May 18, 2025 • 56 mins
Thinking about exploring France beyond the usual tourist spots? In this episode of the Join Us in France Travel Podcast, Traveling Through France: Must-See Destinations from Paris to Annecy, host Annie Sargent talks with Linda and Scott Rogers about their recent trip across some of France’s most beautiful regions.
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They share their experience visiting Paris, Dijon, Beaune, Annecy, and Lyon. Each stop brought something special—like biking through Burgundy vineyards, relaxing by Lake Annecy, and sampling the rich flavors of Lyon’s culinary scene.
Annie, Linda, and Scott dive into the logistics too. They discuss train travel, how to manage your time wisely, and what it’s like to explore smaller cities at a relaxed pace. From favorite walks in Paris to peaceful corners in Burgundy, this episode is full of ideas for curious travelers.
Want to know how to avoid crowds in Paris? Or how to plan a scenic biking day in Annecy? Looking for tips on enjoying French food without always eating in fancy restaurants? They cover it all.
This episode is for anyone planning a multi-city trip in France, or simply dreaming about it. You’ll get practical advice, insider tips, and inspiration to slow down and enjoy each region’s unique charm.
Join Us in France is the podcast for people who love France and want to explore it in depth. Hosted by Annie Sargent, it features real travelers, real stories, and lots of helpful travel insight.
Like what you hear? Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. New episodes drop weekly. Come for the tips—stay for the stories.
Table of Contents for this Episode
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:15):
This is Join Us in France, episode546, cinq cent quarante-six.
Bonjour, I'm Annie Sargent and Join Usin France is the podcast where we take
a conversational journey through thebeauty, culture, and flavors of France.
Today, I bring you a conversationwith Linda and Scott Rogers
(00:36):
about their fantastic trip toFrance during the 2024 Olympics.
They share some great experiences likewatching the Olympic basketball finals in
a packed park in Dijon, cycling throughwine country in Burgundy, and exploring
the charming towns of Annecy and Lyon.
This podcast runs on chocolatine,caffeine, and the support
(00:59):
of lovely humans like you.
You book itinerary consults, takemy VoiceMap tours in Paris, ride
shotgun in my electric car, come tothe boot camp, or slip me a few euros
on Patreon, and I love you for it.
Want to keep me going and skip the ads?
There's a link for that in the show notes.
Head to joinusinfrance.com/boutiqueand vive les podcast fans.
(01:25):
For the magazine part of the podcastafter my chat with Linda and Scott
today, I'll discuss movie locationsin Paris and why they are so popular.
Want the links and the full transcript?
It's all on the episode pageat joinusinfrance.com/episodes.
(01:53):
Bonjour, Linda and Scott Rogers,and welcome to Join Us in France.
Bonjour, thank you.
Bonjour.
Wonderful to talk to you today.
You had a great trip to France.
It overlapped with the Olympics, and we'llfind out why in just a second, so July
2024, some of August as well perhaps?
(02:14):
Yes.
So you were in Francefor several weeks, right?
We were traveling for several weeks,and Scott was there before that, even.
I was there basically for a month.
I was supposed to leave on July 19th,and we came back on August 19th.
Okay.
So why did, were you there for so long?
Tell us.
So, I was there for the hostbroadcast of the Olympic Games.
So I was the producer for skateboardingand BMX freestyle at Place de la Concorde.
(02:40):
Wow.
So, it was great.
Was that a good experience for you?
Oh, it was fantastic.
So, I've done a lot of Olympics, andParis was definitely one of my favorites.
It worked out really, really well.
You know, we stayed in the Montmatre,our train stop was Place de Clichy.
We rode the train sometimes to the venue,but a lot of times we walked, and it was
(03:03):
a really nice 30-minute walk through town.
The weather was perfect in the 70s.
The venue was great.
It was the first, you know, Olympicsin eight years, post COVID, so we
could really, you know, have fansand everything, and it was fantastic.
I had a great, great time.
And the organization, I mean, I thinkthey did a great job, but I didn't
(03:26):
see it from the inside as you did.
Did you run into anysnags with the organizers?
No, the organization was really great,really professional, everybody, you know.
The thing about the Olympics is, it'salways people who've done it for their
first time most of the time, because theOlympics just go to a different city.
So it can be inconsistent.
But the French were great, andeverything ran like clockwork.
(03:49):
You know, there were really no problems.
A lot of times the transportation,the buses and stuff can be a little
finicky, but the French did a great job.
I was extremely impressed.
Wonderful.
And Place de la Concordeisn't, you know, it's not bad.
It looks nice.
Yeah, yeah, it really looks nice.
We went to the Grand Palace, the fencingvenue, that was really close to us.
(04:10):
And, you know, everythingwas really close to us.
And I got to do a little bitof the opening ceremonies.
I was working in a truck where wewere picking out dignitaries, so
we went down there, but everything,yeah, everything was great.
Fantastic.
And then you also had a great triparound that with your wife, Linda.
So Linda, tell us where you went,and what was the, kind of what
(04:33):
was the gist of the trip for you?
What was your idea going into this?
Well, I've wanted to go to Francemy whole life, and I took French,
you know, starting in grade school.
And my class, when I was in sixth,no fifth grade, they did a trip
to France to go skiing in theAlps, and I didn't get to go.
(04:55):
And so when we decided we weregoing to France, I was determined
to spend a bit of time in theAlps because I'd missed that trip.
That was part of it for me.
We started in Paris.
I met Scott there for the end ofhis work on the Olympics, and then
we planned, we wanted to take atrip hitting a couple of different
(05:16):
places, but not spend a huge amountof time getting from place to place.
So we went from Paris to Dijon,from Dijon to Annecy, Annecy
to Lyon, and back to Paris.
And this was on the train?
Yes,
on the train.
We took a bus from Annecy to Lyon.
(05:39):
That's true, yeah.
But mostly it was train.
Because?
Timing.
When we got to the train station, wewould have had to wait longer for a
train, or than the bus was leaving, andwe would get there at the same time, so-
Yeah.
And the bus isn't bad, right?
I mean, taking the bus in France is fine.
It was fine.
Yeah, the scenery was good,and it's not a long trip.
(06:01):
It was fine.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So tell me about some of thethings, how did you plan this trip?
Are you planners?
Are you hyper-planners?
Are you people who like to take it easy?
"Ah, we'll just see whenwe get there," whatever?
We are planners, and what we have to do ishold back from over-programming, so that
(06:22):
if we over-program, it's not an adventure.
And so our goal was to be verycomfortable with the amount of time
we were spending in each place.
We planned the accommodations, and maybeone or two activities in each place,
and that was it, because we wantedto feel like adventurers, explorers.
(06:46):
So we had some milestone things, likewanting to have a fabulous dinner in
Lyon, wanting to do a bike trip throughwine country, but by and large, we tried
very hard to just go with the flow.
Right.
So did you get bored at any time?
(07:07):
Did you run out of things to do?
Never.
Never.
If anything, there were one or two timeswhere I felt a little guilty because I
just wanted to get food and go up to ouraccommodation in Annecy, and just have a
little lunch at our place and take a nap.
And I felt guilty thatI was missing something.
Yes, yes.
(07:28):
So Scott, tell me, so you, whenyou show up in Annecy on the train,
what's the first thing you did?
Well, before that, when we went to Dijon,
Oh, that's right, yep.
Yeah.
So we went to Dijon, and again, thetrain, like super nice and fast.
The train station, what was... I don'tknow, I forget what our train station
(07:49):
was that we were in in Paris, but it wasreally nice train station, beautiful, and
you think with the Olympics, it's justgoing to be a complete zoo, it was not.
So we got on the train, nice train trip.
So, we went to Dijon and our littleapartment was good, but it was hot.
Like when we were there, it washot, but it was still very doable.
(08:09):
And the first thing we really did is,we went on a cycling wine tour through
the Burgundy area, and we took, didwe take the train to Beaune, honey?
Yeah, we did.
Probably.
We took a little train from Dijon toBeaune, and then we walked through the
little town of Beaune to our bike tour.
(08:29):
And we had such a fun time on thebike tour, just going around and,
we got the electric bikes becausewe didn't want to have, you know,
just like be working all the time.
It was really super funtrip, and just so scenic.
And that's the one thing thatI saw about France, is just
everywhere we went is so beautiful.
(08:52):
Sometimes you go to places and it'slike, you know, you hear about,
"Oh, it's so, it's beautiful." Andthere's parts that are beautiful,
but everywhere was beautiful.
It was super fun.
I think Beaune, like that village,it sticks in my mind, and I'm
so glad that we didn't take anUber or anything from the train.
We walked through the village.
(09:12):
It was magical.
And the place where we did our biketour, their setup was in the center
of a park in the center of Beaune.
Everything about that walk gettingthere, it was just perfect and beautiful.
It just, it replays inmy mind again and again.
Do you remember the name ofthe tour company, the bike tour
(09:33):
company, and how did you find them?
I think I probably just found them online,I do have the name of the bike company.
Well, you can send it to me later.
I'll put it in the show notes.
because people willwant to know, you know.
Mm-hmm.
Was this a big bike tour orwas it just a few of you?
Well, is there like 10 of us, maybe?
Yeah, 10 or 12 of us.
(09:55):
So our guide was really good.
He was just, he's classic, the guywas right out of a romance novel.
He was just kind of this strapping20-year-old guy and, you know, in
the winter, he's ski patrol and,you know, his family runs a winery
or does fields and it's classic.
(10:15):
Cool.
Yes.
But before, before we did thebike tour, when we got to Dijon,
first of all, the place we stayed,it was an adventure finding it.
And even though we used booking.com,they had like a secondary
interface that was all in French.
And so it was not the easiest.
(10:38):
It was like, oh, we were looking for thislittle tiny door, and you had to find the
code and put that in and then go upstairs.
I mean, the place was great.
It was right in the, like from our bedyou could see the cathedral spires, but
finding it was a bit of an adventure.
But when we walked through Dijon,to me, walking through that
(10:58):
village, that city, it felt like thebackground of a Shakespearean play.
It was so picturesque and beautifuland it just, every place I looked, I
couldn't believe how beautiful it is.
A movie set.
It was a set.
It was absolutely a movie set.
But we had a very interestingexperience in Dijon.
(11:20):
And it was Olympic related.
And I'll let Scott take it from there.
So well, because you know, we left Pariswith like, I don't know, there's like
four or five days left in the games.
And you know, my job, I workedfor the Utah Jazz, of the NBA
doing basketball television.
So I was extremely interested inthe basketball part of the Olympics.
(11:41):
So when we were there the second night, wewent out to dinner and then we came back
and turned on the TV and the US was likedown 14 to Serbia in the quarterfinal,
like if they lost, like the USA wouldlose, which is like unbelievable.
So they came back and won that.
And so I'm like, "Oh, so we aregoing to watch the gold medal
(12:03):
game against France in Dijon.
And I was like, "Whereshould we watch it?"
Well, we found out that there's apark where they had a big screen
set up, so to go and watch it there.
We had dinner, we walked intothis park, park is packed, packed
with people to watch this game.
And we're the only Americans.
I didn't hear, I didn't seeany other Americans there.
(12:26):
We got there too late to get a seat, sowe're standing with these French people,
and the US is basically killing theFrench for like two thirds of the game.
And then in the fourth quarter gets down,Victor Wembanyama, who is unbelievable,
um, brings France back to within three,and then Steph Curry starts making threes.
(12:49):
It was fantastic.
The best part was, is like at the end,it's like Curry would get the ball,
the whole crowd would go, "Oh, no."
Yeah.
And then he'd like make two more threes.
And it was, it's cool because... It,it's like... And I love being on the
road when you're winning on the road andthe French, like they were so into it.
And they were bummed that it,that they lost, but like, I think
(13:14):
everybody appreciated, like what agood game it was, and it's like...
And one of the things that, you know, whenI go to the Olympics, I really try to,
especially for the opening ceremonies,is to be with the locals just to see
how proud everybody is of their countryand you get the real flavor of it.
And that was a different experience,watching that gold medal game in France
(13:36):
with the French, but it was just as good.
That's the kind of thing you want todo in an Olympics, and that's why it's
like, you know, I tell anybody, "If youever have a chance to go to the Olympics,
get your accommodation set and thenfigure it out," because you can always
go get tickets or whatever, but it'slike nothing else you've ever been to.
The vibe around it is always just... it'sindescribable, you know, and it's like...
(14:01):
And you're seeing people, you get thefeeling of, you know, these are people
that worked their whole lives for thismoment and the pressure is unbelievable,
but the home country, the people fromthe home country in the Olympics nearly
all the time rise to the occasion, andto have the crowd behind you like...
there's just really nothing like it.
(14:22):
Yeah, the ambiance was great.
I mean, I just went to some basketballin Lille, and it was, the ambiance was
great, and then we went to Paralympicsfor a whole week, so we went to
lots of events, and even for theParalympics, people were really excited.
It was really fun.
It was wonderful.
The other thing we did in Dijon is,we planned a very good meal there.
(14:44):
It was like a Michelin-
Oh, yeah.
recommended restaurant, Parapluie.
And wasn't that the name of it, Parapluie?
Yeah.
You have parapluiedijon.com.
The food was very inventive, it wasvery different, some of it was Asian
influenced, and we were sitting, youknow, on a cobblestone sidewalk, and it
(15:07):
was a really, a very French experience.
So this was a starred restaurant?
No.
I don't know if it was astarred or a recommend.
Okay.
So maybe a Michelin Bib,the recommended, yeah.
And it was price fixed, so it'slike, "This is what we're having
today." So... And it was really good.
And it's not like a place whereif you were walking by it, you're
(15:29):
like, "Oh, that's a big timerestaurant." Not like that at all.
It was a small place, and it was rightaround the corner from our Airbnb.
It was great.
All right.
Fantastic.
Fantastic.
Okay.
So Annecy, you enjoyed as well.
I mean, how can you not enjoy Annecy?
Tell me more about that.
What did you do?
What did you particularly like?
(15:49):
Well, I was determined for that,where we would stay, would be
right you know, in the heart ofthe village looking at the canal.
And so we ended up staying in, thiswas a, I guess it was an Airbnb, it
was a loft on the fourth floor above arestaurant in the middle of the town.
(16:13):
And it was, they were having a heatwave in Annecy, in all of France.
Yeah.
And you know, you know you're notgetting air conditioning, it's just not
going to happen, but when we found ourplace, it was kind of a scavenger hunt.
It was, "Okay, look for this restaurant,and then look for this little door,
and then put the code in, and thenyou're going to go through a tunnel
(16:37):
and then you'll see stone steps."
It was just this scavenger hunt.
And the tunnel was in between tworestaurants, and both of them, their
ovens or stoves exhausted into the tunnel.
And so the tunnel was like 140 degrees.
So we had to just like bolt through thistunnel to get to the steps and then go up
(17:00):
these four flights of stone steps, likereally treacherous, and then we were at
this amazing loft overlooking the canals.
Wow.
So it was absolutely perfect, but wewere very strategic about, "Okay, are we
leaving the loft right now? Do we haveeverything we need so we don't have to
(17:21):
come back up and, you know, don't forgetanything?" Because it was really...
getting through that little tunnel, whoo.
It was so hot.
And there was no air in the tunnel.
It was just...... heat, pure heat.
But it was a beautiful, very French littleplace and the terrace had a, a hammock
and you could look at all of the actionbelow and watch the storms roll in.
(17:44):
And it was really,really, really beautiful.
But I know, I know, Scott, youreally loved that place, right?
Well, we liked the hammock so wellthat Linda got me one for Christmas.
We could recreate our littlebalcony in Annecy at our house now.
And we're looking aroundat all these places.
We were like the only peoplethat had a balcony, and we
(18:05):
had a little bit of a breeze.
We saw the sunsets all the time.
It was so much fun.
And then, you know, we were like athree-minute walk to the lake from there,
and walking through the little streets andall the little shops and the ice cream.
Ice cream, a big deal in Annecy.
Like, every fourth placeis a ice cream shop.
(18:26):
Yes.
The lake was beautiful.
It's just spectacular.
I assume you two... Oh,you biked around the lake.
Yes.
Yeah.
Did you rent the bikes aheadof time or did you just go?
Because you can just go to thelake and there's a bike rental
thing right there, several of them.
Bunch of places, yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
And there's a lot of people ridingbikes, but the path is so good.
(18:47):
Like, it was crowded, but itwasn't like you were really
slow or anything like that.
It was like... It was so nice.
And we got to see the...so many paragliders.
So people come off the mountain on thefar side of the lake, paragliding in.
That was great.
And it was a super nice sunny day.
And I figured that lake, you know, youlook at the lake, you're in the Alps,
(19:07):
it's like that water must be cold.
And we're like, "Dude, I don'tknow." And then, I stuck my hand in
and I'm like, "Oh, this is nice."
So we got back.
Did we do it the same... No, we didn'tdo it the same day as the bike ride,
but we went and rented paddle boats,you know, paddled out, not to the middle
of the lake, but a little farther out,and jumped in the water and swam, and
(19:29):
the water temperature was perfect.
It wasn't cold, it wasn't toohot, and it was just super nice.
I loved being on the lake.
Well, so you guys live in Utah,so I'm used to lakes in Utah.
They are mighty cold by comparison.
Yes.
Yes, because they're high mountain lakes.
They're very, very cold.
(19:50):
Much colder than lake Annecy,
How long did the ridearound the lake take you?
Well, we had lunch, so I bet it,like, the whole time we were out
there, three hours, you think,honey, with lunch and everything?
Maybe a little longer.
Three, four hours.
Yeah, maybe.
Yeah.
We did a very leisurely lunch.
Just found this little spot.
(20:10):
We stopped at two places.
One was a little coffee breakfast placespecifically for bikers and hikers.
And then this, the lunch placewe stopped, it just had this big
terrace overlooking the lake.
Oh.
And we got a bottle of wine and justhad this perfect leisurely lunch,
(20:31):
and then got back on the bikes.
So, it was great.
That's fantastic.
The other side of the lakefrom where, from Annecy, that
definitely has some hills.
We were really glad we had theelectric bikes there, because if you
didn't have the electric bike, you'dbe walking up for, you know, unless
you're Lance Armstrong or whatever, so-
Oh, that's good to know because I mean, Ihaven't done it, I walked part of the way.
(20:52):
I didn't go all the way around,so I wouldn't have known
that there were some hills.
Yeah, there's definitely some hills.
And on the other part, thetraffic is a little more.
Like, the bike path isn't thebig wide bike path, like, on
the Annecy part of the lake.
But it was still doable.
But that's definitely... You know,unless you're a real cyclist, I would
highly recommend getting a pedal assistbike if you're going to do that trip.
(21:16):
Fantastic.
So I assume that you hadn'tbooked restaurants and things
like that ahead of time.
You just saw it, right, and went?
I had booked, like, one restaurant ineach city, but when we were in Annecy,
we ended up canceling our reservationthat I'd made because of timing.
But I will say that when we were lookingfor a restaurant one of the nights,
(21:39):
it was tricky because it was August,and several of the places that we'd
had recommended to us, by the guy thatowned the apartment we were staying in
and by guidebooks, they were closed.
Ah.
And so one of the nights, weprobably tried four or five places
before we found a place to eat.
(22:01):
And not that we minded.
I mean, it was just, like, walkingthrough the beautiful town.
But certainly, if you're going in August,and you, you had told us this, and
we knew this, that the possibility ofplaces being closed was pretty great.
And so we did find that a little tricky.
I think one thing that's maybe a littlebit of a misnomer is, you hear like, "Oh,
(22:22):
don't go to France in August. Everywhereis closed." It's not everywhere is closed.
It's just like some places areclosed, some places are not, you know.
And it's not like they'reclosed for three weeks.
They're closed for a week, you know.
So it's like you could do it,but it's just, you know...
... Yes, there's some inconveniences, butit's not as bad as you might think.
(22:44):
Yeah, and especially if you're willingto just roll with the punches a little
bit and just go, "Ah, well, thisone's closed. Let's go to another
one," you know, you won't starve.
One of the things that made Annecy extraspecial, I think, is the rainstorms.
Where we were, our loft, it had acovered terrace, and so we could
(23:06):
sit out there when it was rainingand watch these storms roll in.
One of the nights, it poured.
Ah.
Absolutely poured rain.
And it just made... everything wasjust shiny, and people were huddled in
places, and it was really extra special.
Like, everyone, all of the restaurantshave little covers that go out onto
(23:29):
the cobblestone walkways, but then inbetween where one tent ends and another
begins, there's these areas where itwas all wet, and people are running
from place to place, and it just wasreally, made it extra fun, I think.
Don't you think, Scott?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
The rain, well, it just cleared everythingout and made everything really nice.
(23:51):
And we were also at Annecy the oneday when they had the market come in.
And so the streets there are super narrowanyway, and then we woke up in the morning
because we wanted to go to the market.
Then we came out of the,you know, our door, and it's
like, "Hey, it's right here."
Yeah.
And so... ... we were just like, we'rewalking through it, and they have
all this stuff, and it's like, "Howdo they even get this stuff here?"
(24:14):
And then, it's like, in theafternoon you come back, and
it's like it never happened.
It's like everything's gone.
The logistics of doingthat, pretty impressive.
Well, they do this every week.
And every day.
Most of the vendors, they're inAnnecy one day, and then they go
to a different town the next day.
They work every day.
They don't just come the one week,you know, the one day a week.
They're just used to it.
(24:35):
But it's true, that in Annecy, becausethey fill up the paths all around
the river, and so it's yeah, there'splaces where it's kind of narrow, and
over the bridges as well, and stuff.
It's beautiful.
It's a very pleasant town.
I found it picture perfect, andmany areas are picture perfect.
As soon as you walk towardsthe train stations and beyond,
(24:56):
it's a real French city.
It's not all scenic, as scenicas the city center, you know,
historical city center is... Butthis is true almost anywhere you go.
Like yesterday, again, Iwas in Béziers with Elyse.
Béziers is the same, it has alovely historical city center,
and then you... A little furtheraway, well, it's a French city.
(25:18):
It has apartment buildings and thingsthat are not as scenic obviously, so...
Well, in Annecy, down by the, whenyou walk out of the city center
towards the lake, there's a bigpark all along the lake, and it was
filled with activity, with families,and it, it was very charming to see.
(25:38):
It, I mean, it, it was a differentvibe than the old town part.
Yeah.
But it was just families out therehaving picnics and stuff for the day,
and that was really nice to see as well.
Mm-hmm.
How many days would you say peopleshould spend in Annecy so that
they have time to do all of this?
Were we there three nights, Dolly?
I think that was...
(25:59):
Yeah, we were there three nights, wewere there four days, and I think if
you wanted to use that as a jumpingoff point to go to, I know there's
waterfalls and Mont Blanc and thingslike that, you could be there longer,
or if you wanted to go to Geneva.
For us, we didn't want torent a car, and so that amount
(26:19):
of time was really adequate.
It felt right, and we were ready tomove on to Lyon after that, for sure.
Yeah.
There is a fastish train thatyou can take between Annecy and
Geneva if you want to do that.
If you want to go take the train to goto Geneva for the day, that's doable.
It's an hour and 20 minutes or something.
(26:41):
and some trains are slower.
I don't, you know, I don't, I mean, Idid it, I don't remember what all the
schedules were, but yeah, there are trainsthat you can take if you would like.
How about Dijon?
I didn't ask you about howlong to spend in Dijon.
Were we there two nights?
Yeah, Dijon, you know, Dijon was fine.
I think two nights isfine for what we did.
(27:03):
I mean, the city's really nice, butit's more the stuff around the city,
more, like the doing the Beaune thing.
I would say, between the two,spending more time in Annecy than
Dijon is probably the way to do it.
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
And then, you could stay inBeaune or Dijon, they're both
lovely cities differently,you know, but Dijon is bigger.
(27:24):
Yeah, for sure.
Very good.
All right, you also went to Lyon.
How much time did you spend in Lyon?
I think we were there three nights.
Yeah, we were in Lyon three nights.
Was that sufficient?
Yes.
Yeah, three nights in Lyon.
I think one of the things thereis we were there during a holiday.
(27:45):
And so some of the things that Ispecifically wanted to do, we couldn't do.
I wanted to explore some of the cooking,and go to a couple of, like, restaurant
supply places to get some... BecauseI like to cook and I wanted to get some
things from there and they were closed.
Because it was Ascensionof Mary, I think, or-
(28:08):
Yeah, the fifteenth of August.
Yes.
We didn't realize that thingswould be closed that day.
Yeah.
Kitchen supply stores are not...yeah, they don't stay open if
it's a holiday because, I mean,professionals are not going to go to
the kitchen supply store on a holiday.
Right, right, right.
And we didn't realize it was a holiday.
So, that city is stunning.
(28:30):
It is just stunningly beautiful.
I mean, we knew it would be,we read that it would be, but
it still took me by surprise.
Huh.
It's a really good walking city.
There's a lot of good places to walk andwe were close to the river, but our side
of the river, we walked all over the placeand just saw a lot of really cool things.
(28:52):
And then, one night, we went todinner at a food hall across the
river, and then we were in the oldtown or what is it called, Dolly?
Was it called Old Town or?
I don't remember, but it was bustling.
Yes.
So there's actually tworivers that go through Lyon.
It's a big city, but that city's centervibe around the cathedral, because you
(29:14):
have the basilica up on the hill, but youalso have the cathedral lower down, and
around the cathedral is bustling a lot.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's where the food hall was.
And yeah, it was sofestive, was just festive.
People of all ages just out having fun.
(29:34):
There was a full moon.
It was really special.
Right.
And so you booked a special dinnerat something called Red Circle?
Yes.
So Cercle Rouge.
Okay.
Never heard of it.
That was our best dinnerthat we had in France.
Ah.
Definitely.
That place was great.
Huh.
And that was another,a Michelin recommended.
(29:55):
We asked the guy, I'm like, "Thisis so good. It's like, you guys
got to be close to getting a star."
And he's like (30:00):
"You know, we probably could get a star, but then the prices go
way up, and we kind of price ourselvesout of it. So we're right where we want
to be." But yeah, that Cercle Rougeplace, I would highly, highly recommend.
Wonderful.
That's fantastic.
Yeah.
A starred restaurant is a differentbusiness altogether, because once you
(30:23):
have a star, it becomes kind of a show.
They have to, you know, talk toyou about the food, they have to
display the food in certain ways.
Yeah, it's more of a theater kind ofexperience than simply having dinner.
And some people love thatand some people don't.
(30:43):
You'll find both people,both types of people.
The restaurant was in a verycharming two-story building.
Like, really narrow, really tinylittle... I mean, I don't know how
many tables they had, but not many.
And the steps, we were seated upstairsand they were very treacherous,
creaky old steps to get up there.
(31:04):
But it was, it was just, I don't know, theservice was amazing, the food was amazing,
the setting, everything was just magical.
The night we had booked to eat there,they called us and they said, "Oh, we
have to switch your booking becausewe're closing for August." You know, so
they got us in a day earlier and it wastheir last night serving before they were
(31:29):
taking off for like two or three weeks.
I was a little concerned that, youknow, maybe it wouldn't be as good
because they're getting ready to close.
It was amazing.
Really beautiful food.
Yeah.
If you're going to go to Michelin Bibrestaurants, you need to book those in
advance, because they are always full.
People know about this andthey reserve ahead of time.
(31:52):
That's one type of restaurant that Ireally recommend if that's what you
want to do, and I recommend them.
I've been to all kinds ofdifferent Michelin Bib restaurants.
Some I've liked better than others.
They're all quite... They all have theirown style, but I'm never disappointed.
The food is always good.
The service is always good.
It's a kind of a safe value, I guess.
(32:15):
And you don't pay that much, I mean, youpay what, 70, 80 per person or something?
Yeah.
That was about...
So we, we were going to go to thebig time Paul, Paul something.
It was a little, it was like a 20...
Paul Bocuse.
... Yeah, we were going to go to that one.
We had it reserved and they like,needed, you know... you were like,
(32:36):
$300 in before you ever showed up.
And then
Linda's like, "You know, we don'tneed to do that." And it's like, "You
know, that's a place like you've gotto have the right clothes." And I was
like, "but we're in France and we wantto do, you know, the Michelin thing."
And Linda's like, "No, no, no.We'll find something that doesn't
take that." And I was extremelyhappy with the way we did it.
(32:59):
Yeah.
Michelin starred restaurants arewonderful, but you do have to...
I mean, you don't have to dressup, but most people do a little
bit and it will take longer.
It will... Because somebody'sgoing to... We were laughing
about this with Elyse yesterday.
They will serve you somethingthat's the size of an olive.
But before they give it to you, theywill talk your ears off for five
minutes describing why the chef makesthis and how he makes this and why
(33:24):
he's so special for making this.
And I'm like, "Oh, justgive me the damn thing."
Yeah.
But you know, I'm impatient.
That's what it is.
All right.
So you enjoyed Lyon very much.
Lyon was great.
I think three days isprobably a little short.
Perhaps a night, an extra fournights might have been better.
I don't know.
For us, we... because... Especially forme, I hadn't spent much time in Paris.
(33:50):
Aha.
And so, at that point I was ready, Iwas very ready to get back to Paris
and kind of have our adventure.
Because when I got to Paris,Scott was still working.
And so I had one day there bymyself walking around, and then
the next day we went to Dijon.
And I have to say the day, the firstday we walked, or I walked around by
(34:13):
myself in Paris, you had recommendedthat I go to a cemetery in Montmartre.
Montmartre, yeah, yeah, yeah.
By our hotel.
It was an amazing placeto spend several hours.
Yeah.
And it was super interestingbecause it's kind of below
(34:33):
the street level a little bit.
And so I had to walk around and kind offollow the wall till I found an entrance.
Mm-hmm.
And it was almost like a secret entrance.
And I walked in and all of the hustle andbustle from street level just faded away.
And you're in this quiet space.
(34:54):
Everything is overgrown and greenand there's hardly any people there.
And it was very dramatic and it wasvery shaded from these giant trees.
And of course, there was a blackcat that crossed my path the
second I walked in, and it wasreally, it was really something.
(35:15):
It was fun.
You know, you have to be someonewho likes... I happen to like
walking through cemeteries.
Yeah, they are interesting.
There's some famous French peoplemostly, buried there, so to me, you know,
everybody wants to go to Père Lachaise,and it's a great cemetery, but the
Montmartre Cemetery is also very well.
It's very good.
If you're going to spend the day,it's more French vibe, you know.
(35:37):
It just blew my mind really, it did.
I would say the only place I've beenthat is even close to it is some
of the cemeteries in New Orleans.
Uh-huh.
But, yeah, it wasreally, really something.
So thank you for that recommendation.
I...
Most welcome.
... was so glad to have gone there.
So what, what were your top activitiesin Paris, would you say, Linda,
(36:00):
since this was your first time?
Oh gosh, that is...
You mentioned the Latin Quarter.
We stayed in the Latin Quarter and theoverall festive vibe of the Latin Quarter
in the evening is not to be missed.
There were so many interestingrestaurants, little places, a lot of
(36:21):
international, like one of the placeswe ate was a Greek place that made
gyros in like a French kind of way.
We went to see the Monetexhibit at the Orangerie.
Orangerie, yeah.
Yeah.
And, you know, it's something thatyour whole life you're familiar with
(36:44):
Monet, and then to go there and havethat experience was really, kind
of something I'm so glad we did.
I also have to say, and I knowthis sounds so corny, but the
Eiffel Tower was mind-blowing.
Yeah.
I mean, it is so huge and so beautiful.
(37:05):
It's just mind-blowing whenyou're standing underneath
it, and I did not expect that.
I felt like I don't really careif I go to the Eiffel Tower.
And, oh my gosh, it wasreally, really, really amazing.
Yeah, it's an interesting place.
It's beautiful.
And it is, like you said, it'smore stunning than... I guess
(37:25):
you've seen representations ofit, like-... a million times.
But seeing it for real is... is great.
Yeah.
It really is.
There's one other thing that... Well,there's two other things, and I'm talking
too much, I should let Scott answer this.
You mentioned, Scott, that you enjoyedthe Jardin du Luxembourg very much.
(37:46):
Yeah.
That was great.
Talk about that.
The Luxembourg Gardens werepretty close to our hotel.
The walk going there was just as fun, andit was a little misty, but those grounds
were fantastic and just so well manicured.
And it's, the place is huge.
You don't really realize it whenyou're outside it, but it's just,
(38:08):
it's a huge place and it's so nice.
I just, I loved walking aroundit and just kind of being there
when it was a little bit misty.
You know, we took some really coolpictures, and that was really nice.
And I guess there's like a lot ofplaces like that in Paris, right?
Oh, yeah.
The two big parks in Paris thateverybody knows are Jardin du
(38:28):
Luxembourg et Jardin des Tuileries.
But
we also have Parc Monceau, you have LesButtes-Chaumont, which are also very nice.
Yeah, you have a bunch of them.
We did a whole episode aboutall the parks in Paris.
If you're interested in that, wehave an episode where we list all of
them and what you can find in them.
They are all wonderful,especially in the summertime.
(38:51):
That was really cool.
The other thing that was cool, soNotre Dame was really close to us.
So we walked over to Notre Dameand, of course, it was still
pretty active construction site.
But one of the coolest things we sawthere was, in front of it, they had
these, you know, really, these really nicepictures of the people that were restoring
(39:13):
it and little stories about them.
And I thought that was so classyand so cool and, you know, just like
what Notre Dame means to the Frenchand the care in the restoration.
And to make these people like starsthat they were working on, and I
thought that was really, really cool.
And then, you know, just a fewweeks ago, just to see the inside
(39:37):
of it and what they've done.
It's very cool.
It was really impressive to see howmuch people cared about what was going
on with that and just the detail theyused to, you know, restore that place.
I don't know if you've been in itor since, but it seems like what
they've made it now is probablybetter than it's ever been, right?
(39:59):
Yeah.
I'm going back in a couple of weeks, soI haven't been back yet, but I'm going
back in a couple of weeks, and from thevideo and the photos, it looks stunning.
I really very much look forward to it.
One of the other things that I didwhen Scott was working is, I did
your audio tour through Le Marais.
That was great.
(40:19):
I mean, here I am, I'm alone forthe day, Scott's working, I had your
podcast, and it was just like I hadthis companion, Annie is with me going
through Le Marais and it was justthis crazy, fun guided adventure, and
it really brought it to life for me.
(40:41):
And again, made me feellike I had a friend with me.
I highly recommend doing that.
And in fact, we had friends that wentthere right after us, and I said,
"Oh, you've got to get Annie's podcastand walk through the Le Marais."
Yeah.
The VoiceMap tours, they make itsimple, because, I just tell you
where to go and tell you a littlebit about it, and then, you know,
accompany you, walk around with you.
(41:03):
It's kind of a fun thing to do.
We're going to be running out oftime soon, but what would you say,
what would you give to people whoare going to do a similar trip?
Some advice when coming to France,what do you want to tell them about?
I would say, especially ifyou are American, you need to
relax into the French culture.
(41:24):
It seems to me that French peoplehave this calm confidence about them
that... I describe it this way.
In America, if you're waiting to get onan elevator and the doors open, Americans
will rush into the elevator beforepeople have had the chance to get out.
French people won't do that.
(41:44):
You have to kind of set aside yourAmerican elbowing people to get
in your place in line and justbe calm and enjoy it, because
that's what the culture is about.
And we have a lot we couldlearn from that style of living.
And I really appreciated the factthat it wasn't just a vacation, it
(42:08):
was like a culture shift for twoweeks that I've tried to bring back
with me of, you know, just be calmand patient, and everything is going
to work out the way it's supposed to.
I really felt a calm in Francethat our culture doesn't have,
(42:28):
and I wish we had more of.
It's more hurried in the US.
People are just, they work so much.
What would you say, Scott?
Well, one of the things, if you'regoing to do what we did, and, you
know, Linda was really key aboutthis, is get your accommodations down.
When you get there, it's like the fly-byto see your night for accommodations.
We had that handled.
Then after that, you justhave to be open, you know?
(42:51):
And you're going to walk, you're goingto use the public transportation.
Be used to that, you know?
If we took an Uber, like,we took two Ubers, you know?
And the other thing is, the misconceptionis, France is not, like, if you don't
speak English, you're in trouble.
It's not.
You're fine.
The English factor waspretty high, you know?
Most people know some.
You have your Google Translate andthe one thing that you always said
(43:14):
is we said, "Bonjour." The firstthing we said when we met any people
is, 'Bonjour', bonjour to everybody.
And I think that it was disarming.
And I think, you take the (43:24):
"Oh, that's the Americans," out of it, you know?
And it's like people know thatyou're not going to be asking
for something or whatever.
And so that was really important,and we really took that to heart.
As silly as it sounds, itmade a huge difference.
Yes.
It's like you're part of the club,you understand how French people work.
(43:45):
Yeah, yeah.
And disarming, you said disarming.
I like that.
Because, you know, sometimes when you meeta person for the first time, even in a
service situation, people might have a,kind of a, I don't know, brusque reaction.
But if you say, "Bonjour? Oh, he'sone of us. He knows how to handle
(44:07):
a social situation." That's great.
That's wonderful.
One of the really cool things is, so wewent to L'Orangerie, it was on a Sunday
morning, and we were going to take thetrain there from the Latin Quarter.
But we got there and there was sometrain thing that wasn't happening.
There was a woman that was kind of waitingfor the train with us and, it was being
(44:29):
said in French, she's like, "Oh, thetrain's not coming for 40 minutes." And
it was like, "Oh, man." And it's like,"Well, we need to go to L'Orangerie."
She's like, "Come with me, I'm going downthere too, you know, I'm working at the
museum." So we got to walk with the woman.
She's probably 21.
She was like a college student.
She spoke really good English.
We just got to, a really immersive,like, how does a young person
in France do it, you know?
And we got a really good
(45:00):
15 minutes walk with her.
She was so charming and so nice.
College student that's going to school,but she works at a museum, and she
was just super friendly, you know?
And I think that's one thing, andlike, all the French people that I had
interactions with at the Olympics, wehave a lot of students that work at
the Olympics, and they were all great.
(45:22):
And so that's one thing I wouldsay, if you're in France, you
know, really try to have a localexperience and get with the people.
They're very proud of France, andthey want to share it with you.
And that was really one of the nice littleunexpected things that happened to us.
Fantastic.
Well, we really have to stop talkingbecause we've been going on a long time.
(45:45):
But it's been really interestingto hear your perspective on this.
And I'm glad that you wentout of Paris a little bit.
That's great.
Many more places for you tovisit on different trips.
Yeah.
But you didn't try toover-schedule, you didn't try to
run over all over the creation.
So good on you!
You did great!
(46:05):
And thank you so much forcoming on the podcast.
It's wonderful talking to you again.
Thanks for having us, Annie.
Thank you for doing the podcast, becausewe listened to a lot of episodes before
we left the US, and we felt prepared.
Wonderful.
So, thank you.
Merci beaucoup, au revoir.
Merci, au revoir.
Merci.
(46:32):
Again, a big thank youto my wonderful patrons.
Your support makes this podcastpossible week after week.
I'm pre-recording a few episodesright now, so no shout-outs today,
but I have not forgotten you.
Every single patron keeps thelights on at Join Us in France.
If you've been enjoying theshow and want to give back,
consider joining us on Patreon.
(46:53):
It starts at just $3 a month, andyou'll get access to exclusive
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Visit patreon.com/joinus to learn more.
And if you're already a patron Merci!
Merci Beaucoup!
(47:13):
You're the reason this show keeps going.
And to support Elyse, of course,go to patreon.com/elysart.
I'm recording this ahead so I don'thave any new reviews to share, but
if you're curious about what otherlisteners think of my VoiceMap tours,
head over to joinusinfrance.com/vmr,that stands for VoiceMap reviews.
(47:39):
You'll find lots of feedback fromfellow travelers who've walked the
streets of Paris with me in their ear.
Maybe your review willbe the next one I read.
Podcast listeners get a big discountfor buying these tours from my website.
It's best for me as well, because I getto keep more of what you pay instead
of giving it to Apple or Google.
But if you buy from my boutique, it'sa manual process, so don't expect it
(48:03):
to be instant like it would be if youwere buying directly from VoiceMap.
But most of you listening plan theirtrips at least few weeks in advance,
perhaps a few months in advance.
So, you're probably not in a rush.
To use your code, open VoiceMap,tap Tour Codes at the bottom right,
enter the code and download the tour.
(48:23):
You own it forever.
Even if you change phones, youjust log into your VoiceMap
account to access it again.
The tours work without data becausethe audio, images and maps are
downloaded to your phone, and GPS worksanywhere, even without cell service.
And best of all, you can listenin virtual playback from anywhere
(48:43):
in the world, perfect if Parisis not in your immediate plans.
You can take me in yourpocket with my VoiceMap tours.
If you're planning a trip to Franceand want expert help, you can hire
me as your itinerary consultant.
It's a busy season, so book earlyat joinusinfrance.com/boutique.
Usually, I have openings within amonth, but right now it's more like
(49:06):
two or three months, so don't waitif that's something you want to do.
Let's talk about movie locations in Parisand why they are so very, very popular.
Have you ever wanted to justsit at a cafe in Paris and
enjoy life like Amelie Poulain?
You're not alone.
That exact feeling brings thousands ofmovie lovers to Montmartre every year,
(49:28):
because let's face it, few films havecaptured the magic of Paris quite like
Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain.
In this postcard perfect cornerof the city, you'll find real
places made famous by the film.
There's the Collignon grocery store whereLucien, played by Jamel Debbouze, works,
(49:48):
and of course, the legendary Cafe desDeux Moulins, where Amelie serves coffee.
It's been 24 years since the movie cameout and people still flock to these
places, hoping to capture a bit of thewhimsical Paris that Amelie showed us.
Marc Fouchedoire, the owner ofthe cafe, says people come for the
atmosphere, for a glimpse of Paristhat doesn't quite exist anymore.
(50:13):
He still sees about two marriageproposals a month there.
Some are touching, some are, let'sjust say, creatively complicated.
One Japanese tourist told a reporterthat she cried when she arrived.
She's been dreaming ofthis moment for 24 years.
Another tourist said she madeit her mission to see every
(50:35):
spot from the film, the CanalSaint-Martin, Montmartre, everything.
"I just want to sit here andenjoy life like Amelie," she said.
And I get it.
I mean, I've included some of thesespots in my Montmartre walking tour as
well, because they're fun, you know?
Globally, 23 million people have seenthe film, there's a lot of eyes on Paris,
(50:58):
and according to Sophie Cazes, who leadsthe City's Cinema Mission, seeing movies
like Amelie Poulain or Amelie in Parisreally does inspire people to book a trip.
She says eight out of ten foreigntourists say a film or series
made them want to visit Paris.
That is huge.
(51:19):
Of course, Amélie isn't alone anymore.
Emilie, yes, that Emilie fromEmilie in Paris, I mean, she's
taken over in recent years.
She lives in Place de l'Estrapade, justaround the corner from the Panthéon.
According to one tourist,Emilie always gets her pain au
chocolat from the local bakery.
(51:40):
So naturally, he brought his girlfriendthere for the full experience.
And it seems silly to me at first,but I do include Emilie in Paris
locations in my itinerary consults,because people really love going there.
Paris hosts over 5,000days of filming every year.
That includes TV shows, movies,commercials, music videos, you name it.
(52:02):
City officials work hard to make sureit does not disrupt life for residents.
They schedule shots during schoolholidays, ask production teams to get
parking passes in advance, and remindthem to communicate with neighbors.
It makes sense because these shootshappen in real, lived-in neighborhoods.
And let's not forget thebig-budget American production.
(52:25):
Remember The DaVinci Code withTom Hanks and Audrey Tautou?
The famous Louvre scenewas filmed in 2005.
Or Mission (52:34):
Impossible with Tom Cruise tearing through the streets
of Paris at a 120 kilometersan hour, no helmet, of course.
That was 2017.
And yes, it was all carefullyplanned with the city and the police.
Foreign productions now make upalmost 20% of all filming in Paris.
(52:55):
Americans top the list.
Favorite locations include Placede l'Étoile, Place de Mexico
for the Eiffel Tower view.
I got to go see that one.
Place de Mexico for the view, andyes, if you go to Place de Mexico
and Avenue d'Éylau, so that's spelledD-apostrophe-E-Y-L-A-U, you will see a
very nice view of the Eiffel Tower in thedistance and there's even a café there,
(53:16):
if you're lucky enough to find a table.
And of course, the Pont Bir-Hakeim,which I included in my Eiffel Tower walk.
The bridge was the backdrop for a wildstunt by Jean-Paul Belmondo back in 1975.
so Paris and cinema, it's a love storythat just keeps on going and if you're
(53:37):
like me, maybe next time you're inMontmartre, you'll pause, take it all
in and say, "I just want to sit hereand enjoy life like Amélie Poulain."
My thanks to podcast editors, Anneand Christian Cotovan, who produced
the transcripts and the audio.
Next week on the podcast, get readyfor a fun journey with 25 Days
(54:00):
of French Magic with Ken Ives.
Ken went to charming cities, of course,historic battlefields, beautiful
caves and enchanting nature reserves.
As always, you'll come along for thetrip, discover hidden gems, savor
mouth-watering regional dishes andsoak in the centuries of history.
(54:20):
Thank you so much for listening andI hope you join me next time, so
we can look around France together.
Au revoir!
The Join Us in France travelpodcast is written, hosted, and
produced by Annie Sargent, andCopyright 2025 by AddictedToFrance.
It is released under a CreativeCommons attribution, non-commercial,
(54:41):
no derivatives license.
This is Join Us in France, episode546, cinq cent quarante-six.
Bonjour, I'm Annie Sargent and Join Usin France is the podcast where we take
a conversational journey through thebeauty, culture, and flavors of France.
Today, I bring you a conversationwith Linda and Scott Rogers
(00:36):
about their fantastic trip toFrance during the 2024 Olympics.
They share some great experiences likewatching the Olympic basketball finals in
a packed park in Dijon, cycling throughwine country in Burgundy, and exploring
the charming towns of Annecy and Lyon.
This podcast runs on chocolatine,caffeine, and the support
(00:59):
of lovely humans like you.
You book itinerary consults, takemy VoiceMap tours in Paris, ride
shotgun in my electric car, come tothe boot camp, or slip me a few euros
on Patreon, and I love you for it.
Want to keep me going and skip the ads?
There's a link for that in the show notes.
Head to joinusinfrance.com/boutiqueand vive les podcast fans.
(01:25):
For the magazine part of the podcastafter my chat with Linda and Scott
today, I'll discuss movie locationsin Paris and why they are so popular.
Want the links and the full transcript?
It's all on the episode pageat joinusinfrance.com/episodes.
(01:53):
Bonjour, Linda and Scott Rogers,and welcome to Join Us in France.
Bonjour, thank you.
Bonjour.
Wonderful to talk to you today.
You had a great trip to France.
It overlapped with the Olympics, and we'llfind out why in just a second, so July
2024, some of August as well perhaps?
(02:14):
Yes.
So you were in Francefor several weeks, right?
We were traveling for several weeks,and Scott was there before that, even.
I was there basically for a month.
I was supposed to leave on July 19th,and we came back on August 19th.
Okay.
So why did, were you there for so long?
Tell us.
So, I was there for the hostbroadcast of the Olympic Games.
So I was the producer for skateboardingand BMX freestyle at Place de la Concorde.
(02:40):
Wow.
So, it was great.
Was that a good experience for you?
Oh, it was fantastic.
So, I've done a lot of Olympics, andParis was definitely one of my favorites.
It worked out really, really well.
You know, we stayed in the Montmatre,our train stop was Place de Clichy.
We rode the train sometimes to the venue,but a lot of times we walked, and it was
(03:03):
a really nice 30-minute walk through town.
The weather was perfect in the 70s.
The venue was great.
It was the first, you know, Olympicsin eight years, post COVID, so we
could really, you know, have fansand everything, and it was fantastic.
I had a great, great time.
And the organization, I mean, I thinkthey did a great job, but I didn't
(03:26):
see it from the inside as you did.
Did you run into anysnags with the organizers?
No, the organization was really great,really professional, everybody, you know.
The thing about the Olympics is, it'salways people who've done it for their
first time most of the time, because theOlympics just go to a different city.
So it can be inconsistent.
But the French were great, andeverything ran like clockwork.
(03:49):
You know, there were really no problems.
A lot of times the transportation,the buses and stuff can be a little
finicky, but the French did a great job.
I was extremely impressed.
Wonderful.
And Place de la Concordeisn't, you know, it's not bad.
It looks nice.
Yeah, yeah, it really looks nice.
We went to the Grand Palace, the fencingvenue, that was really close to us.
(04:10):
And, you know, everythingwas really close to us.
And I got to do a little bitof the opening ceremonies.
I was working in a truck where wewere picking out dignitaries, so
we went down there, but everything,yeah, everything was great.
Fantastic.
And then you also had a great triparound that with your wife, Linda.
So Linda, tell us where you went,and what was the, kind of what
(04:33):
was the gist of the trip for you?
What was your idea going into this?
Well, I've wanted to go to Francemy whole life, and I took French,
you know, starting in grade school.
And my class, when I was in sixth,no fifth grade, they did a trip
to France to go skiing in theAlps, and I didn't get to go.
(04:55):
And so when we decided we weregoing to France, I was determined
to spend a bit of time in theAlps because I'd missed that trip.
That was part of it for me.
We started in Paris.
I met Scott there for the end ofhis work on the Olympics, and then
we planned, we wanted to take atrip hitting a couple of different
(05:16):
places, but not spend a huge amountof time getting from place to place.
So we went from Paris to Dijon,from Dijon to Annecy, Annecy
to Lyon, and back to Paris.
And this was on the train?
Yes,
on the train.
We took a bus from Annecy to Lyon.
(05:39):
That's true, yeah.
But mostly it was train.
Because?
Timing.
When we got to the train station, wewould have had to wait longer for a
train, or than the bus was leaving, andwe would get there at the same time, so-
Yeah.
And the bus isn't bad, right?
I mean, taking the bus in France is fine.
It was fine.
Yeah, the scenery was good,and it's not a long trip.
(06:01):
It was fine.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So tell me about some of thethings, how did you plan this trip?
Are you planners?
Are you hyper-planners?
Are you people who like to take it easy?
"Ah, we'll just see whenwe get there," whatever?
We are planners, and what we have to do ishold back from over-programming, so that
(06:22):
if we over-program, it's not an adventure.
And so our goal was to be verycomfortable with the amount of time
we were spending in each place.
We planned the accommodations, and maybeone or two activities in each place,
and that was it, because we wantedto feel like adventurers, explorers.
(06:46):
So we had some milestone things, likewanting to have a fabulous dinner in
Lyon, wanting to do a bike trip throughwine country, but by and large, we tried
very hard to just go with the flow.
Right.
So did you get bored at any time?
(07:07):
Did you run out of things to do?
Never.
Never.
If anything, there were one or two timeswhere I felt a little guilty because I
just wanted to get food and go up to ouraccommodation in Annecy, and just have a
little lunch at our place and take a nap.
And I felt guilty thatI was missing something.
Yes, yes.
(07:28):
So Scott, tell me, so you, whenyou show up in Annecy on the train,
what's the first thing you did?
Well, before that, when we went to Dijon,
Oh, that's right, yep.
Yeah.
So we went to Dijon, and again, thetrain, like super nice and fast.
The train station, what was... I don'tknow, I forget what our train station
(07:49):
was that we were in in Paris, but it wasreally nice train station, beautiful, and
you think with the Olympics, it's justgoing to be a complete zoo, it was not.
So we got on the train, nice train trip.
So, we went to Dijon and our littleapartment was good, but it was hot.
Like when we were there, it washot, but it was still very doable.
(08:09):
And the first thing we really did is,we went on a cycling wine tour through
the Burgundy area, and we took, didwe take the train to Beaune, honey?
Yeah, we did.
Probably.
We took a little train from Dijon toBeaune, and then we walked through the
little town of Beaune to our bike tour.
(08:29):
And we had such a fun time on thebike tour, just going around and,
we got the electric bikes becausewe didn't want to have, you know,
just like be working all the time.
It was really super funtrip, and just so scenic.
And that's the one thing thatI saw about France, is just
everywhere we went is so beautiful.
(08:52):
Sometimes you go to places and it'slike, you know, you hear about,
"Oh, it's so, it's beautiful." Andthere's parts that are beautiful,
but everywhere was beautiful.
It was super fun.
I think Beaune, like that village,it sticks in my mind, and I'm
so glad that we didn't take anUber or anything from the train.
We walked through the village.
(09:12):
It was magical.
And the place where we did our biketour, their setup was in the center
of a park in the center of Beaune.
Everything about that walk gettingthere, it was just perfect and beautiful.
It just, it replays inmy mind again and again.
Do you remember the name ofthe tour company, the bike tour
(09:33):
company, and how did you find them?
I think I probably just found them online,I do have the name of the bike company.
Well, you can send it to me later.
I'll put it in the show notes.
because people willwant to know, you know.
Mm-hmm.
Was this a big bike tour orwas it just a few of you?
Well, is there like 10 of us, maybe?
Yeah, 10 or 12 of us.
(09:55):
So our guide was really good.
He was just, he's classic, the guywas right out of a romance novel.
He was just kind of this strapping20-year-old guy and, you know, in
the winter, he's ski patrol and,you know, his family runs a winery
or does fields and it's classic.
(10:15):
Cool.
Yes.
But before, before we did thebike tour, when we got to Dijon,
first of all, the place we stayed,it was an adventure finding it.
And even though we used booking.com,they had like a secondary
interface that was all in French.
And so it was not the easiest.
(10:38):
It was like, oh, we were looking for thislittle tiny door, and you had to find the
code and put that in and then go upstairs.
I mean, the place was great.
It was right in the, like from our bedyou could see the cathedral spires, but
finding it was a bit of an adventure.
But when we walked through Dijon,to me, walking through that
(10:58):
village, that city, it felt like thebackground of a Shakespearean play.
It was so picturesque and beautifuland it just, every place I looked, I
couldn't believe how beautiful it is.
A movie set.
It was a set.
It was absolutely a movie set.
But we had a very interestingexperience in Dijon.
(11:20):
And it was Olympic related.
And I'll let Scott take it from there.
So well, because you know, we left Pariswith like, I don't know, there's like
four or five days left in the games.
And you know, my job, I workedfor the Utah Jazz, of the NBA
doing basketball television.
So I was extremely interested inthe basketball part of the Olympics.
(11:41):
So when we were there the second night, wewent out to dinner and then we came back
and turned on the TV and the US was likedown 14 to Serbia in the quarterfinal,
like if they lost, like the USA wouldlose, which is like unbelievable.
So they came back and won that.
And so I'm like, "Oh, so we aregoing to watch the gold medal
(12:03):
game against France in Dijon.
And I was like, "Whereshould we watch it?"
Well, we found out that there's apark where they had a big screen
set up, so to go and watch it there.
We had dinner, we walked intothis park, park is packed, packed
with people to watch this game.
And we're the only Americans.
I didn't hear, I didn't seeany other Americans there.
(12:26):
We got there too late to get a seat, sowe're standing with these French people,
and the US is basically killing theFrench for like two thirds of the game.
And then in the fourth quarter gets down,Victor Wembanyama, who is unbelievable,
um, brings France back to within three,and then Steph Curry starts making threes.
(12:49):
It was fantastic.
The best part was, is like at the end,it's like Curry would get the ball,
the whole crowd would go, "Oh, no."
Yeah.
And then he'd like make two more threes.
And it was, it's cool because... It,it's like... And I love being on the
road when you're winning on the road andthe French, like they were so into it.
And they were bummed that it,that they lost, but like, I think
(13:14):
everybody appreciated, like what agood game it was, and it's like...
And one of the things that, you know, whenI go to the Olympics, I really try to,
especially for the opening ceremonies,is to be with the locals just to see
how proud everybody is of their countryand you get the real flavor of it.
And that was a different experience,watching that gold medal game in France
(13:36):
with the French, but it was just as good.
That's the kind of thing you want todo in an Olympics, and that's why it's
like, you know, I tell anybody, "If youever have a chance to go to the Olympics,
get your accommodation set and thenfigure it out," because you can always
go get tickets or whatever, but it'slike nothing else you've ever been to.
The vibe around it is always just... it'sindescribable, you know, and it's like...
(14:01):
And you're seeing people, you get thefeeling of, you know, these are people
that worked their whole lives for thismoment and the pressure is unbelievable,
but the home country, the people fromthe home country in the Olympics nearly
all the time rise to the occasion, andto have the crowd behind you like...
there's just really nothing like it.
(14:22):
Yeah, the ambiance was great.
I mean, I just went to some basketballin Lille, and it was, the ambiance was
great, and then we went to Paralympicsfor a whole week, so we went to
lots of events, and even for theParalympics, people were really excited.
It was really fun.
It was wonderful.
The other thing we did in Dijon is,we planned a very good meal there.
(14:44):
It was like a Michelin-
Oh, yeah.
recommended restaurant, Parapluie.
And wasn't that the name of it, Parapluie?
Yeah.
You have parapluiedijon.com.
The food was very inventive, it wasvery different, some of it was Asian
influenced, and we were sitting, youknow, on a cobblestone sidewalk, and it
(15:07):
was a really, a very French experience.
So this was a starred restaurant?
No.
I don't know if it was astarred or a recommend.
Okay.
So maybe a Michelin Bib,the recommended, yeah.
And it was price fixed, so it'slike, "This is what we're having
today." So... And it was really good.
And it's not like a place whereif you were walking by it, you're
(15:29):
like, "Oh, that's a big timerestaurant." Not like that at all.
It was a small place, and it was rightaround the corner from our Airbnb.
It was great.
All right.
Fantastic.
Fantastic.
Okay.
So Annecy, you enjoyed as well.
I mean, how can you not enjoy Annecy?
Tell me more about that.
What did you do?
What did you particularly like?
(15:49):
Well, I was determined for that,where we would stay, would be
right you know, in the heart ofthe village looking at the canal.
And so we ended up staying in, thiswas a, I guess it was an Airbnb, it
was a loft on the fourth floor above arestaurant in the middle of the town.
(16:13):
And it was, they were having a heatwave in Annecy, in all of France.
Yeah.
And you know, you know you're notgetting air conditioning, it's just not
going to happen, but when we found ourplace, it was kind of a scavenger hunt.
It was, "Okay, look for this restaurant,and then look for this little door,
and then put the code in, and thenyou're going to go through a tunnel
(16:37):
and then you'll see stone steps."
It was just this scavenger hunt.
And the tunnel was in between tworestaurants, and both of them, their
ovens or stoves exhausted into the tunnel.
And so the tunnel was like 140 degrees.
So we had to just like bolt through thistunnel to get to the steps and then go up
(17:00):
these four flights of stone steps, likereally treacherous, and then we were at
this amazing loft overlooking the canals.
Wow.
So it was absolutely perfect, but wewere very strategic about, "Okay, are we
leaving the loft right now? Do we haveeverything we need so we don't have to
(17:21):
come back up and, you know, don't forgetanything?" Because it was really...
getting through that little tunnel, whoo.
It was so hot.
And there was no air in the tunnel.
It was just...... heat, pure heat.
But it was a beautiful, very French littleplace and the terrace had a, a hammock
and you could look at all of the actionbelow and watch the storms roll in.
(17:44):
And it was really,really, really beautiful.
But I know, I know, Scott, youreally loved that place, right?
Well, we liked the hammock so wellthat Linda got me one for Christmas.
We could recreate our littlebalcony in Annecy at our house now.
And we're looking aroundat all these places.
We were like the only peoplethat had a balcony, and we
(18:05):
had a little bit of a breeze.
We saw the sunsets all the time.
It was so much fun.
And then, you know, we were like athree-minute walk to the lake from there,
and walking through the little streets andall the little shops and the ice cream.
Ice cream, a big deal in Annecy.
Like, every fourth placeis a ice cream shop.
(18:26):
Yes.
The lake was beautiful.
It's just spectacular.
I assume you two... Oh,you biked around the lake.
Yes.
Yeah.
Did you rent the bikes aheadof time or did you just go?
Because you can just go to thelake and there's a bike rental
thing right there, several of them.
Bunch of places, yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
And there's a lot of people ridingbikes, but the path is so good.
(18:47):
Like, it was crowded, but itwasn't like you were really
slow or anything like that.
It was like... It was so nice.
And we got to see the...so many paragliders.
So people come off the mountain on thefar side of the lake, paragliding in.
That was great.
And it was a super nice sunny day.
And I figured that lake, you know, youlook at the lake, you're in the Alps,
(19:07):
it's like that water must be cold.
And we're like, "Dude, I don'tknow." And then, I stuck my hand in
and I'm like, "Oh, this is nice."
So we got back.
Did we do it the same... No, we didn'tdo it the same day as the bike ride,
but we went and rented paddle boats,you know, paddled out, not to the middle
of the lake, but a little farther out,and jumped in the water and swam, and
(19:29):
the water temperature was perfect.
It wasn't cold, it wasn't toohot, and it was just super nice.
I loved being on the lake.
Well, so you guys live in Utah,so I'm used to lakes in Utah.
They are mighty cold by comparison.
Yes.
Yes, because they're high mountain lakes.
They're very, very cold.
(19:50):
Much colder than lake Annecy,
How long did the ridearound the lake take you?
Well, we had lunch, so I bet it,like, the whole time we were out
there, three hours, you think,honey, with lunch and everything?
Maybe a little longer.
Three, four hours.
Yeah, maybe.
Yeah.
We did a very leisurely lunch.
Just found this little spot.
(20:10):
We stopped at two places.
One was a little coffee breakfast placespecifically for bikers and hikers.
And then this, the lunch placewe stopped, it just had this big
terrace overlooking the lake.
Oh.
And we got a bottle of wine and justhad this perfect leisurely lunch,
(20:31):
and then got back on the bikes.
So, it was great.
That's fantastic.
The other side of the lakefrom where, from Annecy, that
definitely has some hills.
We were really glad we had theelectric bikes there, because if you
didn't have the electric bike, you'dbe walking up for, you know, unless
you're Lance Armstrong or whatever, so-
Oh, that's good to know because I mean, Ihaven't done it, I walked part of the way.
(20:52):
I didn't go all the way around,so I wouldn't have known
that there were some hills.
Yeah, there's definitely some hills.
And on the other part, thetraffic is a little more.
Like, the bike path isn't thebig wide bike path, like, on
the Annecy part of the lake.
But it was still doable.
But that's definitely... You know,unless you're a real cyclist, I would
highly recommend getting a pedal assistbike if you're going to do that trip.
(21:16):
Fantastic.
So I assume that you hadn'tbooked restaurants and things
like that ahead of time.
You just saw it, right, and went?
I had booked, like, one restaurant ineach city, but when we were in Annecy,
we ended up canceling our reservationthat I'd made because of timing.
But I will say that when we were lookingfor a restaurant one of the nights,
(21:39):
it was tricky because it was August,and several of the places that we'd
had recommended to us, by the guy thatowned the apartment we were staying in
and by guidebooks, they were closed.
Ah.
And so one of the nights, weprobably tried four or five places
before we found a place to eat.
(22:01):
And not that we minded.
I mean, it was just, like, walkingthrough the beautiful town.
But certainly, if you're going in August,and you, you had told us this, and
we knew this, that the possibility ofplaces being closed was pretty great.
And so we did find that a little tricky.
I think one thing that's maybe a littlebit of a misnomer is, you hear like, "Oh,
(22:22):
don't go to France in August. Everywhereis closed." It's not everywhere is closed.
It's just like some places areclosed, some places are not, you know.
And it's not like they'reclosed for three weeks.
They're closed for a week, you know.
So it's like you could do it,but it's just, you know...
... Yes, there's some inconveniences, butit's not as bad as you might think.
(22:44):
Yeah, and especially if you're willingto just roll with the punches a little
bit and just go, "Ah, well, thisone's closed. Let's go to another
one," you know, you won't starve.
One of the things that made Annecy extraspecial, I think, is the rainstorms.
Where we were, our loft, it had acovered terrace, and so we could
(23:06):
sit out there when it was rainingand watch these storms roll in.
One of the nights, it poured.
Ah.
Absolutely poured rain.
And it just made... everything wasjust shiny, and people were huddled in
places, and it was really extra special.
Like, everyone, all of the restaurantshave little covers that go out onto
(23:29):
the cobblestone walkways, but then inbetween where one tent ends and another
begins, there's these areas where itwas all wet, and people are running
from place to place, and it just wasreally, made it extra fun, I think.
Don't you think, Scott?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
The rain, well, it just cleared everythingout and made everything really nice.
(23:51):
And we were also at Annecy the oneday when they had the market come in.
And so the streets there are super narrowanyway, and then we woke up in the morning
because we wanted to go to the market.
Then we came out of the,you know, our door, and it's
like, "Hey, it's right here."
Yeah.
And so... ... we were just like, we'rewalking through it, and they have
all this stuff, and it's like, "Howdo they even get this stuff here?"
(24:14):
And then, it's like, in theafternoon you come back, and
it's like it never happened.
It's like everything's gone.
The logistics of doingthat, pretty impressive.
Well, they do this every week.
And every day.
Most of the vendors, they're inAnnecy one day, and then they go
to a different town the next day.
They work every day.
They don't just come the one week,you know, the one day a week.
They're just used to it.
(24:35):
But it's true, that in Annecy, becausethey fill up the paths all around
the river, and so it's yeah, there'splaces where it's kind of narrow, and
over the bridges as well, and stuff.
It's beautiful.
It's a very pleasant town.
I found it picture perfect, andmany areas are picture perfect.
As soon as you walk towardsthe train stations and beyond,
(24:56):
it's a real French city.
It's not all scenic, as scenicas the city center, you know,
historical city center is... Butthis is true almost anywhere you go.
Like yesterday, again, Iwas in Béziers with Elyse.
Béziers is the same, it has alovely historical city center,
and then you... A little furtheraway, well, it's a French city.
(25:18):
It has apartment buildings and thingsthat are not as scenic obviously, so...
Well, in Annecy, down by the, whenyou walk out of the city center
towards the lake, there's a bigpark all along the lake, and it was
filled with activity, with families,and it, it was very charming to see.
(25:38):
It, I mean, it, it was a differentvibe than the old town part.
Yeah.
But it was just families out therehaving picnics and stuff for the day,
and that was really nice to see as well.
Mm-hmm.
How many days would you say peopleshould spend in Annecy so that
they have time to do all of this?
Were we there three nights, Dolly?
I think that was...
(25:59):
Yeah, we were there three nights, wewere there four days, and I think if
you wanted to use that as a jumpingoff point to go to, I know there's
waterfalls and Mont Blanc and thingslike that, you could be there longer,
or if you wanted to go to Geneva.
For us, we didn't want torent a car, and so that amount
(26:19):
of time was really adequate.
It felt right, and we were ready tomove on to Lyon after that, for sure.
Yeah.
There is a fastish train thatyou can take between Annecy and
Geneva if you want to do that.
If you want to go take the train to goto Geneva for the day, that's doable.
It's an hour and 20 minutes or something.
(26:41):
and some trains are slower.
I don't, you know, I don't, I mean, Idid it, I don't remember what all the
schedules were, but yeah, there are trainsthat you can take if you would like.
How about Dijon?
I didn't ask you about howlong to spend in Dijon.
Were we there two nights?
Yeah, Dijon, you know, Dijon was fine.
I think two nights isfine for what we did.
(27:03):
I mean, the city's really nice, butit's more the stuff around the city,
more, like the doing the Beaune thing.
I would say, between the two,spending more time in Annecy than
Dijon is probably the way to do it.
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
And then, you could stay inBeaune or Dijon, they're both
lovely cities differently,you know, but Dijon is bigger.
(27:24):
Yeah, for sure.
Very good.
All right, you also went to Lyon.
How much time did you spend in Lyon?
I think we were there three nights.
Yeah, we were in Lyon three nights.
Was that sufficient?
Yes.
Yeah, three nights in Lyon.
I think one of the things thereis we were there during a holiday.
(27:45):
And so some of the things that Ispecifically wanted to do, we couldn't do.
I wanted to explore some of the cooking,and go to a couple of, like, restaurant
supply places to get some... BecauseI like to cook and I wanted to get some
things from there and they were closed.
Because it was Ascensionof Mary, I think, or-
(28:08):
Yeah, the fifteenth of August.
Yes.
We didn't realize that thingswould be closed that day.
Yeah.
Kitchen supply stores are not...yeah, they don't stay open if
it's a holiday because, I mean,professionals are not going to go to
the kitchen supply store on a holiday.
Right, right, right.
And we didn't realize it was a holiday.
So, that city is stunning.
(28:30):
It is just stunningly beautiful.
I mean, we knew it would be,we read that it would be, but
it still took me by surprise.
Huh.
It's a really good walking city.
There's a lot of good places to walk andwe were close to the river, but our side
of the river, we walked all over the placeand just saw a lot of really cool things.
(28:52):
And then, one night, we went todinner at a food hall across the
river, and then we were in the oldtown or what is it called, Dolly?
Was it called Old Town or?
I don't remember, but it was bustling.
Yes.
So there's actually tworivers that go through Lyon.
It's a big city, but that city's centervibe around the cathedral, because you
(29:14):
have the basilica up on the hill, but youalso have the cathedral lower down, and
around the cathedral is bustling a lot.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's where the food hall was.
And yeah, it was sofestive, was just festive.
People of all ages just out having fun.
(29:34):
There was a full moon.
It was really special.
Right.
And so you booked a special dinnerat something called Red Circle?
Yes.
So Cercle Rouge.
Okay.
Never heard of it.
That was our best dinnerthat we had in France.
Ah.
Definitely.
That place was great.
Huh.
And that was another,a Michelin recommended.
(29:55):
We asked the guy, I'm like, "Thisis so good. It's like, you guys
got to be close to getting a star."
And he's like (30:00):
"You know, we probably could get a star, but then the prices go
way up, and we kind of price ourselvesout of it. So we're right where we want
to be." But yeah, that Cercle Rougeplace, I would highly, highly recommend.
Wonderful.
That's fantastic.
Yeah.
A starred restaurant is a differentbusiness altogether, because once you
(30:23):
have a star, it becomes kind of a show.
They have to, you know, talk toyou about the food, they have to
display the food in certain ways.
Yeah, it's more of a theater kind ofexperience than simply having dinner.
And some people love thatand some people don't.
(30:43):
You'll find both people,both types of people.
The restaurant was in a verycharming two-story building.
Like, really narrow, really tinylittle... I mean, I don't know how
many tables they had, but not many.
And the steps, we were seated upstairsand they were very treacherous,
creaky old steps to get up there.
(31:04):
But it was, it was just, I don't know, theservice was amazing, the food was amazing,
the setting, everything was just magical.
The night we had booked to eat there,they called us and they said, "Oh, we
have to switch your booking becausewe're closing for August." You know, so
they got us in a day earlier and it wastheir last night serving before they were
(31:29):
taking off for like two or three weeks.
I was a little concerned that, youknow, maybe it wouldn't be as good
because they're getting ready to close.
It was amazing.
Really beautiful food.
Yeah.
If you're going to go to Michelin Bibrestaurants, you need to book those in
advance, because they are always full.
People know about this andthey reserve ahead of time.
(31:52):
That's one type of restaurant that Ireally recommend if that's what you
want to do, and I recommend them.
I've been to all kinds ofdifferent Michelin Bib restaurants.
Some I've liked better than others.
They're all quite... They all have theirown style, but I'm never disappointed.
The food is always good.
The service is always good.
It's a kind of a safe value, I guess.
(32:15):
And you don't pay that much, I mean, youpay what, 70, 80 per person or something?
Yeah.
That was about...
So we, we were going to go to thebig time Paul, Paul something.
It was a little, it was like a 20...
Paul Bocuse.
... Yeah, we were going to go to that one.
We had it reserved and they like,needed, you know... you were like,
(32:36):
$300 in before you ever showed up.
And then
Linda's like, "You know, we don'tneed to do that." And it's like, "You
know, that's a place like you've gotto have the right clothes." And I was
like, "but we're in France and we wantto do, you know, the Michelin thing."
And Linda's like, "No, no, no.We'll find something that doesn't
take that." And I was extremelyhappy with the way we did it.
(32:59):
Yeah.
Michelin starred restaurants arewonderful, but you do have to...
I mean, you don't have to dressup, but most people do a little
bit and it will take longer.
It will... Because somebody'sgoing to... We were laughing
about this with Elyse yesterday.
They will serve you somethingthat's the size of an olive.
But before they give it to you, theywill talk your ears off for five
minutes describing why the chef makesthis and how he makes this and why
(33:24):
he's so special for making this.
And I'm like, "Oh, justgive me the damn thing."
Yeah.
But you know, I'm impatient.
That's what it is.
All right.
So you enjoyed Lyon very much.
Lyon was great.
I think three days isprobably a little short.
Perhaps a night, an extra fournights might have been better.
I don't know.
For us, we... because... Especially forme, I hadn't spent much time in Paris.
(33:50):
Aha.
And so, at that point I was ready, Iwas very ready to get back to Paris
and kind of have our adventure.
Because when I got to Paris,Scott was still working.
And so I had one day there bymyself walking around, and then
the next day we went to Dijon.
And I have to say the day, the firstday we walked, or I walked around by
(34:13):
myself in Paris, you had recommendedthat I go to a cemetery in Montmartre.
Montmartre, yeah, yeah, yeah.
By our hotel.
It was an amazing placeto spend several hours.
Yeah.
And it was super interestingbecause it's kind of below
(34:33):
the street level a little bit.
And so I had to walk around and kind offollow the wall till I found an entrance.
Mm-hmm.
And it was almost like a secret entrance.
And I walked in and all of the hustle andbustle from street level just faded away.
And you're in this quiet space.
(34:54):
Everything is overgrown and greenand there's hardly any people there.
And it was very dramatic and it wasvery shaded from these giant trees.
And of course, there was a blackcat that crossed my path the
second I walked in, and it wasreally, it was really something.
(35:15):
It was fun.
You know, you have to be someonewho likes... I happen to like
walking through cemeteries.
Yeah, they are interesting.
There's some famous French peoplemostly, buried there, so to me, you know,
everybody wants to go to Père Lachaise,and it's a great cemetery, but the
Montmartre Cemetery is also very well.
It's very good.
If you're going to spend the day,it's more French vibe, you know.
(35:37):
It just blew my mind really, it did.
I would say the only place I've beenthat is even close to it is some
of the cemeteries in New Orleans.
Uh-huh.
But, yeah, it wasreally, really something.
So thank you for that recommendation.
I...
Most welcome.
... was so glad to have gone there.
So what, what were your top activitiesin Paris, would you say, Linda,
(36:00):
since this was your first time?
Oh gosh, that is...
You mentioned the Latin Quarter.
We stayed in the Latin Quarter and theoverall festive vibe of the Latin Quarter
in the evening is not to be missed.
There were so many interestingrestaurants, little places, a lot of
(36:21):
international, like one of the placeswe ate was a Greek place that made
gyros in like a French kind of way.
We went to see the Monetexhibit at the Orangerie.
Orangerie, yeah.
Yeah.
And, you know, it's something thatyour whole life you're familiar with
(36:44):
Monet, and then to go there and havethat experience was really, kind
of something I'm so glad we did.
I also have to say, and I knowthis sounds so corny, but the
Eiffel Tower was mind-blowing.
Yeah.
I mean, it is so huge and so beautiful.
(37:05):
It's just mind-blowing whenyou're standing underneath
it, and I did not expect that.
I felt like I don't really careif I go to the Eiffel Tower.
And, oh my gosh, it wasreally, really, really amazing.
Yeah, it's an interesting place.
It's beautiful.
And it is, like you said, it'smore stunning than... I guess
(37:25):
you've seen representations ofit, like-... a million times.
But seeing it for real is... is great.
Yeah.
It really is.
There's one other thing that... Well,there's two other things, and I'm talking
too much, I should let Scott answer this.
You mentioned, Scott, that you enjoyedthe Jardin du Luxembourg very much.
(37:46):
Yeah.
That was great.
Talk about that.
The Luxembourg Gardens werepretty close to our hotel.
The walk going there was just as fun, andit was a little misty, but those grounds
were fantastic and just so well manicured.
And it's, the place is huge.
You don't really realize it whenyou're outside it, but it's just,
(38:08):
it's a huge place and it's so nice.
I just, I loved walking aroundit and just kind of being there
when it was a little bit misty.
You know, we took some really coolpictures, and that was really nice.
And I guess there's like a lot ofplaces like that in Paris, right?
Oh, yeah.
The two big parks in Paris thateverybody knows are Jardin du
(38:28):
Luxembourg et Jardin des Tuileries.
But
we also have Parc Monceau, you have LesButtes-Chaumont, which are also very nice.
Yeah, you have a bunch of them.
We did a whole episode aboutall the parks in Paris.
If you're interested in that, wehave an episode where we list all of
them and what you can find in them.
They are all wonderful,especially in the summertime.
(38:51):
That was really cool.
The other thing that was cool, soNotre Dame was really close to us.
So we walked over to Notre Dameand, of course, it was still
pretty active construction site.
But one of the coolest things we sawthere was, in front of it, they had
these, you know, really, these really nicepictures of the people that were restoring
(39:13):
it and little stories about them.
And I thought that was so classyand so cool and, you know, just like
what Notre Dame means to the Frenchand the care in the restoration.
And to make these people like starsthat they were working on, and I
thought that was really, really cool.
And then, you know, just a fewweeks ago, just to see the inside
(39:37):
of it and what they've done.
It's very cool.
It was really impressive to see howmuch people cared about what was going
on with that and just the detail theyused to, you know, restore that place.
I don't know if you've been in itor since, but it seems like what
they've made it now is probablybetter than it's ever been, right?
(39:59):
Yeah.
I'm going back in a couple of weeks, soI haven't been back yet, but I'm going
back in a couple of weeks, and from thevideo and the photos, it looks stunning.
I really very much look forward to it.
One of the other things that I didwhen Scott was working is, I did
your audio tour through Le Marais.
That was great.
(40:19):
I mean, here I am, I'm alone forthe day, Scott's working, I had your
podcast, and it was just like I hadthis companion, Annie is with me going
through Le Marais and it was justthis crazy, fun guided adventure, and
it really brought it to life for me.
(40:41):
And again, made me feellike I had a friend with me.
I highly recommend doing that.
And in fact, we had friends that wentthere right after us, and I said,
"Oh, you've got to get Annie's podcastand walk through the Le Marais."
Yeah.
The VoiceMap tours, they make itsimple, because, I just tell you
where to go and tell you a littlebit about it, and then, you know,
accompany you, walk around with you.
(41:03):
It's kind of a fun thing to do.
We're going to be running out oftime soon, but what would you say,
what would you give to people whoare going to do a similar trip?
Some advice when coming to France,what do you want to tell them about?
I would say, especially ifyou are American, you need to
relax into the French culture.
(41:24):
It seems to me that French peoplehave this calm confidence about them
that... I describe it this way.
In America, if you're waiting to get onan elevator and the doors open, Americans
will rush into the elevator beforepeople have had the chance to get out.
French people won't do that.
(41:44):
You have to kind of set aside yourAmerican elbowing people to get
in your place in line and justbe calm and enjoy it, because
that's what the culture is about.
And we have a lot we couldlearn from that style of living.
And I really appreciated the factthat it wasn't just a vacation, it
(42:08):
was like a culture shift for twoweeks that I've tried to bring back
with me of, you know, just be calmand patient, and everything is going
to work out the way it's supposed to.
I really felt a calm in Francethat our culture doesn't have,
(42:28):
and I wish we had more of.
It's more hurried in the US.
People are just, they work so much.
What would you say, Scott?
Well, one of the things, if you'regoing to do what we did, and, you
know, Linda was really key aboutthis, is get your accommodations down.
When you get there, it's like the fly-byto see your night for accommodations.
We had that handled.
Then after that, you justhave to be open, you know?
(42:51):
And you're going to walk, you're goingto use the public transportation.
Be used to that, you know?
If we took an Uber, like,we took two Ubers, you know?
And the other thing is, the misconceptionis, France is not, like, if you don't
speak English, you're in trouble.
It's not.
You're fine.
The English factor waspretty high, you know?
Most people know some.
You have your Google Translate andthe one thing that you always said
(43:14):
is we said, "Bonjour." The firstthing we said when we met any people
is, 'Bonjour', bonjour to everybody.
And I think that it was disarming.
And I think, you take the (43:24):
"Oh, that's the Americans," out of it, you know?
And it's like people know thatyou're not going to be asking
for something or whatever.
And so that was really important,and we really took that to heart.
As silly as it sounds, itmade a huge difference.
Yes.
It's like you're part of the club,you understand how French people work.
(43:45):
Yeah, yeah.
And disarming, you said disarming.
I like that.
Because, you know, sometimes when you meeta person for the first time, even in a
service situation, people might have a,kind of a, I don't know, brusque reaction.
But if you say, "Bonjour? Oh, he'sone of us. He knows how to handle
(44:07):
a social situation." That's great.
That's wonderful.
One of the really cool things is, so wewent to L'Orangerie, it was on a Sunday
morning, and we were going to take thetrain there from the Latin Quarter.
But we got there and there was sometrain thing that wasn't happening.
There was a woman that was kind of waitingfor the train with us and, it was being
(44:29):
said in French, she's like, "Oh, thetrain's not coming for 40 minutes." And
it was like, "Oh, man." And it's like,"Well, we need to go to L'Orangerie."
She's like, "Come with me, I'm going downthere too, you know, I'm working at the
museum." So we got to walk with the woman.
She's probably 21.
She was like a college student.
She spoke really good English.
We just got to, a really immersive,like, how does a young person
in France do it, you know?
And we got a really good
(45:00):
15 minutes walk with her.
She was so charming and so nice.
College student that's going to school,but she works at a museum, and she
was just super friendly, you know?
And I think that's one thing, andlike, all the French people that I had
interactions with at the Olympics, wehave a lot of students that work at
the Olympics, and they were all great.
(45:22):
And so that's one thing I wouldsay, if you're in France, you
know, really try to have a localexperience and get with the people.
They're very proud of France, andthey want to share it with you.
And that was really one of the nice littleunexpected things that happened to us.
Fantastic.
Well, we really have to stop talkingbecause we've been going on a long time.
(45:45):
But it's been really interestingto hear your perspective on this.
And I'm glad that you wentout of Paris a little bit.
That's great.
Many more places for you tovisit on different trips.
Yeah.
But you didn't try toover-schedule, you didn't try to
run over all over the creation.
So good on you!
You did great!
(46:05):
And thank you so much forcoming on the podcast.
It's wonderful talking to you again.
Thanks for having us, Annie.
Thank you for doing the podcast, becausewe listened to a lot of episodes before
we left the US, and we felt prepared.
Wonderful.
So, thank you.
Merci beaucoup, au revoir.
Merci, au revoir.
Merci.
(46:32):
Again, a big thank youto my wonderful patrons.
Your support makes this podcastpossible week after week.
I'm pre-recording a few episodesright now, so no shout-outs today,
but I have not forgotten you.
Every single patron keeps thelights on at Join Us in France.
If you've been enjoying theshow and want to give back,
consider joining us on Patreon.
(46:53):
It starts at just $3 a month, andyou'll get access to exclusive
rewards and ad-free episodesas soon as they are ready.
Visit patreon.com/joinus to learn more.
And if you're already a patron Merci!
Merci Beaucoup!
(47:13):
You're the reason this show keeps going.
And to support Elyse, of course,go to patreon.com/elysart.
I'm recording this ahead so I don'thave any new reviews to share, but
if you're curious about what otherlisteners think of my VoiceMap tours,
head over to joinusinfrance.com/vmr,that stands for VoiceMap reviews.
(47:39):
You'll find lots of feedback fromfellow travelers who've walked the
streets of Paris with me in their ear.
Maybe your review willbe the next one I read.
Podcast listeners get a big discountfor buying these tours from my website.
It's best for me as well, because I getto keep more of what you pay instead
of giving it to Apple or Google.
But if you buy from my boutique, it'sa manual process, so don't expect it
(48:03):
to be instant like it would be if youwere buying directly from VoiceMap.
But most of you listening plan theirtrips at least few weeks in advance,
perhaps a few months in advance.
So, you're probably not in a rush.
To use your code, open VoiceMap,tap Tour Codes at the bottom right,
enter the code and download the tour.
(48:23):
You own it forever.
Even if you change phones, youjust log into your VoiceMap
account to access it again.
The tours work without data becausethe audio, images and maps are
downloaded to your phone, and GPS worksanywhere, even without cell service.
And best of all, you can listenin virtual playback from anywhere
(48:43):
in the world, perfect if Parisis not in your immediate plans.
You can take me in yourpocket with my VoiceMap tours.
If you're planning a trip to Franceand want expert help, you can hire
me as your itinerary consultant.
It's a busy season, so book earlyat joinusinfrance.com/boutique.
Usually, I have openings within amonth, but right now it's more like
(49:06):
two or three months, so don't waitif that's something you want to do.
Let's talk about movie locations in Parisand why they are so very, very popular.
Have you ever wanted to justsit at a cafe in Paris and
enjoy life like Amelie Poulain?
You're not alone.
That exact feeling brings thousands ofmovie lovers to Montmartre every year,
(49:28):
because let's face it, few films havecaptured the magic of Paris quite like
Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain.
In this postcard perfect cornerof the city, you'll find real
places made famous by the film.
There's the Collignon grocery store whereLucien, played by Jamel Debbouze, works,
(49:48):
and of course, the legendary Cafe desDeux Moulins, where Amelie serves coffee.
It's been 24 years since the movie cameout and people still flock to these
places, hoping to capture a bit of thewhimsical Paris that Amelie showed us.
Marc Fouchedoire, the owner ofthe cafe, says people come for the
atmosphere, for a glimpse of Paristhat doesn't quite exist anymore.
(50:13):
He still sees about two marriageproposals a month there.
Some are touching, some are, let'sjust say, creatively complicated.
One Japanese tourist told a reporterthat she cried when she arrived.
She's been dreaming ofthis moment for 24 years.
Another tourist said she madeit her mission to see every
(50:35):
spot from the film, the CanalSaint-Martin, Montmartre, everything.
"I just want to sit here andenjoy life like Amelie," she said.
And I get it.
I mean, I've included some of thesespots in my Montmartre walking tour as
well, because they're fun, you know?
Globally, 23 million people have seenthe film, there's a lot of eyes on Paris,
(50:58):
and according to Sophie Cazes, who leadsthe City's Cinema Mission, seeing movies
like Amelie Poulain or Amelie in Parisreally does inspire people to book a trip.
She says eight out of ten foreigntourists say a film or series
made them want to visit Paris.
That is huge.
(51:19):
Of course, Amélie isn't alone anymore.
Emilie, yes, that Emilie fromEmilie in Paris, I mean, she's
taken over in recent years.
She lives in Place de l'Estrapade, justaround the corner from the Panthéon.
According to one tourist,Emilie always gets her pain au
chocolat from the local bakery.
(51:40):
So naturally, he brought his girlfriendthere for the full experience.
And it seems silly to me at first,but I do include Emilie in Paris
locations in my itinerary consults,because people really love going there.
Paris hosts over 5,000days of filming every year.
That includes TV shows, movies,commercials, music videos, you name it.
(52:02):
City officials work hard to make sureit does not disrupt life for residents.
They schedule shots during schoolholidays, ask production teams to get
parking passes in advance, and remindthem to communicate with neighbors.
It makes sense because these shootshappen in real, lived-in neighborhoods.
And let's not forget thebig-budget American production.
(52:25):
Remember The DaVinci Code withTom Hanks and Audrey Tautou?
The famous Louvre scenewas filmed in 2005.
Or Mission (52:34):
Impossible with Tom Cruise tearing through the streets
of Paris at a 120 kilometersan hour, no helmet, of course.
That was 2017.
And yes, it was all carefullyplanned with the city and the police.
Foreign productions now make upalmost 20% of all filming in Paris.
(52:55):
Americans top the list.
Favorite locations include Placede l'Étoile, Place de Mexico
for the Eiffel Tower view.
I got to go see that one.
Place de Mexico for the view, andyes, if you go to Place de Mexico
and Avenue d'Éylau, so that's spelledD-apostrophe-E-Y-L-A-U, you will see a
very nice view of the Eiffel Tower in thedistance and there's even a café there,
(53:16):
if you're lucky enough to find a table.
And of course, the Pont Bir-Hakeim,which I included in my Eiffel Tower walk.
The bridge was the backdrop for a wildstunt by Jean-Paul Belmondo back in 1975.
so Paris and cinema, it's a love storythat just keeps on going and if you're
(53:37):
like me, maybe next time you're inMontmartre, you'll pause, take it all
in and say, "I just want to sit hereand enjoy life like Amélie Poulain."
My thanks to podcast editors, Anneand Christian Cotovan, who produced
the transcripts and the audio.
Next week on the podcast, get readyfor a fun journey with 25 Days
(54:00):
of French Magic with Ken Ives.
Ken went to charming cities, of course,historic battlefields, beautiful
caves and enchanting nature reserves.
As always, you'll come along for thetrip, discover hidden gems, savor
mouth-watering regional dishes andsoak in the centuries of history.
(54:20):
Thank you so much for listening andI hope you join me next time, so
we can look around France together.
Au revoir!
The Join Us in France travelpodcast is written, hosted, and
produced by Annie Sargent, andCopyright 2025 by AddictedToFrance.
It is released under a CreativeCommons attribution, non-commercial,
(54:41):
no derivatives license.
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