SherriHere I sit, on a rainy evening in Gordes, very happy to be cozy inside and listening to the rain fall outside.
Yesterday was a brilliantly sunny day. I actually got to wear a summer dress that I got at a second hand store at home with Provence in mind.
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SherriA rainy evening in Provence. I am sure after a hot and dry summer, the earth is just soaking up all the rain right now and rejoicing. Back at home in Oregon, it has been in the 80’s and simply not letting summer go. If I wasn’t in France, I’d be a tad envious now.
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SherriI am sitting at Calendal, a cute little hotel in Arles, a modest sized town in Provence, only miles from the Mediterranean Sea.
We woke up in Gordes and not that it mattered much, because we were checking out anyway, but there was no electricity in our home.
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SherriCalendal remains an endearing place to call home for a few days – close to the action, yet quiet enough, to simply sit and comfortably reflect about my days.
We started off our day heading downstairs to the spa. The hotel receptionist led us outside and downstairs into the special area.
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SherriToday started with another visit to the spa. I figured out how to get the steam room really cranking and we both left feeling energized.
The Camargue was calling again. There are quite a few things to explore down there, but in short, it is divided into the west and the east side.
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SherriIt’s our last day to enjoy the spa and we do. It’s a great perk of being at this modest and sweet hotel. On our few days here, we have passed by this and that, but we haven’t really done Arles in full, and today, we will. It’s a small town and one can get around on foot,
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SherriNow we are in Hotel Saint Beuve in the St Germain neighborhood in the 6th arrondissement in Paris. We woke up by 7am and said goodbye to Calendal and kissed the Amphitheatre goodbye (at least metaphorically). It made more sense for us to catch the train in Avignon rather than in Arles,
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SherriOne of the things Paris is most well-known for is its markets, or marchés. There are over 80 of them in the city. One could make a whole trip to Paris, just around visiting marchés! We did a little research in the market book we brought from the states and choose Raspail Marché.
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SherriIn doing Paris research months ago, I got completely intrigued by a day in the Eiffel Tower district and western Paris. We had gone to eat in the Eiffel Tower last year, which was an incredible experience, but it was cold and rainy, and so we didn’t really get to hang out and soak up the Eiffel Tower experience to the fullest.
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SherriNow I sit at Cocomama, an upscale hostel/hotel in Amsterdam, converted from a brothel 10 years ago.
Dan and I said our goodbyes early in the morning; he was off to the States (he’s probably going to land in San Francisco in the next couple of hours);
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