Bergen, Norway

Our next big trip was a two-part one. The first part being Bergen, Norway. If I am being technical, it was really three parts. One night in Bergen, several nights in the Faroe Islands and then back to Bergen for a few more nights before heading home. But for the purpose of this blog, I am going to lump all of our Norway information together. 

Bergen is famously rainy. I went in with low expectations in regards to the weather. We were pleasantly surprised with decent weather while we were in town! Sure we had some rain and chilly wind, but we also lucked out with some sunshine!

On our first day in Bergen we took a walking tour which led us down cute alleys. We learned some of the history of Bergen.

Bergen was rife with street art! 

Another outing while in Bergen was a "fjord" cruise. It was pretty much just the fjords closest to Bergen, so it was more populated and less scenic than I would have liked. But it was a relaxing boat trip. 

We rode the funicular up to the top of the mountain for some panoramic views of the city. 

We did not eat nearly enough pastries while in Bergen. This was like a cheese Danish. Charles was happy to see mochas on most of the café menus. Surprisingly, we haven't seen that a lot in Germany.

We mostly avoid Mexican food in Germany. It's just not good. I saw a taco place with good ratings and thought we'd give it a try. It was actually pretty tasty!

We also enjoyed some Thai food while in Bergen. Yum, yum, yum!

This was the view from our Airbnb which was located outside of Bergen. Downstairs is an Italian pizzeria with some of the best pizza we have had in a while. The owner was so friendly and brought us fresh croissants every morning of our stay. His story about living in Italy and how he came to relocate to Norway was fascinating!

Vielsalm, Belgium

We had a random long weekend and decided to drive up to Belgium. We have visited Belgium once before, but it was quite awhile ago. On our previous trip we stayed in Bruges which would be great to visit again, but we did not want to drive quite as far on this trip. 

Originally we were looking at visiting Liege, Belgium. Have you heard of liege waffles? Yup... same liege. After searching the map on Airbnb, though, I found this converted military bunker and thought it would be a neat place to stay. 

And now Suzie has visited six different countries!

We're not sure what the metal piece on the top means, but we joked that the place is owned by the Illuminati. 

The location of the Airbnb was so idyllic! We were surrounded by fields. It was exactly the peaceful and quiet location I was looking for. 

This general area of Belgium is significant in WWII history, specifically because of the Battle of the Bulge. There are museums dedicated to this history in the area, but we did not visit any. On our hike, though, I felt like I was in scenes from Band of Brothers. 

Adjacent to the town center was a lovely promenade around the lake. It was the perfect spot for an evening stroll!

Vielsalm is also known for its folklore, especially their witch history. The town has a museum and annual festival dedicated to it. We did not visit the museum since I could not tell from the website if the displays were in English, but we found this broom on our stroll. 

Vielsalm ended up being surprising. I was expecting a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere, but the town had quite a lot going for it! You could tell that it is a popular place for hikers and the town had a variety of restaurants. It was perfect for a weekend getaway!

Sunflowers, Lavender and Aix-en-Provence

Not only can you find fields of lavender in Provence, but also fields of sunflowers! This one was up the road from our Airbnb so on our last night in Rians we drove over and took pictures. 

On another evening we drove out to Valensole to see if we could find these famous fields of lavender. Upon arrival, we discovered that most had been harvested already. We saw only one field that still had blooms. I was prepared for this, especially because it had been a hot summer already. It was still a bit of a let down. 

But before heading home, we found a spot with a great view. 

I did not see a lot of street art on this trip, so I had to snap a photo of this one.

The final city in our tour of Provence was Aix-en-Provence where we booked a food tour through Airbnb. Charles and I agreed afterward that it was our least favorite food tour out of the few we have done since being in Europe. The food was pretty good and our tour guide was friendly, but it did not provide a lot of detail about the city and why we were eating the things we ate. The French desserts were tasty, though!

Aix is known as the city of fountains and they were EVERYWHERE! Thank goodness, too, because it was soooo hot. We splashed water on ourselves from just about every fountain we came across.  

Gorges du Verdon and Moustiers St. Marie

A highlight of our trip to France was a visit to the Gorges du Verdon. When I saw pictures of the Gorges during my research phase, it looked too good to be true. I have learned that many bloggers edit photos to look more amazing than the locations actually are. But in this case, it was just as impressive in real life. 

A popular activity is to rent a boat and cruise along the water. You can rent a paddle boat, kayak, canoe or an electric boat. Because it was ungodly hot, we opted for an electric boat to reduce the amount of effort we would have to exert. It turned out even better than we thought because the electric boats have covers unlike the other boat options. This is a win for us pale skinned folks!

In anticipation of this trip, I searched out tips on how to pose in pictures. This is my attempt to be more "Instagram worthy". The water was a beautiful turquoise color! 

If I am correct, this was a first for Charles--driving a boat. It was so easy and relaxing. 

These sandals are amazing! If you need some cute, but super comfortable sandals for walking, check out Ecco! 

After our boating time came to an end, we visited the nearby town of Moustiers St. Marie. We parked below the town in a lot off the main street and took a little train up to the town. It was perfect because it was hot, hot, hot! Luckily there were fountains scattered throughout the town. We splashed water on ourselves to try to stay cool. 

The town was adorable! We stopped for cool drinks at a café and had gelato at another place. 

If it had been cooler, we probably would have spent more time in town. But it was just ridiculously hot and uncomfortable. Before heading out, we did stop at a market vendor selling pottery. Charles picked out a mug and we chose a cat figurine to add to our little collection.

Airbnb in Provence

Visiting Provence during lavender season has been on my wish list after seeing the amazing pictures of the area. When researching where to stay in the region, it was hard to choose! The area is pretty expansive with a lot of cute small towns, but as soon as I saw the listing for this Airbnb I was sold. 

The pod is located on a farm in Rians, France. There did not seem to be much to the town (but to be honest we did not explore it that much). But immediately upon arrival to the farm, the air was scented with lavender. It was just what I imagined and hoped for! 

We visited a little late in the season for lavender. Most blogs and travel websites say to visit a couple weeks earlier. So I was preparing myself to see zero lavender blooms. I was beyond happy to see our Airbnb location still had several rows that had not been harvested. Our host (who was very welcoming) encouraged us to walk around. Our first evening we walked amongst the flowers and the buzzing bees to snap some pictures. 

This is the view of the lavender from the patio of the pod. We sat here every night enjoying the peaceful location. Can I just move here?

Rose is popular in Provence. Normally I am not a huge fan of rose, but when in Rome (eh...Provence)! The town had a small grocery store where we purchased wine, cheese, bread and some other snacks. We had laid back dinners at the Airbnb and did not stress about finding a restaurant. Can I just say that we'll miss European grocery stores when we move back to the States? Wine is sooooo much cheaper in Europe. 

Our Airbnb host also delivered breakfast in the morning so we feasted on croissants, jam, coffee, juice and seasonal fruit while enjoying the lavender scented morning. 

Monaco

Another goal of our trip to Provence in France was to check off Monaco. Monaco is a very small country not too far from Nice. It was so pretty to walk around, even on an overcast afternoon. 

Can you believe this building is the ocean museum? You have to see the inside, too! I did not take any interior pictures, but the lobby and some of the areas had amazing architectural details. It was so impressive. We enjoyed visiting the museum and seeing all the fish and sea creatures. Plus their gift shop was top notch! They had an amazing selection of home decor and souvenirs. 

Can you visit Monaco without picking out your yacht???