Category Archives: France 2016

Chapter Eight: Waterwheels, On Gard & Uzés

Posted on by December 28, 2016

Chapter Eight: Waterwheels, On Gard & Uzés Day Eight – Brexit Chat, Big Wheels, On Gard, Paging Ned Beatty, Circling Uzés, Always Best To Check Your Emails, Castle Keep, Is That The Leaning Tower Of Pisa, Patio Perfect and The “Important American” After chatting with some Brits about Brexit (they were the only Brits we met on the trip in favor of it), we were on our way to Uzés, but not without a couple of stops along the way. About a half an hour from Bonnieux, we detoured to what some people call “The Antique Capital of Provence, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.”  Fortunately it was a Monday morning, and nearly all the stores were closed, plus Tracy was traveling with her own … Read more…

Chapter Seven: Old Bridge, Old Popes, Old Town, Old Man!

Posted on by December 12, 2016

Chapter Seven:  Old Bridge, Old Popes, Old Town, Old Man! Day Seven – Pont Diversion, Papes Goes The Palace, A Tour We Could Have Skipped, Stop All These Weddings, Solemn Ceremony, How Art Thou, A Bridge Too Far…and Too Short, Going Out Of My Gordes, Better From The Road, Lavender-less Abbey, Does The Gift Store Have a Defibrillator, Tracy Takes The Wheel, More Deserted Hill Towns and Dinner Is Not For Nil Our last day in Provence…On a picture-perfect Sunday morning, we had a quick breakfast because we were going to the big city; well, a bigger city anyway…Avignon. Tracy and I had paid a quick visit to Avignon in 1998, and truthfully the only thing I remembered about it … Read more…

Chapter Six: Looping The Lovely Luberon

Posted on by November 29, 2016

Chapter Six: Looping The Lovely Luberon Day Six – Mr. Belvedere, Wine Sale, Seeing Red, Frankenstein Goes Hiking, Another Sleepy Town, Take My Restaurant Recommendation With A Grain Of Salt, Going Cucu, Do We Need To Buy Them a Gift, Chateau Diversion, Finally A Busy Town, Chasing Camus, Sunset To Remember, Hail Cesar, Trump’s Detective Cousin and An Impromptu Meeting Of The United Nations Promptly at 9 a.m. we sat down for a quick breakfast of croissants, jam, cheese, ham, bread and coffee (starting to have a familiar ring, eh?) at Les Terrasses du Luberon. Then, donning my “Squirrel Whisperer” t-shirt, we were off to a gorgeous village where we might be afforded the opportunity to take a hike (something … Read more…

Chapter Five: We Head To Provence

Posted on by November 25, 2016

Chapter Five: We Head To Provence Day Five: “Diesel” Or “Diesel”, Shut Out At Obi-Wan Kenobi, Never Pick The First Restaurant You See, Lost In Translation, Chicken Or Beef, It Helps To Have The Address, Room With A View, Beautiful Bonnieux, Circuitous Dinner Route, Dining Delight and Carrying A Torch It was time to leave Beaune, but not before consuming vast amounts of Les Jardins de Loïs’s great croissants and jam. I reiterate; this is one of the finest lodgings we have stayed anywhere in Europe!  The gate opened, and we were on our way. Our destination was Bonnieux in the Luberon area of Provence. Tooling down the highway, I noticed we were in need of petrol, something that always … Read more…

Chapter Four: Dijon Cuts The Mustard

Posted on by November 25, 2016

Chapter Four: Dijon Cuts The Mustard Day Four – Scrambling For Breakfast, The Elusive Dijon Parking Lot, Heart-Stopping Climb, The Tomb Room, Owl Be Damned, Aztec Wishes, Not So Grand Cru, Not My Cup Of Wine, Oh That Wasn’t Our Bottle, A Looney Tunes Dinner and Last Call Up early (sorry Tracy).  Although I enjoy bread, cheese, jam and calories as much as the next guy, on this morning I needed to hold back on my carb intake, and the lovely folks at Les Jardins de Loïs provided me with a hearty helping of scrambled eggs. Sadly, their croissants and jam are so good here, I ate those, too, so my non-carb diet stayed consistent.  It did, however, give me … Read more…

Chapter Three: Checking Out Beaune…From Above and Below

Posted on by November 25, 2016

Chapter Three:  Checking Out Beaune…From Above and Below Day Three: MaiTai and The Amazing Technicolor Roof, Second To Nun, Our Man Rogier, Woman Of The Cloths, It’s All About The Tapestries, The “Elevator List” Revisited, Historic Cellars, Wine In Our Spacious Backyard & Dinner At The God Of The Grape Harvest With that final Rusty Nail dancing in my head, I awoke relatively early so I could plop myself down in the nearby breakfast room of Les Jardins de Loïs.  A few cups of coffee later and filled with some breakfast goodies, Tracy (who had joined me) and I were ready to stroll over to the Hospices de Beaune/Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune. After breakfast, I ran into Phillipe in the driveway … Read more…

Chapter Two: Witnessing History On The Drive To Beaune

Posted on by November 25, 2016

Chapter Two:  Witnessing History On The Drive To Beaune Day Two: No Way Vézelay, Where’s Orson Welles, Please Don’t Pee In Our Photo, The Chateau Less Visited, Gosh I Didn’t See That Sign, Do You Know The Way To Fontenay, We’re On The Road To Nowhere, Dear Abbaye, Sure Now I Hit The Red Button, I Got A Beaune To Pick, B&B Heaven, An exCEPtional Hotel Bar, Meeting Friends, Dinner In The Golden Arches and Nightcaps With Paco Ostensibly, after a good night’s sleep, my plan was to head down early to a UNESCO World Heritage site, Abbaye Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Vézelay, to start a busy driving day. My heart had been set on visiting this abbey, but dropping dead early … Read more…

Chapter One: We Make It To Burgundy…Finally!

Posted on by November 25, 2016

Chapter One:  We Make It To Burgundy…Finally! My sister believes that had I been born 25 years later, I probably would have been prescribed Ritalin. I suppose that’s why I’ve never been characterized as a “Slow Traveler.” In our ardent attempt to “stop and smell the vineyards” on our Autumn 2016 journey to Burgundy, Provence, Languedoc and Paris, Tracy and I did our level best to relax.  Really, we did!  I even set the alarm as late as almost 9 a.m. one morning.                          On our three week expedition, we spent one day (well, make that really just barely a night…thanks CDG & EuropCar) in Auxerre, three nights in Beaune, three nights in Bonnieux, … Read more…