After wandering around the more central / eastern area of Provence the Vars and the Alpes de haute Provence we headed west and back to the coast, to Cassis where we stayed a few days as our base. So glad we went in May the weather was lovely 22-23C or 71-73F and there weren’t the crowds which I understand become exasperating in summer.

We stayed on the top floor of the building with the turquoises awning. Thank goodness my fitness had by now increased so I could scramble up the stairs.

Cassis is or was a small fishing town. One fisherman still goes out at night and sells his catch on the quay in the morning.

Cassis at night.

We had a few meals in restaurants there but still bought food to have at home on occasion.

Mussels

Warm goats cheese and honey. Seems to be the ‘in’ dish as we saw this at quite a few restaurants.

Salmon

Steak

Oh, yum, it all looks good and I like the umbrellas at Grasse, what a lovely idea.

Annie

Neely, I'm loving all the pictures and descriptions! Thank-you for the posts. I've stopped fighting with the Like button, so consider this a global like for all the foregoing. ;)

It looks like you chose the perfect time to be there!

Cassis in May seems like a great time to go. The had instituted a reservation system in some of the Calanques, as they had become too popular. It is amazing that all up and down the coast there are still local fisherman still plying the waters and providing fish that you can find it in the restaurants (and at the docks). That is, considering the drop in fisheries.

@Islay Corbel -- The friends are a Franco-American couple, and the in laws are just up the coast. I read that the % of American tourists has surpassed the Brits (and the rest). It was intentional strategy to promote higher value year-round travel -- while moving to ban cruise ships, limiting seasonal rentals and tour buses.. I think the only thing that the restaurants are adjusting to is the fact that the Americans will tip ;) And it is a similar trend with real estate, with Americans buying and renting -- I noticed a large increase in new arrivals

The tip is already included in the bill! Suppose people are happy to sell up houses as with the climate change and fast rising temperatures it will be unbearably hot in the summer. We have friends who bought further west and they just don't visit after spring

@Islay Corbel Yes, despite the fact that service is included the american tourists feel compelled to tip by habit, even if they know it is not required. And this has led to some service staff in these areas (and Paris) to begin to expect a tip (they even print out l;addition with a tip line, which was never the case before). Perhaps in the past some may have felt insulted by this, but now it is perhaps the opposite. This has been a subjection of discussion among the american expats. It has been hot and humid, but the SE has generally remained cooler than the rest of the south due to the geography

Yes, you've been better off than your immediate neighbours. But, you've got 33 today and it's only the 2nd July and you've got 28 at night........

I have one niece in Paris and another in Montpellier..... awful.

It's the other extreme here. This morning on my way to work it was 16 and raining LOL It's lovely now. 23 and Sunny.

Stay safe and as cool as possible!!! XXX

This cartoon rather suits me LOL

We had a few meals in restaurants there but still bought food to have at home on occasion.

Mussels

Warm goats cheese and honey. Seems to be in ‘in’ dish as we saw this at quite a few restaurants.

Salmon

Steak

Sorry for the repeat… posting is still very difficult for me.

To the west of Cassis within walking distance is the Parc National de Calanques. To get to the fingers of beautiful turquoise water for bathing involves clambering over two rocky mountains… strangely!!! I didn’t partake in this exercise but was rewarded with photos of what I’d missed. !!!

I didn’t mind and had spent the day wandering around the Cassis morning market and around Cassis in general.

More photos from Cassis market and surrounds

A few more photos

Oh, wow. The Parc is beautiful, and so are the flowers and the cheese, and, well, everything. What a wonderful trip for you, thanks for bringing me along, even just "virtually".

I also like all those brik and cobblestone streets and squares, so much prettier than a slab of concrete.

Annie

Some of the places we visited in Provence.

Saint Maximin la Sainte Baume … the Bascilica is dedicated to Mary Magdalene with her (possibly) skeleton kept in a 2000 year old crypt under the church. The hairs on my arms and back all were tingling as I descended down the stairs into the crypt. DNA tests show that it is the skeleton of a 2000 year old Jewish woman.

Photo of exterior shows C12th centre section

Interior of church
Steps down to the crypt.

Interior

Lunch in Saint Maximin la Sainte Baume

Female duck apparently not as fatty as the male, with an eggplant sauce, scallops potatoes and a delicious salad with thick vinaigrette.

Spaghetti with two sauces

Aix en Provence is a University town. This is the town Hall. I was imagining going there to pay a parking fine …Hah! Lunch

More photos of Aix

I have been quite busy minding grandchildren and getting our home ready for a reciprocal visit from some of the relatives we stayed with in Ireland.

Ireland… I would like to show you some of the food and sights of this green isle. My photos are coming to an end.

The food in Ireland is I would say, not as ‘haute cuisine’ or gourmet as in Italy and France. Though there are those restaurants of course, but on the whole I guess you could say it does not have the more sophisticated flavours even if they be rustic ( ooh a new concept perhaps ‘rustic sophistication’ ) However it does have lots of fresh food cooked well and especially really fresh seafood.

I was very happy to eat old favourites from when I lived in England like Cod and Halibut, Dover Sole( yes a long way from Dover but not as far as where I actually live. Lots of home made smoked salmon and delicious seafood chowders.

That chowder looks really good and the food sounds like it would be exactly what I like: Seafood and potatoes, LOL.

I'm glad you had a nice trip and I'm sure the Grandkids were happy to have you back.

Annie

Annie you noted the mashed potato on the plate with the salmon. Hah!
view of restaurant where we had the smoked salmon and chowder

Further meals and places. Even the crumbed calamari came with a serving of mashed potato with a sprinkling of fried black pudding on top.

We stayed in a hunting lodge for a couple of nights.

My room had a beautiful view of the Valley of Aherlow

Sausage and mash potato. You can see one of our group had a curry. Another had the ubiquitous burger and fries. The weather was warm enough to swim C22’ in the beautiful Atlantic on the West coast. Actually it was warm while we were there and only rained on the last day
Also showing the village of Tipperary where we stayed with relatives

In Dublin we went to a famous cafe Bewleys for scones and hot chocolate for morning tea. Different to how I shape scones.

Another time afternoon tea was had at an Italian/Irish restaurant called Dunne and Crezendi, where I had apple crumble. Not sure of the American term, anyway it was delicious. I think they oven bake the buttery crumbs separately and then spoon them over the small cinnamon flavoured apple cubes.

In Dublin we went to a famous cafe Bewleys for scones and hot chocolate for morning tea. Different to how I shape scones.

Another time afternoon tea was had at an Italian/Irish restaurant called Dunne and Crezendi, where I had apple crumble. Not sure of the American term, anyway it was delicious. I think they oven bake the buttery crumbs separately and then spoon them over the small cinnamon flavoured apple cubes.

Sorry, the text and photos have gone in twice again and I have no way of deleting.

I thought you might like to see inside one of our relatives home where we stayed, very Irish / English. Peek at the dining room and view of the living room. Staircase

The meal shown is roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Yes there are two large slices of grey overcooked beef on the plate. We had this meal at an Irish pub, very atmospheric and character filled but … the food.!!!
I had been looking forward to a lovely rare roast beef, finely sliced with a light gravy and perhaps some horseradish.
I started to say “ is this how they always serve the roast beef” when a little kick came from under the table and my son was ever so slightly shaking his head meaning “ stop talking Mum don’t bring up the subject” because apparently this is how they like it. He has visited these relatives more than me and knows their Irish ways.

The meal above gives correct meaning to ‘ a few peas ‘ !!!

I’d really love to visit Ireland someday. Your pictures are great! If you were going to cook a quintessential Irish dish, what would it be?

Thanks John about the photos, I have a few left to finish off, places and food I forgot to mention.

I think the quintessential Irish dish I would make would be Steak and Guinness Pie. Crispy pastry around tender steak that has been previously stewed in a good amount of Guinness. Served with, what else but mashed potato. All washed down with a pint of the same.

Breakfasts

The following are some of the breakfasts I had while in Europe. Quite often breakfast was just a croissant bought at a Boulangerie and taken and eaten with coffee at a cafe which allowed this as they didn’t start cooking till later.

Tomatoes and basil on grill toasted baguette below 

Scrambled egg with French bacon below

Croissant with everything below

 More breakfasts… A selection from the boulangerie

More breakfasts
Crepe with chocolate and a sneaky pastis

Cappuccino 

 
French buffet below. 
 
Breakfast in Dublin

Places
Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice. There were several Jackson Pollocks

From what you have mentioned John Liu, I would have loved to have gone to Marseille. We did go there but not to the character filled old town, old port and harbour.

Rather, one morning when we were staying in Cassis we caught a bus to the Le Corbusier Unit d’ Habitation (apartment building) that he designed. As I have mentioned my sons’ partner is an architect and it was a lifetime dream to visit this building…. so we did.

My son, who was the driver of our hire car didn’t want to drive into Marseille so we only wandered around the area where the building was and then caught the bus back to Cassis. Yes I was a little disappointed but I guess you can’t do everything.

The first photo showed the building better than my photos, The others are my own. Theapartment

Oooh! I haven't seen that angle of the building (in pictures) before. Much of Le Corbusier's work has that kind of dominance, whereas your shots show a more approachable scale.

La Fenice… the Venice Opera House.

More of my ramblings. Thanks for listening/ reading. Nearly finished.

First class train travel through Italy. In my naivety I was expecting something more grand, you know, a wood lined dining car !!! . 3 courses. The trolley served lunch was a Coke in a card board cup and a packet of savoury cheese snacks. Oh well, times are changing.

Many abandoned villas at the side of the track, no wonder with umpteen trains through daily. Poppy fields and many vineyards.

It slowly came into our thoughts that we hadn’t seen any animals… not a cow, a sheep, a pig, maybe a couple of horses. Where were they? I looked up Google… they are all kept in the barns and sheds. The farmers bring the fresh grass to them. I’m used to seeing thousands of cattle and sheep ( not so much pigs) grazing in our fields and paddocks. Not to do with the weather, this was May with beautiful days.

Milan station. We had a couple of hours to walk quickly around Milan… no photos

Amazing photos, Neely, thanks for all that work putting them on here. That picture of the tomatoes on baguette, I was thinking "tomato sandwich", LOL, although it sure sounds fancier! The old opera house is lovely too, so old fashioned and posh.

I'd like the train. I hate to fly but I love trains, go figure, they're probably much more dangerous than flying.

Annie

Thanks plllog and Annie.

Just a few last random photos
Venice The Grand Canal,
Venice the back streets,
Antibes,
Castles everywhere in Ireland,

Finally,
The famous Dubai chocolate, which was ‘all right’ meh…

Emirates business class food which was ‘all right’, meh…

Snails in Nice which were fantastic …

I regarded the philosophy of the whole trip to be “ eat everything, do everything, go everywhere “ and I’m pleased to say I never got sick, never caught a cough/flu and never fell over. ..My travelling companions were wonderful and looked after me so well. ..We met some great people and were treated everywhere with friendliness and courtesy. …As an older traveler I believe I received lots of smiles. Brilliant trip.

Thanks for the lowdown on Dubai chocolate. I haven't tried it myself but now won't be tempted. There have been lots of warnings about it here for various reasons. BBC News - Watchdog warns allergy sufferers about Dubai chocolate
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceqg3vy9wl3o 

Floral, your link went to a dead page, so I looked it up. The big issue seems to be that the labelling doesn't meet UK standards. It's full of pistachios, and I infer since it doesn't have required allergy warnings, people with nut allergies there may be tempted to think it's okay to eat pistachios. Also, the sources say it may have chemicals (like colors and whatnot) not permitted by the UK. I also read that the popularity is from TikTok, and herd mentality, to the point of driving up the price of pistachios. Which I find risible.

If you're ever in California, do try Chuao Chocolatiers bars, especially the dark.

Neely, thanks so much for all the pictures! It's so great to hear that the trip went so well and that you enjoyed it so much. Seeing these places and meals through your eyes has been delightful,

Is it a trick of perspective, or are the fantastic snails of Nice gigantic?

Snails aren't very big in Nice - they come from Bourgogne.

There are animals outside in Italy but at this time of year, they'll probably be in the mountains. In Europe, Transhumance is still practiced. It's when the cows and other animals get their horns decorated, their bells polished and they're taken up the mountain to fresh pasture and cooler weather by groups of people. A time of celebration and partying. It's lovely.

@neely, I’m just now seeing this post. What a glorious trip! How long were you gone? 2 months? How nice that you had your son and his partner to share it with!

I tried a Dubai bar type thing in Reykjavik at an ice cream store. I’m with you - meh. I don’t like nuts; I knew it was full of nuts, but wanted to see what all the hype was about.

Thanks bbstx Yes I had a fantastic trip was away just the 5 weeks but it was enough.
Similar to you I wanted to see if this chocolate bar lived up to its hype but sadly No.

Islay, sorry did not get back to you before….I’m sure there must be animals kept outside in Italy in May in the warm temperatures, I’m just saying that I travelled across the country up the north and down the west by train, parts of Veneto, Lombardy, Piemonte and Liguria and did not see one animal.

I looked up the internet as I thought this very strange and found other stories of people who were equally confounded. Apparently it is a thing that particularly dairy cattle in some areas are kept indoors the whole year and fresh grass is cut and carted to them daily. Called ‘zero grazing’

I guess I’m used to seeing herds of dairy cattle Fresians, Jerseys etc in paddocks here in Australia plus huge herds of beef cattle, mainly Angus and of course many many sheep… when driving through the countryside.

I am unable to link to articles but have posted some screenshots that may enable you to follow up if you are interested.

You'd think they'd at least put out a couple of the old lady cows to amuse the tourists. :)

How horrid. I get my knickers in a serious twist when I see animals kept indoors. Happily this still happens https://www.miramonticorteno.com/blog/2019/9/2/the-descending-of-the-cattle-an-ancient-event-in-the-alps