France road trip itinerary (part 1)
When in France, we visited Paris, Aix-En-Provence, Hyeres, Verdon Gorge, and Nice. We also made a one-day trip down to Monaco, which is right next to Nice. Upon touching down at Charles de Gaulle Airport, we went to buy our SIM cards at Relay on level 2. There are many options to choose from, but we got one that allowed us internet data throughout Europe.
Paris
Hotel in Paris
We booked the 1-bedroom Apartment on Booking.com, which was the site we mainly used to book all our hotels. It cost us ~S$478.83 (€340) for two nights. The living room had a sofa bed, so the apartment was more than enough to house four people.
The hotel was quite clean, and also had a washing machine and dryer in the lobby. Funny story: we actually got locked out of our room on the second night because our keycard stopped working, but the staff were very helpful, and we got our room back after 40 minutes.
What to do in Paris
Some must-sees when you are in Paris are the Louvre, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, and Paris Opera House. We got around by buying ten one-way tickets and distributing them among the four of us.
One of our friends from Spain actually came all the way down to Paris to show us around, and she spoke some French, which really helped. She brought us to Sacré-Coeur, which is a basilica accessible by walking up 300 stairs. From the top, you can see a beautiful view of Paris. From there, we walked towards La Maison Rose, which is this pretty pink cafe behind the Sacré-Coeur. Along that street were many cafes, bookshops, and souvenir shops. We stopped here for a quick lunch.
After lunch, we headed in the direction of Notre Dame. It's a shame that Notre Dame is now closed to the public due to restoration works, but it really is still a sight to behold. Then, it was onto the Louvre. We didn't enter the Louvre because we didn't have much time and according to my boyfriend, he took over an hour queuing to see the Mona Lisa the last time he visited.
We then headed towards the River Seine for drinks. The sun was shining, but the air was cold, and there was a nice band playing jazzy tunes by the river. It was sublime! Beer sold by the river tends to be more expensive, so if you want you can bring your own alcohol.
The next day, my boyfriend and I woke up early for a quick exercise and headed to a random cafe for breakfast. Breakfast in Paris is seriously immaculate. The bread was amazing, and so were the pastries. I also love the pairing of orange juice and coffee—can we please bring this culture to Singapore!
Our second day in Paris was a slow one because we wanted to take it chill. Our only plan was to visit the Eiffel Tower, which we did around the evening. We brought our mat and some food for a small picnic.
For lunch and dinner, we just entered any restaurant that wasn't too crowded. It's a sin to sit indoors in Paris because their most popular sport is people-watching. We had so much fun sitting in the sun and watching people walk their dogs. Paris is really a place like nowhere else.
Aix-En-Provence
Hotel in Aix-En-Provence
We took the train from Marseille Saint-Charles to Aix-En-Provence via the TGV high-speed train. Once we reached Aix-En-Provence, we rented a car and drove to our Airbnb.
Aix-En-Provence is a truly beautiful place, and we wanted to experience as much as we could of South France's countryside. My friend managed to find this gorgeous Airbnb called Maison Moliere, which was basically an entire house to ourselves. We stayed there for two nights, which cost us ~S$453.38 (€321.30).
Our Airbnb was crazy beautiful. It had floor-to-ceiling glass windows, two vintage bedrooms, and an outdoor jacuzzi! There was also a kitchen and a huge living room where we could play board games. Oh, and the owner had two cute dogs.
We had most of our meals outdoors as well.
What to do in Aix-En-Provence
We wanted to take it slow in Aix-En-Provence and just wander around the streets, especially the Old Town. The Old Town has a lot of cafes and bars, and there's even a daily market where you can buy produce.
You can also buy flowers. It's actually a real thing in Europe.
Honestly, there's nothing much to do here except chill, enjoy the beautiful scenery, and eat.
As the sun sets very late in Paris—at about 9pm—it's easy to lose track of time, especially when it's time to have dinner. The restaurants close quite early in France and even in Paris, so it was quite hard for us to find places to eat past 9pm. It's also important to have lunch early and not after 2pm because that's when restaurants stop selling hot food.
Hyeres
Hotel in Hyeres
We drove from Aix-En-Provence to Hyeres, a beautiful French town on the Mediterranean coast. If Provence was about the hills and countryside, Hyeres was about the sea and the beach.
We chose a hotel that is across the sea called Hotel Almanarre Plage. They did not have rooms for four, so we got two rooms instead. The room that I shared with my friend had a small balcony overlooking the sea and was ~S$678.71 (€481.92) for three nights. Hotel Almanarre Plage is a eco-friendly restaurant and they also serve breakfast.
What to do in Hyeres
On our first day, we visited Hyeres' Medieval City, which was a 15-minute drive from our hotel. The Medieval City had an old castle called Pons De Fos from the 11th century and also many churches. Here, you can also find the Castel Sainte Claire and Paroisse Saint Louis.
There are many walking trails that you can take from the Medieval City, and we chose the one leading to a lookout point. Here, you can see a breathtaking view of Hyeres.
On our second day, we rented bikes from our hotel and rode along the coast. It was one of the most enjoyable cycling experiences I ever had because the air was cool. We rode to one of the beaches and sat down to watch people paragliding.
It actually rained heavily while we were in Hyeres, which is not common. We had to seek shelter as we were biked quite far from our hotel. We came across this quaint restaurant and decided to have lunch there. As Hyeres is known for seafood, we ordered fish tartare and some carbonara.
France road trip itinerary (part 1)
Aside from Paris, the places we visited were mostly sleepy towns so we could take things slow. I personally like having chill holidays instead of going to touristy places, so Aix-En-Provence and Hyeres were really great places for me to visit.
Do take note that we visited France in early May, so the weather was absolutely perfect. It hardly rained, and the nights were freezing—but in a good way. France is also a beautiful place to bask in nature, so this was the perfect period to come and enjoy the sights and literally smell the flowers!
Thanks for reading, and see you next post.
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