France. I had a burning desire to tour Provence for some time. While living in London, my friends talked of the glorious food, quaint villages, sweeping lavender farms, and picturesque views. We never made it to Southern France during our European stay, so my girls trip saved the day. With airline tickets and a car reservation in hand, Linda and I were off for a week in Provence. We knew we were in trouble when the employees behind the counter at Hertz talked us into a free upgrade. “You cannot tour Provence without a convertible!” And they added, “It is easier to pick up men!” Well, I didn’t think we looked like two floozies, but we happily accepted the convertible and went merrily on our way! Wouldn’t you know it? Just 5 miles down the road, the truck drivers started honking at us. After a good laugh, we continued on our adventure. Up and down the steep roads on the side of the mountains we drove, realizing we had made a BIG mistake accepting a manual transmission.
But my friends were right - Provence was beautiful. The villages were amazing and the views were breathtaking! We toured whereever we wanted, finding lodging along the way. A few of the places we traveled to were: Biot, Grasse, Riez, Gourdon, Tourrettes sup-Loup, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie where we drove the Gorges du Verdon, ending with Port Santa Lucia and Cannes. We learned a couple lessons along the way! First, if you don’t know the language and don’t know where you are going, it might be best to book lodging a few nights ahead of time! Several nights we were laughing (better than crying) because we couldn’t find a place
to stay. One evening, it took us over 4 hours to find somewhere to stay! As we watched the clock ticking, we were ready to sleep in the car –unfortunately; we didn’t know where it would be safe to park! Another lesson, if one of your main reasons to traveling to a country is to find lavender fields, check the lavender season ahead of time! We stopped in every village, at every lavender farm, in the towns famous for its lavender, just to find that the harvest was over. The fields were cut back and fresh lavender was nowhere to be found! We finally found lavender at the airport on the way out of the country! Our last lesson learned – there are strict times for lunch in Provence, especially in the off-season, and if you deviate from these times, you have no food! At the beginning of the trip, we didn’t know about this small piece of useful inform
ation. By 4:00 our first afternoon, we were down to rummaging through our luggage trying to find anything to eat. We were overjoyed to find a bite-sized candy bar to share! All afternoon we had been hearing from everyone, “Finished.” We were so sick of hearing the word “finished” we were almost finished! After that experience, we kept water and a few snacks in the car, and made sure we were in a village at lunch time!
My favorite memory was the day we drove across the mesa high in the mountains. The top was down on the car, the cold wind was whipping our hair in every direction, the heater was blowing hard to keep us warm, the sky was a beautiful blue with white fluffy clouds and we were the only ones on the road. Zooming down the road, with the snow capped mountains to our right and an occasional house on our left; we put the pedal to the medal and flew! Laughing and feeling as giddy as teenagers; it was simply a perfect moment in time.
But my friends were right - Provence was beautiful. The villages were amazing and the views were breathtaking! We toured whereever we wanted, finding lodging along the way. A few of the places we traveled to were: Biot, Grasse, Riez, Gourdon, Tourrettes sup-Loup, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie where we drove the Gorges du Verdon, ending with Port Santa Lucia and Cannes. We learned a couple lessons along the way! First, if you don’t know the language and don’t know where you are going, it might be best to book lodging a few nights ahead of time! Several nights we were laughing (better than crying) because we couldn’t find a place
to stay. One evening, it took us over 4 hours to find somewhere to stay! As we watched the clock ticking, we were ready to sleep in the car –unfortunately; we didn’t know where it would be safe to park! Another lesson, if one of your main reasons to traveling to a country is to find lavender fields, check the lavender season ahead of time! We stopped in every village, at every lavender farm, in the towns famous for its lavender, just to find that the harvest was over. The fields were cut back and fresh lavender was nowhere to be found! We finally found lavender at the airport on the way out of the country! Our last lesson learned – there are strict times for lunch in Provence, especially in the off-season, and if you deviate from these times, you have no food! At the beginning of the trip, we didn’t know about this small piece of useful inform
ation. By 4:00 our first afternoon, we were down to rummaging through our luggage trying to find anything to eat. We were overjoyed to find a bite-sized candy bar to share! All afternoon we had been hearing from everyone, “Finished.” We were so sick of hearing the word “finished” we were almost finished! After that experience, we kept water and a few snacks in the car, and made sure we were in a village at lunch time!My favorite memory was the day we drove across the mesa high in the mountains. The top was down on the car, the cold wind was whipping our hair in every direction, the heater was blowing hard to keep us warm, the sky was a beautiful blue with white fluffy clouds and we were the only ones on the road. Zooming down the road, with the snow capped mountains to our right and an occasional house on our left; we put the pedal to the medal and flew! Laughing and feeling as giddy as teenagers; it was simply a perfect moment in time.
No comments:
Post a Comment