FRANCE 100 Locals Tell You Where to Go, What to Eat, & How to Fit In
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FRANCE 100 Locals Tell You Where to Go, What to Eat, & How to Fit In © Gigi Griffis. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at [email protected] or via gigigriffis.com. ISBN-13: 978-1508869504 2 CONTENTS About this Book 4 On Traveling Like a Local 6 Tips for Fitting In 8 Plan By Interest 12 History & Architecture 13 Food & Wine 25 The Great Outdoors 35 Plan By Place 44 Paris & Northern France 45 Paris, Chartres, Lille, Amiens, Reims, & Epernay Normandy & Brittany 82 Rouen, Evreux, Honfleur, Deauville, Étretat, Caen, Bayeux, Portbail, Mont Saint-Michel, Dinan, Rennes, Josselin, Locronan, & Nantes Loire, Limousin, & Poitou 144 Amboise, Blois, Cheverny, Chenonceaux, Tours, Montresor, Romorantin, Mouchamps, Cognac, La Rochelle, & Royère-de-Vassivière Southwestern France 188 Bordeaux, Saint-Émilion, Sarlat, Biarritz, Bayonne, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Monguilhem, Condom, Vallée de la Barousse, Toulouse, Albi, Millau, & Carcassonne Southern France & the Riviera 245 Nice, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Monaco, Menton, Èze, Antibes, Saint-Tropez, Marseille, Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer, Cassis, Aix-en-Provence, L’Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue, Vaison- la-Romaine, Avignon, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Les Baux-de-Provence, Uzès, Nimes, Aigne, & Narbonne Corsica 321 Barbaggio, Zonza, & Sartène Eastern France 329 Lyon, Grenoble, Annecy, Chamonix, Cluny, Beaune, Dijon, Vézelay, Montbard, Strasbourg, Colmar, & Nancy About the Author 386 Acknowledgements 387 3 ABOUT THIS BOOK This book is for people who want to see another side of France. To stroll past the main attractions, certainly, but also find the hidden-away boulangerie with the most delicious croissants in Paris. To discover that France has several long-distance pilgrim- ages, and pilgrims can stay in special refuges along the way. Or to know ahead of time that the French tend to dress well— and fitting in requires you to do the same. In other words, this book is for people who want to get under the skin of another culture. Who want to rent apartments and live in local neighborhoods. Who want to eat in tiny restaurants without English menus. Who want to make friends with locals. Who want to deepen their experience of this sophisticated, charming country. Think of this as a supplement to your traditional guidebooks. Use those for their handy place histories, lists of local hotels (if that’s your style), restaurant pricing charts, and basic language lessons. And then use this to go deeper—to figure out how to find the most colorful neighborhood markets, the most deli- cious restaurants in the city center, and that hidden-away hot spring just outside the city. Getting excited? Me too. (Just wait till you read some of these interviews!) Now, a little orientation: This book is split into 100 interviews with people who live all over France. Many have lived in their cities and towns for decades. Some were born and raised in the region. Others are expats who have fallen in love with their new country. And all of them love showing travelers the best their place has to offer. Throughout the book, you’ll see a few common French words. Rather than include their meanings in parentheses 100 times throughout the book, I’d like to introduce them here. First, there’s bonjour, which means hello. If you only learn one French word, learn this one. Other important words include 4 ABOUT THIS BOOK pont (bridge), musée (museum), château (castle), rue (street), île (island), plage (beach), place (square), and mont (moun- tain). Thus, if you see Musée Toulouse-Lautrec mentioned here, that’s the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. If you see Rue de Va- renne, that’s Varenne Street. Mont Blanc is Mount Blanc. Also throughout the book, below each person’s name, you’ll see a short bio designed to help you understand his or her background. If you are passionate about food, look for some- one whose short bio includes “foodie” or “chef.” If you’re a culture lover, look for a culture lover. And so on and so forth. Many of the interviewees are also tour guides, artists, business owners, or bloggers. Watch for web addresses under their inter- views if you’d like to learn more about their art, blogs, tours, or businesses. And speaking of web addresses, it’s also important to note that while American sites often end in .com, French sites often end in .fr. You’ll see many URLs throughout this book with that ending. There’s no need to add a .com to these—just type them as you see them. Finally, you’ll notice this book doesn’t have photos or maps. This is for length and printing reasons. The good news is that most tourist offices in France offer free maps, and you can find photos of all these places at gigigriffis.com/france. Now, then, into the book… 5 ON TRAVELING LIKE A LOCAL Like many well-touristed countries, France has two faces. There’s the face that most tourists see, full of busy shopping streets, crowded museums, and well-known monuments and attractions—like the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the Arc de Triomphe. Many of these things are worth seeing and experiencing (as many of my interviewees will tell you); they’re world-famous for a reason. BUT. They aren’t the whole story of France. There’s another face, another story—one that the locals live every day—full of hidden-away wine bars, buttery escargot, forested parks, picnicking locals, and three-course lunches. For me, the goal of any travel is to experience this other side of a city, to slip into the culture, to try to understand it, to feel— even if I am only there for a few days—like I am truly living in that place, experiencing it like a local would. I’m sure many of you feel the same. Which is, of course, the whole point of this book. In over 16 years of short-term international trips and three years of traveling full-time, mostly in Europe, I’ve come up with a routine that makes me feel more like a local. And the most important thing I’ve found is simply this: the best way to live like a local is to ask locals. Which is why, for those of us who don’t have a local friend to show us around, I’ve collected these interviews and written this book. 6 ON TRAVELING LIKE A LOCAL Before you dive into the interviews, though, here are five more ways to experience France (or any country, really) in a fresh, authentic, local-centric way: 1. Travel slowly. Spend some real time in a place. The only way to see all of a city’s hidden corners is to spend time exploring it. 2. Rent apartments, preferably in a neighborhood full of local people. (Not sure how to find the right neighborhood? I’ve asked locals to tell us in the interviews you’ll find in this book. Not sure how to find apartments? My personal starting point is airbnb.com.) 3. Shop at fresh markets, small butcher shops, and neigh- borhood bakeries. This is where you’ll find the best food (as opposed to the grocery store, though that can also be a welcome and wonderful adventure). 4. Make friends with people who live there. Ask people about their lives, their thoughts, and their cultures. Expats and locals are both incredibly fascinating, and every conversation will teach you a lot. 5. Try to fit in. In France, this means relax, take walks, dress nice- ly, always say bonjour to the shopkeepers, speak softly, and don’t believe the stereotypes. It is these principles and this type of travel that I’ve molded the questions in this book around. So, if you, too, want to slow down and experience France in a different way, these inter- views are for you. 7 HOW TO FIT IN Poor France has a reputation for rudeness—and it’s an un- deserved one. The French are particular, certainly, about their food and language. They care about personal appearance. And they might correct your pronunciation or be shocked if you use a butter knife to cut the foie gras or a coffee mug to drink wine. But overall, they are friendly, caring people. And if you make an effort to be polite and fit into the culture just a little bit, you’ll be surprised at what a great reception you’ll get. Here’s what these 100 locals suggested for those who want to fit in, respect local traditions, and make French friends: 1. Try out some French. Even if you’re not very good at it, locals really appreciate the effort. Especially when you first say hello. Make sure to greet people with a “bonjour, parlez vous anglais?” (hello, do you speak English?) before launching into English. It’s also important to learn au revoir (goodbye), merci (thank you), bon journée/soirée (have a good day), and desolé (I’m sorry). Even just these few niceties will endear you to the locals. And if you do need to speak English and are having trouble finding an English speaker? Look for students. They’re more likely to be multi-lingual. 2. Always greet people (using bonjour or bonsoir, which mean good day and good evening respectively) when entering a shop or restaurant.