Leaving 01 October, land in Nice on the 2nd, around lunch time, will spend a day in Nice, then drive up to Seillans to stay at Duex Rocs on the 3rd - 5th, after that we’ll drift north and a bit west wandering through the vineyards of the Loire Valley, and should arrive in Paris on the 11th. That’s the plan anyway. I’ll record the reality here as we go.
We stayed in Nice at the Hotel Imperial, a hundred years ago it was the palace of a Russian prince, back when Russia had princes. 12 foot ceilings, marble stair cases, a bird cage elevator, stained glass windows - a very cool hotel.
Out in the Mediteranean there were a bunch of catamarans racing, or maybe just practicing, they seemed to be doing it all day long. Found a cafe/bar on the beach with a bit of shade and watched the boats for a while - it may be October on the calendar but it still feels like August here.
Walked around the old town for a while on Friday, took in the flower market, had a pretty good lunch of stuffed rabbit,
The yellow house where the artiste Matisse lived
On the mountain overlooking Nice were a few old mansions (one owned by Elton John, and one with its own waterfall)
Friday afternoon we left Nice, heading north and west (and away from the heat) into the mountains and le Hotel de Deux Rocs
We went into the local church, built almost eleven hundred years ago, way before anyone heard of the “new world” the organist was practicing, it was dark and silent but for the organ - very cool. The open air squares are great (away from the heat of the French Riviera). The chef at Duex Rocs is very good, easily on par with places I eat in Manhattan, Paris, or Quebec. We looked wistfully at the apartments for sale, but only a dream - and if I had that kind of money and wanted to move to France it would be further north; but I really love coming back to this place, would love to come again next year.
Tomorrow we are heading a bit north and east, to Beaune - in the Cote dÓr, south of Dijon and north of Lyon. Beaune is the capital of the Beaujolais region (Joan mostly drinks Chardonay, but beaujolais is her favorite red wine).
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Well 9 hours of driving and we didn’t make it to Beaune, or even Lyon; did get past Grenoble. The mountain roads are very serpentine, no straight roads in these mountains, and we were literally driving through the clouds in our little Renault. About 3 in the afternoon finally stopped for breakfast (well first meal of the day anyway). Seems this area of the mountains October they celebrate the feast of the goat, Fete de Chevre, and to be honest it was probably the best goat I have ever eaten.
Finally stopped just befor 8PM at a small town called la Tour du Pin, a glass of red wine and some sleep.
06 Oct
After breakfast went to see the town before moving on, the church at la Tour du Pin has gargoyles like most medieval structures, and some very gnarly rocks which were very cool.
So we continued on our way to Beaune (still didn’t make it); kinda got lost, not really - we were were we wanted to be, give or take a few kilometers. The area was all small villages, a castle or chateau surrounded by a dozen houses and a church, we checked out 5 or 6 and none of them had a cafe or a restaurant - no where to eat or drink (bummer, big time). Stayed a a goat farm, no WIFI, just a clean room with a bed.
07 Oct
Still heading to Beaune, weather getting rainy, we decided to setup base outside of Beaune and chill out (Joan is getting a very bad cold - 80 degrees in Nice and cold and rainy in the mountains, she is suffering from the change). Givry was a promising place to crash, cafes and restaurants - oh my! but very busy - we continued on to Meursault, best of both worlds: quiet with a couple of restaurants, 3 hotels and no crowds. Joan is taking her cold medicine, I am eating wild boar sausage, and drinking “vin ordinaire” - local red wine at 2.75 a liter and very good (amazing). We are 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) from Beaune (finally). Tomorrow we explore Beaune and then head west to Chinon (watch the movie Lion in Winter with Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburne).
Chinon is where Joan of Arc unmasked the future king of France and was given control of the French army. Probably won’t get there tomorrow but we will be heading that way - nothing goes as quickly as planned - no surprise, even Napoleon had to take his time, up to now we have been following his trek from the Mediteranean to Paris - tomorrow we sidetrack a little; but the delays and side-tracks make life interesting.
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08 October
One of the main sites in Beaune is the l’ Hotel Dieu, a hospital for the poor, a building from the mid 15th century with lacquered slate roofs. The Beaune is ancient, the Gauls were here before the Romans took over, and many old buildings have odd decorations, besides the usual gargoyles there is a penchant for human faces in the walls.
We left Beaune at lunch-time without having had lunch - a very sad thing but we need to go way west to Chinon and I was starting to freak that we were running out of time.
Two hours later, and a few wrong turns and we had hardly made any headway and I was ready to turn around and give up on Chinon. Pulled into a small bistro - sorry after 2 oçlock the kitchens close (everywhere in France - this is true, if you don’t have lunch by 2 oçlock you are screwed) - now I am really bummed and was ready to sit there and get drunk and forget the whole thing. The owner (extremely nice under the circumstances said he had a half roast chicked and potatoes left over from lunch, (poulet roti et pomme de terre)) - sure what the hell, just bring some pastis (pastis is like the greek Ouzo, maybe stronger) and vin blanc and vin rouge. I didn’t really feel hungry but was more than willing to drink. He spoke no english but we managed (we always do) and I asked him, ä Chinon, une jour, deux jour? How long to Chinon, one day, two days? Mais non! he says we can make it in 5 or 6 hours from Nevers - well that really cheered me up - all of a sudden the chicken was very tasty (and it actually was).
So now we are on the outskirts of Nevers in some cheap hotel and if he is correct we can be in Chinon by lunchtime or at least by dinner time tomorrow (to be continued).
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09 October
Started raining over night, we hit the road around 8 AM. Rained on and off the whole time we drove to Tours. Scholars of the French language consider the purest French to be spoken here (myself excluded obviously) . During the middle ages Saint Martain was the bishop and tthe cathedral is old and very intricate; many gargoyles, and inside a statue of Ste Jeanne DÁrc (Joan of Arc).
We ate at L’Hedoniste, really great food: curried chicken in a filo purse, zucchini quiche, confit de canard (crispy duck leg) and bavette, thin cut steaks from the local white steers; washed down with a local wine from Chinon. Got me to thinking about how I gushed over the chef at Deux Rocs. Duex Rocs makes a meal a work of art, but for just really good food, France is full of great chefs - and what seperates them from NY chefs is that (for the most part) in France they are affordable.
After lunch we headed on to Chinon (finally). Bought some post cards and sat in an outdoor cafe, drinking, and starting to write a few (post cards). Now we are in our hotel room for the night, I am eating pheasnt sausage and drinking hard cider from Normandy. Tomorrow we go check out the chateau and with a little luck the labyrinth of underground caves. Saturday it is off to Paris
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I’m back! had issues with the WIFI in Chinon but now we are in Paris and I can catch up - so back to Chinon:
10 October
We arrived at the fortress early, it was foggy; and even the spider webs were dressed as in jewels. Myself, I dressed as a Knight Templar. Sainte Jeanne DÁrc is the patron, way after Henry II and Eleanor of Acquitaine (imortalized by Peter O’Toole & Katherine Hepburn). We had a quiet lunch back in town and retired early.
11 October
Headed towards Paris in the morning; decided to stop at Versailles for lunch. I had been been there twice before, and Joan at least 3 times so we weren’t going to see the sights, mainly for a nice lunch on the Grand Canal. The palace at Versailles is huge, and the grounds bigger than many towns, Louis XIV had the canal dug so that him and his cronies could be gondola’d around without going to Venice. Lunch was very nice.
Then on to gay Paris, I have been to Paris 6 or 7 times but this was the first time I drove in the city - HORRIBLE
Traffic like the worst rush hour and motor bikes buzzing around everywhere like angry gnats. Left Joan and the luggage at the hotel and went to drop off the car. Took me over 3 hours to get the rental car to the airport (what should have been a 40 minute drive) - then a train back to our hotel on the left bank - no dinner, oh well.
12 October
Our customary hotel is an old musketeer barracks near St Michel, lots of history, flower markets, food markets, and great bakeries.
We intended to head to the famous Marche du Puce (the flea market where a lot of my silverware has been purchaased over the years). Got lost coming out of the subway (my fault) and we never made it. Decided to head back into town, there was an exhibit at the Grand Palais of a Japanese artist (Hokusai) we wanted to check out. Got off the train near the EIFFLE tour and decided to walk.
Crossing one of the many bridges over the Seine we saw hundreds of locks fastened to the bridge; the local custom is to fasten a “lock of love” as a sign of love, as someone may carve initials in a heart into a tree.
After a tres cher lunch and a walk of about a mile, the line into the Grand Palais was too long to wait on, but a security man said Joan could cut the line (a perk given to seniors, maybe) and she talked him into letting me in also. Even better, once inside a guard personally took us upstairs in an elevator. Going up in the elevator I said to Joan, "C'est très spécial” and the guard smiled and said, “it is because you are special” (Wow)
Afterwards a pair of subways took us home where we spent the remainder of the afternoon in an outdoor cafe drinking until dinner time.
A small restaurant next to our hotel where the owner still remebered us (even what I like to drink) after 8 years. A very nice return to Paris indeed.
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13 October — our last full day in France
After cafe, we set off for the Jardin du Luxembourg, the palace built by Marie de Medici - there was a great exhibition of impressionist artists, and afterwards a walk through the gardens (I have spent time in the gardens in the spring time just sitting and reading but today was cool and very windy).
Our walk continued towards the river, past the Patheon, and on to the Seine and a view of Notre Dame, and finally time for lunch.
If anyone ever tells you frog legs taste like chicken, they have never eaten really good frogs legs!
We stopped at Place St Michel for an aperitif, and crossed the Pont Neuf to Ille de Citi and on to the right bank, Rive Droite.
Yesterday I saw clusters of “Locks of Love” upstream, but here at Pont Neuf there were thousands.
Looking at Paris from the bridge, even the clouds look surreal, a nice last day, dinner tonight at Vins et Terroirs;
and tomorrow, home to New York.
