There is not much you can say about them really. But we travelled on about 6 different motorway systems as we moved from one side of France to the other over two days
So we leave Chamonix and head down the valley to the start of the motorway system.
Then 4 motorway systems and 7 hours later including the very busy (and fast ) motorway from Marseilles to the Spanish border we come off the motorway system and head into the true French countryside
We come to a roundabout and there are the famous French Yellowshirts having a little protest ( as you do in France)
But the French country roads are delightful. So quintessentially French I almost start singing the Marseillaise !
As are the lanes
And the villages. Note to self - must get a black beret !
We stay at a wonderful restored French farmhouse that has been converted to a small boutique hotel. I like to think of it as a micro chateau! It was superbly restored and just as importantly it came with a superb French chef. Sitting and eating on a balmy early autumnal night with not a cloud in the sky, surrounded by cleverly lit centuries old stone walls, a superb meal and a bottle of local wine was a magical experience. And we did our very best to help the local wine industry reduce their stocks as the next harvest is almost ready to start
Next day after a sumptuous breakfast with crispy super fresh French Baguettes, home made croissants and strong black coffee we were off again. . Sometime not far from the hotel as far as I can tell we were “ Sur Le Pont D’Avignon”. Not the original one I think but at least we crossed a bridge somewhere near Avignon so I think that qualifies.
We see some ideas for Queenstown (or at least Arrowtown !) housing Note to self - must talk to “ Davies of Arrowtown” about this as a redesign idea for his house !
Mid afternoon we pass through the ring road system of the city of “Too Loose” ! As I dealt with the traffic and the vagaries of the French motorway system I reminded myself that it is important not to get “ Too Uptight ” in “ Too Loose” ! And talking of this area there were big signs pronouncing that this area is where they glue all the Airbus aeroplanes together. All the parts for the aeroplanes come from all over Europe for assembly here. This is also the centre for the French space industry (although they do not launch satellites here). I will give them the address of Rocket Labs in New Zealand and the name of Peter Beck!
Then at last we head up into the Pyrenees to the spa village of Luchon. You can smell sulphur in the air from the hot springs that were originally used by the Romans.
And now we have a rest day. We have been riding for 8 continuous days which is more than normal for us old folks. So we sit in a sidewalk cafe, drink coffee, try to remember our schooltime French and look as French as possible. Tomorrow we go to the independent (sort of) Andorra as immortalised in the 1970’s protest song of Pete Seeger/ Joan Baez ! “ I wanna go to Andorra .......” basically I think because there was no Vietnam draft there then and no nuclear missiles there and it was a kinda peaceful and overlooked place. Tomorrow we will find out if that is still true. I am sure it is - nowadays the appeal of Andorra to the young folk singing protest folk of the US is probably to get as far away from Trump as possible!
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