Visiting Southern France in Winter, Episode 148

Join Us in France Travel Podcast

My guest today is Christine Hegerty from Australia, and she joins me today to talk about visiting Southern France in winter. They started their trip in Nice and exited via the Basque Country, so they really went all the way across.

What is it like in France in the winter? Are the weather conditions good enough for touring? Aren't most attractions closed? Christine answers all my questions and brings a lot of zest and astute observations about France in the winter.

Places Mentioned in this Episode: Nice, Toulouse, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Nîmes, Pont du Gard, Uzès, Montpellier, Carcassonne, Mirepoix, Forges de Pyrène, Grotte de Niaux, Foix, Camon (09), Rennes-le-Château, Carla-Bayle, Grotte du Mas d'Asil, Toulouse,  Albi and the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, Cordes-sur-Ciel, Moissac, Bordeaux, San-Sebastian, New Caledonia

Episode Highlights with Timestamps

• [7'15] Why did you choose to come to France in the winter?
• [8'50] What sort of weather did you encounter?
• [10'30] Flying into Nice instead of Paris
• [12'30] Finding accommodations where we could park a car + using a car elevator in Toulouse
• [15'] A lovely cooking class in Nice
• [22'] Panisse and Socca, food specialties from Nice
• [23'] Aix-en-Provence and Marseille by Regional Bus
• [24'] Cours Mirabeau, Les Deux Garçons, and the Christmas Market in Aix-en-Provence
• [24'45] A day in Marseille: Musée d'Histoire de Marseille, great street for restaurants, rue Sainte, lunch at Les Echevins (best steak ever says John!),
• [28'30] Walking tour with a volunteer greeter, meeting on Quai des Belges in Marseille, a look at the Mirror Pavilion by Foster
• [30'] Musée Archéologique de Marseille in Le Panier
• [31'45] Marseille City Greeters
• [33'06] Lovely Tea House called Cup of Tea, tea shop and book shop
• [34'] Great food in Marseille, and not just Bouillabaisse!
• [35'] The realities of planing a trip from home vs. taking the trip: cutting things out
• [36'] Worries about leaving luggage in the car and Annie's recommendation about that
• [37'48] Two nights in Nîmes and what they loved about it: les Arênes de Nîme, la Maison Carrée
• [39'] Carré d'Art by Norman Foster in Nîmes, a great place for photography, among other things
• [40'] Stumbling Upon a light show projected on the Maison Carrée in Nîmes. This happens a lot around Christmas, not just in Nîmes, but in other French cities too.
• [42'] Around Christmas is busy for people, but tourist attractions are empty.
• [43'] Pont du Gard and getting lost looking for it. Don't set your GPS to the village called Vers-Pont-du-Gard. Set your GPS to either the attraction called Pont du Gard OR the village of Remoulins or Collias.
• [46'] Lunch at Uzès on Place  Aux Herbes, great place to spend a couple of hours.
• [47'] Tour Magne, Le Jardin de la Fontaine, le Temple de Diane in Nîmes
• [48'] Montpellier, a large and charming city. Air B&B apartment that used to be a butcher's shop for one night.
• [50'] Musée du Vieux Montpellier, running into churches with Crêches and Santons, and
• [50'30] More podcast listeners eating at L'Entrecôte, they should sponsor the show!
• [52'] What's nearby? Sète, Camargue
• [53'30] Daylight hours are shorter in winter, fewer hours for touring.
• [53'47] Christmas in Carcassonne, lunch at the Michelin Star at the Hôtel de la Cité, La Barbacane.
• [57'39] Carcassonne is not busy and crowded in the winter, and certainly not on Christmas Day!
• [58'33] The Christmas Market in Carcassonne.
• [62'] Staying in Mirepoix for one week.
• [65'] New Year's Even in Mirepoix, le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre with a group of all-French people who didn't speak English! <--Funny
• [68'] Typical New Year's Eve celebrations in France
• [72'] Attractions near Mirepoix: Montsegur (Cathat, hike), Les Forges de Pyrène (demonstrations of old techniques), Grotte de Niaux (painted caves), Foix (hike).
• [78'] Most Beautiful Villages in France: Camon. Beautiful but completely empty this time of year. This is an obvious problem with visiting southern France in winter: many things are closed!
• [80'] The Arriège is a part of France that doesn't get a lot of tourists any time of the year, and in the middle of the winter, you have to find ways to keep busy.
• [81'] Market Day in Mirepoix is Monday, the town comes to life. Visiting Rennes-le-Château, must read-up on the conspiracy theories. Pack a picnic!
• [83'] Even in a remote part of France that is not very touristy, the food is quite good.
• [84'] Visiting Carla-Bayle and the Grotte du Mas d'Asil on the way to Toulouse. Don't go in the middle of the winter, it's empty!
• [86'] Toulouse is like a small little Paris, a lot of life, even in the middle of the winter.
• [88'] Going to Albi and the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum, Cordes-sur-Ciel (Cordes is also dead in the winter!)
• [89'] Museums in Toulouse: Natural History Museum, Musée Saint-Raymond, Basilique Saint-Sernin, Musée des Augustins, Musée des Abatoirs, Les Jacobins where Saint-Thomas Aquinas is buried.
• [91'] Which Toulouse Cloister is nicest: Jacobins or Augustins?
• [93'] General observation about French Museums: they are well curated.
• [94'] Go to the big open-air food market in Toulouse (Marché du Cristal, 33 boulevard de Strasbourg), every morning.
• [97'] WizEat in Toulouse and the Toulouse accent.
• [100'] Stop in Moissac to visit the chruch with beautiful cloister--but the cloister was closed on a Saturday morning (again, an issue with visiting southern France in winter).
• [102'] Bordeaux: swapping the red stone of Toulouse for the white stone of Bordeaux.
• [104'] The shopping areas were busy in Bordeaux (probably due to sales coming up, people like to "stake-out" the stores where they want to go back on the day when sales start.
• [104'30] Attractions in Bordeaux: Saint-André Cathedral, Flea Market near the Saint-Michel Church, Marché des Capucins (covered market).
• [115'] Instead of walking to the Cité du Vin, they took a ferry which gave them a great perspective on the city.
• [118'] For a great view, go up the Tour Saint-Andrée, fantastic at sunset time.
• [118'40] Another great thing to do at dusk in Bordeaux is to go to Place de la Bourse to see the water mirror.
• [120'] Taking the bus between Bordeaux and Saint-Sebastian. They used OuiBus and had a good experience. The bus took them through several cities between Bordeaux and Saint-Sebastian and they enjoyed seeing them briefly. Christine recommends taking the bus.
• [126'] New Caledonia, also in France, even though it's close to Australia.

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