.

During our gondola ride we past the hotel where George Clooney got married :(

 

As for food I recommend the home made lasagne at Da Raffaele, pizza at Ristorante Al Theatro and the steak at Hard Rock Café. I know it’s not very Italian but I had to cross it off my Hard Rock Café bucket  list.

 

With regards to my TV/Movie locations to visit list:  Firstly our gondola took us past the hotel where George Clooney got married and on Wikipedia there are over 95 movies filmed in Venice.  Out of them I have seen (and remembered their Venice settings) Casino Royale, One Chance, The Talented Mister Ripley, and The Tourist (a terrible film with a beautiful background).

 

Yes maybe my trip would have been cooler and quieter in spring or autumn, but I wanted to be out of the UK for my big birthday, however the good weather and busy atmosphere made my experience better. It might be a bit boring sitting in St Mark’s Square alone or not so much fun having a gondola ride in the rain.

 

Destressing in Provence: 5 days in the French countryside

After a summer of learning to knit (my new get rich quick scheme), trying to find a new job, the hassle of buying a new car and going to the amazing Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, it was time to leave the country  before I hibernate in front of the TV for the winter.  For this Francophile I needed my French drug, my Provencal high and merci to Monsieur X for the invite.

No flights to Marseille from Birmingham so a coach trip to London Stansted for a Ryanair flight. I don't want to tempt fate on my next flight but I don't have any issues with this airline.  Always on time and they haven’t caught me with my oversized rucksack. Waiting for me in arrivals was Monsieur X, my best friend, crush, taxi driver, cook, and tour guide. Ah Oui! A man who can multitask!

Our Provencal week covered a lot of area and Monsieur X drove around 400km, our legs walked up a few steep hills and there was many hours spent eating, drinking and watching the world go by. Doesn’t sound very excited but the countryside views and atmosphere was a perfect break away from City Centre pollution and my very stressful office life.

We stayed for the first 3 nights in Le Pontet, (only 15mintues drive away from Avignon centre) in a 2 bedroom apartment which was a converted garage attached to the owner’s house in a quiet residential area. It doesn’t sound great but this accommodation was clean and modern and the owners (the wife speaks English) were very welcoming and helpful.  They even offered us the use of their swimming pool (it was hot weather but not that hot).  Le Pontet was our base as it was centre to all the points of interest and villages we visited… also good pizza at Pizza la Place (1 Place Joseph Thomas) too.  Then we spent 2 nights in Aix-en-Provence, the flat we rented was in the centre of the city, we called it the ‘Ne Pas Toucher Flat’ as the owner still lived in the flat during the week and only rented it out at weekends. She left notes everywhere saying do not touch her stuff.

We found these apartments on French website - www.leboncoin.fr/locations_de_vacances

Le Pontet Apartment

Our first full day started with a coffee (well tea for this English girl but sounds weird when writing about France) in Castillon (du Gard on Google maps), it was so quiet I felt myself whispering, then on to the centre of Uzes for lunch, passing the Haribo Museum on the way but Monsieur X wouldn’t stop.  Plat du jour at Le Provencal Bar, Place Belle Croix looked and tasted good it was meat salad and fries until Monsieur X said it was pigs stomach then I couldn’t eat it. After a walk around the town taking so many photos of the Cathedral and its green views,the rest of afternoon was spent at Pont du Gard. This was a Roman aqueduct bridge and I'm not sure if it’s true but Monsieur X said it’s the biggest in Europe. Entrance fee to the bridge, the museum, cinema and parking was 18€ per car (up to five people). The museum on how and why the Romans built this bridge was interesting and I’m not a fan of museums. I imagine the Pont du Gard being crazy busy during the summer months.

Castillion

Uzes

View from the Cathedral

 

Pont De Gard

 

Day two consisted of a morning coffee/tea in Saint Remy de Provence, Monsieur X said it’s where the rich and famous go and he hadn't visited this town for over 10 years and felt it had become ‘snobbish’. I felt he was right on both counts from the restaurant prices and that every other building was an Estate Agent advertising homes for sale at 500,000 euros or more. Then a few hours of exercise in Les Baux De Provence, a steep walk around the village at the top of the Alpilles mountains  (Baby Alps Monsieur X called them), very touristy with lots of souvenirs shops, however they were not tacky as the French don’t do tacky and they were hidden away in the old buildings. Monsieur X’s tip don’t visit in the summer as the road up to the village is so busy people have to park at the side of the road and the queue can be half way down this hill.

Lunch was in Cavaillon at Le Coquet Bar, Rue Lamartin my first taste of quenelle, this fish dish with rich and salad was one of my favorite meals of the week it’s a shame they don’t sell it in England, and I could have eaten another portion. Also I ticked another place of my TV/Film Bucket list as we walked through the square where a dance scene in Mr Bean’s Holiday was filmed as per Monsieur X’s guide to Provence.

No time to stop and see more of Cavaillon, Monsieur X had two more places to visit on his daily agenda Gordes and then the Fontaine de Vaculuse.  The drive though the French countryside was amazing anyway but Gordes (another village another hill) was beautiful, the green and blue view surrounding her took the last bits of stress away from this city girl. Wikipedia states the Russell Crowe film ‘A Good Year’ was filmed there, I must get the dust of the my DVD to double check before I cross it over the TV/Film bucket list.

Gordes

 

Another 20-30 minutes’ drive to the Fontaine de Vaculuse, which included a quick walk along the river to the Fontaine as we only had 20 minutes free parking. I was expecting a waterfall but it was a spring underneath a cliff and no one knows where the water comes from or how deep the spring is. With all this water I needed the toilet and I have to say these public toilets were the dirtiest I have seen.

Fontaine de Vaculuse

 

Next day we left Le Pontet for Aix en Provence I had been to Aix a few times but never for a night. It was a culture shock for me, a student city lots of young people out drinking however there was no fights, no one being sick in the street and the fashion was classy not trashy no ‘who can wear the least amount clothes in the winter’ style I have seen some in British cities. Saturday was another lazy day of window shopping, eating and drinking and my personal highlight was a burger meal at Quick, yes with all the culture, amazing landscape and great company this fast-food addict loved her burger and chips, so much better than Ronald, the King and the Colonel back home.

Quick - Aix

Aix-en-Provence

Our holiday finished off where my healthy eating plan started in Pelissane, before the airport we stopped off for lunch at Café Tabac de la Place, 15 Place de Pisavis. Cesar chicken salad washed down with my last glass of wine for a while.

My body is back in Birmingham, but my head and heart is still in Provence.

Tour De Bauer/ France - 24: Cycle Another Day

The following takes place between 10am and 7pm on 7th July.

My original plan was a day trip to London to watch the Tour de France (point 10 in my before I'm 40 list) and while I was waiting for Froome and Co to zoom past -  I had time to cross off one of my TV/Travel bucket list too-  24: Live Another Day. Most of the filming was around Trafalgar Square and the Mall which was the end of stage 3 of the 2014 tour.  I killed two oiseasu with one pierre!

The stage 3 finish line was half way up the Mall and along with the line there was the organizers, sponsors, TV crews, bike teams, a lot of security and every car had a French number plate, this meant road and path closures. Around 11am the crowd was scattered around the Mall, but the foreign tourists were more interested in Buckingham Palace than finding a viewing spot of the route.

Before I found my spot I decided to run around London in Bauer style to find the 24 locations with help from wikia.com.  (http://24.wikia.com/wiki/Live_Another_Day_filming_locations )

First Bauer site was along Pall Mall for two locations:

DAMMIT 1!  I couldn’t get to Carlton Gardens where the outside scenes of the US Embassy were filmed, as the nearby roads were closed off for Le Tour. I couldn’t get to the front of the Athenaeum Club on Waterloo Place either.  Outside the Athenaeum Club was where Kate met with Jack to start their bid to save London and where Jack and President Heller escaped the Secret Service for their trip to Wembley Stadium. It was also where Belcheck dropped the President off after their trip.

Athenaeum Club

 

I headed up to Trafalgar Square and took a detour to the Two Chairman Pub on Warwick House Street, just off Cockspur Street. Here is where Chloe O'Brian blows off Jack and goes off with Adrian.

Two Chairman Pub

Trafalgar Square was full of cycling fans (Nelson would be turning in his grave the amount of French around his Column), and this was where Simone Al-Harazi was hit by a bus.

Trafalgar Square

just pretend the lorry is the bus

Across the Square and along Duncannon Street to Charing Cross station and the station exit by Pizza Express where Jack ran out when chasing Simone Al-Harazi.

he ran past the pizza express

The next 5 hours I sat near Buckingham Palace waiting for cyclists to zoom past in the rain. With the French commentary coming out of the speakers along the route and the carnival of mainly French companies passing by a few hours before the riders, I did have to look at Buckingham Palace behind me a few times to remind me that I was actually in England not France.

bikes to quick for a photo

 

After the race I continued to follow in Jack’s footsteps, passed Big Ben and spent 120€ on a Team Sky Rain jacket (and when I get home I have a letter from Sky TV putting up my monthly TV subscription – Merci Sky!) then on to Waterloo Station – where the missile was going to hit and across the Golden Jubilee Bridge where the missile went into the Thames.

 Waterloo Station

where the 'missile' hit

 

I hope Le Tour comes back to England soon or maybe I will get to watch it actually in France. There was an amazing atmosphere similar to London 2012, so it wasn't a bad day like Jack always experiences but I do have a few more dammits:

DAMMIT 2!  I was nowhere near the Gillette Building in West London, where most of the inside scenes were shot.

DAMMIT 3! No time to get to Liverpool street station where Steve Navarro was caught by Jack.

DAMMIT 4!  No time but already been to Wembley Stadium back in 2012 and last year to Camden Lock – Jordon Reed RIP & past the East London mosque, Whitechapel which is in the opening scenes of episode 1 we stayed in the Ibis budget hotel next door (England through the eyes of a Frenchman – London part 1).  

I should get on with completing my 40 things to do before I'm 40 list but I'm sure another weekend of watching another 24 box set won't hurt.

Learning French By Watching Télévision

J’aime la France, J’aime la television et J’aime de television Françoise.  French programmes were supposed to be educational, supposed to help me learn the language but I got too engrossed in the story lines and characters to make notes or repeat what the beautiful people said.

My first impression of Sky Living's The Tunnel was it’s a bit slow at the start and not in a cool French type of way, it needed to pick up speed and it did.  Clémence Poésy was great as the miserable straight talking workaholic Elise Wassermann and the more human British DCI Karl Roebuck’s (played by Stephen J. Dillane) wise cracks tried to lighten her mood. I do need to watch it again to piece together all the twists.

The Tunnel

  
Has my previous post states Channel 4 series – The Returned (les Revants) is currently my favourite new show of 2013. I know the American version of it won’t be half as good as the original. Frenchies + zombies = my television heaven!

Other Frenchie shows I’ve found on my SKY TV channels, on Sky Arts there was Mansion Close I found it very boring but maybe a programme about prostitutes back in 17th century isn’t for everyone’s taste. But a sit-com about the porn industry (only the French could make it) – Hard was hilarious, very crude but who cares I‘m not a nun and dull Sophie needed to cheer up, having to run a seedy porn business after she husband died isn’t paradise but being with the hot Roy the Rod (a sensitive caring porn star) would make even a nun smile.

Hard

Jo on Fox with Jean Reno wasn’t very French.  Reno is the only French guy in it and the rest of the characters are American or in one case a British actress with an American accent.  An interesting cop murder drama but more a Paris tourism advert with dead bodies lying around the French capital's popular tourist areas.

On the subject of French police, welcome back Braquo on Fox for series 3 (especially Theo played by Nicolas Duvauchelle) I do enjoy a bunch of dirty cops fighting crime their own way.

Braquo

 

TV Travel Bucket List – The Returned

It might have been less than a minute but it counts. One place ticked off my list - the Lake Pub featured in Channel 4’s The Returned.

Monsieur X picked me up at Geneva Airport on an April Saturday, and we drove though the town of Annecy on the way to Courchevel.  He wanted to show me the lake however I wanted to go zombie hunting and begged him to stop off at the Lake Pub in Sévrier for a quick photo, after his complaining he gave in. Luckily for him it was closed (opens at 5pm), so he only had to drive around the car park while I took a photo of the pub.  It made my day!

 

 

So this holiday weekend I watched the The Returned (les Revants) again.  It’s my favourite new show of 2013 and it freaked me out! No blood, gorge and graphic violence like the Walking Dead just a guessing game of what the hell is going on. 

Series one is about a bunch of ‘dead’ people who suddenly return to their village, acting like nothing ever happened to them, while the ‘alive’ people are being all French and acting cool about this crazy situation.  Only the French would have gorgeous zombies. There is Simon the brooding undead who even looks good lying in the morgue and Serge the cannibal zombie who still manages to get his leg over with a human.  Then on the cuteness scale of 9 out of 10 there is little Victor, this boy loses a point due to his sinister ways.

Not that I’m jealous of their beauty and Frenchness (I so am!) but the women in this show are annoyingly beautiful and the younger cast are just annoying. Oui! I mean you Camille! The film this series was based on (called They Came Back/Les Revenants) was just as weird and being a scared pathetic loser as I had to watch it in the day with the lights on, no pretty zombies this time but it did screw up my head again.

So I’ve seen the front of the pub and the lake, maybe next year when I visit Monsieur X, we can visit another Returned scene hopefully the Tignes Dam (Barrage de Tignes) which is only 67km - 1 hour and 15 minutes away from Le Praz, Courchevel - hint hint Monsieur X hint hint.  

Courchevel Weekend... For a Broke Non Skier

When my photographer friend Monsieur X gives me an invite to France, I never say no even if it is on the wrong side of pay day and it’s to a five star ski resort.  This was my second attempt to visit Courchevel, last year I ended up in Marseille instead (24 hours in Marseille:  An unplanned weekend), but after a £150 return Easyjet  flight from Birmingham to Geneva  and a drive though Annecy I reached Monsieur X ‘office’.

I was staying at Monsieur X very little penthouse apartment aka his studio in La Praz and less said about his place the better, but the words ‘clean up’ needs to be said. Its location was perfect a few minutes’ walk after from the bus stop and cable cars.  After dumping my bag at his studio he took me to Courchevel 1850 (via the free bus service) to show me where he works…on the beautiful slopes of 1850 and his base for selling his photos at (Funhouse) La Datcha restaurant in the Forum Centre. The La Datcha staff was very welcoming, there was a good chilled out and quiet atmosphere (due to it being end of the ski season) and the pizza tasted great.

La Praz

Courchevel

Sunday was his day off and after realising my cash isn’t going to last my stay or even another day we went to the top of this mountain.  Seriously 8€ for a coffee and a tea in Le Praz and it wasn’t even a proper cup of tea! Yes you can take the girl out of England but not the England out of the girl.  We took a cable car from 1850 up to the highest level we could go for around 15€, I was unsure due to the cost (and that I hate cable cars) but Monsieur X  said it would be worth it.  He was right the white mountain views of snow and clouds took away any remaining bit of stress I had and drinking white wine lying on a deck chair knowing that I would have a sunburnt nose the next day isn’t what I usually do on a Sunday afternoon.

Before heading back down we took a detour to La Folie Douce in Meribel, the Sun, dance music and people dancing on the tables reminded me of my Ibiza days and so did 7€ a pint! Watching the tres expensive bottles of champagne been send via a mini cable car/box from the DJ stage to the VIP area bizarrely reminded me that I need to buy a new car. Why? One of those bottles of champagne is the same price as my car deposit. I seriously need to find a new job to fund my five star lifestyle. I also learned a valuable lesson – trying to run for the last cable car back to Courchevel in snow after a few beers isn’t cool.

La Folie Douce

I can’t go to a ski resort and not have fondue and after nagging Monsieur X in the cable car and free shuttle bus down the mountains, he gave in at 1650 and we went to the Le Table de Marie not far from the bus stop.  It was empty around 7ish but by 8 it was full. It was 25€ each for fondue for 2 people and the plate of bread, salad and meats was massive and there was enough cheese for us so there were no fighting over the last melted drop.

The next few days of my long weekend consisted on pretty much nothing, just up and down between Le Praz and 1850 and afternoon drinks in La Datcha and dinner in L’Escorchevel pub and restaurant in Le Praz. It was mainly English/American food on the menu and very big portions, I’ve had a lot of chicken nuggets in my time but not as big as these.  With a car it was easy to visit the town Moûtiers and another the resort of Champagny  and I think four nights in Courchevel was enough time for a broke non-skier like myself to relax, socialize and see this rich resort from the top to the bottom.

 

On the way back down

 

 

Merci Monsieur X I hope we can do this again next year.

My TV Travel Bucket List

As you can see from my above statement and ‘About Me’ I want to travel and my life at the moment involves seeing the world from the comfort of my sofa and getting fat at the same time.  So why don’t I mix the both up and visit the beautiful places (without the crime and zombies) I see on a screen every day.

Yes it’s cheaper and easier to lie on my sofa and watch the imagery world go by but where’s the excitement and enjoyment of visiting other countries and meeting new people.  Now I’ve visited a few but that was before I had this idea now I have another reason to go back… yes I mean you Ibiza and Paris.

The Telly Travel List (Blue = visited)

UK

England
Birmingham (got to start somewhere):  Peaky Blinders, Doctors. 
London: 24: Live another Day and every other English drama.

Wales

Rhondda Valley: Stella
Barry Island: Gavin & Stacy

EUROPE

Spain
Ibiza/Majorca:  Mad Dogs.

France

Paris:  Braquo
French Alps: Annecy (Lake Pub) & Tignes Dam: The Returned

Italy

Rome:  Romanzo Criminale
Sicily: Young/Inspector Montalbano

REST OF THE WORLD

Caribbean:  Death in Paradise  
Canada, Toronto:  Rookie Blue 

USA

Chicago:  ER (the George Clooney years), Chicago Fire, Mike & Molly
Washington:  Bones, Scandal
New Orleans:  Treme
Hawaii: Hawaii 5-0, Lost
Texas: Friday Night Lights
Atlanta:  Walking Dead
Virginia: Criminal Minds, NCIS
Philadelphia: Body of Proof
New York: Friends, Blue Bloods, The Following, Elementary and many more
Los Angeles: Mentalist, NCIS: Los Angeles, Two & a Half Men, Major Crimes/Closer to name a few.
Dallas:  Oh Man what’s that programme called again!

Any new TV locations would be greatly appreciated and a message to SKY TV if you want to reduce my mega monthly subscription payments so that I can save for my trips that would be greatly appreciated too. 

Hey if you don’t ask you don’t get!