So it begins

Wine and sunshine

Published Date : April 30, 1999

Village of Thieze, France

Today was another free day.  The only thing on the agenda was an optional picnic in the hills and an exploration of Theize.   We were split into groups of 5 or 6.  Each group was assigned at least one Canadian to act as translator since all of us at least knew a little bit of French.  Then we were given a picnic basket and a map and sent off to enjoy the day.

It was a beautiful spring day, and we enjoyed our explorations of the town, rolling green hills and vineyards.  It was a perfect example of an idyllic French town.  After exploring we tried to follow the hand drawn map to our picnic location, but ended up hopelessly turned around.  A friendly local gentleman came up and told us that he spoke only five words of English.

“You’re going the wrong way!”  He then proceeded to tell us in perfect English exactly where we wanted to be.

Finally reaching our destination we found several of the other groups already on the hilltop.  Had the day been a bit less hazy, we would have had a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside.  It was still gorgeous though.

Our picnic consisted of some sandwiches, some tasty cheeses and fresh breads and, of course, a couple of bottles of wine.  Good company, good food, good wine.  What more could a good life want?

Most of the group returned to the Chateau right after lunch, but a handful of us wanted to continue exploring the town.  We ended up in a small pub, playing pool and enjoying some afternoon drinks and a few games of pool.  It wasn’t until we were on our way out a couple of hours later that we realized the poor owner had been trying to close for siesta when we came in.  Oops!

Southward bound

Published Date : May 1, 1999

We left the Chateau de Cruix and carried on toward Cote D’Azur.  We had a brief stop in Avignon, the City of Popes, but alas we didn’t get much more than a glimpse of the ancient palace there.

Onward we drove through beautiful Provence, until we reached the Mediterranean Sea.  We drove through Cannes on our way to our stop for the night, Antibes.  We had a bit of downtown this afternoon before we geared up for a night of luxury.

On to Monaco to rub shoulders with the rich and famous!  We had a free evening to explore the town and try our luck in a casino.  We were two weeks early for the Grand Prix, but the city was already gearing up for the event.  Rumours swirled about which celebrities were in town, however, our only sighting for the evening was Jacques Villeneuve.

Nice

Published Date : May 2, 1999

A beautiful day in Nice

Today we had the option of spending the day in either Cannes or Nice.  However, the train drivers were on strike, and being a Sunday, the already limited services were almost non-existent.  So the decision was made for us: we were off to Nice for the day.

A 15-minute train ride delivered us to the gorgeous seaside town with the pebble beaches.  We spent the morning exploring the shops and walking the promenade.  It was a laid back afternoon of building rock castles on the beach and soaking up the sunshine.

Another train ride back to the campground for dinner and a quiet evening for our last night in France.  Tomorrow we head to Italy!!

Perfume and Pizza

Published Date : May 3, 1999

Our destination this evening is Firenze, or Florence, as it’s known to us Anglophones.  I admit to being incredibly naïve in this regard – it never before occurred to me that places would have different names in different languages.  You’d think it would make more sense for everyone to call a place by what the locals call it?

Before we left France, we stopped in Grasse to visit the Fragongard Perfumery for a tour of the 18^th century factory/museum and a visit to the local shops.  I found the tour quite informative, but, not being a perfume wearer, I wasn’t keen to spend a lot of time in the shops.  The real entertainment of the morning was Maurizio (Ritz), Stacey and Stephi.  Stacey and Stephi are sisters from Toronto and Ritz is from Melbourne, Australia.  They had all been up drinking into the early hours of the morning and were finding the strong aromas of the perfumery rather overwhelming.  It seemed at least one of them was always making a dash for the bathroom before all three of them eventually gave up and waited for us outside.

The tower is still leaning. Pisa, Italy.

We’re just over a week into the trip now and for the most part everyone is getting along pretty well.  People have their smaller groups that they tend to spend the most time with, but so far there are no major personality clashes.  Although, there is one person who shall remain nameless that I’m starting to avoid whenever I can.  I’ve been spending most of my time with Sandi, a 30-year old South African-American; Adele and Nikki, two Sydney teachers in their twenties; and Rod and Mark, two Aussie guys from rural New South Wales.

After our perfumery visit, we began our spectacular drive along the coast into Italia.  We stopped to stretch our legs in Pisa and took turns propping up the Leaning Tower for photos.  This trip is turning into the scaffolding tour of Europe – it seems everything is undergoing renovations or restoration this year!

Onwards to Florence.  We arrived in time to do a quick walking exploration of Ponte Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria.  The Piazza was like nothing I have ever seen or imagined – it’s practically an outdoor art gallery with its ornate marble sculptures.  I’m definitely going to be coming back here tomorrow!

We stayed in the city until the light started to fail, then it was back to our campground for dinner and a quiet evening.