We’ve spent the past two days in the South of France – first in Aix-in-Provence and then in Antibes. We’re reminded of how much we enjoy the vibe of France – walking through town, stopping for a coffee or wine and a bite to eat, people watching and the incredible art and shopping.

Our first stop in France was in the port city of Toulon. We took a shore excursion to Aix-in-Provence but quickly ditched the walking tour for our own wander. It started to rain so we found a nice restaurant where Biker could get his daily pizza and I could have the Croque Monsieur I suddenly craved. Plus wine. Of course. Back on the ship, it was a nap, a dip in th

e pool, drinks with new friends at the bar and a show that featured music from old movies.

Day 2 in France was in the lovely little city of Antibes. With no scheduled excursion, we wandered into town and though the local market, where we saw – and smelled – amazing spices, salts and herbs and every curry known to man.

 

We headed toward the Musee Picasso – a restored castle of the Monaco Grimaldi family where Picasso painted for a bit in the 50s.

It’s a nice little museum with 50 or 60 of his works, plus a photo exhibition of behind-the-scenes of Picasso’s life over the course of 20 years or so. Great views of the sea from the terrace.

After the museum, we found the Absinthe Bar, a little basement bar Picasso frequented while living here that serves the mysterious green liquid. It’s an interesting process. We were given a container of water with spigots around the bottom, two glasses filled with a little pure absinthe, two slotted spoons and a cup of sugar cubes. The barkeep instructed us to place the slotted spoon across the lip of the glass, put a sugar cube on it and open a spigot to drop over the sugar, melting it into the glass of absinthe. There’s a lot of lore around this drink – that it’s a hallucinogenic, a drug and a way to find your artistic self. Before drinking it, Biker was a bit nervous that it might show up in drug tests. So, Google being our friend, we did some due diligence before taking a sip. Turns out the tales are all quite tall and it’s just regular alcohol, especially when diluted about 4:1 with water and sugar. Tastes like licorice and leaves your tongue feeling funny. Not my favorite drink.

 

As the ship sailed away, we bid goodbye to France and hello to our favorite European country – Italy. Can’t wait to spend the next three days exploring new depths of this beautiful and fascinating culture.

Ciao.