Aix en Provence, a lovely city

06.07.2011 - 07.07.2011 30 °C

We left Levanto, Italy, yesterday (Wednesday) and started to make our way towards the Mediterranean coast of France. The drive was quite a trial. The route is carved through the mountains that come down to the coast and is as much in tunnel as in the open with tight bends and steep gradients. Added to those constraints the road is a two lane dual carriageway which means that there are only two speeds possible either a kami kazi like 90mph plus with the BMWs and Mercedes in the outside lane or 50mph in the slow lane with the HGVs. It was a bit of a nightmare drive. Any way we arrived safely in Sanremo just in Italy but right on the French border and spent the night in a wonderful old style hotel. It was called the Grand Hotel di Londre and was built in the classical turn of the century (1900) style. Today much of that grandeur remains but it is rather faded. Our room had a great sea view and was very splendid. We dined in style in a grand formal dining room. Although it was a very simple meal of fish carrots and potatoes, it all came under large silver domes and was served on to our plates at the table. There seemed to be waiters everywhere all coordinated by the head waiter who looked like he had been in service since the opening of the hotel. The hotel seemed mainly empty and has probably been overtaken as a holiday choice by more modern hotels with a wider range of facilities. However even if its days are numbered we liked staying there and it was a stark contrast for us to be striking camp in the morning and then be in relatively luxurious surroundings at the end of that day.

We moved on this morning along the coastal motorway bidding "ciao" to Italy and "beinvenu" to France. The road suddenly seemed calmer and safer with 3 lanes and more modest speeds in the outside lane. We motored on to Aix en Provence. We have not been here for some years but after a quick trip around the city this afternoon we have been reminded what a beautiful city it is. We are spending 2 nights here in a Campanile hotel. Not much chance of splendour here then! Strangely the computer system controlling the doors has broken down and we have been given access to our room but no key. If we go out and stay out until after 11.00 tonight we will not be able to get back in to the room as the reception will close and they have the only key. Good job we were not planning to do a bit of clubbing!

Christine says:
We stay here until Saturday morning when we head off for St Gely du Fesc which is near Montpelier and we have a gite booked there for two weeks - fantastic we can wash all of our clothes at last! We counted up this morning that including France we have visited 11 countries on our trip. It seems ages ago now that we were feeling the cold in Sweden and getting rained out of Norway. Our thoughts are beginning to turn homeward a little bit now I think - we've even started looking at the UK weather forecast from time to time.

Posted by FandC 07.07.2011 09:01 Archived in France