Dutch like us. We hadn't realized how ingrained in the Dutch culture Beth and I have become until we took a look around at this rest stop somewhere in Belgium. Upon closer examination of the cars in the packed parking lot, we noticed that all of the people who brought their own lunch with them instead of eating in the restaurant were travelling under Dutch plates. Would you like some Pinderkaas with that broodje?
Our first night in the beautiful city of Nancy in Northwest France was a complete bust. After 6 hours of driving we were happy to get out of the car and walk through the city center. But as we approached the main square we started hearing the now all-to-familiar chanting of drunken soccer fans. In this case it was the Scots who had apparently just whooped France's ass in a local match and were celebrating in a drunken, glass-strewn ruckus. Needless to say, there was not a hotel to be found and our first night in France was spent scrambling for some obscure highway hotel where we just crashed early with our books.
But things quickly turned for the better when we called for our next reservation in the beautiful Cotes du Rhone region. It was an unqualified recommendation from someone who had heard something from a friend who knew someone who had fixed up a place in the area and was now renting out rooms. A Dutch person of course, so my learning the language over here is beginning to seem less and less of a useless endeavor...the Dutch are everywhere!
See the villa in the middle of those vineyards? That's where we stayed....fantastic! This place was recently featured on the cover of EnFrance magazine and is just what you would expect from an architectural digest kind of place.
The upper terrace with the old well was a great place to catch the evening sunset....
...after it came off the pool of course.
The stonework in the kitchen was incredible. The counter top slab weighed 2 tons! And the sleeping dog added a great little touch.
Who can have a villa in France without at least 1 resident cat?
I couldn't recommend this place enough. Robert (the owner) was a great host and walked us through the vineyard in search of old roman tiles...which we found about 1/2 dozen of. Apparently his house was built on the ruins of an old roman villa...very cool. If you want to see more pictures, or go for a visit yourself, check them out at Mascavard and/or at EnFrance (that's him and his wife-and dogs on the cover).
In addition to the great setting, Mascavard is situated close to a lot of great local sites....like Uzes, which just happened to have a market on the day that we visited.
The famous Uzes skyline.
The old roman city of Nimes is also a short drive away. In Nimes, you get to play on the ruins!
Nimes also had a festival when we were there. It centered around a bullfight (bloodless) in the old roman arena, but we found more interesting sights out in the streets. This guys spring action leg extensions were really cool. He could run like a centaur and jump 1.5 meters into the air. Whoa!
Pont du gard is also in the neighborhood....more amazing Roman engineering.
And one last stop before we headed across the Rhone into the Luberon...the ancient bories.
...and a lot of hilltop village exploring...
...before crossing one more valley into the real mountains...the Alps. These roads were so twisty and tunneled that our TomTom couldn't handle it. It kept putting us over the cliff...."Turn Right when possible."
If there is no room for a road...no problem! Cut, hack, blast your way to some level surface where white-knuckled tourists can enjoy a scenic drive. And don't be fooled by my focus on the road in this photo...rest asured that there is a 1000 foot drop just beyond that skimpy guardrail. This hack is literally IN the side of the cliff.
They apparently did the same thing with their religious monuments back in the middle ages. We climbed so many mountains, past so many commandments, to see so many religious monuments that we can not NOT go to heaven.
The gorges of Verdon are amazing.
We even did a little canyoning in one of the Verdon tributaries. (stock photo...we didn't take a camera, although we did several "slides" like this one.) Canyoning is a mad scramble down and back up river canyons. It took everything that we had to do some of the 5 meter jumps and 30 meter rappels. Damn! It sucks getting old. But there is nothing like crawling around a deep water canyon on a beautiful day in Provence...now THAT is a religious experience.
We also always like to try ethnic food in different countries. So for example, trying Chinese food in Germany. Well, in a little town called Apt, we stumbled across a Vietnamese restaurant. Ex-colony of France, right? Ok, we'll give it a try. Well, when I saw Sweet and Sour Frog legs on the menu, I knew that I had to try it. That's Fusion cooking for ya!
And almost as a pitiful joke, we also had to try this TexMex restaurant in Chamaunt. I mean, how good can TexMex in France be? Surprisingly, it was excellent. Chili, ribs, and chicken wings. The best that we've had in a long, long time.
Which cheeks are bigger? We found this little bar open for breakfast in Castellane one morning. Castellane (as most of France), is crazy about jeu de boule. Well this bar was apparently supporting the local champions because there were no less than 7 trophies behind the bar. This naked women is not only a picture...no, no, no. Those buttocks are a raised relief that stick out several inches from the wall and are caressed by the local boule players before a match for good luck. Funny, that also works for me!
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