Thanks Underhill!

You're welcome...those pesky holidays can be a real problem, and May is otherwise such a great month to be in France.

Re: May and holidays. There were 3 holidays during our last week. What I noticed was not so much closures, as lots of people and traffic. We drove back from the Loire to Paris on VE day and it took nearly 5 hours. We pulled in/out of 2 of the big rest areas (the kind with food/gas etc) because there was absolutely nowhere to park. The upside of traveling then was the truly gorgeous flowers, getting some really nice rooms before the May 1 price jump, and maybe less traffic on the non-holidays.

Another aside (and maybe Marcy ran into this too): my husband loving running across the rallies of old sports cars. First there were several of them in the area of Giverney, then we just missed the end of their rally at LesAndelys. There were 60's jags, old Austin Healys, a bathtub Porsche, I think even a Rolls, etc. We saw some again in Cap Ferrat, then at Sarlat there were several in the parking lot which my husband said we had seen at Giverney.

Monday: We had breakfast on the terrace under the orange trees at Le Hameau. With all the potted plants and view over the Riviera, it was very hard to leave.
Keeping in mind that for this next section I only had the Regional Michelin and really needed the Local Michelin which I hadn't found, we headed off to find St. Jean Cap Ferrat. Before you think we're really stupid, we met some people who came out of the Nice airport and ended up in San Remo, Italy before they could get squared away!

We somehow ended up on the toll road toward Menton. We were briefly off on the Moyenne Corniche at Eze. I had planned to go see Eze, but not exactly in that order. By then I was so freaked out with the roads that I said 'let's just find St. Jean Cap Ferrat. We drove right to the Brise Marine--a 3 story yellow Belle Epoque house.

Unfortunately we were on the 3rd floor -- so up five flights of winding stairs. The next day the maid took pity on us and carried 2/3 of our luggage down. (Need to learn to travel lighter!)

We had a fantastic view out our window but the Mediterranean was still a bit smoky and hazy. Some very large yachts in the harbor.

We walked to lunch at Skippers down on the waterfront. I had some wonderful veal. We had been drinking either local rhines or cotes de rhone rouge the whole trip and all most all of them were good.

I went through the Rothschild Gardens alone. (I told my husband he really made a poor choise of what to sit out--he would have liked the view of Villefranche harbor). The house wasn't to my taste (and I'd toured it on TV) so I spent my time outside. I would say the garden was beautiful more for the different design styles than for any particular blooms.

Evening dinner: Coquilles St. Jacques at the Capitaine Cook. It was very good but I had never seen scallops served with legs. (raised in cattle country, you know). This was also our first foie gras--homemade--we were surprised at the sweet taste. My husband was immediately hooked.

In the evening we watched the yachts light up out on the water. I'm glad I saw the Riviera. It really does look like the pictures. At one of our points when we were trying to decide where to get off the autorout I could see the upper corniche way above us. However, neither of us feel we need to go back there--too many people.

Oops: weather? All I know was that the day it was 86 in Gordes, I was told they don't usually have that until mid/late June. After one trip I don't have a lot to base it on. My cousin went to France exactly a year earlier and used her raincoat a lot.

Next day: the really long haul, with a great surprise at the end.

What a teaser!

Were those scallops served with legs or with eggs?

Come back HPT! I am thoroughly enjoying your report and am eager to read on!!!

Re: Scallops. Well, I think they had legs, bipeds, or something. Anyway, they tasted good but I had always seen them as these perfectly round items. The place also served a homemade liqueur-very good. I sort of wondered if the owners had been English. Captain Cook of course has been very much everywhere we go. He named some places in AK. He sailed into some picturesque ports in Hawaii (where I think he met his demise). There's a town in Yorkshire where Alaska sends back a walebone arch whenever it wears out.

OK. On: Tuesday morning. (At least I think it was. We had watched no TV and seen no newspapers. A reaction from being in Dublin on Sept. 11).

We left early to beat the traffic. Hah! Just wait! We had onion tart on the street. I didn't say anything but I know my boat-loving husband had trouble leaving the harbour of St. Jean Cap Ferrat.

We followed signs to the autoroute for over an hour. (Keep in mind at this point we only had a 'regional' map, not local. Finally in mid-Nice we encoutnered an entrance sign to the Autoroute with a CHAIN across it.

Ok, now where. If there were any more arrow or signs we missed them. My thought was to follow the traffic. Weren't other people lost too?

OK. This part you won't believe. We're following the traffic. I'm sure we're going to be on a freeway entrance at any minute. Our lane comes to a halt. The right lane seems to be moving so we get over there. (Aside: the French people are shorter than we are).

After awhile my husband looks over at the two left lanes of traffic and says THERE'S NOBODY IN THOSE CARS! My later thought was that they tore up these peoples' street -- there was an entitlement to park so they assigned them the middle of the street -- ?? - maybe? OK on. We're still following traffic. I can assume they're heading for the autoroute.

Suddenly I notice there's not quite the same traffic and my husband is making street choices on whim. (He does that.) We're way up in the hills of east or north Nice spiraling our way into narrower and narrower streets as the morning grows later and later and more cars come out. We're going to be here when it gets dark aren't we?

Finally (after I could tell by the sun we had spiralled back toward the east) we saw a tiny (and I mean tiny) sign to the autoroute. I had faint hopes because, well you know......

Finally, after following tons of traffic. Hopefully, they were lost too and my old PSAT scores really did mean something? We came to a quick split. Please, dear, pick Cannes NOT Menton!

We were out and barreling along the autoroute -- with what via.michelin said was going to be another 4-5 hours driving. I didn't tell him that. Later screw-up. When I looked at the map, it appeared that I could do the hypotenuse of the triangle and miss Nimes, sail across the Camargue and shorten the whole trip. Sure! Talke about winding around on the slow roads. How do you get lost in a town of 100 people. Before we got that far we passed Aix. Shades of MFK Fisher. Maybe I'll get back there someday. We were already nostalgic for the Provincial farmhouses we could see from the autoroute.

OK. We are out in the middle of nowhere. I'm apologizing for the shortcut. Suddenly we come up behind a Gypsy wagon. OK, that's the first wow. We pass it. It was being pulled by huge white horses. WOW! I was so stunned that we never got a picture. My only previous Gypsy wagon was in someone's field near Bath, England. I think I have this sort of 'thing' that it's not polite to take someone's picture who is 'living their lifestyle'. Too many Robert Redford movies?

More and more trucks with Spanish names on the side. Please, can we take a one week detour to Spain?

Here's Carcassone. Our room was easy to find. 2 km from the walled city out in some hilly vineyards.

We stayed at La Maison Sur Colline which I found on the Fodor chat room. Thanky. Thanky.

I don't know where to begin. Do less people go to Carcassone than Moustiers? We paid approximately 1/3 as much for our room in this b&b. I'm not normally a 'people' person, but instantly had a rapport with the owner. It turned out she was 'weak' in English but we both spoke 'un poco' Espanol.

Needless to say, we loved this place. Per $ value, it was the highlight of our trip! I'm a 'blue' nut. OK, you knew it from the china and fabric questions didn't you? They laughed (as I arrived in a blue crinkle Hawaii dress -- hey, it was hot). I had booked the 'blue' room.

Oh my gosh! I was in decorator's paradise! Where to begin!

There was blue toile on the chairs -- classical w/cupids maybe. Two blue plaids on other chairs. Hey, this was a really big room! The bedding was another (hidden) blue. The walls were blue. The top quilt and shams were a floral blue. I was like "IN HEAVEN, TO DIE FOR".

That'a not all. The bathroom had about a 14' foot counter with 2 sinks and an entire marble surround. OK. The gigantic shower we couldn't even figure out. Spouts coming from everywhere.

None of this was what made the place special to us. I really felt it was someone's home and they spread out in the winter. There were family portraits in our room. The whole space was jammed with majolica, family portraits, tiles, pottery, FRENCH DECORATING MAGAZINES, etc.

Why do American hotels have to nail down our lamps and paintings? What is wrong with our country? These people had precious antique family portraits on their walls.

The owner didn't speak much English. However, she was SO wonderful I wanted to communicate with her. We discovered we both knew UN POCO Espanol. That worked.

For the evening we went in to Carcassone. I had forgotten to look at my notes that specified Irish pub was in the village so we looked for it in the medieval city and ended up at one of those tourist places. My husband had his first and only cassoulet, which he liked. (I had bread pudding). We spent dinner talking to a Brazilian backpacking by train. Bon voyage.

I bought a tiny iron fairy to hold down paperwork when I read mail on my deck. (Hey, we get to sit outside 3+ mo / year up here)

My husband spent the evening hours outside in the pines looking at the sunset from our 'house on the hill'.

Hoping, I am enjoying your report, and I was able to "inspect" your Blue Room at http://www.lamaisonsurlacolline.com/index.php
The yellow room appeals to me!

Kevin

I know what you mean about these places with the special decor that would be ripped off here. I remember the first time going to Pere La Chaize long ago and was amazed that no one stole the little precious things in those walk in prayer places at tombs.

Have to say again how great this report is. I booked ff tix today on and out of CDG for April 14-30. I did not feel I could wait til the end of May and still get standard award tix on NWA. I decided to go BEFORE the early May hols and just hope for weather as nice as yours. I realize from reading your report that France will be green and blooming when we are there, so that is good enough for me!

sorry for my unavoidable misspellings, so here's a treat.

http://translate.google.com/translat...004-22,GGLD:en

Happy Cheesehead. I do hope you have good weather. If you're going earlier, make Giverney at the latter part of your trip. Not much was blooming there when my cousin went a year and 2 weeks earlier.

Wednesday: Regrettably we were up so early for breakfast that we didn't get to meet the other guests. However, we enjoyeda marvelous breakfast hot off the grill.

When my husband saw the high, raftered ceilings, the 20' long table, the hanging copper pots in the kitchen, etc, he said this is my picture of the ideal French country home kitchen.

The owner was outside potting her plants on the large terrace with the help of a cat. Meanwhile, we were enjoying crepes to roll around fresh berries, homemade jams or cheese and ham. There was also an herb/cheese/bacon omelet and applesauce coffeecake. Plus the usual pastries, coffee etc. We really hated to leave.

Back on the road again we had another example of highway construction blocking a freeway entrance. We caught glimpses of the tree-lined Canal de Midi. It did look like it would be cooler in summer. However, if one planned to bike to villages for bread or scenery along the way, the ones we were passing didn't look very open or prosperous.

We took a brief detour to look at St. Cirque la Popie, but it took much longer than I expected. Hence, I didn't try to make another detour to see Rocamadour. It will have to wait for another trip.

I enjoyed the N road from Cahors to Gourdon, with the little red conical rooofs throughout the countryside.

We arrived at another 'deviation' so we couldn't go past Montfort to La Roque-Gajeac. All traffic was routed through Sarlat.

R-G was very picturesque. At night spotlights lit up the caves and the village. We stayed at La Belle Epoque near where the gabares loaded passengers for their river trips.

It was a fascinating and historic area. I was glad for any reading I had done before I came. There were sporadic hard rain showers so the hotel was not serving on the terrace but we could see the river from our room.

Dinner at the hotel that night was mushroom soup (totally different experience than Campbells), cocette of eggs in cepe soup, veal under mashed potato with foie gras on top and creme brulee.

After dinner, we enjoyed conversing with a Dane and his Norwegian wife.

Thursday morning we watched a bit of fog over the Dordogne during breakfast at our hotel. Suddenly, something BIG loomed over the river filling the whole view between the banks upstream. Holy cow! Then as it came further through the fog I realized it was a hot air baloon. Never expected to see one there. Then it went back into the mist.

We went in to Sarlat. It was not supposed to be market day but it was a holiday so maybe that explained the bands, crowds, and market stands in the medieval section.

Ger, I recognized your picture of the wisteria. By the time we got there at 10 there were throngs of people. There was a wattle pen with young goslings and a couple of empty pens.

Suddenly the crowded parted and a gaggle of geese came swarming into one of the pens. They were herded by a Border collie who proudly accepted his clapping.

Next we went driving downstream taking photographs of sights like Beynac, etc. We also drove up to Domme just as they were folding their market.

Later we took a Garbare ride--one one of the replicas of the 19th century sailing barges used for freight on the Dordogne.

I was startled to learn the upper tiers of the dwellings are no longer occupied. Possibly because part of the cliff face fell in 1957 and wiped out 12 houses, killing 3 people. However, in the summer they rent them out to tourists. Food for thought.

My dinner at the hotel that night was beef with potato gratin, cheese, and framboise.

Friday

We drove thru Souilliac then took the autoroute as far as possible toward Amboise. I had earlier hoped to detour by Hautefort and another garden, but experiences with trip times led me to skip it.

It was fun watching the architecture change from region to region.

We had no problem finding Manoir Les Minimes in Amboise. Our room was a nicely decorated upper gable room with a wonderful shower. They spoke English (except Olga the Briard of course) and the service was excellent.

Our view was toward the Amboise Chateau and the lighted bridge over the Loire.

Saturday. Off to see some chateaux. I had planned to start with the gardens at Villandry and a look at ???Rideaux (the name escapes me).

We got a late start however, so we started with Chenonceaux. It definitely does look more impressive photographed from the side across its river arches.

Last winter I read a biography (maybe The Moon and Serpent) about Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici. Knowing the stories behind the buildings made it so much more interesting for me. The chapel was pretty but there were too many people to attempt fitting myself in there.

The intriguing part of the chateau was the kitchen lodged in the base of the river piers. There was a huge kitchen, separate butcher shop, staff quarters and a room that had been modernized during WWI with big stoves, etc. Even in this lower level there were soaring ceilings with boar heads and copper pots on the walls.

We drove on to Chambord which was further away than I expected. It's very spectacular from the outside, but I don't think they had it as furnished on the inside. They say Francois' own sister kept getting lost there and I can see how. The beds enclosed with their hangings were obviously for much shorter people.

During our wandering we passed Chevigny and Chaumont (sp).

Our lunch that day was from a Super U--a large epicerie. 1 Euro for a cheese/ham filled pastie.

We got lost of course on the way back so it was good I had given up on Villandry.

Dinner in Amboise was at Hippeaux (or something like that). Very good for the value. Filet with bearnaise again, caesar salad (which came with soft-boiled egg) and chocolate mousse.

Someone on this board had recommended Le Shaker--a cute little bar under the bridge. They made an excellent old fashioned. We couldn't tell if they sell food or not.

There was a beautiful sunset over the Loire. A pleasant surprise for me was that they light up the bridge and shoreline at night. We had a great view from our room.

Hopingtotravel, what a great trip you had and I loved your report. Can't wait to visit France. Could be this fall. We just returned from driving in Hungary, and I had a map on my lap the whole time. Some of those wrong turns turned into the nicest countrysides with the prettiest views.

Thanks to you, Marcy and Cigalechanta for your tips on the French oilcloth. If my daughter doesn't come home with any, I'll check out the Vermont Country Store.

Hopingtotravel - Are you from Wisconsin too?? I thought we were the only ones who drink old fashioneds!

Happy Cheesehead, sorry I haven't even made it to Wisconsin yet, although I'm told it is pretty.

Mimi, thank you for your contributions. Your comments always make me want to go back, or to buy another book. Despite its being in French, I'm loving my garden book.

OK. This should wind it up. Sunday was VE day plus 60 years. Wish I could have spent it in Normandy; maybe another trip. We drove back to Paris in heavy traffic with no side trips and no stops.

I had computer directions to go via Chartres. However, after 20 days on the road I think we were both ready to try to keep the day simple. I think it was a good thing. Traffic at the toll booths just crawled. Not only was it a Sunday holiday, but with the previous Thursday being Ascension there may have been people returning from a 4 day weekend.

Such a relief to turn in 'The Spitter' scratch free after 3300 km.

We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott near CDG. The room was nice and probably the most Americanized of any we stayed in. We also ate there. The food was good but large expensive portions.

Except for the kicker behind me and the screamer behind my husband the 3 flights home were uneventful. Customs had to dig out the 4 cans of foie gras in Seattle and ask each other what it was, what it was made of, and was it safe. I seriously doubt we were the first people who ever brought it through there! As a result we had to run for the shuttle and actually held up our flight while they did the paperwork. So once again our luggage was delivered to us.

Now Marcy, I'm waiting to see your report! It was a beautiful trip. I'm content to stay home for awhile, but I think both of us will want to go back to France. Occasionally I'll top this for people who are planning for next year.

Cool.

We're staying at Manoir les Minimes next month; we'll have to try "Le Shaker" .

We were in Amboise last October... we saw 'le Shaker' but it was closed tight. This was in the afternoon...so is this a seasonal pub or just open in the evenings..? I don't remember what day of the week it was - maybe it was just closed that day..?