Lyndy and Lou take a French lesson

France arivéé

Before leaving Melbourne my friend Lyndy phoned and said ‘is everything ok?’

I said ‘yes’.

Then she said ‘I’ll see you in Paris’…….

14th July 2016

I have never previously been to France.

It was chilly leaving Melbourne but got away on time with an uneventful flight. From Singapore onwards I had good sleep in Premium Economy, but Mary-Ellen, my sister, and her 3 kids had 2 crying babies all night to contend with.
Landed at Charles de Gaulle airport at 0700 local time.
We got in a cab and making small talk to the driver, Mary asked him how was Bastille Day, and we then found out the terrible news of a terrorist in Nice. Many innocent victims killed, and injured when they were mowed down by this man in a truck. Lyndy and I had walked that street just 2 years ago. What terrible people exist to inflict so much hurt is beyond my thoughts.
The cab driver was opinionated about a lot of things. Happy to converse with us, but wanted to know where we were from first. ‘Oh you are not English then! All the English can go home’ he said. ‘When I have English in my cab they ask if I can speak English? I just shrug my shoulders and say ‘sorry I cannot. English is too hard for me.’ He spoke of ‘Brexit’ and said the English can all get out of here. He said ‘they cannot speak French, but you all the way from Australia are learning and speaking French’. It was an entertaining ride.
My hotel was not ready, but the ‘Watsons’ were only a 3 minute walk away.
We went walking out for a French breakfast that was ‘ok’ nothing startling. Mary then got the children a baguette at a nearby boulangerie which they ate with gusto.
We walked to Notre Dame where they got on a bateau a ‘boat taxi’ to see the other points of interest.
I caught up with Lyndy and spent rest of day in cafés having coffee, wine, French Onion Soup until by 6pm we were ready for bed.
Our hotel is a boutique hotel in a 15th century building. The Relais Hotel The walls have cheerful fabric stuck over ancient plaster like wallpaper. Big wooden beams throughout. It has become quite apparent that in one day, if you try and speak your best French, you have a better chance of getting on here in Paris. It was only a few minutes away from Saint Michel Boulevarde, cafes, and transportation. A good location in the Arts District.

Mary Ellen my sister, Arthur, Sidney and Klara

Saturday 16th July was a transit day.

Leaving Paris on a fast train to Aix en Provence, we arrived 3 hours later, picked up the hire cars. Our accommodation was a large house, 6 bedrooms, many bathrooms and large living space with couple of acre garden and pool. The garden had a few large sculptures, and a sizeable cabana, but the whole place lacked french style and character, rather a little run down. I can’t remember the property name but the whole rental process here was a little dodgy, and getting back the bond proved a little unusual.

It was a very tricky time finding our rental house, as the address is not recognized on the GPS. House is large, loads of outdoor space, and the kids were straight into the pool.

Bread and pizzas from nearby.

The channel swimmers and family members (from Warrnambool) arrived late. And we all fell into bed exhausted.

Sunday, after walking to the boulangerie for croissants across the road from our driveway, we all went in different directions to explore the region.

Lyndy and I went to the Pelissane Market. Loads of fresh produce and clothing.

We then went in to the centre of the town and sat at a local cafe just enjoying the peace and quiet. Pelissane has a spiral layout of its laneways, so you need to park and walk around and into the centre of the village.

Pelissanne has preserved some lovely 16th and 17th-century houses – the facades have been carefully restored, making the most of the windows, which are often brightened up with flowers. This lends a touch of elegance to these little narrow lanes which can sometimes be rather dark.

We then moved on to Les Baux using the smaller roads rather than the highways.
The village of the Baux de Provence is situated on a rocky plateau 245m high. A brilliant view can be seen from the look-out points! This immense and superb stone fortress is without doubt one of the “must-sees”. We had to park down the road quite a bit and walk up into the village. It was well worth the walk. We had a lovely lunch and a good walk around. The village can only be visited by foot and there are ancient houses that have been carefully restored, beautiful Renaissance façades and several magnificent “hôtels particuliers” which today serve as art galleries or museums.

On the way home we visited another 8 or so villages, each time ignoring the GPS, parking near the village centre, and walking through the narrow cobbled streets. Some of them were very quiet today, being a Sunday. We really enjoyed todays drive and covered quite a bit of ground. A sunny day exploring.

Aurielle and Grans stood out as pleasant little villages.

We all returned to the house and enjoyed a shared meal. All 14 of us.

Market day was all it promised to be. Fresh fruit and veg, meats, breads and others

We are all having very very late nights, so this diary is a quick catch up probably with many forgotten things. One thing we are all enjoying are the long hot days, the fresh fruits and lovely breads and cheeses, but it’s hard to remember everything just a few days on as there is so much we are doing. Lyndy and I have clocked up 650 kms in 5 days. I had promised Lyndy that I would share the driving, so after a quick drive around the local supermarket carpark and Lyndy’s friendly reminders I was more than happy driving left hand drive for the first time, and continued quite a bit during the trip.
Mon 18th July
My first day driving was Straight through a busy Marseille suburbia in a drive to the beach. Traffic is crazy. Marseille was the most important trading centre in the region and the main commercial port of the French Empire. Marseille is now France’s largest city on the Mediterranean coast, I think one and half million people, and the largest port for commerce, freight and cruise ships. We went on to Cassis as the Marseille beach not that enthralling, and sat a while on the beach. It was hot, rocky and crowded. Had a few cool drinks and walked around the shopping areas. Small touristy boutiques and the occasional expensive ones. Lots of cafes. Home late and a shared dinner around the big table at our pool house.

Tue 19th July
Spent the day wandering the streets of Aix en Provence. We visited the cathedral. Had lovely baguettes in the market place. Too hot and tired to do much. Swam at home in the pool and shared a lovely dinner.
Wed 20th July
Today we set off in a convoy of 4 cars heading to Esparron du Verdon to swim in the large man made lake there. The water is brilliant Aqua colour. Not sure why but guessing the limestone plateaus that are here. We lost each other a few times on the way, saw some lavender fields, it was such a hot day I got straight into the water. The water was cool and very very deep. The swimmers amongst our group had a few challenges. It was hot sitting around with not much shade.

On our return we went through 4 lovely villages and walked around each one. St Martin de Bromes, a tiny place where everything was shut except a place for a cool drink. While we were there we noticed children riding donkeys, then saw a paper clipping about the pet therapy for children.
Greoux les bains is a large lovely town with beautiful garden spaces, lots of nice shops, we hope to get back there as there are thermal baths, and you can swim from the river banks. Lyndy drank from the continuous water flowing through fountains. The church there was very unusual. On opening the door the stairs are straight down which we found very different. A lovely lavender smell throughout the church gave a nice ambience.
We also visited a town with a huge ancient castle that is being renovated as the Town Hall. I spent the entire holiday thinking every building called “hotel de Ville” was a Hotel, until one day Lyndy pointed out is was the Town Hall in each place we visited! Originally it was King Renes chateau which was interesting to walk around, and a nice little place to photograph.
Vinon, Saint Paul Les Durance, Mirabeau, and on until we came to Eyguières. We were looking for a small dinner cafe but it was a strange little town with one way streets, many private streets, and nowhere but a pizza shop. By now we were super hungry, so I suggested to Lyndy we eat at the restaurant near the house. We were by this stage scruffy in shorts, and tired and hot. It was a fabulous restaurant and we were treated like queens, dined on Eye Fillet and Truffle mash with a lovely bottle of Rose. I think we even managed a Créme Bruléé.

Thursday 21st July
Today we decided to go to visit the seaside between Marseille and Cassis. Following vague directions, our GPS took us through long tunnels, one under the sea, and we came out not too far from our destination. The road to the calanque was closed to the public and walking was the only option. Apparently a half hour walk. We set out and soon began to climb steeply. For anyone who has been to Bathurst the climb up that road is similar. We got to half way (2kms) but abandoned when we realized it was just as steep down the other side, and we would have to walk the revers (4km to get back to the car) it was very hot. Did I mention it was hot, very hot, and very thirsty, and painful!
We headed for the Basilica of Notre Dame Marseille and had a short self tour. It is also a steep steep climb to the highest point of Marseille but I drove right to the top. It was quite impressive with many tributes to Mariners mainly, and those lost in the great wars.
By now it was 3pm, so we went to the old port to find lunch. Marseille is a smelly filthy city, industrial, busy, and lacking character. We did hope to go to the old centre, but getting too late. The were a lot of baroque style buildings all around 5 stories high with lovely iron balconies. Had dinner at home while the other mums and dads went up the road for dinner.

One of Les calanques – I didn’t walk any closer than this

Friday 22nd July

Yesterday Mary and Jon with family set out for a winery near Nice.
The Lambs were also up and away early to watch the Tour de France in Albertville.

Lyndy and I decided to have a quiet day shopping locally at a small boutique.

I received a call from Jon with news that they had been hit by a large truck that didn’t give way to them. After some hitting concrete barriers and crossing 3 lanes of traffic into another barrier the Mercedes was a write off!! Fortunately the Watsons were all OK.
We are going to spend one more day here and then move on. We will go to Aix for the day. I’m not keen on big cities. And don’t find them appealing at all, so looking forward to heading through the countryside on the weekend.
It’s been good sharing the big house, the kids have really loved the big yard and swimming pool. About 3 acres here I would think.
I’m quite used to driving here now in the left hand, although the French are arrogant drivers sometimes. They love their fast freeway lanes.