Favourite things about Carcassonne, Provence and Nice:
– the food was absolutely unbelievable…so amazingly good! Arles in particular was a real standout although Nice had some very nice food once you were able to avoid the expensive touristy places
– there’s no such thing as bad wine. Seriously. Even a 2.70€ bottle from the supermarket is nice! House wine can be as little as 2€ a glass as well and the best by is you can buy 1/2 a litre of wine for yourself at a restaurant and nobody minds
– lazing on the beach with cocktails was a nice break from doing “stuff” while we were in Nice
– there are some stunning villages and locations in these region, some of them (like Gordes) I had never heard of. I am so glad I got to see them!
Not-so-good stuff about Carcassonne, Provence and Nice:
– as it is pretty much off season now (they don’t seem to have a shoulder season), we suffered a lot in this area because of the lack of other tourists. At least half (if not 75%) of the restaurants were closed and the bloody bus and train timetables had all changed but there were no signs up. This led to a few stuff ups, including one that cost us 70€ as we had to get a taxi to meet our private tour guide on time or forfeit what we had already paid for that tour.
– French service leaves a lot to be desired, I almost walked out of shops multiple times as they are quite happy to completely ignore you and talk to their friends, file their nails or just keep chatting aimlessly away to other people…people not buying stuff…it was physically hard not to scream “just take my fricking money” at times
– We stayed in a lot of places where the owners spoke English but they would refuse to do so and spoke back to you in French. Didn’t really bother me until someone was trying to complain (rightfully) about a double charge and the hotel owner suddenly couldn’t speak English anymore…hmmmm….
another plus: as the wind was so cold i got to wear my very european scarf!
Mel's Travel Blog 