Fête du Citron

A couple years ago, I stumbled across a picture on the internet of some crazy sculptures created with lemons and oranges. It seemed weird but fun. I thought about this picture for a couple years, thinking it would be fun to check it out but never having the opportunity since it was a festival in a little town in the south of France on the French Riviera. Forward to this year, and I finally made it!

What I'm describing to you is the Fête du Citron (Citrus Festival) that is held in Menton, France each year around the time of Carnaval. The small city is known for its micro-climate in which citrus fruits grow at an alarming pace. What does the city do with the extra lemons and oranges? Well they put on a festival with enormous citrus sculptures and a parade.

Every year, the festival has a different theme. This year, for their 85th anniversary, the theme was Bollywood! Sculptures had themes related to Bollywood such as elephants, Indian dancers and a Buddha. The parade performers all had elaborate costumes and floats covered in citrus fruits as well.

Confetti galore!

While the event goes on for two weeks and the sculptures can been seen at any time, the parade only occurs on Sundays. Other special events also go on other days and times. The entire festival also coincides with Carnaval, which can be experienced in nearby Nice and other surrounding villages.

My advice for a nice visit to the Fête du Citron, arrive mid-morning on a Sunday to see the sculptures in the morning. Grab a bite to eat (like some lemon and ricotta ravioli - to die for!), and stay for the parade (called Corsos des Fruits d'Or) that starts at 2:30 pm. It goes on for about an hour and a half, so it'll be time for happy hour on the beach when it's done. Enjoy!

Menton has a beautiful beach on the French Riviera

Arles and the Camargue

Back in July before leaving for a month in the U.S., I went on a great camping trip with friends outside of a city in the south of France called Martigues.  Our camping spot was right along the Mediterranean in the path of the hot, summer sun and strong Mistral wind.  After the holiday weekend, everyone was planning to return to Grenoble, but since I was on summer break, I decided to continue travelling so I found myself in Arles for a few days on my way back. With 3 days/ nights in Arles, I discovered that there was really a lot to see and do.  I really enjoyed my time there...  Let me tell you about some of the highlights.

Ancient Roman Theatre in Arles

The Monuments and Museums

Arles is home to a plethora of Roman monuments including an arena, ancient theatre, forum and more.  Our tickets included a free tour of the arena, and this was my favorite stop.  I learned that the arena was home to gladiators and the such, but was also filled with houses at one point before being restored to the arena you see today.  The monuments and museums are really the big TO DO of Arles, as there is so much to see.  I'd suggest buying the tourist pass which lets you into a selection of historical places.

Le Cloître St Trophime

Bull Race/ Run (La Course Camarguaise)

It is tradition in Arles to show off the strength and intelligence of the local bulls.  Bulls are raised on farms and in the wild in the Camargue, a natural park.  On the evening that I arrived, there was a Course Camarguaise which the tourism office suggested I see since it is known as the local sport.  The race begins with the "runners" entering the arena dressed in all white.  Soon a bull is let in with them.  The goal is for the runners to take a trinket from between the bulls horns.  Sometimes they run towards the bull, and there is a lot of jumping out of the arena as the angry bull charges.  The bulls are not harmed physically in any way, though I was a bit uncomfortable to see how frustrated they became.  One bull kept jumping out of the center arena into the surrounding circle to escape the center area. Despite this, the spectators (a significant number of locals and what seemed to be family members of the runners) were enjoying themselves and kept ooh-ing and ah-ing as the performance went on.  An interesting fact is that for each bull race, one local farmer is selected to bring his bulls for the night's festivities.

City of the Camargue

Arles sits at the very northern tip of the Camargue, which is a park which is a UNESCO designated natural reserve.  It is famous for its wild white horses, bulls, and pink flamingoes.  With an hour bus ride, you can go to Saintes Marie de la Mer, a tourist village along the Med coast with nice beaches and opportunities for horse riding.  I spent a day here, and while it was very touristy, enjoyed myself and the beautiful scenery.

Van Gogh

After getting burnt out in Paris, Vincent Van Gogh came to the south of France to recover.  Although he ended up admitting himself to a psych hospital, he spent part of his southern journey in Arles where he painted many of his famous works.  It is considered one of his most productive periods.  One work called "Night Café" shows a café in Arles lit up in the evening. There is a small museum and walk you can do to discover more about Van Gogh's relationship with Arles, but I thought it was simply cool to have the understanding that I was walking in the footsteps of a great artist whose works inspire me.

----- ADVICE -----

Eat: Jardin des Arts - There were many delicious restaurants in Arles, but this was my favorite with it's homemade ravioli filled with two kinds of fish, wrapped in squid ink pasta dough, and covered in a salmon and tomato sauce.  They didn't have any starters, which was a bit odd, but there main dishes and desserts were all that much better.

Do: Go to the tourist office and buy a tourist pass to visit the monuments and museums.  You can visit up to 5 places and save lots of money compared to individual tickets. I ended up only visiting 4 places because I ran out of time, but it was still very worth it.

Tourist Trinkets: Salt from the Camargue, Lavender products, Soap from Marseille

One Night in Avignon

My friend Katie and I took a short, one-night getaway to explore a new city.  We chose to check out Avignon. Avignon is most famous for the Palais des Papes (Popes' Palace), the Pont d'Avignon (Avignon Bridge) and its location in the Provence region of France.

During our two days, we made a point to explore and learn about this unique and beautiful city.  The Palais des Papes was a highlight.  We learned about the phases of construction of the palace starting in 1335 as well as the 9 popes that took up residence there.  7 of these popes claimed allegiance to Italy, which is as we all know where the Vatican is located today.  Yet 2 of the popes residing in Avignon were involved in the Great Western Schism (1378 - 1417) where they claimed Avignon to be the center of the true papacy.  During this time, there were two popes, one in Italy and the other in France.  Today, the palace is no longer a formal residence of the pope and has turned into a museum as well as a large theatre venue for an annual festival.  It is the biggest Gothic palace in all of Europe and approximately the size of 4 Gothic cathedrals.  Quite the impressive building!

We were also excited to visit the Pont d'Avignon which we did on day two.  "Sur le Pont d'Avignon" is a famous song that talks about dancing on the bridge... we made sure to sing and dance our way along during our audio tour. 

Besides these huge landmarks, we also visited the city, walked little winding streets, treated ourselves to a delicious three course dinner with wine, and checked out a couple art museums.  I brought back some little lavender souvenirs, including lavender essential oil and a small pillow stuffed with dried lavender.  It was a special purchase made while exploring the streets.  We came upon a small shop owned by a kind man and he told us about where his lavender came from and that his wife hand-sewed all the little pillows.  It was nice to buy from a little local couple, rather than the big, touristy lavender stores.

A couple suggestions for a nice stay:

Stay on a budget: Pop' Hostel. This hostel was really convenient in town, cheap, clean and they let us leave our bags for the day after check out.

Eat: Le Coude a Coude. Inexpensive three course dinner along a small street in the pedestrian area.  Everything was made fresh! We found it via TripAdvisor and it did not disappoint. I would love to go again.

Visit: Le Palais des Papes, le Pont d'Avignon

Walk: Rue des Teinturiers.  A picturesque, cobblestone street along a small waterway once used for the textile industry.  We found a delicious homemade ice cream place here.

Getting there: We travelled to Avignon from Grenoble via Ouibus and back via train.  Both were convenient options.

Séjour in Sète

After the Perpignan wedding, I wasn't in any hurry to return to Grenoble as I don't have much work at this point in the year, so I decided to spend a couple nights somewhere new.  After consulting a map, I randomly chose the city of  Sète.  This turned out to be a wonderful choice. While I didn't know much about Sète before going, it's quite well known for a few things.  

Canals

Sète is sort of a Venice of France.  There are canals throughout this port city.  It's very pretty to walk along the canals and see the boats.  I spent both nights having dinner at restaurants along the canals.  Being along the coast, seafood was the perfect choice and during my two days in Sète, I ate fish soup, stuffed mussels (a specialty of the city), little fried fishes, seafood pasta, and moules-frites.  There were some very affordable restaurants with three course menus for about 16 euros.

Beaches

A short bus ride away from the port and town center are some really excellent beaches.  I tried two.  I think I had perfect timing before tourist season really picked up and I found the beaches to be not too crazy.  I also really liked that the sandy beaches had a gentle incline into the water.  I went quite far in, all the while being able to touch the bottom.

Oysters

Sète has an interesting location.  The city is a major port and is on the Mediterranean.  However, a short stretch of land separates the Mediterranean and a very large lagoon (L'etang de Thau).  It is in this lagoon where fishermen farm oysters, and it is very important for the economy of the region.

Those are the oyster beds you see in the distance.  This pic was taken from a hill overlooking Sète.

Jousting

Yep, I said jousting.  This is a local tradition that takes place during the weekends throughout the summer and culminates in a six day festival in August.  Participants are on two boats and wearing all white.  There are ten people rowing, two musicians, one guide, and about five jousters per boat.  The boats row toward each other and the jousters try to knock each other off into the water with their lance.  They also carry heavy wooden shields to protect themselves. Each festival day ends in a victor who hopes to later win the ultimate St Louis Festival in August.

The fishermen row the boats parallel to each other and the musicians play a type of flute and drums.

The jousters face off.

The loser  gets knocked into the water!

Annecy: Retour des Alpages

Annecy is a cute and relatively well-known town about an hour and a half train ride from Grenoble.  It sits along the edge of Lake Annecy in the mountains and is known for its little, colorful houses lining tight streets and winding canals.  Every fall, the town holds a celebration called 'Retour des Alpages' or 'Back from the Alpine Pastures' where the local farmers and herdsmen bring their animals down from the summer pastures located high in the mountains.  The town celebrates with a parade of animals, people dressed in tradition costume, song, and dance.  It's a festive and popular parade with people packed together along the streets throughout the parade route in town.  Besides the parade, there are also plenty of market stands to pick up local and handmade goods, as well as sample the delicious, local fare.  During the fall, the tradition potato and cheese dishes like tartiflette and raclette come out. There are also yummy sausages called diot, roasted chestnuts, and plenty of vin chaud or mulled wine. 

Here's a sampling of pictures from my second time at the Retour des Alpages in October 2016.

Visite en Champagne

A few weeks ago I took a short trip to Champagne country to taste some delicious bubbly and enjoy the sunshine.

I picked up my covoiturage (carpool) from Grenoble and in five hours arrived in the city of Reims (pronounced more like "ranse").  I lucked out with a few days of sunshine, which allowed me plenty of time for strolling the streets and discovering this small town.  I did a little shopping, sat on a terrace for a tea and dessert, and visited some of the local landmarks such as their beautiful cathedral. 

The highlight, however, was all about the champagne.  I tasted my first champagne with dinner the first night, but I was most excited about touring one of their famous champagne houses or caves on the second day in Reims.  Among all the local options including Taittinger, Lanson, Ruinart, Veuve Clicquot, and so many more, I decided to tour the Pommery estate. 

A short 20 minute walk from the very center of town,  we arrived at the gates of the Pommery estate.  After walking up the long driveway, we checked in for our tour.  Our tour quickly began and we descended into a labyrinth of tunnels devoted to the perfection and storage of champagne.  In all, we were told that there were 18 kilometers of tunnels devoted to Pommery.  We could see an old pully system on the ceiling used many years ago for transportation of their sought-after bottles, stacks of champagne bottles, and different types of storage areas.  A particular characteristic of this region is in fact that below ground, there are old dug out chalk pits.  That is where most of the champagne is stored and properly aged because it maintains a consistently cool temperature, perfect for creating a consistent product.  

Our tour completed, we had to taste some delicious bubbly.  While I may not know all about the different varieties of champagne and so forth, I do have to say that the one I tried at Pommery was pretty delicious!  It was a pretty perfect moment.

xo
Danielle

Day Trip to Vizille

Day Trippin! Today, I took a short excursion to Vizille, a commune south of Grenoble.

I was feeling like getting out of Grenoble and exploring something new for the day.  Being in France, there is so much history to learn everywhere you go.  Well, I didn't really know where to go, and I hadn't gotten any great suggestions, so Google was my friend.  After Googling "chateau near Grenoble," I found this perfect opportunity.  It was a castle, museum, park, and animal reserve all wrapped into one!

My friend Katie decided to join me for this excursion.  We met at the bus station around 1pm to hop on the express Grenoble - Vizille bus.  A quick 40 minute ride dropped us off at an empty bus stop in a place we didn't know.  We got a bearing of our surroundings and decided to walk towards what looked like the center of the village, and quickly figured out we were heading the right direction.  A map showed us heading towards a big castle and park.  We continued along, spying a castle tower along the way and soon arrived at the castle gates.  We went right through and were welcome by a beautiful site of green, grassy lawns stretching out towards the far mountain.  People were strolling around the grounds, a couple boys were kicking a soccer ball back and forth, and swans and ducks were waiting for bread being thrown by an older couple.

We decided to first explore the free museum located inside the castle.  It was a museum all about the French Revolution.  There was a lot that I didn't understand or remember from my history lessons, but it was very cool.  We saw sabres, wall-sized paintings depicting battles, deaths, and liberty, busts, extracts from films depicting the arrival of Napoleon in Grenoble and more.  

This funny painting shows a joker.  He's enjoying himself.

Parts of the museum also showed the history of the building itself.  It was owned by a rich family by the name of Perier, but was also famously the home of several French presidents, the latest being Charles de Gaulle.  I can understand why a president would enjoy this castle and grounds; it was a very peaceful and beautiful place.  

After a couple hours in the well-maintained and interesting museum, we ventured out of the castle for some fresh air.  I really came to understand why a friend had told us to bring a picnic.  It would be the perfect place on a sunny day.  The grounds were really large and varied.  There were perfect pyramid topiaries, large expanses of closely cut grass, and various trees lining the paths.  Our path took us back to an area where animals were kept.  Unfortunately, we were running out of time before everything closed, so we didn't have enough time to explore all the way, but we did see some interesting deer (if that's the right word) with large antlers.  Also on a separate path back towards the entrance, we glimpsed some carved wood modern statues.  

This is a place to which I'm sure I'll return.  I can't wait for the perfect sunny day with blue skies to return with a picnic of wine, cheese, and bread to lounge in the sun with my friends.

A last picture from Vizille (not the castle or grounds but the small city itself).  I came across this painted on the sidewalk... It's a play on words to say "walkway NOT poopway" or simply, "This is a place to walk, not to leave your dog poop."  It's a really problem in some places in France where people let their dogs poop all of the sidewalk and streets since there's not as much grass in cities, but here it was quite clean!

Lille: A Short Escape

I love traveling.  I know -- that's quite obvious.  Sometimes I enjoy traveling for long periods of time and other times a little getaway is all I need.  

Well last week, I decided to take a little, one-night getaway to explore a new city.  I went to Lille.  Lille is in the very north of France, near Belgium.  It has a bit of Flemish influence, which can be seen in Vieux Lille, the oldest part of town.  

Upon arrival after my train delay, my boyfriend and I checked into our AirBnb apartment (very convenient to the train station) and went out to explore.  Rather than set specific destinations our first day, we decided to simply walk.  I think that exploring a place on foot without an idea of what a place is supposed to be is great.   We walked ourselves in circles a few times - the city is NOT in a grid pattern.  We discovered a cathedral.  We found a grassy area surrounded by various architectural styles.  We sat for tea.  We headed towards the citadel, only to turn around at the entrance since it was closed and actually used by the military.  We strolled through a park as the sun set.  Really, we just enjoyed being together. 

After a while, we decided it was time to eat.  We ended up at an Italian inspired restaurant and I chose a delicious spinach and ricotta ravioli with a creamy veggie and pumpkin sauce.  It was great!

Deciding the night wasn't quite over, we headed to the movies before finally calling it a night.

The next morning, we started by going to the art museum (Palais des Beaux Arts).  It was huge (actually the second largest art museum in France outside of Paris).  Our tickets came with audio guides so we played the part and walked around the museum with our headphones, learning about some interesting pieces.  My favorites were the statues and the Impressionist paintings.  

By afternoon, the rain had arrived. My little umbrella couldn't hold up to it, so we ended up jumping from one place to the next for lunch, tea, and shopping.  I also tried a delicious little treat (too bad I forgot to take a picture) that was a fluffy poof with whipped cream and hardened meringue inside covered by chocolate outside.  I would definitely have that again!

We spent our last hour at a large shopping mall where we were protected from the rain.  We got into a little mischief at the Lego store and I made a mini-me.  It may not have been a very "Lille" afternoon, but at least we enjoyed ourselves!  It was a perfect little vacation.

Vacances de Toussaint

I'm on vacation now!  A week of vacation came as a much needed break.  With my new job, I've been working really hard and learning a lot more about teaching.  My time commitment for teaching is definitely a lot more than the past two years, mostly due to the fact that I have more lessons to plan and grading to do.  French grading is based off of a 20 point scale, and besides that, I must follow a consistent grading system for each language level.  In other words, I have to determine the language level of each student (grammar, vocabulary, etc) and give them the corresponding grade.  I'm sure it will get easier, but I collected about 150 papers before the break and am making my way through them quite slowly.

During my break, I've been slowly working my way through those papers, but also taking some time to enjoy myself, eat good food, find some delicious pastries, get outside, watch a couple movies and spend time with people I care about. 

Yesterday I had some visitors come into town, and we made a day of eating and exploring.  We started with a quick walk through the center of town, with its winding pedestrian streets, and then we made our way to lunch at an Indian restaurant.  It was delicious! I had a chicken curry that was really great.  From there, we decided to explore the touristy thing to do in Grenoble: go to the Bastille.  The Bastille is the fort situated on a mountain overlooking Grenoble.  It is in a very strategic location to look over the valley below.  

We took the "bubbles" up to the fort and were welcomed with a beautiful view.  The surrounding trees were changing color and we could see all of Grenoble.  It turned out to be quite cloudy so we couldn't see all of the surrounding mountains except for one white peak jutting above the grey clouds.  We read the informational panels at the top of the Bastille with information on the Olympic Games in the 60's, the rapid expansion of Grenoble (it's a relatively new city and has really grown in the past 60 years), and even about the role of Grenoble in nuclear physics.  

We also explored the surrounding area and found a walkway on the backside of the Bastille that tunneled into the mountain.  In fact, an entire path was dug through the mountain with strategic windows looking onto the Bastille.  Troops at the fort had created this tunnel to help regain the Bastille if it was ever taken by enemy forces.

Eventually we made our way back down the mountain to find some pastries and warm drinks.  I enjoyed a raspberry tart and hot chocolate.  The time changed last Sunday, so night was falling quite quickly.  We called it a day and made it back home.  It's now time to get back to work soon, but for now I'm enjoying my little taste of fall break.