The Ritz rooms overlook gardens, rooftops of Paris, and the Rue Cambon. In my opinion, you can't get anymore posh then this hotel. I've stayed here six times and I have absolutely no complaints. You are completely catered to while you are a guest at the hotel. You are minutes away from world class shopping and all the typical tourist sights of Paris. Children are well taken care of. Each child is given a welcome basket with bathrobes, slippers and a cuddly teddy bear. If you want to go out without your children, there are multilingual babysitters on staff to care for them. There is a hotel cashier on site who can handle currencies and changes. As far as food is concerned you need not leave the hotel if you don't want to. L'Espadon restaurant is an amazing place to dine, breakfast lunch or dinner. The wine list is extensive and every wine that I have tried I've loved. The Bar Hemingway has some incredible single malt whiskies as well as beer from around the world. The Ritz Bar is a champagne bar and I have to say it is pretty swanky!! The Bar Vendome is a great place to take afternoon tea while the piano is being played in the background. In the evening it is a wonderful place to relax and unwind while enjoying a cocktail or two. All in all, it is very expensive but I wouldn't stay anywhere else in Paris. There is nothing comparable to it. If you are looking for the best place in Paris to stay, the Ritz is it!!

Day 1:

Nîmes - St. Ambroix

90 km

After a busy week with lots of preparations our bus left at Eindhoven station at 16.00h. The bus wasn’t completely full, so Bas (my travel buddy) and I chose a place at the back of the bus. (After the bus trip we were sorry about this decision, because we were sitting right above the engine) After a 14 hour trip the bus left the toll road suddenly and I realised that we were entering Nîmes. But it was only half past 5 and still dark outside. My good humour became a little bit less good. So the bus drivers dropped us at a camping site at the south of Nîmes. And they didn’t even tell us exactly where we were. At that moment we damned him and her.

Fortunately there was a map of the area at the door of the reception.

After we had cycled for two hours we were on our route for the next 20 days. We saw very much these two hours and it became hot, very hot. It wasn’t even 8 o’clock and it was already 30 degrees Celsius.

We cycled in the outskirts of Nîmes and this is very beautiful. I can recommend this to everybody; it’s almost heaven on earth. The view is enormous and the silence is scary. We didn’t hear any cars, only birds, a stream and a cow sometimes.

On this first day we started climbing and this was heavy. The Netherlands are as flat as possible, so this was a thing completely different from what we were used to. The temperature was very high and we made a mistake not to take enough water with us. So we were thirsty sometimes. I also forget to rub in my face, my arm and legs with suntan oil. When we were at the supermarket in the evening, everybody looked at me. In the mirror I saw that I was red as a lobster. And this isn’t funny. L

This first day was a little bit disastrous, because in the evening we found out that our gas burner was broke. And in the supermarket they didn’t sell the part that was broke. We decided to go to a restaurant. I ate a very nice Tagiatella Carbonara, pasta with baked pork and a cream sauce. After this meal we were very tired and the moment I lay in my sleeping-bag I fell asleep.

Day 2:

St. Ambroix - Prévenchéres

92 km

At 8.00 a.m. something was jingling, after 10 minutes I realised it was an alarm clock. And we were in the South of France on our way back to Uden. It was a little shock, but it was also a very nice feeling. I took a shower and we packed. After this we did something that became a ritual, we started looking for a “boulangerie”. In France it smells after fresh baked bread in every city in the morning. It's very nice to start your day with this smell.

After almost 50 km’s cycling near a beautiful river (à photos), we took a wrong road. After 10 km’s we found out that we were on the wrong intersection. We looked on our big map and found out that we had a choice. We could either cycle 12.8 km’s on a different road to our route or we could cycle back 10 km’s and 15 km’s to the place where we would come on the route in a different way. We chose for the 12.8 km route. And it was a nice route, right next to a reservoir. (à Photos). But it was also the heaviest route; it was 8 km’s 10% climbing. It was very hard and hot (about 30-33 degrees). On the top we had a nice view around. We were standing on a plateau on the top of a mountain. It's difficult to explain, but you see this often in the Provence.

After this we had a nice descent. We drove around 50 to 60 kilometres an hour. It was a lot of fun. We finished in the village Prévenchères, a small town of some 600 inhabitants. The camping site was even smaller. It was a strip of asphalt and on both sides grass where you could put your tent. So we did.

Our gas burner was still broken, so we started to find a restaurant in the city. But there was not even one restaurant in Prévenchères. We went back to the camping site and asked a Dutch couple (after I had almost been eaten by a dog) if they knew a restaurant in the neighbourhood. They said there was a little restaurant near the road next to the camping ground. We only had to cycle around 1 km and climb 50 meters. A piece of cake. But the Dutch couple was wrong, 1 km became 12 km’s and 100 meters climb became 400 meters to climb up. So we were a little bit angry when we reached the restaurant. Luckily the food was very good. :D:D And the way back was almost nicer, because we had a 12 km descent. :D:D:D

Day 3:

Prévenchéres - Pradelles

50 km

This day I woke up too (it would be a disaster if I didn’t do this anymore :P). When I came out of the tent, the weather was bad. It was cold and I was shivering. And the sky was grey and black, maybe it would start to rain. Yesterday we found out that Prévenchères is a little city and this morning we found out that it's so small, that it didn’t even have a boulangerie. And we were hungry :(:(. We looked on the map and found out that the nearest boulangerie was around 10 km’s from Prévenchéres. But luckily it was on our route. We started climbing again and when we were on the first top (where Bas took a nice picture of me and the mountain) it started raining. We jumped off our bikes and put protection around our luggage. In Uden we bought some yellow protection covers for our luggage, which were specially made for this use. A pleasant surprise was that it also looked nice.

After 4 hours we reached our next camping site. The advertisement-board showed a very beautiful Olympic campground, but when we entered, it wasn’t so special. But it didn’t matter. We had namely two rolls of Prince Cakes (during this holiday we ate around 20 to 30 rolls of Prince Cakes, they are so tasteful) and it was half past one. We took our time and started a lazy afternoon.

Day 4:

Pradelles - Le Puy

Around 90 km

I was happy this morning. The reason was that the sun was shining in the morning. And we needed to climb the highest mountain of the route this day. After we had cycled two hours we were standing on this highest mountain and the view was brilliant. Only two clouds were in the sky, so we could look very far. It was like paradise.

After half an hour we came back from paradise and resumed our route. We started the descent and over took a car. This was on the part of the descent where we were riding around 60 km’s/h. It was scary as hell, but also very funny to look at the face of the guy who was driving that car.

In a couple of hours we entered Le Puy. We searched for our camping ground for two hours. It was in the middle of the city and it had a view of the church which was built on a volcanic mountain (à photos). On the camping ground our tent was just next to a French guy who listened to traditional French folk music. Not my type of music L.

Day 5:

Le Puy

Day of rest

In the last four days we cycled around 325 km’s and we were tired. So we decided to take a day of rest. I slept till ten o’clock. Not till 12 o’clock or later, because the sun was shining on our tent.

Le Puy is a beautiful city. It’s built halfway a mountain in a volcanic area. In the past there were two or more volcanos in the area around Le Puy. During years some geographic events removed the ground around the volcanos and the lava thickened.

Nowadays there are two little mountains of volcano rocks in Le Puy. In the dark ages some Catholic group of people built a church on one of these rocks. Important Catholic fathers also entered this church.

There is also another volcano rock in Le Puy. On this rock a general built a sculpture of Maria. He melted many canons from some war and made the Maria sculpture. I don’t know the reason why they painted the sculpture red/pink. You can enter the sculpture and climb inside the sculpture to the top. Then you can look through the eyes of Maria and this give you a view around Le Puy.

Like most of the cities in France, Le Puy has a dome. It’s in the middle of the main centre, with a beautiful old road and stairs in front of it.

The day after we left, the people in Le Puy had a big celebration of some historical fact. The people were very busy with the preparations during our day of rest. All around the main city some artistic marionettes were hanging above the streets. This gave a cosy feeling.

In the Netherlands it’s very busy on the terraces in the main city, but not in Le Puy. On our last evening in Le Puy we decided to have a drink, but most of the terraces were closed or were almost empty.

This little treasure is situated on the banks of The Cher. While the exterior river views are very calming, (in summer you can dine under large Japanese style umbrellas) it is chef Frederci Arnault's cuisine that you’ll be admiring the most. Frederci’s small but enticing menu perfects french dishes such as ‘tournedos’ and ‘poitrine de pigeonneau’. Each season the 'carte' reflects the best quality produce of the Touraine. Desserts are equally magnificent, if not the highlight. In winter there’s the ambiance of an open fireplace. All this at more than reasonable prices: (€25 for two courses or €35 for three). That allows for an excellent bottle of local wine recommended by their Sommelier. Just don’t tell anyone about this restaurant: there’s already a 2-week waiting list so book ahead for a memorable french meal. You'll also find great reviews online at other sites. Closed Wednesday, Saturday lunch and Sunday evening. See their website for booking details - also in English.

Marseille - France's Largest Commercial Port

Aix-en-Provence - City of a Thousand Fountains

Les Baux-de-Provence - Middle Ages Feudal Lordship

Maussane - Town Celebrates Bastille Day

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence - Historic Village in Heart of Alpilles

Nice hotel near the centre of 'old' Nice and near the gravel beach. The hotel is recently modernised. Rooms are 'smalish' but OK and well cleaned. Wireless internet is below average and very expensive! Shower and bath are separate. The sink plug operation is unclear. In hotel breakfast is OK/complete. We had some 3-course lunches in the hotel which were of average quality with poor service. This, combined with the costs, provides the average rating. If it would be less expensive, it would be a good hotel. Lots of travel opportunities nearby. The southern alps are only 1-1/2 hours by car, and Monaco is only 3/4h further east. Even in November, the Cote d'Azur is beautiful and well woth a visit.

Never take it for granted any good advice, especially when in Paris. Last year, I took my sister and niece for a 4 days visit to Paris. First 3 days awesome. Last day, while travelling by metro train to Paris Noord to take Thaly's train, I was pickpocketed, mastermindedly. I lost USD 1,800 which I kept in my left front jeans pocket while has my long winter coat covered and buttoned-up. Just minutes ago, I exchanged some to Euro which saved me with that trip. I learnt to be very very extra cautious. Just a lesson learnt. Out there, there are people who are in their utmost best and I wished them well with that money I lost. Well, Indian's have a saying," When things are tough or bad, due to Law of Karma which we believe, we say instead of losing your head, you lost your hat, so stay cool". GN

The St. James & Albany hotel is an exellent 4 star hotel, located in the heart of the city, 1st district. It offers all the amenities that one needs. I've visited Paris for 8 times [and it's still fun as ever] on different budgets. My second last visit to Paris I stayed in a junior suite for 3 nights; a two story suites with a sitting room. The hotel looks great, but the suite or just my suite (as far as it concern luxury) was a bit behind fashion - the bedding looks like it's from the '80 or '90, and there no LCD television, not that I required, but for those into luxury could be disappointed, it's not as exact like the pictures from the website. However, the service is excellent, there's a (free) chocolate service at around 8 pm. Don't miss out when you're there :) The staff is friendly and the hotel checks all other boxes. It's also the only hotel in the city centre with a swimming pool. It's on a A1 location close to the Louvre, and the metro station is right a cross the street. The St. James * Albany was not my choice of hotel; I thought it was quite expensive [about €525,- a night] and I was slightly disappointed as the hotel is rather similar to a 3 star hotel in London or Amsterdam. I reckon that when you're out the whole day exploring the city and doing fun stuff, you don't need to spend that much for a bed, 2 or 3 stars hotels in Paris will do just fine!

the landscape in the heights of Valbonne, above Cannes, is typical provencal with its olive groves and pine trees. Opio at the Provence is an sporting Club village, great for families with children. There is a golf court and three swimmingpools. We had a car for the day's that we stay there, if you want to see the area around Opio, you need a car. The food is from a high quality and verry varied. All the meals are buffet. Gardens mainly with pines, palms and bounds with a wide variation colorful flowers. There is also a brilliant olivetree garden. Water Parties and adjustable lighting give this landscape in the French Provence an attractive terms. Club Med Opio, a great stay but expensive.

I went to Nice last September. My first time there. And in September the weather still very warm. Nice is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. In Nice there is always lots to see and do, however for me the highlight of my trip was Nice cycle tours. It was recommended by the Nice Tourist Office. The tour takes you around the main sites and also offers a fantastic insight into the history of Nice and why and when it was constructed. The tour is very relaxed and is suitable for any level of fitness.

I was in Nice a couple of weeks ago, for the first time. I went with my french class at school and we found a few places we really liked. Our favorite was Pompei. Why? - cheap drinks. € 4 until 10.00 p.m. (if I remember correctly) and a reasonably wide selection. Only problem with the drinks was that some people found them a bit too strong. Do not order a cocktail here if you don't like the taste of spirits - amazing music. They played a huge variety of rock, and it was loud enough to create an atmosphere but not too loud that you couldn't talk to people - great people. we met some very nice french people here, and unlike paris; they actually speak french to you even though your french isn't flawless. Maybe one of the reasons we enjoyed it so much was cause there were a lot of peopple in our age group there. it really makes a lot of difference!