CHAPTER 17. SOUTH EAST FRANCE CONT.

We return to SE France in early April, 1986, after taking delivery of a new VW Jetta in Frankfurt. We take a couple of nights to get to Mulhouse, France where we stay at a Campanile Gril motel. The car is covered with snow the next morning, so we know we have to keep going south.

We stop at a bookstore in Belfort and get a current Michelin Red Guide for France. We use it to find hotels and restaurants, and it is much cheaper here than if we buy it at home or in Germany. We also buy two maps and a Herald Tribune to keep in touch with world news.

We take a secondary road southwest to the Doubs River,which is large and scenic, with some granite cliffs, decide to have lunch at the Michelin one star restaurant Chateau d’As in Baume Les Dames, but miss it’s sign on the road entering the town. We ask a young man for directions and he gets in the back seat to show us the way. We have an excellent meal in a beautiful old high ceiling dining room in a small hotel. Afterwards we drive to Beaune on the freeway thru hilly land with forests as well as cultivated fields, and then on tertiary roads to Meursault and the Motel Au Soleil Levant.

The morning brings clear skies and bright sun but also a bitter cold north wind. We continue south, with a supermarket stop in Chagny to buy food for snacks, and thru beautiful hilly farm country to Cluny. We have a great lunch at the Hotel Moderne, where our window table in the dining room overlooks a small river, go on to Macon and down the left bank of the Saone River to Lyon. Traffic is heavy nearing the center of Lyon, but we find a parking spot on the street in front of the Hotel Verdun, and stay there in a room that is dark and not very good.

There is a light snow in Lyon in the morning, so we decide to continue south rather than try to see the city sights in the cold. (We see Lyon in our ‘89 trip, later in this chapter). We stop in Vienne, park on the plaza and walk to see the Roman temple and the cathedral. Then we cross the Rhone and continue south along the right bank as the snow stops and the sky brightens. We have lunch at the Restaurant Ollier at Cornas near Valence. Many fruit tree orchards in bloom appear as we drive south, stopping at Pierrelatte in the Hotel du Tricasten; it is rather austere, with no carpets, but with beautiful blue tile walls in the bathroom, and with towels to match. A cherry tree is in full bloom outside our window.

We take a day trip to Vallon-Pont-d’Arc and drive down the corniche road of the Gorges de L’Ardenche. The Pont is a large rock bridge spanning the river; the corniche road is high on the twisting and almost vertical limestone walls containing the green river. We enjoy the bright sun and the still, but cool, air. There are many kayaks and canoes available for trips down the river, but we don’t see any in use. After a tasty lunch at a small restaurant near Bidon on the Gorges road we go back to Pierrelatte to rest and then wash and dry clothes at the coin operated laverie (Laundromat).

The morning brings cloudy and misting weather as we continue south. We stop at Orange and take a brief look at the Roman arch, but skip the theater due to the rain. By time we arrive in Avignon the rain has stopped, but the clouds remain. We find a parking garage and walk. It is noon, and all museums, palaces, etc. in France are closed from 12 to 2, so we go to the Restaurant Le Forum and have a very tasty lunch, including tongue in a piquant sauce.

After lunch in Avignon we climb up to the Rocher des Doms for a view over the Rhone and the country beyond. By then the Palais des Popes is open so we take a self guided tour thru the very large and grand palace with few furnishings. We then drive to St. Remy and the Hotel Van Gogh, one of our favorites from the year before.