We arrived at Europcar at 1:10pm to find that they were closed. After a mild freak out the gentleman behind the desk, who had told us they were closed, said they would re-open at 2pm. It was lunch time.
Fortunately this granted us with time (and thankfully a wi-fi connection) to do some research and figure out an initial destination. We found a website dedicated to driving through France and a ‘scenic route’ that ran through Champagne. YEAH!
So, after 2pm, we picked up our tiny, two door Fiat, set up our soon to be best friend, Tim the Tomtom GPS and off we drove, on the right side of the road, sitting on the left side of the car with a right hand gear stick! Kudo’s to Andrew at this point for getting us out of Paris while figuring out how to drive!
We quickly got used to the driving, though old habits die-hard. Andrew kept switching on the wipers instead of the indicator, and I kept bashing the door with my left hand when trying to reach for the gear stick. Driving in France is awesome. Everyone sticks to the right lane unless overtaking, so you weave across and back again constantly, keeping your eye on the mirror to watch for those going faster than you. I am still amazed at how often, while going 130kph, someone would appear in the mirror, fly past and leave you behind. I get the impression that the speed limit is a suggestion, though the French did have a habit of changing the limit down to 110kph for no apparent reason and placing camera’s in these area’s. Thankfully Tim always warned us of the trap so we didn’t get caught out.
The countryside of France is absolutely stunning. Rolling hills, deep yellow fields of freshly reaped hay, green grass and small towns of approx 20 houses sitting randomly on hillsides. (The photo is of a much larger town, most were tiny) It was a rare sight to not see civilisation of any sort, but town after town rolled by with the countryside. All the towns looked identical. White, beige or brown houses, open shutters, lace curtains, flower pots in the windows, cobbled streets, tiny laneways and always an old church with its steeple.
We passed one town that was different from the rest though. The main feature of the town – a nuclear power plant. The town must have been home to the workers of the plant as it honestly looked a lot like Springfield (Simpsons). White picket fences, manicured lawns, designed streets – it looked so fake, so un-French! But at least Andrew was impressed.
We arrived in a town named Troye, around 6pm and decided to stay. Troye is one of the main towns in Champagne, they even boast that the layout of their town looks like a champagne cork when viewed on a map. (Though, to be honest, what it does look like is a little questionable, I’m just saying…) The most helpful lady at the tourist information centre found us a charming hotel to stay in for the night. Dinner, with champagne, of course, some more adventures (we were accidently served another couples wine, which the man proceeded to complain about until his meal came (around 45mins, they were busy), at which point they left in a huff as their steak was undercooked. But seriously, who brings a dog to a restaurant?!!), and we settled down for the night, happy to have found somewhere to sleep and excited at the prospect of what the following day would bring.
Day 2 started with us meandering along country roads heading toward Dijon. Yes, like the mustard, and yes, that’s why we wanted to go! Along the way we found the source of the Seine, the river that runs through Paris. Amazing how such a massive river can start with a tiny stream! The drive was so beautiful. At one point we were cruising along and a loud WHI-CHOO sound goes over us. We look up and there’s a fighter jet flying past right over our car! Random!
We arrived in Dijon around 3pm to find, to our incredible disappointment, that all the restaurants near us were closed for food. So no mustard for us. This became a resounding thread for us. 10:30am for breakfast? CLOSED. 3pm for lunch? CLOSED. 10pm for dinner?! Not a hope!! Also we were stung a few times by the unwritten rule of ‘these tables are for drinks only, no food, please move’.
I had originally planned, or at least thought out in my mind, that we would drive on the first day straight from Paris to Marseille on the south coast and spend the week cruising from there to Rome. And so after travelling 200km’s EAST of Paris instead of south I was feeling a little stressed. We did, after all, only have 4 full days of driving before we needed to be near Rome. And so after we left Dijon we travelled around 800km’s SOUTH to a town called Millau. At 130k/hr and a few pit stops we arrived there at 9:30pm. Kudo’s to me!!
Millau is a town that Andrew found in his Google search ‘driving through France’. It hosts the longest viaduct in the world. We figure that a viaduct is a bridge over a valley, but we haven’t wiki’d that part yet so we’re not 100% sure. But anyways, we were driving through that area and it looked cool so we went there. Millau itself was gorgeous, woke up to mountains and fountains and the bakery in the main square make amazing Chocolate Eclairs! So Day 3 started with us driving out over the viaduct and then on our way to Montpellier.
Montpellier was our first view of the Mediterranean, so we went for a swim. It was FREEZING, but very pretty. We both underestimated the power of the European sun on our pale skin and wound up burnt! Everyone else at the beach was a dark shade of brown, some nearly black. There were kids trying to catch fish with little nets, men playing with soccer balls, people on holidays just chilling out. It all made for a pretty cool atmosphere.
Next stop and finally we made it to Marseille! Unfortunately the traffic was insane, 100’s of round-abouts, one-way streets and no parking, so we left. Kudo’s again to Andrew, that was the worst mess we’ve ever driven through!
After Marseille the scenery changed. Hills became mountains, and everything became green. We drove along looking for accommodation for hours. A town that looked quite small on the GPS ended up being huge and crazy so we drove on. We ended up searching for towns that looked a lot smaller and found one that ended up being so tiny we had to squeeze our little car down one-way lanes to get out of there.
Eventually we were led by Tim’s ‘search for a hotel near your location’ feature to a bustling little town that turned out to be THE holiday destination for the French. We’re still not 100% sure of the name of the town but I saw Mimosa written down a lot. The whole coastline that we wound up on was in holiday fever mode, and after being turned away numerous times we found a place with one room left. By this time, tired and slightly stressed, we headed to the fun and ate the local delicacy, muscles! It was nice to finally go to a restaurant at 10pm and get served food! By the time we went to bed everything was well again, but you know those days when nothing seems to go right – that was that day for us.
Day 4 and we decided to take the morning easy and then get on the motorway in the afternoon. We cruised down the coastal road, windows down, lapping up the sunshine and the stunning views. We stopped for lunch at a gorgeous restaurant overlooking the coast before the road headed inland again. Once refreshed we jumped on the motorway and headed to Monaco! The traffic entering Monaco was insane, a long, slow process to get into the city, but fortunately once we got there we found a park instantly right outside the Monte Carlo Casino! So we had a walk around, checked out the marina where every boat is a gorgeous yacht and marvelled at how the rich spend their money! Nice cars, quintessential girls with little dogs in their bags, and designer name brands plastered everywhere.
The time had come to say au revoir to France. I wish we’d spent more time there. From the countryside to the coast I really enjoyed France. The people were nice, everything was stunningly beautiful – it was a true shame to leave it behind. But we had 1.5 days to be near Rome so we had to push on.
And just like that, with a sign that only I saw, we were in Italy! There was no border crossing, no one to check our passports, just a sign and we were in a new country with a new language, new architecture, a new culture and a new speed limit all within a manner of seconds!
We drove and drove, stunned by the transformation. Renaults and Peugeots quickly became intermingled with Alfa Romeo’s, a Range Rover and cute little three wheeled trucks. Road signs appeared in their droves. At the very least every 50m was a sign for something. Go this speed, go that speed, watch out for this, check out for that. One sign would say go 110kph, and 10m later another sign would say 90kph. At every exit the speed, I think, would slow to 50kph, but then cars would be flying past me and I’d be in the way. Eventually I stuck to 110kph unless Tim told me there was a speed camera, and even then I was still getting overtaken constantly.
So tunnel after tunnel, bridge after bridge, we drove on, marvelling at the never-ending habitation. No longer little villages but sporadic houses, covering the mountainsides. Around 8:30pm we took a random exit in the hope of finding accommodation for the night. We ended up in a seaside town called Deiva Marina where we pulled up to the first hotel we found and went inside.
I thought the French were friendly enough, aside from one lady in Paris, we didn’t encounter any rudeness and actually found them to be helpful. At worst I’d call the French distant, but compared to the Italians they have a long way to go. We walked into Eden Hotel and were greeted by the proprietor, Luigi, who ‘of course’ speaks English and has a room available. Upon finding out that we’re Australian he goes ‘AAHH Australian (makes kangaroo hands and does a little jump) BOING, BOING!! I had some Australians come stay a while ago, I have a photo with them, we made some sangria and stayed up for hours…’. And yes, the following morning at breakfast, he showed us the photo of the Australian couple who’d come and stayed at his hotel one time. He also told us that the fruitcake was the best around and then cut himself a piece and walked off eating it, chatting away about how delicious it was. (It was good!)
Italians are what make Italy my favourite country in the world. They are the warmest, happiest, friendliest people you are likely to meet. I love their accent, the language and their chilled out attitude to life! I have to say, it’s good to be back!
Day 5, the last full day driving and we decided to take the country route over the coastal road. We would be driving through Pisa and then into Tuscany and I was hoping for the beauty that the region is renown for.
Pisa is an unexpectedly small town for such an international icon. We had to stop and take the ‘I’m leaning on the Leaning Tower of Pisa’ photo’s! Sad I know, but hey – I’m embracing the whole ‘I’m a tourist’ vibe!
Cruising with the windows down through some of the most stunning countryside was definitely the highlight of the entire week for me. Vineyards, rolling hills, gorgeous villa’s, random castles, sunflower fields and old towns. Tuscany. If I lived in Europe, I’d holiday in Tuscany. Words can’t do it justice.
Toward the end of the day, around 100k’s out of Rome, while looking for accommodation we came across the most amazing town we have ever seen. Perched atop a mountain was Grotte Di Castro, an entire town that looked like a castle, for residents only (unfortunately there were no hotels though Tim had said there was one), overlooking the most stunning valley. There was a pharmacy, a post office, an Illy coffee bar, everything you’d expect in a normal town, just the location was absolutely awe-inspiring.
Our final night on the road and we found a town on a lake. The hotel was run by and older gent and his son (we’re guessing). He was the absolute gentleman, even checked we were married before giving us the room, and then told me to stay in the room while Andrew went to get the bags and park the car! We ate dinner on the lake and strolled through the tree-lined streets before making our way to bed.
The final day and I started by making the mistake at breakfast to ask for a latte. I received hot milk. Apparently I have to ask for a CAFÉ latte – BIG difference.
We said goodbye to the countryside, headed to Rome and dropped off our Fiat & Tim at the Europcar. As one final adventure the Europcar porter drove off with our car before we could get our suitcases out the boot. We thought they took the car around the back to inspect it so laughed to the man behind the desk about it. He promptly got on the phone and told them to bring the car back immediately! It was already washed and shiny by the time it returned, and we had a giggle at the man pointing his finger to his head in an ‘are you crazy?!’ manner to the poor driver.
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In summary if we were to drive from Paris to Rome again we would take a lot more time but we had a great week, saw and experienced a lot that only whetted our appetite to see more! It really is the small, out of the way places that give a country it’s culture and vibe. It was so great to experience France & Italy in this way!
Next up – ROMA!!!
OMG I have a jigsaw puzle with the same Tuscan farmhouse on it. http://www.ravensburger.com/usa/products/ravensburger_adult_puzzles/2000_pieces/tuscan_landscape_16604/index.html
ReplyDeleteWhet your appetite??? What about the rest of us who are only getting to read about it!?!
ReplyDeleteOk, I know I'll be in Italy next week, but I'm not doing a trip like yours - so it doesn't count! ;P