Last post about France

We're getting ready to fly back to Sydney tomorrow so I'll briefly tell you about the last few days. We left one beautiful area for another, driving to the Loire Valley. The main thing we did here was look at chateaux and chateaux. I can't remember all their names but they were mostly beautiful and amazing. One of them is where Leonardo da Vinci is buried. One of the major ones that we went to I thought was overrated and they charged extra for every little thing, including a guide to the place so we just winged it.
Kate gets the prize for picking the best places to stay. While we had lovely bed and breakfasts at the three previous towns, this one I had picked and it was a bit of a dud. I had booked a room with a bath (and i had been so looking forward to soaking in the tub) and air conditioning. Instead he had given us a room with a shower and no a/c (however same price!). When I complained, he tried to tell me how our room was much better and was trying to explain something about the window. Not getting anywhere with the argument, I returned to our warm room and opened the window to cool down. Of course that was the night that France made it into the final of the Euro cup and fans were going crazy in the street for ages. Add to that the early morning street sweeping trucks and we weren't happy Jan.
The next morning, the guy decided to show us the room with a bath to see if we wanted it. What he was trying to explain about the room was that this only had a skylight, not a window. Who cares, it had a bath and a/c! Consequently we got a great night's sleep the second night.
After 2 nights here, we drove back to Paris, stopping along the way at Chartres cathedral, which has magnificent stained glass windows. We also climbed 300 steps up to the bell tower. Then we drove via Giverny, to Monet's house and garden which he immortalised in his waterlilies paintings.

Kayaks and castles

Travelling west to Bordeaux from Carcassone, we drove through Toulouse. We had hoped to find some markets to stop at but only found produce markets so we drove through, however the town itself looks quite pretty. Driving through this area is so picturesque and we found some classical music on the radio, which just made the whole experience majestic.
We're staying at another bed and breakfast in Bordeaux (I'm beginning to think that this will be my accommodation of choice in the future) and managed to offload our bags before heading into the town. The public transport has been pretty good in most places (apart from around Nice). In Bordeaux, they have trams which were very convenient. We saw things like fountains (one magnificent one without any water in it), cathedrals (they seem to be everywhere!) and a medieval archway. We walked up the bell tower of the cathedral (more spiral staircases!) and got an incredible view of Bordeaux.
They seem to be going through a garbage strike in Bordeaux at the moment. On our walk into town, we noticed piles of garbage (seems to be several weeks worth) piled up, and what a stink! It didn't dampen our spirits, however, and we had dinner at a place in town which was set up to watch a Euro cup game.  It was France vs Iceland - I was going for the underdogs, but no victory for them tonight (that means France won, if you don't follow the game!). Something I'm not enjoying about eating in France is the smoking. It would be nice to sit in the outside section of a restaurant and be able to eat your meal without inhaling second-hand smoke. Smoking seems to be an ingrained habit here, I even saw two pregnant women smoking and just wanted to slap them!
Anyway, I would love to stay another night here but the Dordogne region awaits.
On to another bed and breakfast,  this time for three nights. The Dordogne area is also magnificent. The Dordogne river flows through such green, luscious, rolling hills and the countryside is dotted with medieval farmhouses,  villages and castles. On the way, we stopped at a gorgeous town called St Emilion, which is well known for wines and is home to many vineyards.
We spent most of one day kayaking along the river, stopping in at one village along the way. Stopping off, however, was quite tricky. We saw the village approach and were awe-struck by the scenery. We then saw a landing spot on the village side too late. The next spot was on the opposite bank, no good for exploring the village. We finally saw a camping ground just beyond the village where we managed to pull in and drag our kayak up. Unfortunately the ground was very muddy, so our shoes needed a good wash afterwards! We had a short walk through the village then hopped back in to continue down the river. We decided against another stop before the end,  as it was too traumatic! We found the ending point where the kayak company would pick us up in their shuttle bus to take us back to the starting point (and our car). The journey itself was so peaceful and enjoyable and I managed to take photos by wrapping my camera in a plastic bag and shooting pretty blindly while not dropping the oar!
While we were here we also saw some prehistoric cave drawings, which the area is apparently famous for, as well as explored more scenic villages and castles.

Driving on very winding roads

Leaving Cagnes-sur-mer to go to our next destination, Carcassone, for one night. Today is our big driving day with a few stops along the way. I volunteered to drive first, thinking of the easy motorways we've driven on so far. Instead, we got narrow, winding roads! The drivers here are fearless and think nothing of zooming around the bends, crossing over the centre line. Meanwhile, I pitied the drivers behind me, as they regularly overtook me when it was (apparently) safe. We stopped for photo opportunities on the way, and took plenty of photos in the car, as the countryside is so beautiful. I think this would be a great place to spend a few weeks and do day trips.
After a while, Kate mentioned that she enjoyed driving on winding roads, so a quick stop was needed to swap drivers! Something we saw while driving was a man on a motor scooter carrying and eating a baguette! Another interesting sight when we stopped at a beautiful bridge to take photos was a couple having a full on argument (in French) which resulted in screaming and crying.
Some stops we made on the way were at Vence, where there were some produce markets (bought some lovely apricots and peaches), and Grasse. Grasse is famous for perfume, so we stopped in at a perfume factory, went on a tour and sampled the products. We ended up buying some lovely smelling soaps etc and the car smells wonderful!
We arrived at Carcassone a bit later than intended (about 6.30pm) so went straight into the medieval city to have a look at the castle. It was incredible, and we decided to go to dinner then come back after sunset when the castle is lit up. What a sight! It is also very windy and a little bit nippy. Another incredible sight was watching two women in heels (one in wedges, the other stilettos) trying to walk on cobblestones! I was thinking the same thing as one of their partners, who said 'I don't understand why you would wear high heels when we're going to the castle after dinner'. One said that she thought wedges would be okay, the one with stilettos had to be piggybacked!

The Cote d'Azur

Another road trip today, from Avignon to Nice (or Cagnes-sur-mer to be exact). The motorways make the driving very easy to go between the major towns, although getting out of the town you're in is always a bit tricky! Taking a wrong turn because either you or the gps is confused can result in having to do a u-turn and beeping horns!
Along the way we stopped at Aix-en-Provence and it just happened to be market day. I only managed to buy some scented soap (lavender, strawberry and another I can't remember), while Kate bought a beautiful silk dress for 29 euros (about $45).
The next stop was Cannes. After Kate managing a parallel park on the opposite side and us figuring out the parking ticket machine with the help of a local, we wandered down to the boardwalk. This area is beautiful,  sandy beaches (although no waves) and magnificent views. I think it's an area where people go to retire, from the look of the aging tanned bodies (or maybe the aging is just from too much sun!). I bought an orange-passion slushie which gave me a brain freeze, and we also bought delicious gelatos - coconut for me, rockmelon for Kate. It would be nice to spend longer here but we had to move on.
We're staying in a town outside of Nice called Cagnes-sur-mer and our hotel is right in front of the beach. Parking was a bit tricky but they told us about a street behind the hotel which costs 2 euros for all day and is free at night. Kate wanted to wear her new dress so we got changed and caught a train into Nice for dinner. Checking the timetable, the last train back left at 10.13 pm. So we wandered along the boardwalk (the beach here has rocks instead of sand an no waves) and chose one of the many Italian restaurants  (being so close to Italy) and were served gigantic bowls of pasta. Unfortunately we had a bit of rain but didn't get too wet.
We headed back to the train station in time for the last train, but there were none on the screen. I asked a guy who obviously didn't want to  be bothered, who just said there were no more trains or buses tonight. When I showed him the timetable,  he insisted those times were for the weekend  (even though it said tout les jours, or every day. I suspected there was trackwork). He said we could catch a bus to the airport, then a bus from there. Having visions of getting home at 2am, we asked a taxi how much it would cost. 54 euros (about $80)! In the meantime, a guy on the street insisted there would be no buses from the airport either and offered to drive us for 40 euros. No thanks, random guy! I went back in to ask about the airport bus option and this time he said we would have to ask the bus driver if there would be buses from the airport to Cagnes-sur-mer.  Back to the taxis - we hailed one who said it would be max 45 euros. We decided this was the only option and hopped in. It only ended up costing 40 euros, due in part to the driver going 90kms through 50km zones!
Even though there is a noisy restaurant outside our window, we can close the shutters and turn on the a/c to get a good night's sleep.
The next day is to be a trip (by train) into Monaco and Nice. I'm writing this as we wait for our delayed train (over an hour) due to an incident. The bus to Monaco would be interminably long so we decided to wait for the train, which is a 40 minute trip.
So the train finally arrived and we made it into Monaco. We had planned to only spend a few hours here but Monaco is so lovely, we spent a few more. Monaco is so hilly, so of course our feet are screaming again! We seemed to walk from one end to the other, to the prince’s palace to watch the changing of the guard, along the waterfront ogling the yachts, to the casino and along the Monaco Grand Prix route. We eventually caught the train back and stopped off at Nice to walk through the old part of Nice. There happened to be some markets on the way (I love a good street market!) where I bought a lovely watercolour picture. After calling it a day, we caught the train back to Cagnes-sur-mer to have dinner (and listen to an Elvis impersonator at our restaurant!) and go for a stroll along the waterfront.