France Day 4 - Annecy/Menthon-Saint-Bernard

OK, so when I say Annecy, I'm really in Menthon-Saint-Bernard which is a small village about 10km outside of Annecy, in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region.  I actually have not learned classification and just copied this, but I better do so after this blog.  In case I did not introduce what on earth I am up to properly, I am doing a private French course and homestay.

I slept in a temporary room while another student was finishing up.  This is probably a kid's room, since there are toys and stuff in it.

Breakfast was pretty simple.  Bread, jams, cheese, yoghurt, and this morning saw tomatoes because the other student was German and liked tomatoes for breakfast.  I started my French class shortly after breakfast and it was hard.  I will not speak too much of class, but it is draining but everyday just having to speak French I feel myself getting better.

Lunch was delicious.  We started with melon and prosciutto, then a simple main dish (my teacher called it a plat familial, which I understood as a simple dish made at home for normal occasions) made with basmati rice, pan fried diced vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, etc.) and tomato sauce, and ended with ice cream and a biscuit.  Everything was delicious.  Like really delicious.

We went for a long walk after, almost 7 miles.  We started from her house in the village, walked down to the public beach, then along this path towards Annecy, turning back at some point but heading uphill.  We passed a lot of really cute houses.  I took photos of some, but if I took photos of all you would never see the end of it.  Here are some photos I took during our walk.

View of the lake with the Palace de Menthon hotel on the left.

At the beach.

Petanque competition.

Pretty flowers!

Pretty mailbox!

Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard

Dinner was a special pasta made with mushrooms from this region, and (what I was told) a French omelette with spinach.  Simple but also really good.  So far food has been really good.  :-)  It was late, so I had no time to blog last night nor do my homework.  Sleep is good.

France Day 3 - Avignon and Annecy

I spent the night before doing some meticulous planning, but that took a lot of time, so I did not get to do bed until very late, and woke up late, so all the planning was kind of a waste.  I had wanted to go to Carrières de Lumières since I missed it the day before and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence to see more Van Gogh stuff, but I guess there was zero chance now.  To think I was planning to do all that stuff I did yesterday plus these today.  I'm overly ambitious.

Anyhow, there was still Avignon!  On y danse!  Well, I did not really dance.  I did walk down a small slope to the river bank and almost slip, if one can call that dancing, I suppose.

I went to La Fourchette recommended by my friend partly because no one else recommended me anything, partly because the online menu had brandade.  As luck would have it, I parked right next to the restaurant!  After touring, I went back to eat, and guess what, no brandade.  Already seated and eating the bread, I did not want to walk out (and that's embarrassing anyway), so I asked for Provençal food recommendations.  Tomate ananas, or pineapple tomato, was recommended to me, with smoked fish (I later translated and it was whiting).  I had no clue really what I ordered, but when it came it was amazingly delicious.  The tomato was juicy and sweet.

Then to Annecy.  The drive was long, more than 3 hours.  I returned the rental car, got picked up by my French teacher (yes, I'm finally taking French classes in France!!).  Drove along the lake for a bit, which is SPECTACULAR.  I cannot wait to run there!  My host made me a salad with goat cheese, and I'm slowly becoming a goat cheese fan!  Lots of salads in the past 2 days.  Not typically me but they have actually been really good and hopefully I'm losing weight!  I am told the region I am in, which is Rhône-Alpes, is one for cheese and meat.  Yum!

Driven:  407.3km

France Day 2 - One Day in Provence

OK, so I could not spend a year, but here is how I spent my day in Provence.

I rented my car.

Visited Cassis, a very pretty seaside destination with cliffs which I saw and inlets called calanques which I did not see.  I always thought this was where the liqueur cassis was from, but Wikipedia tells me it is an actual wine.  I did see a ton of vines driving down there.

Visited Marseilles and wanted to try Bouillabaisse.  I think this was the first time I've had this dish, and I wanted to make it a good one.  Asked my Marseillaise friend for a recommendation and she told me Le Rhul.  Apparently real bouillabaisse has to be made with a certain number and types of fish, and the fish must be presented and cut table side, which it was.  Yay for authentic experiences.  The soup was VERY delicious and I loved it.  I liked some of the fish, but one tasted like wet socks.  It also came with mussels which were pretty mushy and gross.  Le Rhul is one of the "founder" restaurants of the dish, which must mean it's very good, and I paid a hefty price for it.  Glad I tried it but probably will not be coming back.

Funny story at the restaurant, though I'm sure I will not tell it well.  I had a smelly waiter (not essential to the story but I wanted to point out), and I was texting Lingon that I thought he was Vietnamese.  When I left, I had a short conversation with him and he asked whether I was Chinese or Taiwanese, and I in turn asked him if he was Vietnamese.  Right at that moment his boss came in and was pretty amazed that I knew what he was.  She then proceeded to say all Asian people looked the same, and then pulled on the edges of her eyes to make them slitty, like Chinese eyes, and I laughed and told her all white people looked the same to me!

So on to Marseille.  First things first, they had a Starbucks and I made a beeline for that, and lo and behold they had a Marseille tumbler! At first I was quite bored with Marseille, big city with big port, but then I went over to the north side of the port where the cathedral and Fort St Jean were, and everything got a bit more special.  :-)

On to Arles.  Now I'm a big Van Gogh fan, so I wanted to see all of the things he painted.  However I was really not prepared for bad parking which I met in pretty much every place.  Arles was the worst.  So I was grumpy and running out of time when I finally parked here, but I did manage to see the cafe that he painted, find a pretty shuttered door, and eat an ice cream.  So much for being a true blue Van Gogh fan.  :-(

The reason I was running out of time in Arles was because I wanted to go to the Carrières de Lumières in Baux-de-Provence.  On the way though, I stopped at a sunflower field, continuing on my love for the artist.  Funny enough, I met a Ali who I think also likes Van Gogh, and he gave me this postcard he made of the yellow house in Arles that Van Gogh painted which does not exist anymore, superimposed on the spot it used to stand on.  Incidentally, he had worked at Carrières de Lumières for 17 years and told me I had to see it.

So back to Carrières de Lumières.  I knew it closed at 7pm.  I arrived at 6.05pm.  Like 5 minutes late.  The lady not only did not let me enter, but was quite mean about it.  Biyatch.  I was really sad.  Really really sad.  This is a cave where they project art works of chosen artists on the stone walls that were carved into the cave of the valley.  My French teacher told me about it first, then my Airbnb host here at Aix-en-Provence, and then Ali said it was magnifique and I had to go.  So yes, very bummed.

Trying to stay positive, I decided to go to Baux-de-Provence for some exploration which turned out to be a blessing.  The city is named Baux for the bauxite walls, very different from the other cities I had visited.  I did not know this until I got there, but the city is designated Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The most beautiful villages of France") by an independent association to promote small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage, and I quote Wikipedia here.  I learned about this designation in class when someone spoke of a different city Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.  Baux-de-Provence was off the beaten path and really beautiful - I highly recommend it!

Back to Aix-en-Provence where I had a simple salade niçoise for dinner, which was most enjoyable.

Driven:  278.7km

France Day 1 - Aix-en-Provence

I'm staying at an Airbnb for the first time.  Not a bad experience, though obviously the comforts of home or a hotel are not there.  My host, Viv, is very nice and helpful.  Her place is in the Quartier Mazarin, a "newer" area of the town, and very conveniently located to the old quarter.

I walked around the city for a few hours and loved it.  A lot of very beautiful little gourmet food shops (and lots of free samples, I think I sustained myself on sugar yesterday, how disgusting).  Small narrow little winding streets.  Shuttered windows.  Fountains.

It was the rentrée scolaire, which means the kids go back to school, that day.  Loved the energy and hounds of people on the street.

I've decided to try to keep the number of words down (unless necessary), since I think it would be easier for you, and also since I seem to be doing this very late at night every night.

Food

I am told Cure Gourmand is from the Avignon/Arles region.  Cutest shop ever!  I'm a sucker for packaging.  And the cookies were not half bad too.

Calissons du Roy René.  Calissons are a specialty of Aix-en-Provence, and are made from almond, orange and melon.  Lonely Planet told me to get them here, so I did.  Not bad tasting!

Went to Chez Féraud again on recommendation of Lonely Planet.  Got the asparagus with brandade since I love the latter, had no idea it would come in that form on a crostini.  Was disappointed when I saw the brandade but turned out really lovely. Asparagus was huge and very sweet, but probably too cooked and soft.  Brandade is Provençal from Nîmes, according to my server.  Also got the Daube Provençale which is a beef stew, not bad, came with this unbelievable polenta.  Crème brûlée was probably the least Provençal but at least it came with a calisson.

Other Good Things

Cathedral, I expected more, but it was just not bad.

Birthplace of Cézanne.

Aix-en-Provence, the city of a thousand fountains.

And another fountain.

This is kind of random, but I thought of Lance.

Cours Mirabeau, main thoroughfare of the city.  Lined with pretty trees, restaurants, cafes, oh and again many fountains!

Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville

Arriving in Paris and traveling by TGV out of Charles de Gaulle Airport

Timing
My flight touched down at 10.30am and we exited a plane in terminal 1 around 10.50am.  the immigration officer did not even so much as look at my passport, and stamped me through.  All I said to him was "bonjour", then "merci".  All he said to me was... nothing.  2pm.  Did not check bags so got out in about 10 mins.  Tried to find a SIM card, told to go to the "Relay" store, but was told they did not have it for iPhone 5 and I had to go to paris for this.  Had to take a free connecting train accessed by the lifts/elevators, down one floor to terminal 2 (connects to all 3 terminals) which took about 5 mins, and made it to the station by 11.20pm.

Train tickets
I had purchased a train ticket for 1.58pm, but knew there was an 11.58am train.  Annoyed because i had purchased late, only the day before, so the price was the same as if I bought at the station (did not know this before arriving at the station).  Thankfully I could change my ticket for a €12 fee with some credit issued to me.  I guess a bird in hand is better (i.e. my slightly more expensive ticket with a reserved seat), in case the train was full, and booking a train a little over an hour after one's flight arrives is a bit risky, so I would probably have to recommend booking your ticket especially during peak season and paying the change fee, if applicable.

I purchased my ticket on https://www.capitainetrain.com/.  This website is good if you do not have a credit card with a pin.  Otherwise you can book on http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ which requires a credit card with a pin when picking up your ticket.  I am told the price is supposedly the same and I checked this for my tickets and that is indeed the case.  I was offered 2 classes of fares, loisir and pro.  Loisir is a bit more restrictive which I booked.  Pro gives you a free change option after your train has already departed up to a certain time.  In the https://www.capitainetrain.com/ site, it took me a while but they do offer the pro ticket option.

When purchasing tickets, sometimes it says you need to print it out.  The lady next to me was told she needed to print out her ticket while on the train, which was obviously impossible, and she tried to show the driver her phone but he was able to look her up by DOB on his machine anyway.  Obviously I don't guarantee anything, and it is safer to do as the ticketing website says, but just in case you are unable to print, don't be tooooo worried.

When purchasing your ticket on WEBSITE, depending on what country you choose, they may redirect you.  For the US, you will be redirected to raileurope.com.  This is bad because prices are slightly higher and supposedly for the TGV you supposedly cannot reserve seats.  I just choose France as my country.  Or Singapore.

Look up your train number on the board and find your track. And be sure to get there early since the trains seem to leave on time.

I took the high speed train, TGV, to Aix-en-Provence TGV station, which is outside the city itself.  I did not know this at the time, but the connection that I purchased to the city was a bus connection, not a train.  You would have to get off the train, go across the bridge, and walk to the back of the station down a staircase.  Once you exit the station, the bus stop is right there which will take you directly to the city.

Wifi The airport has wifi, and you have to provide your name, email address and country of residence.  Check the accept terms box, but you do not have to check the box to get emails from airline partners.  Watch the video which is 12 seconds long and then you will be connected!

SIM cards
Like I mentioned, the "Relay" store sells these but as far as I know not for iPhone 5.  There was one in terminal 1 in the area outside security.  If you are unsure about making your train. There is another "Relay" at the train station should you find yourself with enough time there, though it too does not sell SIM cards for iPhone 5.


I got to Aix-en-Provence and found an Orange store and purchased a SIM card for €10, and 300MB data, unlimited French SMS and supposedly €20 of phone calls (though I have not made a single call and I think the balance says <€5 left).

ATM
HSBC had no fees.  I read somewhere too the French banks are not allowed to charge ATM fees, so any fees would come from your own financial institution.

Bienvenue en France!

Peru Day 11 - Sacred Valley (Maras and Salinas)

At this point, I think we could have done with not seeing another agricultural terrace, but this was part of the damned tour, and was included in our tourist ticket, and we had already rented a car for the day.  So off we went to the Maras agricultural circle.  There were 3.  Left rather unimpressed after the days of stunning sites on the Inca Trail, but here are the photos as proof.  We thought that perhaps these used to be an amphitheater for performances, or executions, or sports.  Maybe they performed the Pachamama song here - this was probably my favourite song from being in Cusco/Sacred Valley, all the street performers were performing it.  Special shout out to that YouTube clip at 1:20 where they make coca leaves rain.  Oh yeah.

The purpose of this segment of the Sacred Valley tour for me really was to see the salt flats and I was glad we did it.  We had to pay a separate S/. 7 entrance fee for that (not included in the tourist ticket).  I dipped my finger into the running spring and licked it and confirmed it was salty, and got scolded by Lingon for that.

We had our last meal at Cicciolina in Cusco.  I only mention it because I want to tell you not to eat there.  It was not good.

We went to the Cusco airport early, since we only rented the car until a specified time.  Cusco airport was unremarkable.  Pringles were cheaper than on the Inca Trail, thankfully.  Waited at the Lima airport food court, had Starbucks and Pardo's chicken (which was actually probably just as tasty as the branch we went to in Lima itself).  The United counter opened at 7.30pm, AA around 9pm, and then we said adios to Peru.  Fond memories.

I will end with a random Peruvian fact according to a guide we had.  Quinoa used to be S/. 4 per kilogram 10 years ago, and is now S/. 22, more than 5 times the price.

Visiting Peru

Lima
 The Lima airport is nothing remarkable.  It actually has a Starbucks and a decent food court (pre-security), and some shopping at duty free (post-shopping).  There is no free wifi for general use.  The international side has a lounge that both One World and Star Alliance premium members can use (I'm not sure if other brands can use it, so please check), which serves OK food but has very slow wifi.  It has computer terminals that are infinitely faster though, so if you are not limited to your own device, try to snag one.

When you exit the arrival area, immediately on your right will be the official taxis called Taxi Green.  The rates are fixed based on where you are going, and we were charged S/. 50 to Miraflores.  It took us about 40 minutes.  The driver said normally it would be about 30 minutes, but there was highway construction which resulted in a diversion.

There are Scotiabank ATMs on the second floor of the airport that do not charge you a fee, so when you exit arrivals you can walk straight ahead and take the escalators on the left up, turn right, keep walking, and see a bunch of ATMs.  There are also other banks, but we found Scotiabank to be sufficient.  :-)

Figuring out a SIM card was a pain, but basically you have to go to a shop that sells the card itself (they call it "chip" there).  We found a department store with Movistar and Claro desks, and managed to get a chip, but then had to go to a pharmacy to get a top up card.  We paid about US$5 for the chip, and US$10 for 500MB of data for 30 days (but the maximum daily use was 10MB).

Restaurants generally do not include tip (one did, Senzo in Cusco for 18%, which did not have very good food though service was good and the ambience was lovely), and the Lonely Planet told us to tip 10%.  Sometimes when restaurants run your credit card, they include a buffer for authorization of up to 20%, but will only charge whatever tip you write down on the paper.

Negotiate a rate before you get into a taxi.  To/from airport/Miraflores is S/. 50.  We managed to get S/. 20 rate between Miraflores and the old historic center, and S/.10 between Miraflores and San Isidro.

The folks in Lima do not speak very good English.  Do try to learn some key Spanish words, otherwise I suppose pointing and gesturing might help.  Lol.

Food was generally salty.  This applies to all of Peru.  I felt like a salt pan after this trip.

Puno
Airport seemed like a giant container.  Do not expect anything.

Altitude here is high, I think around 14,000 ft.  Consider taking diamox or some other kind of altitude sickness pills.  Coca tea is supposed to help with altitude sickness.  I liked the taste, and warm drinks, so I kept drinking it but not sure if it actually helped (maybe, maybe not).

Taxi fare is around S/. 80 from Juliaca airport (JUL) to town, and takes about an hour.  We managed to negotiate S/. 75 on principle heading into town, but got our hotel to get us a taxi back to the airport for S/. 80.

Our Lake Titikaka tour cost S/. 75 each.  The hotel said it is possible to go to Uros (reed islands) on our own, but not Taquille (boat might go there and not wait for you to return, no scheduled boats), so we opted for a tour.  Taquille was just OK, so if you have limited time or just want to chill in Puno which has lots of great shopping (we are told it is much cheaper than Cusco) you can just take the scheduled boats to Uros to see the reed islands.  It is really amazing how they built them!

Cusco/Sacred Valley
Airport sucked, had some food.  There was free wifi but Dawg had to fiddle around for a long time to get it to work, so just take it as there was no free wifi.

Cusco is also at elevation, I think around 11,000 ft, but lower than Puno.  Diamox was also recommended.

Our friends' hotel included a free transfer to the airport.  Lingon and I took our taxis separately since we came on different flights - he arrived earlier and negotiated S/. 20, so I did the same.  Lonely Planet said it would cost S/. 12-15, and Wiki Travel said S/. 10.  The official airport taxi price is S/. 40, so unless you are the sort who is embarrassed to bargain, you can save quite a bit here.

Food in Cusco was much more expensive.

Shop around for a Sacred Valley tour (Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero).  The Lonely Planet said we could get one for $22 (not including the tourist ticket, which is either S/. 70 for 2 days or S/. 130 for 10 days (about US$25 or $46).  Zito and Dawg's hotel was quoting USD$75 and ours was quoting $88 including the tourist ticket and lunch, but we went near the main square and found a travel agency that charged us S/. 30 not including the tourist ticket and lunch.  What a deal right?  Not sure how the tour would have been like if we took a more expensive tour, but we enjoyed the ruins anyhow and our tour guide spoke some good English so I was happy.


Inca Trail
I believe we start around 9,000+ ft. of elevation.  It is VERY highly recommended to stay in Cusco for a few days to get acclimatized and I completely agree with this if you plan to do the Inca Trail, because the Inca Trail is brutal.

Of all the big hikes I have done (the other two being Kilimanjaro and W Trek at Torres del Paine), this was the most interesting, since there were ruins to see and stories to hear along the way, since people lived here many many centuries ago.

While I think this is a really amazing hike, I recommend it with reservations, since it really was quite a physical challenge.

Cell service was poor.  Toilets were poor.  Please practice the third world squat if your tour company does not bring a portable toilet for you.

After the hike, you will be taken to Aguas Calientes for lunch and to take the train back to Poroy where probably your tour agency will meet you and transport you back to Cusco.  We were booked on the second train at 4.43pm, which was way more time than we needed.  There is a 3.20pm train, so try to get your travel agency to book that for you if possible.  We did the Huayna Picchu hike and managed to finish up around 12.30pm and be at our designated restaurant (where our bags were stored) at 1.00pm, and for us we just wanted to go back and relax so waiting there was brutal.  All the restaurants in Aguas Calientes seemed to be cash only, so make sure you have some cash to pay the bill!  They also take USD but the exchange rate is poor.

Visit Peru!!!!  :-)