It was the morning after the Jacques reversing into the hire car incident; it was a beautiful sunny morning along the French Mediterranean coast. We headed off into the French countryside again in our quest to sample fine French wines and foods from the Provence area. We decided to stay away from the expressways to avoid the expensive tolls and navigate our way through the Provence countryside armed with our Michelin map and the hope that Provence would be kind and bountiful in rewarding us with fine French wines and fromage. We came across an old winery at Languedoc and sampled some vin rouge and purchased our first bottle. Matt and I were soon in the hire car again and trailblazing our way to the next winery. After becoming slightly geographically embarrassed for a short while, and maybe criss-crossing our path a couple of times, and having one or two little excursions on a couple of tollways, we eventually came across another winery, (after receiving very explicit directions from a service station attendant) This winery was very special, it existed in the days when the Romans where building strategic roads and infrastructure throughout Europe and it still had all the equipment, earthenware vessels etc that the ancient Romans used to make their wine. It was a terrific place, old rustic and crumbling buildings; timber beams hued centuries ago, olive trees, and the dry Mediterranean breeze. We sampled some wines which were made to the original roman winemaking recipes that they were all that time ago. They were extraordinary wines, in that upon smelling the bouquet of the wine you would sense aromas of many different fruits, spices and herbs and gain an expectation towards how the wine may taste. The taste of the wine is entirely different to the bouquet; it is quite a taste experience as the aromas of the wine are absolutely nothing like the taste of the wine. We purchased our second bottle of wine and hit the road again, now to find somewhere to stay for the night, kitted up with our bottles of wine and some cheeses that we earlier purchased from a Aldi supermarket (this should provide you with evidence of how our day was progressing and us become insidiously lost) however we were in complete ignorant bliss of our deteriorating situational awareness in the French countryside (or maybe resignation) and continued on looking for a French oasis in Provence where we could settle for the evening, sample our wines and cheeses and take in the moment, and reflect on the days travels and experiences. The next few hours where a diabolical experience of becoming lost in numerous towns and villages trying to locate accommodation, incurring in excess of 80euros in tollway charges, and countless rejections from motels and hotels with no vacancy. The sun was setting, and we did not savour the prospect of driving through provincial France and its network of tollways, freeways, regional roads, laneways and countless roundabouts in total darkness. We decided that we would stick to a main road (another 4 lane tollway) in order to attempt to find a town called aix-en-Provence. We eventually found the place and next began the arduous task of locating a hotel. French cities and towns are very old, built before the concept of town planning, and they are a labyrinth of roads, lanes and roundabouts in which can be quite confusing for unfamiliar drivers. After driving around in circles for what seemed like eternity through the streets and laneways of aix-en-Provence, Matt and I both agreed that we would stay anywhere, despite the cost, and that our best option would most likely be that we would find accommodation at a five star hotel in the city centre, our theory being that the French seemed to be stingy and seemingly stayed at the cheaper establishments on the fringe areas of town, in which we tried ourselves to no avail as they were all fully booked. We came across a hotel in the downtown area in which we both agreed we were prepared to stay at regardless of the cost, which was a little concerning as the carpark resembled the Scuderia Veloce car dealership at Chatswood, there were porches, beemers, mercs and a maserati thrown in just to ensure it was truly continental. Matt went in to enquire about accommodation whilst I sat in our little Opel hire car that was scarred from its nasty experience with Jacques’ diesel Peugeot the day before. I was admiring the European muscle machines that encircled me, quietly wondering how many hundreds of Euros the nights’ lodgings was going to cost. Matt returned with good news, the hotel reception staff suggested and even booked a room for us at another hotel, which he said, was down the road. After becoming lost for a short time more, we eventually located our hotel, it wasn't quite the rustic French villa we had in our minds throughout the day, it was the Novotel at aix-en-Provence. We checked in and soon had our bags in our room and then downed a bottle of wine that we purchased through the day, followed with the cheese and baguette we purchased from the Aldi, reflecting on the day and the distance we travelled, which most likely amounted to around 600 to 700 kilometres, however with us traversing an area a little over 150 to 200 km's! We decided that we won't be so adventurous in Italy and that it would be a good idea to pre-book our accommodation and forget about hiring anymore cars. Upon reading the lonely planet guide that evening Matt discovered that France and Italy are notorious for being the most difficult European countries to drive in. All in all we had a good time in France and we can put this one down for experience. Gemma, Katy and Joady, I will have some handy does and don’ts for you for your trip to France.
Photos are of a country road and vines…..somewhere in the south of France, and the view outside our hotel room in the Mediterranean city of Nice, our last night in France before crossing over the border for Italy.
