We had one more day in Levanto and one more town to investigate that was an hours walk away. As before the views of the Med along the walk were stunning and we arrived to find a quaint village with a lovely beach but on closer inspection was made up of fine pebbles that seemed to get into all the wrong places. Once again we appreciated the fine sand we have in NZ but take for granted. Back in Levanto we had lunch at a restaurant that it appeared only Mark and I were to eat at. We had a lovely young man, about 15 years old serve us and seemed a little shy to start with. We ordered a red wine and he brought us a white. We sent him away and he returned with a red one but one sip and both our faces screwed up as it was vinegar. So we called him back and told him his wine was “mal”. He took it away and came back with a better one and a smile on his face saying “it was vinegar” in broken English realising the wine had been truly horrible. We thanked him and ordered our meals. He then asked us if we wanted oil and balsamic for our salad and laughed again and said “not the wine”. SO he had a sense of humor. We got talking and he told us he wanted to come to NZ when he finished school and that his sport was tennis. We told him he would need to brush up on his rugby if he came to NZ.
Leaving Cinque Terra we had decided to return to France via a more northern route that took us past Turin and through the mountains. We drove over countryside that was full of crops and hay making. We passed an old man in a remote village raking with a common garden rake the hay that the mechanical rowers had left behind between the rows before the baler arrived so that nothing was wasted – you wouldn’t see that in NZ. Another interesting site was coming across a very dark skinned beautiful girl sitting on the side of the highway on a chair. As we passed we thought it odd but carried on. Further along there were more of the girls on the roadside. We can only conclude that they were prostitutes plying their trade to passing truckies. What a life eh.
We went around Turin deciding that we had had enough of big cities and churches and museums and galleries. We drove on to a place called Asti for a lunch break. We stopped and thought it a particularly unattractive town as the Italian towns we have seen do not have a gardened, often fountained and statuted central square like the French around which are restaurants are found. Instead we had to go hunting along streets for a place to eat. We found a menu that sounded nice and were taken into what was probably and old underground waterway that had been turned into a restaurant with absolutely stunning skill. It had bricked semicircular rooms and most exquisite design features. We were served up truly tasty food and a better than average wine (at least compared to what we had tasted in Italy so far). It was a wonderful dining experience in an otherwise ordinary looking town. It showed some of the design flair that I would expect to see in Italy.
Now over the mountains to Francia. We knew we were to go through a 14 km or so tunnel and were looking forward to the experience but you should have seen Mark and my mouth drop open as they requested approx $70 for the privilege and there was no turning back. SO we swallowed hard, paid up and drove in this dark underground cavern for 10 minutes or so. Then we were back in France and travelling along the truly beautiful mountain roads that we had enjoyed on our last visit. However the temperatures were much improved and the greenery more lush as the cold weather had gone and summer had arrived.
We went looking for a place called Aix le Bains and unfortunately we found it and wished we hadn’t. We couldn’t find a park and it had no appeal but as it was after 6 in the evening we had to find a place to stay. So we did, most ordinary really but we set ourselves up for a more interesting day tomorrow – mountain biking. We found a town called Hautesville Lompnes, only 30km away, that hired bikes and had tracks. We were out on bikes again and we really enjoyed getting out and about in the forests and countryside again. We are well out of practice though. There are heaps of mountain bike tracks in this part of the Rhone Alps but there are few places that hire bikes. We have already decided that if we come back to France again we would bring our mountain bikes and hire a stationwagon and travel the tracks.
One of the things we love doing is stopping at out of the way places for lunch (our main meal of the day as we have our own nibbles for dinner). However, seldom have we found ourselves in this predicament – 5 course meal including wine and coffee for equiv $25each. But we forced ourselves to eat all courses. Most interesting was the cheese board – this huge dish covered in packets of all sorts of cheeses and you simply chose what you wanted from it (no making sure you didn’t get too much). We discovered this cheese, I can’t remember the name of, that was a viscous liquid and tasted like melted Camembert. I would like to try some more of that – it was a heavenly elixir.
We decided to try out a camp ground with bungalows as a place to stay and whilst driving along just enjoying the scenery we stumbled across this awesome little camping spot with amazing scenery and nestled next to a lake. The French do camping so well. There are heaps of camp grounds in France and so many beautiful places to put them. We truly enjoyed our little stop at one of these. There were people from Germany, Netherlands, England, Belgium and of course France as well as us kiwis of course.
Exploring the heart of red wines in France meant we needed to check out the Beaujolais region. Well we can only say that this is a truly beautiful part of the country. First of all it is now well and truly summer so all the flowers are out and have changed France from a sea of green to a mass of colour. This was particularly evident in this wine growing region. The towns possessed awesome gardens and potplants – they were picture perfect. I finally saw flowering roses at the start of each row of vines. The wine plants are different in France being largely single untied bushes and somewhat smaller than we see in NZ. Also this and the region next door we found dotted with chateaus that dominate the skyline from afar. Although we have little interest in visiting the buildings themselves, they added to the landscape.
We are now heading for Lyon but wanted another day of mountainbiking. However we were having trouble finding places that hired bikes. We finally managed to get a day out in a place called Trevoux and rode in 30 + degree heat through crops and villages around the Soane river. Not real mountainbiking but a good day out.
Leaving Cinque Terra we had decided to return to France via a more northern route that took us past Turin and through the mountains. We drove over countryside that was full of crops and hay making. We passed an old man in a remote village raking with a common garden rake the hay that the mechanical rowers had left behind between the rows before the baler arrived so that nothing was wasted – you wouldn’t see that in NZ. Another interesting site was coming across a very dark skinned beautiful girl sitting on the side of the highway on a chair. As we passed we thought it odd but carried on. Further along there were more of the girls on the roadside. We can only conclude that they were prostitutes plying their trade to passing truckies. What a life eh.
We went around Turin deciding that we had had enough of big cities and churches and museums and galleries. We drove on to a place called Asti for a lunch break. We stopped and thought it a particularly unattractive town as the Italian towns we have seen do not have a gardened, often fountained and statuted central square like the French around which are restaurants are found. Instead we had to go hunting along streets for a place to eat. We found a menu that sounded nice and were taken into what was probably and old underground waterway that had been turned into a restaurant with absolutely stunning skill. It had bricked semicircular rooms and most exquisite design features. We were served up truly tasty food and a better than average wine (at least compared to what we had tasted in Italy so far). It was a wonderful dining experience in an otherwise ordinary looking town. It showed some of the design flair that I would expect to see in Italy.
Now over the mountains to Francia. We knew we were to go through a 14 km or so tunnel and were looking forward to the experience but you should have seen Mark and my mouth drop open as they requested approx $70 for the privilege and there was no turning back. SO we swallowed hard, paid up and drove in this dark underground cavern for 10 minutes or so. Then we were back in France and travelling along the truly beautiful mountain roads that we had enjoyed on our last visit. However the temperatures were much improved and the greenery more lush as the cold weather had gone and summer had arrived.
We went looking for a place called Aix le Bains and unfortunately we found it and wished we hadn’t. We couldn’t find a park and it had no appeal but as it was after 6 in the evening we had to find a place to stay. So we did, most ordinary really but we set ourselves up for a more interesting day tomorrow – mountain biking. We found a town called Hautesville Lompnes, only 30km away, that hired bikes and had tracks. We were out on bikes again and we really enjoyed getting out and about in the forests and countryside again. We are well out of practice though. There are heaps of mountain bike tracks in this part of the Rhone Alps but there are few places that hire bikes. We have already decided that if we come back to France again we would bring our mountain bikes and hire a stationwagon and travel the tracks.
One of the things we love doing is stopping at out of the way places for lunch (our main meal of the day as we have our own nibbles for dinner). However, seldom have we found ourselves in this predicament – 5 course meal including wine and coffee for equiv $25each. But we forced ourselves to eat all courses. Most interesting was the cheese board – this huge dish covered in packets of all sorts of cheeses and you simply chose what you wanted from it (no making sure you didn’t get too much). We discovered this cheese, I can’t remember the name of, that was a viscous liquid and tasted like melted Camembert. I would like to try some more of that – it was a heavenly elixir.
We decided to try out a camp ground with bungalows as a place to stay and whilst driving along just enjoying the scenery we stumbled across this awesome little camping spot with amazing scenery and nestled next to a lake. The French do camping so well. There are heaps of camp grounds in France and so many beautiful places to put them. We truly enjoyed our little stop at one of these. There were people from Germany, Netherlands, England, Belgium and of course France as well as us kiwis of course.
Exploring the heart of red wines in France meant we needed to check out the Beaujolais region. Well we can only say that this is a truly beautiful part of the country. First of all it is now well and truly summer so all the flowers are out and have changed France from a sea of green to a mass of colour. This was particularly evident in this wine growing region. The towns possessed awesome gardens and potplants – they were picture perfect. I finally saw flowering roses at the start of each row of vines. The wine plants are different in France being largely single untied bushes and somewhat smaller than we see in NZ. Also this and the region next door we found dotted with chateaus that dominate the skyline from afar. Although we have little interest in visiting the buildings themselves, they added to the landscape.
We are now heading for Lyon but wanted another day of mountainbiking. However we were having trouble finding places that hired bikes. We finally managed to get a day out in a place called Trevoux and rode in 30 + degree heat through crops and villages around the Soane river. Not real mountainbiking but a good day out.
Lyon was the last stop before we returned our car to Peugeot. We spent a day investigating Lyon (Roman Ruins and a cathedral called Notre Dame! We had one last day to catch up with Jocelyn’s daughter Sheree who was also in Lyon. We spent it exploring an area called Dombres where there is a series of ponds which are not only farmed for fish but where they are emptied every second year and used for cropping. The fish are harvested every autumn by empting the ponds (cheats) into a previously farmed area. Cool idea though.
We were told of a Medieval town called Perouges that we shouldn’t miss. So set out to visit it for lunch. Well it was a fascinating town and the restaurant we went to for lunch had replicated the medieval effects, with corn hanging from the ceiling, a set of armour in the corner and the menu in ancient script. This made a menu that was already difficult to comprehend because of language issues all the more difficult to decipher. But as with most times when we have largely ordered blind, we were not disappointed by the lovely meals.
We went to Exupery airport out of Lyon to drop our car back and were impressed with the beautiful architecture, not dissimilar to that seen in Valencia. We had no problem about missing hubcaps – the guy had a slight smile as if to say this happens often.
We enjoyed Lyon, finding it to have a relaxed bustle about it if you know what I mean. Staying in a Hotel right by the Part Dieu train station was a great people watching place. The French are not shy about showing emotion so seeing young couples clinging to each other as one is obviously about to depart on a train was common. Also we saw another facet of travel that we hadn’t seen in other places – the fold out scooter. Men and women of all ages would get off trains and buses with their scooter under their arm, flick it open and away they would go to work.
The next facet of travel is now by train – we don’t have a car no more. First journey is three hour trip to catch up with Catherine and Jeanette on their house boat north of Dijon. They have been cruising along the Bourgogne canal. We went to Montbard a day ahead of our planned rendezvous, but thought a day exploring before we got on the boat wouldn’t go amiss. Similarly Catherine and Jeanette, not wanting to be late for the rendezvous, had travelled further than they thought and arrived early as well (unbeknown to us). We were in the tourist office with our bags, checking out accommodation when we see this person on a distinctive bike go past and we both say “there goes Jeanette”. So we run out and surprised them. A great story.
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