Saturday, October 4, 2014

Day 2 -- Driving in France


This will be another post full of words and not so many photos.  It's not that I didn't want to take photos, but you've probably noticed it's not very easy to take a picture when you are driving.  Especially when you are driving an unfamiliar car, on roads that allow two-way traffic but is barely wide enough for one car!

Due to circumstances completely in my control, we got started late from the Marseille airport,  I met the women who would be driving with me and they are delightful.  We opted for a larger car, which came with automatic transmission, and began loading our luggage into the trunk.  The car was unlocked and we closed the trunk to make sure everything would fit.  All well and good, but the whole car locked at this point.  No problem, except I had put my purse, with the keys in the trunk.  Still no problem I think, I'll just go ask for their duplicate key, feel like a bit of an idiot and get the car unlocked.  Seems this car is from Paris, as the Paris office has the other key.  Someone from the equivalent of AAA arrives about an hour later and opens the car.  I am very sorry I didn't take a photo, as the tools to unlock the car are ingenious.  But the camera was locked in the car too.

Driving from the airport to our destination, La Bastide de Bonnieux is through beautiful, twisty, mountainous country.  If you have ever driven on the road from Santa Rosa up to Calistoga and then continued on the Middletown, you know what the road looks like (so, my husband, kids, and anyone who has ever gone to Camp Verdant Vales is visualizing it).  One would think this would be difficult, and the ladies in the car with me certainly did.  But it was like being home again and I had no problems.  It was helpful that no one was driving down as I was driving up though.

We have a GPS in our car.  I have never used GPS before and didn't think I would like it.  But in this instance, it was great.  It's possible that Lizette (we named her) took us on the more scenic route.  At one point I missed the turn and we found ourselves at a charming little outdoor restaurant.


View from our table

Another view from our table.

About an hour later we arrived in Bonnieux, our destination.

 This is the view of Bonnieux from across the valley in Lacoste.


 It is a VERY hilly town!




We spent a lovely time sitting in a cafe talking to a young woman from Toronto. My new friends  are also from Toronto -- very small world,

Tomorrow we drive a lot and go to brocants, vide greniers, flea markets@

Sat 4 Oct

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