Vida Adventures Travel

01/01/2022

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12/14/2021

Tuesday’s visit to Grasse, Cannes and Antibes

Grasse is a town northwest of Nice. In the 1700’s the village has been known for tanning hides and leather work. This created an awful smell throughout the town.

This area also was known for the diverse types of wild flowers. To overcome the smell of the tanning, the residents figured out how to distill the flowers and make living in Grasse more enjoyable Thus began a new industry. Voila! Perfume!

And the people loved it. The cities were crowded and smelly in the 1700’s and people loved this new invention. The wealthy all over France went crazy over perfume and here we are today.

The Parfumerie Galimard was founded in 1747, is one of the first French Houses of Perfumes.
Jean de Galimard supplied the court of Louis XV with olive oil, pomades, and perfumes of which he invented the first formulas.

Thanks to the many varieties of indigenous flowers, Grasse was awarded the title of World Capital of Perfume.

12/13/2021

Sunset in Nice on Monday evening.

12/13/2021

Monday is Flea market day in Nice.

12/13/2021

Today we took a tour of old Nice. Here is our entertaining guide, Chris.

12/10/2021

Heart of Provence, France.
Today we took a drive north west from Aix-en-Provence to the Vaucluse region. This is where you find ancient hilltop villages and the famous Lavender fields of Provence.

Just to drive through the area is fun, stopping at what ever villages you see a sign for. You never know what you will see around the next bend in the road.

Today when we left Aix is was cold and rainy. As we drive north and into the hills we began to see snow do in the vineyards. The higher we went the more snow we saw. Is was so different from last time we where here.

It was in early August and is was hot and dry. The sun is very intense in the part of France in mid summer. We enjoyed the cold weather and snow but missed the beautiful flowers that grow every where.

Here are some pictures of today’s Adventure.

12/10/2021

An evening walk in Aix-en-Provence. It was very cold but walking through old town is the easiest way to find a warm restaurant for dinner.

Here are some views along the way.

12/09/2021

Pictures of our black truffle hunting experience in Southern France

12/09/2021

My Black Truffle hunt in Provence, France.

I don’t really like the taste of truffles but thought maybe I really hadn’t had a “good” truffle.

I happened to see this experience on line and thought it would be a fun thing to do during our stay in Aix-en-Provence. We were in Aix in December which is when black truffles are ready to find and harvest.

My husband and I drove to a small village about 45 minutes north of Aix. Down a tiny narrow road to find this lovely farm. There were 2 other couples we met there joining the tour. It’s fun to meet people from all over. One sweet couple were from Singapore. They were in France the same reason as us. Needed to get away and France has good regulations for COVID and it seemed relatively save to travel to France.

Our tour started with Johann, our host and owner of the farm telling us the history of truffle hunting, how they grow, how to find them, etc. what to do and not do during our hunt.

After the briefing we were joined by the 3 truffle hunting dogs and their human helper and Johann’s business partner, Jean -Marc.

Yes, I know - where are the pigs? Pigs are not used much any more, pigs like to eat the truffles they find. Often so aggressively that they bite off a finger or 2 of their human. Dogs are trained to make finding truffles a game and are rewarded with yummy treats. Dogs don’t like to eat truffles, lucky for us!

The ripe truffle had a very unusual smell that pigs and dogs can smell at the source above gound. They start to scratch to show their human where to dig. Once the truffle is out of the gound the dog is rewarded with a treat. Everyone is happy! Except the pig.

After finding about a dozen truffles we headed back to the house and we’re surprised with a delicious local sparkling wine and we’re served truffles several different ways. Even truffle ice cream with lavender truffle honey and a touch of salt. What an amazing taste combo, heaven.

We were shown how to read a bottle of inexpensive “truffle oil”. Its all chemicals that create the “truffle” taste. Which is why so many people, like me, didn’t like truffles. It’s because we’ve never had the real thing….. done right!

If you find yourself in Southern France in the winter, think about doing a truffle hunt with Johann.

Contact me for more information!

12/09/2021

South of France in December 2021.

We needed to get away after 18 months of staying home, working at home, always home. France is our comfort zone, know how to get around and somewhat communicate so here we are.
The getting here did have a few new twists. Must have proof of COVID vaccination and a PCR test no earlier than 72 hours from arrival, of course must show negative testing to enter. Also need to download passport info on to airline reservations in our records for a smoother checkin and less contact at check in and departure gate.

Masks up for all airports and on planes with the exception of “sips and bites” during meals.

With all of that we were a bit stressed on how this all will work. What was surprising was how lax they were AT the airports. We had 3 different flights. PIT to Washington Dulles, Dulles to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Nice. We would show our Vaccine cards, they didn’t even look.

When we arrived in Frankfurt we went through immigrations because we were entering the European Union. They only asked for our passports, nothing at all for COVID.

Check your airline website daily the week of your departure and the website of any connecting airline youare on just to keep informed of any changes in document requirements for your destination.

More about our travels in Provence later…….

11/20/2021

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11/18/2021

Lindblad Expectations voted #1 small ship cruise line 2021 by Conte Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards.
Are you ready for you next adventure?
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We’re honored to be named #1 small-ship cruise line in the 2021 Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards! Thank you to everyone who voted. bit.ly/condenast2021