Friday, June 18, 2010

Friday June 18th. Cote'd'Azure to St Remy de Provence

Yeehah!!!!!! Friday 18th June now, good internet connection again so I've just posted all the diary entries I've compiled since last posting!!(Will that keep Mum happy Pauline? :-)

We woke to brilliant blue skies above and an equally brilliant blue Medditterranean Sea and after quickly departing from our rather average hotel popped in to the nearby Supermarket to select goodies for breakfast - our first purchase of the real French croissants and pastries. I'd loved the italian vesion well enough, but try adding a heap more butter and a much greater melt in the mouth texture and Mmmmmm!Especially when eaten on the beachfront in Menton, a gorgeous strip of coast crowded against the sea by towering cliffs and rocky outcrops. The gateway to the French Riviera/ the Cote d'Azure.

The next resort we'd come to would be Monte Carlo/ Monaco the world's leisure capital with skyscrapers, glamorous hotels, apartments and the famed Casino - home to the highest proportion of wealthy residents anywhere in the world. Driving options through here are any of three Corniches / the three Coastal Routes; seafront, middle or high on the motorway. With a long day's travel ahead we chose the middle route which avoided waterfront congestion but still afforded wonderful views down to the Coastal resorts and sparkling sea. We marvelled at the tiny perched village of Eze set in the Jardin Exotique and looked down on the deep water Port of Ville Franche-Sur-Mer before heading down into the big bustling City of Nice beach and on then to the home of festivals, Cannes. Here we found ourselves a park on the waterfront (no mean feat!) and enjoyed our picnic lunch.

From here the bay curves back a half circle to give the most wonderful views back along the the Coast and its seaside resorts before you negotiate the point and suddenly the red rocks and soil of the Massif de la Esteral are crowding in down to the sea again giving spectacular vistas with bold reds and blues of land and sea.

On reaching St Raphael we turned inland, took the A80 and headed at high speed across this rural stretch of Provence till we reached our destination of St Remy de Provence.

Here we have a very pleasant stand alone, self contained unit,in a small "motel" complex set in delightful grounds. Have stocked up with goodies from the nearby supermarket and will be very happy to settle in here for 4 nights and explore the surrounding area - lavendar, lemons, Van Gogh .....

1 comment:

  1. Whew! I am quite exhausted reading all you have seen and where you have been. I have to say though I am not impressed with all that fish. I am not a fish lover and the shell fish makes me shudder.
    We have been having lovely sunny days but not so warm today. Somebody is sure to say that we need the rain.
    I watched my Italian episode this morning. I always keep forgetting the name of the place where this NZ family are. I will write it down next Saturday.
    Went to see a good French film this week - The Hedgehog.
    Karen and Brian have moved into their new house. Love the kitchen it seems.
    M & M are arriving on 27th June for 8 days so something to look forward to.
    Our neighbours on the down side have bought a house and move in five weeks. A pity really as they are a nice quiet family. A five year old girl and a 6 month baby boy.
    Nothing exciting happening. Keep up the blog Olwyn.
    Margaret

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