Europe is such a beautiful place to travel through. Not only is the mix of cultures, scenery and climate a traveller’s paradise, Europe’s beauty is also in the ease you can travel between so many countries.

Mrs Romance and I love Italy and return as often as we can. And when we’re not there, we’re thinking about it.

We recently worked with Skyscanner, who set us the challenge to develop our dream 2-week itinerary in Europe. With so many places to choose from to visit on the Continent, it was a tricky question.

So following the old writer’s adage, we wrote about what we know.

How to get from Provence to Pompeii – an itinerary of the Riviera

The journey from Provence to Pompeii we’ve created takes in the beautiful sights of St Tropez and Nice in Provence, which we’ve written about a few times before, the mesmerising coast of the Cinque Terra in northeastern Italy, down to Naples, Pompeii and the exquisite Amalfi Coast.

As you can see, we’ve also given a bit of time to the Island of Capri, just off the coast of Naples. It’s not quite part of the Amalfi Coast but it’s so beautiful there, we felt it had to be part of the trip. I’ve never seen Mrs Romance more upset about leaving a place as when we boarded the ferry back to the mainland.

Here’s the story about our time on Capri.

As you travel down the coast of Italy, we’d also recommend heading inland too. There are some spectacular places to visit along the way if you have time. Tuscany is amazing – here’s our library on this beautiful part of the country.

The only place in our itinerary we included that we haven’t visited is the Island of Elba. However, friends of ours had their honeymoon there and said it was incredible. And besides, if it was good enough for Napoleon…

This challenge was part of a bigger project where we and 3 other travel bloggers put together our itineraries that span 10 countries through Europe.

Where would you go if you had 2 weeks in Europe? Would you travel from country to country or would you stay in one place? Would you travel from Provence to Pompeii like this? Tell us in the comments!

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5 things you must do in St Tropez

A visit to the Cote d’Azure in France isn’t complete with a day in St Tropez.

There’s more money floating in this harbour than you could believe of a town so tiny. St Tropez is expensive so maybe don’t stay here if you’re on a budget. I have shared some free and cheap things to do so you must at least do a day trip if you’re on the French Riviera.

1. Visit St Tropez Harbour

We were there for Les Voiles de St-Tropez, the annual yachting festival, and the harbour was packed. The energy was incredible. I’ve heard that it’s practically deserted in the winter, but it’s still a pretty place to visit. But no matter what time of year, the sunsets here are divine.

2. Walk up to the Citadel

Get away from the crowds and walk up through the tiny backstreet and head up to the Citadel. There are beautiful views (which are free) and for only 3 Euros you can visit the Maritime museum inside.

3. Hop on a boat

Get out amongst the super yachts and maxi boats and see the coastline from the water. You can join tours or hire your own boat if you have a license.

4. Get in some beach time

Pampelonne is the most famous beach in St Tropez and is about 30 from the harbour. In summer you’ll want to book ahead for a spot at one of the exclusive beach clubs like Club 55 or Moorea. If on a budget, you can still take a towel down to the public sections of the beach. There are also some public beaches close to the town if you want to go for a quick dip.

5. People watching

Find yourself a spot to relax and watch the beautiful people go by. The waterfront cafes are expensive, but the entertainment is free. Or grab a sorbet and sit on the sea wall to watch from the other side.

Have you been to St Tropez? What’s your number one tip or travel must do?

Images by Mrs Romance.

The post Postcards from Saint Tropez and 5 things you must do appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

Point in case, I was watching that awesome Japanese show Iron Chef the other day and I realised it’s always poor old Iron Chef French – Hiroyuki Sakai – who gets challenged by the visiting upstart cook. See. Even in Japan they think French food’s pretty good.

So we weren’t worried as we headed into the little town of Lorgues – about an hour north of St Tropez.

The owners of our superb little stone cottage just outside Lorgue, Heather and Steve, told us there were a few places in town to try. But in the end it was La Table de Pôl that held our eye.

Sitting quietly at the end of the main street near a little fountain, La Table de Pôl’s outdoor seating and welcoming ambience drew us in and before we knew it we were gazing at the menu.

Here’s what we ordered and ate:

La Table de Pôl

We decided to go with the €41 five-course degustation – or stuff-your-face option. I think we chose wisely!

L’amuse-bouche

This is just a little appetite-inducer to get your taste buds going. It’s a new word for me. Mrs Romance, who’s much more sophisticated, just frowned when I laughed at it.

Lobster creme – a little pot of chilled lobster bisque with crouton. Creamy, delicate lobster flavour.

Entrée

I chose the Duck pâté – with tasty salad of frisée & pansy petals. It came with a strange cinnamon banana bread slice, but pate was buttery & smooth.

Mrs R went for the mushroom carpaccio – with finely sliced capsicum and a light olive oil dressing. There was also a fresh salad of mixed leaves & flowers – fresh & light start, but still quite filling.

Main course

Mrs R had the firm white fish with a herb sauce, fresh local mushrooms called ‘cepes’ and flowers, and a creamy pumpkin mash. The dish came with very tasty grilled yellow capsicum and spring onions.

I ordered the veal fillet with penne carbonara – perfectly cooked and rested pink veal with pumpkin & potato mashes, baked capsicum for sweetness. The carbonara was cheesy and creamy, served in mason jar. A mescal salad came in the mason jar lid.

Cheese course

Of course there was a cheese course!

Trois chèvres. These three goat’s cheeses were all so different, they really showcased the range of flavours you can get from chèvre. The blue was creamy, liquid, smooth & buttery. The ashed was nasal, powerful and thick. The hard cheese was chalky, sharp and nutty.

Dessert

Thought I’d go a bit wanky here and add the French version!

I went for the entremet chocolat-praliné et caramel a la fleur du sel – also known as crispy praline, salted caramel, chocolate mousse in a cake casing with vanilla ice cream. Amazing.

Mrs R headed straight for the moelleux au chocolat et amarenas au sirop – a rich warm chocolate fondant cake with a drizzle of glacé cherry reduction and a quinelle of vanilla and cinnamon ice cream on a puff pastry biscuit. Incrediblé.

The coffees that came after were well-made and were accompanied by little shortbread biscuits with a plump, ripe raspberry balanced on each.

We were just able to waddle off to the car. It was an epic meal, but a delicious one. And the service was extremely friendly and professional, though relaxed enough for us to enjoy our surroundings.

There was also a little shop connected to the restaurant that sold house-made sauces and marinades. It also sold many of the things used to set our table, like this salt cellar. You grate the Himalayan salt rock over the ceramic teeth.

I bought one for my mum. She loved it. Or at least that’s what she told me!

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We had many excellent meals while we were in France. But this was very much a stand out. If you’re ever in Provence, be sure to make the journey to La Table de Pôl. It’s in a book, you know!

And if you stay with Heather and Steve (very much recommended), say hi from us! Here’s  link to their cottage on AirBnB.

Click here for our review on Lorgues and more about where we stayed.

La Table de Pôl

18 Place Georges Clemenceau, 83510

Lorgues

France.

latabledepol.com

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Tell us about a great meal you’ve had in the comments. We’re always looking for a good tip-off!

Images by Mrs Romance.

The post Where to eat in Provence: La Table de Pol appeared first on Mr and Mrs Romance.

The chateau thing turned out to be far too complicated and too far south-west to serve our purposes or itinerary. The stone cottage, however…

Lorgues, Provence

The pretty town of Lorgues is about an hour south-west of Nice. It ticks all the boxes – or ‘les cases’ as they say in France – of that perfect setting to enjoy Provence. Its narrow streets wriggle between old stone houses and ancient churches. Its main road is lined with little cafés, bars and restaurants.

This same road – the Boulevard de la République – becomes a full on market every Tuesday. But get there before 1pm because everything disappears faster than my lunchtime cheese plate after that.

Both sides of the road are lined with stalls of delicious fromages, cured meats, bread, and fruit and vegetables, and the road’s closed to all but foot traffic.

As you head out of Lorgues, fields of olives and wine grapes, patches of woodland and beautiful gorges make up the Provence countryside. And an hour south, over some excellent mountain roads, is St Tropez and the Côte d’Azure – the blissful coastline of the French Riviera.

Accommodation

The big question is where do you stay? There are hotels in Lorgues itself, but our dream stone cottage was only about five minutes out of town.

And we have two new friends in Provence. Heather and Steve, who own the property, are awesome. They welcomed us to our new digs like we were coming home.

The little stone cottage we’re staying in is completely self-contained with a little kitchen, a sofa and even a log-fired heater. The queen-sized bed is incredibly comfortable, and on the other side of the stone walls is the infinity pool that looks out into the French bushland.

We were so happy here, we even spent a couple of days just lounging by the pool or in the hammock. With the aid of a good WiFi connection, we turned Heather and Steve’s place into just about the best office we’ve ever had.

I think the sight of us wedged behind our laptops worried them a bit, but we were so happy and comfortable. We were even kept company by Steve and Heather’s two loveable pooches.

And when we needed a break, we had a dip in the pool or went up to chat to Heather and Steve’s two beautiful horses.

But the very best thing about our stay here though was the food!

As we unpack, we find Homer Simpson’s dream stash in our little kitchen. There was a huge bag of potato chips, a pot of coated chilli nuts and a packet of biscuits. There are even few bottles of local beer and a bottle of Provençale rosé…

And then there was breakfast. Every morning we’d wake up to a package of pastry heaven left outside our door. Heather would go to the bakery early to pick up fresh goods every day.

Think a box full of croissants, almond croissants and the ultimate in pastry ingenuity: the sant christin. A foot-long spiral of choux pastry with an inner helix of incredible chocolaty nutty gooey filling.

And don’t forget their fig trees…

After four nights there, we were felt like we really were home. We loved it there and would be back in a second.

What’s your idea of the perfect place to stay in Provence?

Images by Mrs Romance.

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