Je reviens a Paris Part 2

A visit to Paris is not complete without seeing La Grand Dame en Fer otherwise popularly known as the Eiffel Tower. For someone like myself lucky enough to visit Paris every so often, the sight of this magnificent metal structure all held together by millions of exposed nuts and bolts still never fails to impress me. Just imagine how it was for my two sisters seeing the La Tour Eiffel for the first time. C'est magnifique!

Exiting the metro at the Trocadéro station, you arrive at a big square of the Palais de Chaillot where you get the best view of the tower. 

Only Lyon, a Photo-Essay

After a wonderful week visiting the delightful châteaux of the Loire Valley, the Big K and I headed to France's capital of gastronomy, Lyon. Hah! We can't wait to try their food. Good luck keeping to my diet! At least this time we didn't have our rental and would be walking most of the time.  

Lyon is the third largest city in France after Paris and Marseilles. It's historic city center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. Oh and did I mention Lyon is renowned for its cuisine? 

Lyon's Saint-Jean-Baptiste Cathedral along the the river Saône and the Basilica of  Notre-Dame de Fourvière up on the hill.

The river Saône, one of Lyon's rivers

Thai Food

Did someone mention Thai food? Images of sweet, sour and sweat-dripping-spicy food all rolled into one. Well, 

One of the reasons the big K and I love going to Bangkok is their food. We always look forward to indulging in their consistently fresh fruits and vegetables and the ever tasty sweet and sour combination of flavors not to mention the sweat-dripping-pungent-spiciness of their food. Be it served on the streets, markets or restaurants, the big K and I can never have enough. Good luck my diet!

Typical mouth-watering Thai food openly displayed. 

Route de la Lavande (Lavender Route)

Truffles and lavender, two things that came to mind when I learned that the big K would be going to Toulouse in the south of France. Wouldn't it be awesome if we get to visit one of the truffle markets there? The heavy aroma emanating from paniers (baskets) of the delectable mushroom, the anticipation of a sale and a secret handshake to seal the deal (shades of Peter Mayle's buying escapade with Monsieur X suddenly comes to mind). Alas! It wasn't meant to be as I later found out that truffle season was in mid-winter and the most popular markets are held in January. We were going in June. 

Then there's the tiny, sweet, fragrant purple flower that Provence is known for, the lavender. Hmmm... Maybe there's still hope! Lavender starts to bloom towards the end of June with harvest season throughout July culminating in festivals allover the region in August. We were a bit early in the season so crossing our fingers (toes included) we were hoping to see some early blooms. And with that we drew up a route that would take us to some of the towns known for their lavender fields.   

Road trip: Avignon, Arles and Uzès

Sur le Pont d'Avignon
On y danse, on y danse
Sur le Pont d'Avignon
On y danse tous en rond

Like a broken record, the French nursery song kept playing in my head. After dropping off our rental at Toulouse, the big K and I hopped on the train that would take us further east into..... You guessed it! Avignon.