daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
Mariko and I started a mini work-cation on Maui today, while my mom, brother, and sister-in-law started their vacation. It’s beautiful here.
For our first meal, we picked up some Ichiban Okazuya. We had Korean chicken, teriyaki beef, mahi mahi, and pork katsu plates. Everything was so tasty and filling. It’s actually enough for another meal! Oishikatta
Today, we spent the day exploring Saint-Rémy and Les Baux-de-Provence. Our first stop was the Carrières des Lumières, an incredible projection show set inside an old quarry, where vibrant images come to life on the limestone walls. It was truly breathtaking!
Afterwards, we enjoyed a lovely lunch in Saint-Rémy and took some time to stroll around the charming town. Later, we made our way to Avignon to catch the TGV train back to Paris. It was a wonderful way to wrap up our visit to Provence.
I’ve been enjoying our days here in Provence quite a bit! Today we started with a visit to the Château de Lourmarin. The building is very cool, but the art exhibits were amazing! I particularly enjoyed the architectural etchings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Laurent de Troïl. So amazing and inspiring!
After the chateau, we drove to the town of Cucoron, and enjoyed a nice stroll around the charming streets and also had lunch at Restaurant Le Cercle de cucuron. The carpaccio was some of the best I’ve ever had. The fries were amazing as well. In fact, all the fries we’ve had in France have been excellent!
After the stroll around Cucuron, we visited Moulin à huile d’olive & Domaine Bastide du Laval (olive oil factory; no pics, sorry) to buy some gifts, and then drove to our hotel in Eyragues.
We started the day with croissants and yogurt (so good!) and then drove to the town of Gordes, a small town built on the side of a hill. We toured some of the restored underground buildings and learned about life in the old days. Fascinating!
After that, we went to Lacoste and ate at Café de France, which was made famous to Japanese people because it was the location of a novel (according to my wife). The food and drinks were lovely, as was the view!
We walked around town, and toured the Château de Lacoste, which had some nice artwork and was the Château of Marquis de Sade. Very cool!
After that, we drove to our B&B in Lourmarin and rested for the evening.
Today we took an early TGV train from Paris to Avignon, then rented a car and started our Provence trip. Our first stop was the town of Ménerbes, where we enjoyed a yummy lunch. The duck was amazing!
Next, we drove to Roussillon and walked around the charming town, then relaxed at the outdoor cafe and enjoyed an afternoon coffee before heading to the town of Venasque where we would stay the night.
We stayed at Les Remparts, which also has an excellent restaurant. So far, all the meals we’ve had on this trip have been stellar!
