STL DPB Goes To Church: Evry Cathedral

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Another action-packed day. We met Paris bloggers Lucie and Peter (who is off to Mongolia today!) for lunch near Les Halles. Lucie, Carolyn and I then took the commuter train down to suburban Evry, where we were met by the esteemed Olivier of Evry Daily Photo. We got the grand tour.

The highlight was Evry Cathedral. I have never seen such a beautiful, indeed spectacular piece of modern religious architecture. The interior is full of light, the space is full of eye candy.

We are walking the streets of Paris today.

STL DPB Packs It In: It's Hard To Eat Poorly In France

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Sure, there a few McDonalds and KFCs, but not like back in the US. Our experience in France is that you have to go out of your way to eat junk a la American.

We took the TGV, Train of Great Speed, from Avignon to Paris yesterday. (The Shinkansen has a smoother ride. Ain't no trains like Japanese trains. But which is cooler, to be surrounded by people speaking French or Japanese? Hard to say.)

Got to a rental apartment, which is such a treat compared to a hotel room. (This the second time we have used vacationinparis.com for an apartment and we strongly recommend them.) Spent part of the afternoon doing laundry (got a machine in the apt.!) and shopping for breakfast and snack stuff (no more 12€ hotel cold buffets). After checking a few recommendations for the neighborhood, we dined at Chez Casimir. True bistro atmosphere, friendly, bi-lingual staff, and food that veered from OMG THAT'S AMAZING to simple, perfect French country cooking. It made for a lovely evening.

The mega Franco-American photoblogger meet-up is later today.

STL DPB On The Road: Avignon Vision

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Some people go on vacation to relax and then return to work refreshed. We go on vacation to exhaust every drop of energy while seeing the world. Wow, am I pooped.

We had a delightful lunch with Nathalie of Avignon In Photos, winner of the coveted Blog Of Note award, and then walked around the old city with her as our guide. Then we did the Papal Palace (not everyone knows that the papacy decamped from Rome and made Avignon its HQ for almost a century), then the Pont Saint-Benezet, the famous structure that goes half-way across the Rhone and then just stops. There's a story about that but I'm too tired to to look up a link.

Above, an alley in the old city.

Below:

The Avignon Vision tourist tram.

Two views of the guitarist we saw yesterday, one taken from high up on the parapets of the palace.

Lovers beside the Rhone.

The Pont Saint-Benezet, the palace and Notre dame des Domes cathedral.

Day trip to Chateau Neuf du Pape and wherever else today.

STL DPD On The Road: It Could Be The Last View of Menton But It Isn't

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OMG it's 1 in the morning. A peaceful morning in the Old Town of Menton; then the impenetrable mountain roads, tourist throngs and merciless sun of Monaco; then a delightful, long dinner with the supremely gracious Jilly Bennett, followed by night shooting. This is all I had time to edit. Much more will end up on Flickr when I have time.

Above, the waterfront and basilica of the old town of Menton. Below, the view from our hotel balcony in late afternoon.

To Avignon this afternoon.

STL DPB On The Road: Gorbio, France

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Oh, what a day! Our colleague Jilly Bennett of Menton Daily Photo and Monte Carlo Daily Photo served us breakfast on her terrace. Then we drove to the nearby mountain village of Gorbio (this is where the Alps meet the sea) for an exquisite, leisurely lunch and a good walk around the town. Lots of good pictures but these are all I've had time to edit. Must get to bed - she is picking us up at nine for a trip to the weekly market in Ventimiglia, Italy, which is really just down the road.

Above, Manon and her brother Quentin, whose parents own Le Restaurant Beausejour where we had our lunch. Aren't they just beautiful?