A week in Provence

A week in Provence

Well, nearly a week. After a bit of a squizz at Toulouse (where we stayed in a fairly dreadful hotel opposite the station the last night) we picked up our nice wee VW Polo diesel (we did 630kms on our first tank - amazingly efficient car) and zipped off towards the Camargue. Think fields f black bulls and white horses.

On the way we booked a room at the Mas Grenouilliere, the Frog Farm. Glowingly recommended in the Lonely Planet, with "fields full of frogs that will sing you to sleep", there were sadly no frogs. Not one. Not wet enough lately apparently. However, luckily they had horses, lots of them. So the littlies were more than happy to feed them many a handful of grass. The Camargue horses are amazing - born brown or black but turn white by age four. They are rugged, not needing stabling in the fierce heat of summer or in winter. We had a peaceful, if somewhat overpriced, stay. On the way out the next day we took both littlies on a pony ride. Then Conrad and Henry went canoeing on the Petit Rhone, which was a great hit. After a much needed stop for laundry and a glass of wine we headed for our next stop, a rural self catering gite just out of Salon de Provence.

You just never know what you'll get when you book online, but with the gite we were so pleasantly surprised. For significantly less than the Mas Grenouilliere we had a fantastic, converted barn, Bastide Leydet - huge living space beautifully furnished with a full kitchen, gorgeous bathroom. Luxury. So we explored the local market where I bought a very expensive but delicious "petite tranche" of gruyere (have you seen how big a wheel of gruyere is??!!) we have been munching our way through as we drive..and made a very yummy dinner full of local veges, explored aqueducts and went to a tiny shop full of teeny tiny figurines, all made, fired and painted by a lovely woman - they sound odd, but they really are amazing. We were so amazed that we ended up getting Hen a set of teeny tiny chickens, with which he has already had hours of fun. Cute.

We also came to the realisation that we have a LONG WAY to go to Geneva. Looking on the map in our Lonely Planet France book, it all looked very straightforward - over to the Cote D'Azure then up to Geneva, but actually this last leg up will be quite a mission. My dad rang last night and mentioned casually that he and my mum took 2 days to drive from Geneva to Cannes, however, as I a bit cheekily pointed out to him, that was a good 40 years ago so I am hoping that the roads have been somewhat improved since then!!

We stayed last night at a hotel half a block from the beach in Juan les Pins - having booked a triple room online in Antibes only to be told on arrival that we could not have 4 in the room, despite the fact Bella is only 2 and happy to share. We got a wonderful stereotype shrugging of the shoulders and pouting "it is the rules - not my fault" demonstration from the young woman at the desk - excellent customer relations. However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I am now sitting at a waterfront cafe where we have had ridiculously expensive juice (4.50 euro each) and coffee. We just reassure ourselves we are paying for the view of the golfe Juan, which is spectacular - waves lapping gently on the beach in front of us, Cap d'Antibes to our left, Cannes to our right, multi-million dollar launches anchored offshore. A beautiful day.

Conrad is dutifully building sandcastles with Bella (in her undies) and Hen just 20 metres from me - he has been desperate to go to the beach - we found what seems to be the only spot here with free access - no queen's chain here! Restaurants lease sections of the beach for their customers, we walked past them carefully grooming the sand, getting ready for lunch time customers, but not us - we will be hurtling our way north.

We are going to head up through the western edge of Italy - it is that or backtrack, which we are loathe to do. As long as we can find a few playgrounds on the way all will be well!

We made it! We are in Chamonix at another fabulous hostel, Gite Vagabond. Everyone is tucked cosily in and sleeping soundly - yay. It will get down to minus 5 tonight - eek! We are not really prepared clothes wise, though the littlies have many polypros and Conrad actually bought wool jersey in a cool Italian shop before the BIG tunnel (he never wears wool). I will just jump up and down a lot.

Tomorrow morning we leave our car in Geneva, on the French side of the airport and stay in a very nice looking hostel 5 minutes from the station. Then on Sunday a.m we will head to Vevey by train where we are staying in another very nice looking hostel, visiting my aunt and uncle Ann and Berny. It is a good 15 years since I was last there, it will be so nice to show the family the Swiss connection, my mum's family having moved there when she was 15 and the eldest of 5. And it was in Switzerland that my parents met and married, so quite a bit of history, really. Sunday night Berny is making us a cheese fondue - yum! What a treat. We will go and see the Chateau de Chillon, which I loved on my last visit and I'm sure Hen will find fascinating. After that, we're not quite sure! Somehow we will end up in Furth, near Nurenburg, on October 29th...