Our France adventure started in Marseille. Here Shauna and I had one night. We walked up to a huge cathedral which was on a hill and saw views of the city. It is a beautiful city with lots of boats and old stone buildings. There are also lots of beautiful coast line with cliffs and gorges which we did not have time to explore. From here we picked up our little buggie car and headed off to the country side.
A lavender field in Provence
Shauna with our little car. The first couple of days of driving this were a big rough, getting used to driving on the right side of the road, plus the gears and navigating.
We spent our first night in Forcalquier. It is a small town that is not touristy at all. There were not many people who spoke english, and even their menus were all in french. We had trouble finding a hotel here, so ended up staying in a posh hotel with a fancy pool, spa and sauna. Little treat :-)
The next day we began to explore the gorge du verdon. We had our road map and made our way to different towns along the gorge exploring at different stops. We were definately not on the tourist track here and it was great to do something different and discover this natural treasure without a guide book.
Paddle boating up the river
Going for a dip. The sun was burning hot and the water icy cold.
After being cancelled the day before due to bad weather, on our third day we were able to go hot air ballooning! Rising early in the morning we met in a paddock and helped blow up our balloon.
The take off was smooth and exciting. The padocks formed a patchwork of colours and shapes and we rose higher and higher. As we glided across a dried up creek the pilot lowered us so that we were just meters from the water. We could see ducks and rabbits scattering as we loomed above them.
This is a picture of our crew. When we landed we all helped to roll the balloon up and get it on the trailer. We then had a breakfast with crossiants and wine to finish off.
We carried on down the river, coming to a larger part of the gorge. We kayaked down there, looking up at the sheer cliffs of the gorge and many caves and waterfalls along the sides.
By accident, we ended up going the right way, driving up the top of the gorge. It was a rocky mountainous road with lots of brigdes, corners and sheer egdes. It was an amazing place to get to drive. These pictures do not give the place justice for how deep and steep the gorge was.
We stopped at one point at the L'Occitane factory, where they produce beauty products from the lavender. As we reached the end of the gorge at Moustiers Sainte-Marie we found a tiny little town. It had a huge steep rock with a statue at the top of it which I wondered how people would climb to get there. Here we had our first proper French crepes. We then had to begin the drive to Nice to drop the car off. I had been dreading this part of the trip for days and it made me sick to the stomach. Driving down winding zig-zaging mountain sides we were guided by the navman through various cities and eventually onto a roaring freeway straight into the heart of Nice. After missing the turn off, running a red light and getting cut off by the bus, I parked the car on the footpath infront of the Avis car rental shop. Shauna said to me "you cant park here!". Legs like jelly and sweaty trembling hands I got out of the car and handed over the keys. I wasnt going any further!
