Show Notes for Episode 148: Visiting Southern France in Winter

Category: Toulouse Area

Discussed in this Episode

• Nice
• Toulouse
• Aix-en-Provence
• Marseille
• Nîmes
• Pont du Gard
• Uzès
• Montpellier
• Carcassonne
• Mirepoix
• Forges de Pyrène
• Grotte de Niaux
• Foix
• Camon (09)
• Rennes-le-Château
• Carla-Bayle
• Grotte du Mas d'Asil
• Toulouse
• Albi and the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum
• Cordes-sur-Ciel
• Moissac
• Bordeaux
• San-Sebastian
• New Caledonia

Episode Highlights with Timestamps

• [7’15] Why did you choose to come to France in the winter?
• [8’50] What sort of weather did you encounter?
• [10’30] Flying into Nice instead of Paris
• [12’30] Finding accommodations where we could park a car + using a car elevator in Toulouse
• [15′] A lovely cooking class in Nice
• [22′] Panisse and Socca, food specialties from Nice
• [23′] Aix-en-Provence and Marseille by Regional Bus
• [24′] Cours Mirabeau, Les Deux Garçons, and the Christmas Market in Aix-en-Provence
• [24’45] A day in Marseille: Musée d’Histoire de Marseille, great street for restaurants, rue Sainte, lunch at Les Echevins (best steak ever says John!),
• [28’30] Walking tour with a volunteer greeter, meeting on Quai des Belges in Marseille, a look at the Mirror Pavilion by Foster
• [30′] Musée Archéologique de Marseille in Le Panier
• [31’45] Marseille City Greeters
• [33’06] Lovely Tea House called Cup of Tea, tea shop and book shop
• [34′] Great food in Marseille, and not just Bouillabaisse!
• [35′] The realities of planing a trip from home vs. taking the trip: cutting things out
• [36′] Worries about leaving luggage in the car and Annie’s recommendation about that
• [37’48] Two nights in Nîmes and what they loved about it: les Arênes de Nîme, la Maison Carrée
• [39′] Carré d’Art by Norman Foster in Nîmes, a great place for photography, among other things
• [40′] Stumbling Upon a light show projected on the Maison Carrée in Nîmes. This happens a lot around Christmas, not just in Nîmes, but in other French cities too.
• [42′] Around Christmas is busy for people, but tourist attractions are empty.
• [43′] Pont du Gard and getting lost looking for it. Don’t set your GPS to the village called Vers-Pont-du-Gard. Set your GPS to either the attraction called Pont du Gard OR the village of Remoulins or Collias.
• [46′] Lunch at Uzès on Place  Aux Herbes, great place to spend a couple of hours.
• [47′] Tour Magne, Le Jardin de la Fontaine, le Temple de Diane in Nîmes
• [48′] Montpellier, a large and charming city. Air B&B apartment that used to be a butcher’s shop for one night.
• [50′] Musée du Vieux Montpellier, running into churches with Crêches and Santons, and
• [50’30] More podcast listeners eating at L’Entrecôte, they should sponsor the show!
• [52′] What’s nearby? Sète, Camargue
• [53’30] Daylight hours are shorter in winter, fewer hours for touring.
• [53’47] Christmas in Carcassonne, lunch at the Michelin Star at the Hôtel de la Cité, La Barbacane.
• [57’39] Carcassonne is not busy and crowded in the winter, and certainly not on Christmas Day!
• [58’33] The Christmas Market in Carcassonne.
• [62′] Staying in Mirepoix for one week.
• [65′] New Year’s Even in Mirepoix, le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre with a group of all-French people who didn’t speak English! <–Funny
• [68′] Typical New Year’s Eve celebrations in France
• [72′] Attractions near Mirepoix: Montsegur (Cathat, hike), Les Forges de Pyrène (demonstrations of old techniques), Grotte de Niaux (painted caves), Foix (hike).
• [78′] Most Beautiful Villages in France: Camon. Beautiful but completely empty this time of year. This is an obvious problem with visiting southern France in winter: many things are closed!
• [80′] The Arriège is a part of France that doesn’t get a lot of tourists any time of the year, and in the middle of the winter, you have to find ways to keep busy.
• [81′] Market Day in Mirepoix is Monday, the town comes to life. Visiting Rennes-le-Château, must read-up on the conspiracy theories. Pack a picnic!
• [83′] Even in a remote part of France that is not very touristy, the food is quite good.
• [84′] Visiting Carla-Bayle and the Grotte du Mas d’Asil on the way to Toulouse. Don’t go in the middle of the winter, it’s empty!
• [86′] Toulouse is like a small little Paris, a lot of life, even in the middle of the winter.
• [88′] Going to Albi and the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, Cordes-sur-Ciel (Cordes is also dead in the winter!)
• [89′] Museums in Toulouse: Natural History Museum, Musée Saint-Raymond, Basilique Saint-Sernin, Musée des Augustins, Musée des Abatoirs, Les Jacobins where Saint-Thomas Aquinas is buried.
• [91′] Which Toulouse Cloister is nicest: Jacobins or Augustins?
• [93′] General observation about French Museums: they are well curated.
• [94′] Go to the big open-air food market in Toulouse (Marché du Cristal, 33 boulevard de Strasbourg), every morning.
• [97′] WizEat in Toulouse and the Toulouse accent.
• [100′] Stop in Moissac to visit the chruch with beautiful cloister–but the cloister was closed on a Saturday morning (again, an issue with visiting southern France in winter).
• [102′] Bordeaux: swapping the red stone of Toulouse for the white stone of Bordeaux.
• [104′] The shopping areas were busy in Bordeaux (probably due to sales coming up, people like to “stake-out” the stores where they want to go back on the day when sales start.
• [104’30] Attractions in Bordeaux: Saint-André Cathedral, Flea Market near the Saint-Michel Church, Marché des Capucins (covered market).
• [115′] Instead of walking to the Cité du Vin, they took a ferry which gave them a great perspective on the city.
• [118′] For a great view, go up the Tour Saint-Andrée, fantastic at sunset time.
• [118’40] Another great thing to do at dusk in Bordeaux is to go to Place de la Bourse to see the water mirror.
• [120′] Taking the bus between Bordeaux and Saint-Sebastian. They used OuiBus and had a good experience. The bus took them through several cities between Bordeaux and Saint-Sebastian and they enjoyed seeing them briefly. Christine recommends taking the bus.
• [126′] New Caledonia, also in France, even though it’s close to Australia.

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Category: Toulouse Area