Eureka Mountain Breeze
The Mystery Road Sign
Copyright (c) 2009 Michael Ogden
We saw it, so it seemed, every time I entered or left a city of any decent size, a sign representing a hand that appeared to be holding some cards and / or Déchetterie word. We have searched the phrase book common, but we had to admit defeat. This sign was to pursue and make fun of us for the next two weeks.
We had decided to go to a resort Club Med near Le Lavandou in the Var region in the Mediterranean coast, not far from St. Tropez. 'We' were three, my wife Alison, and her mother my wife - also known as 'La Belle-Mere' (mother-in-law).
Le Havre on Monday dawned cold and boring. So we started on the highway to Rouen Normandie, then diverting the N154 to Evreux and Dreux to avoid the Paris ring road.
Since we took Chartres new highway all the way past Orleans and Vierzon and Bourges.
Alison and her mother were tired after a short, bad night's sleep and an early start at not go so far that day as we would have liked. After he had stopped for a nap for the third time we realized that there was little point pushing therefore sought Logis Michelin guides and a place to stay. Eureka, just what we wanted! St Amand-Montrond, a restaurant knife and fork of two rooms is recommended in the Michelin Red. We had time for a nap before dinner more delicious.
In general, the signs in France are not as good as ours. A are often placed in such an angle in a union that is hard to judge who are targeting. We can always find signs of Déchetterie, but whatever.
On Tuesday morning, we took the route through the valley quite Cher. Shame it was still drizzling! We took the highway for about 130 and then turned to the N102 was a windy road leading through the Ardèche mountains to Montelimar. It was very slow and tired of driving that require constant concentration. We had hoped to get to Avignon that night, but at 5:30 pm we were still concerned about 80km away and find rooms for the night. There seemed be chosen both in the guidebooks, but a small town called Pierrelatte had two hotels and a restaurant with two K & F next to each of them, so we address only told was full. After a tour of the city's industrial area with lots of signs for Déchetterie we managed to find the way to the hotel to find other had only one room, but had a double and a single bed. Considering how late we decided to take and asked the holder to book a table with us in the 'Gourmand "Gourmet". From the hotel next door was fully booked we think you might have difficulty getting a table, but there were only two other tables occupied. Since neither hotel had a restaurant where we ask all other people were dining. They missed a real treat!
Wednesday morning was just what we wanted. Pleasantly warm with a light breeze. Perfect for our visit to Avignon, we all wanted to go see the famous bridge of the song. It is a fascinating walled city and spend a lot more time there than what we set out once again we had to take a step forward. We Highway most of the way beyond Arles and Aix-en-Provence, but the road from the highway to our destination was again windy and slow, and finally we to our hotel at about 6.30pm. There were late to bed that night!
One advantage of having our own means of transportation was that we could do some day trips in the area. Our first trip was an excursion to the mountains described in the Michelin Green Guide. It was nice in many respects. We passed through some beautiful scenery and picturesque people, but the driving was very tiring. Much of it went alone along the mountain track road with no crash barrier and a very long fall. Passing places were few and tight and French drivers drive as if it were a one-way street. Part of the route took us though part of the forests west of St Tropez, which was severely affected by fire in July. Although we have seen very few houses in that area and saw a burning car, not far away a huge pile of flowers beside the road. It was quite distressing and we were all very quiet for a while. Each city had its Déchetterie signs however.
Our trip was the second day Grasse, the center of perfume. It was a pleasant trip, partly along the coast, some highway and some "N". Grasse was a beautiful city built on a hill magnificent views. We spent much time in the Perfume Museum and the Cathedral and easily could have spent several days exploring the narrow streets. We took a different route and home, was struck again by the devastation of forest fires.
Plus one or two trips to the local level did not dare so much. We knew we had a lot of driving to do on the return trip.
We left for the return trip on Saturday morning. We had booked the ferry to return to the Monday night and knew that I have little time to spare, especially as we wanted to move on the part of the Camargue in our way. It was nice and we even saw several the famous white horses of the area. As we approached we realized Arles on the map the remains of a Roman aqueduct that we think would like to visit, and also a place called Moulin de Daudet. Daudet was a French writer that my mother had studied and wrote a series of stories called Lettres a Mon Moulin visited both. Roman remains were of interest, what was left of them, but not worth the detour, but the windmill was lovely. Once again, we do not reach our goal and turned off the highway in a town called La Cavalerie. Here we find rooms in a hotel that was recently renovated (even had an elevator)
Sunday we left on time. We had hoped that a new round of Millau motorway had been completed, but still under construction and, as the area was quite mountainous, our progress has been slow. That section of the motorway will be spectacular when completed. In places that extends 500 meters above the bottom the valley. We went as fast as the ground conditions permitted. Finally we reached the highway, just south of Brive and has progressed well for a while before turning north-west to Poitiers. In fact Poitiers avoided by turning north to Chauvigny where we stayed at the Lion d'Or with excellent cuisine. We expected be much further north that night, but a glance at the map assured us it was only about 4-5 hours drive to Le Havre and the ship not sail until 1130pm. No problem.
On Monday, the driving was easy compared with previous days. The roads were relatively straight and there was more highway. Although he had no much room for shopping we decided to stop at Pont l'Eveque to buy some cheese. For some reason, we have had great difficulty in the purchase of cheese in the village itself. A store was closed for annual vacation, another was sold. Of local cheeses! We were gobsmacked! However, he had picked up a map at the office tourism showed a Fromager Atelier so we decided to see if it was open. As we approached we saw a further sign Déchetterie. We could not leave France without discovering what it was like that, after buying our cheese we have the courage to go where no Briton has ever been before. We follow the road signs to the depths of the retail park and not the secret was revealed. A Déchetterie is a recycling center - the city dump!
About the Author
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