Oct 14

Petit France

A great thing about driving through the French countryside is that there are plenty of picturesque little villages to stop and see - what I like to call petit France. Yes, there is an actual place called Petit France in Strasbourg (see picture above), but the title seemed fitting for each of the quaint towns we visited on our trip through France.

Strasbourg, France - cathedral

Every small town has a cathedral or an old play house or a castle of some kind to see. We started out our drive in Strasbourg, which is part of the Alsace region of France. It has a distinctly German feel to it, being near the border and having been a part of Germany for many years.

Stasbourg France

The food in Alsace definitely demonstrates the German influence- some local favorites that we tried (and loved) included spaetzle, sauerkraut, and several types of sausages. Coupled with the cold chill in the air and the smattering of German words throughout the city I almost felt like I was in Germany instead of France.

Strasbourg, France

As we made our way south and into the Burgundy region, the thick dark forest and German architecture of Alsace begin to give way to more rolling green hills and white-washed towns. Dijon was our first stop and we felt warmer already as we climbed out of the car and walked through the mostly empty streets (it was a Sunday and few people were out, almost nothing was open). Some of the German influence was still around here though. It was an interesting mix of the whiter and warmer towns of the south with the darker and colder towns of the north.

Downtown Dijon, France

Dijon, France

The white buildings and calm streets of Dijon were a good indication of what we could expect as we made our way through the Rhone Valley to Lyon where we stopped for the night. Much of the German influence was left behind as we entered this light and airy city on the rivers Rhone and Saone.

River Rhone - Lyon, France

We got in at dusk and walked along the river for a while and near the bustling college campus. After walking around we ended up in a nice area with several squares filled with restaurants, their outdoors seating made comfortable by heat lamps and charming lights.

It was our first real French feeling meal, starting with an apertif then three courses (heavy on the cream!) accompanied by a beautiful bottle of wine and finished off with a digestif. We felt very French as we walked back to our hotel, ready for a good night sleep before hitting the road again.

The next morning we passed through a town called Orange, small but with immense old ruins of a play house right in the center of town.

After Orange we visited the walled city of Avignon to see the Pope's Palace and walk on the old cobblestone streets. The Palace was beautiful and definitely deserving of its world heritage site standing.

Palais des Papes

The cream colored old buildings towered over the small streets and tourists crowded everything.

We spent the night in a small town in Provence, enjoying a great gourmet meal and a peaceful morning under olive trees soaking up the earthy smell of the land. We started the day in Aix-en-Provence to walk in Cezanne's footsteps.

Then to Marseille, but only to drive through because the driving was so awful we were afraid we would never find parking, and finally to the end of our road trip, Montpellier.

Each small town is so unique, and has something different to offer. The regions are all very distinct with their own dishes, wines, customs, and architecture. Driving through petit France I got to see the incredible variety that makes up this beautiful old country.

Hey, What Happened to the Lane I Was Just In?

I'm finally back home after spending almost all of last month away. I had a great time visiting Hong Kong, Macao, France, and Spain. My Hong Kong trip was early in the month and I never got a chance to write about it so hopefully soon I can fill you all in on the great stuff I did there. But for now I want to talk about my Europe trip while it's still fresh in my mind.

Are these really turn lanes?!? I'm confused..

For most of our trip my friends and I decided it would be a great idea to rent a car and drive instead of taking the train. It cost a lot less for one thing, especially when since we were all sharing the costs. And it was faster, so we could see more. Instead of taking the train to a couple of different cities, we could drive everywhere and see loads of cities! What a great idea we thought. And so economical of us.

Things didn't turn out exactly as we'd planned however. First, about the cost. Yes it's cheaper when comparing the price of the car rental to the price of train tickets. But then you have the other fees - 10 euro a day for GPS, extra for an under 25 driver (we decided only I would drive - I am, ahem, slightly older than 25), tolls throughout France and Spain (we easily spent at least 100 euro on tolls) and gas - probably another 150 euro or more on gas. So in the end, I don't really know if it was any cheaper than the train.

I sure hope this is a one way street because my big lug of a car takes up every inch of space!

We definitely did pack in the cities though. In our 15 days on the road between France and Spain we visited 14 cities. This too had some ups and some downs. We saw a lot but after a while it all seemed the same and ran together. And we only had a little time in each place so we didn't really get a feel for most cities we visited, sometimes only having enough time to stop for a meal before we were back on the road.

Where the heck am I going?

Speaking of roads... there's nothing like driving into a walled city in a big Dodge SUV, worrying about scraping the side mirrors on 500 year old stone walls. Until we started making our way through the tiny streets of Avignon and through the parking garages where 3 point turns were necessary just to make it up the ramps, I had wondered whether the rental car company was being nice to us by upgrading to the SUV, or whether maybe they were messing with us a little bit. NEVER try to drive a big car in Europe - it is a curse I hope to never encounter again.

You want me to drive where?

Part of the trouble can be blamed on the GPS. It was truly both a blessing and a curse. Trying to navigate the tiny and confusing streets of any of the small French cities we went to would have been hell without that ridiculous female British voice, but she did take us on some pretty horrible roads. It was her idea to go through the walled city for example. And likewise up one of the steepest dirt roads I've ever been on, taking us the back way to the tiny town in Provence we were supposed to spend the night.

At least I know how to circumnavigate a round-about!

The worst experience of all was in Madrid. We changed cars in Spain and got lucky with a beautiful BMW 3 series from the best rental car company I've ever used - Sixt Rent a Car, which I definitely recommend. I don't know what I would have done in Madrid with that big boat of a vehicle we'd had earlier in the week. Even with the BMW I was frazzled after 2 1/2 hours of driving, trying to find parking on a Saturday evening. The title of this post is inspired by the time I spent driving in Madrid - it became my new favorite phrase as lanes would appear and disappear, funneling lines of cars into nowhere, needlessly creating congestion. After a while I stopped asking "what happened to my lane," and replaced it with the shorter and more to the point "what the hell!" or just a few honks, fitting right in with everyone else.

Madrid looks deceptively peaceful on a Sunday morning - no remnant of the hellish driving the night before

I'm not sure if I would do it again. We definitely got to see some amazing things we wouldn't have seen had we taken the train, and we did visit a lot of smaller towns we would have skipped otherwise. But the stress of it definitely put a damper on my fun (and left me craving a drink as soon as I got out of the car every night just to calm my nerves! Bring on the Sangria!) I think it might have been a less stressful and more enjoyable trip if we'd just visited a few cities and spent longer in each one. I definitely could have used a few more days in Madrid or Lyon. On the brighter side of things, I definitely feel like I could drive anywhere now.

Have you ever driven in a foreign country? If so, did you find it difficult or did you have a great time? Leave a comment and tell me about your experiences!

If you're crazy enough to try driving in Europe:

Drive Around Provence & the Cote d'Azur, 3rd: Your guide to great drives. Top 25 Tours. (Drive Around - Thomas Cook)

Frommer's 25 Great Drives in Spain (Best Loved Driving Tours)

Drive Around Dordogne & Western France, 3rd (Drive Around - Thomas Cook)

Frommer's 25 Great Drives in France (Best Loved Driving Tours)

This Week in Pictures

Is it really time for another photo of the week post? The weeks have just been flying by - but I guess that tends to happen when you visit 7 countries in one month. I'm finally heading home - I've loved my time in France and Spain and especially loved hanging out with friends, but all my clothes are smelly, I miss my own bed, and I want to take a really good shower with something other than hotel bottles of shampoo.

This week was especially cool and it's going to be tough picking one picture as my favorite. The week started out with Barcelona and more La Merce activities, then Madrid for a couple of days of eating, drinking, sight-seeing and flamenco, on to Granada for Moroccan food and the Alhambra. And finally we finished up the week in Paris.

And the winner is...