Monaco / Monte Carlo

Sara: It sounds all romantic to say that we got engaged in the south of France and then headed to Monte Carlo. It was a romantic proposal, and we had a wonderful dinner that night with friends who live in the hills north of Cannes. But the truth is, the day after that we spent a lot of our time in Monaco totally lost and looking for a place to eat. I think we went down rue Grimaldi six times. That said, the views on the way there were astounding.

Vence.

Drew: After getting engaged, we spent the next day in this small hilltop artist community, sending out the good news and eating Drew’s cinquieme steak tartare.

Sara: Actually, after we got engaged we got in the car and drove a couple of hours to our hotel in the French Rivera and called our moms on a bad connection. Then we hustled to have dinner at our friend Dave’s place—he moved his family from the US to a little town near Cannes a few years ago. Their kids are adorable, and the infinity-edge pool beautiful. The next day we went to the hilltop town of Vence to find a wifi connection, because the one at the hotel was ridiculous. We found one in the middle of the crazy-charming town, which has narrow pedestrian-only streets, and sat by a fountain gleefully emailing friends and family.

Pont du Gard

Drew: We spent the day there, then went back for a sunset swim. 

Sara: We spent the day lost in the insanely overdone, high-tech, video-filled museum, then emerged blinking to a really hot Provencal day, and climbed up to the top of the famous Roman aqueduct. The swim was awesome. Except for the seaweed.

Drew: Bec au Vin, our second favorite (props to Nico).  In Uzes.

Sara: The restaurant was an open-air, stone-walled warren. And the cous cous was delish.

Tracteur, Our Favorite Provencal Restaurant

Sara: We had love at first sight for this recommendation in Sanilhac, which is SOOOOOO tiny you wouldn’t believe it had a rustic-cool place like this. The French—awesome. We tried to go back there a second time, and I learned later that one reason was Drew was thinking about proposing there. Sadly, they’re only open a few days a week. 

This is where we got engaged

Sara: With just three days left on our trip, Drew proposed in front of a windswept church on a hill overlooking Marseille and the Mediterranean. Earlier in the day, we had been talking about how we’d both grown up sailing. When we went up to the church, just to see what was perched above the whole city, it was full of boats—model boats strung from the ceiling, paintings of ships, and boat mosaics. I guess he got inspired, because outside he unexpectedly took my hand and offered me the ring that had been worn by his great-grandmother, grandmother and mother. It was such an intense moment that he didn’t notice that, after eating half a bowl of garlic aoli at lunch, you could practically see my breath. 

Provencal Garlic

From the market in Uzes.

Saturday Market in Uzes

We love markets because we love food. And we hit a jackpot in Uzes. Who knew that all of Provence heads to this small city on Saturdays? We loaded up with fresh sardines, beautiful garlic, cheese, special spice mixes to go on omelets and on beef, bread, handmade saucisson, berries…Drew was totally wiped out and tired of shopping, but while we were waiting for our lunch to arrive, I dashed back out into the fray to find creme fraiche and butter. A-may-zing.

Modern Chic in Old Provence

Sara: After a couple of bad, bad lodging picks, we got lucky. Drew found an apartment in a tiny village (pop: 200) called Sagries in Provence, close to Uzes. Our hosts, a midwife and exhibition designer, were not only warm and interesting, but had great taste. They renovated a falling-down stone farmhouse into a modern retreat, carving out the triplex where we spent five blissful days. We liked it so much, we ate the cost of one night at another place so we could stay a little longer. Check it out on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=64074865621