The Long Drive

The drive from Nice to Bordeaux was long and tiring. Driving seven hours on the autostrada is so much more difficult than driving even the 12 hours from Denver to Phoenix. The driver (always Bill) must keep such a close eye both ahead of him and behind him because cars are coming up so quickly. We had a lot of truck traffic, and we noticed that in France, a truck going a couple of kph faster than the truck in front of him will pass, thereby bringing all traffic to a slowdown. It also was a very curvy road. So we were very tired when we got to our hotel just south of Bordeaux.

France charges a fortune in tolls. We just can’t quite figure out how their toll system works. Sometimes you pick up a card and sometimes you just drive for a while and there is a random toll stop. We paid a total of 60,00 in tolls. That, along with the 50,00 in gasoline, made it an expensive drive. We will be glad to turn the car back to the Peugot dealership in Paris. Bill likens it to the boat owner who says the two happiest days of his life were the day he bought his boat and the day he sold his boat.

To our delight, however, the hotel in which we are staying through Thursday morning is very pretty. As I said, it is just outside of Bordeax, and sits right next to a pretty little wooded area. There are geraniums in the window boxes, and many bright-colored flowers all around the grounds. If we want to do any touring, it will be necessary to take our car. We might drive around a little bit to see the area. Bordeaux, obviously, is wine country. I think most of the grapes they grown in the area are Merlot grapes that are used for the red Bordeaux wines.

We took some time to get settled in our room. I have noticed since we left Certaldo that when we get to the hotel room, we sort of nest like little birdies. We put our things in tidy little drawers and set out our pillows and fill the bathroom counters with our toiletries. I honestly think we are both so ready to be home that we nest without even thinking about it.

We located a grocery store to refill our water and goody supply. We spent some time looking at the vast array of local wines. Amazing selections with amazing prices. We bought a liter of water, a liter of soda, a bottle of Bordeaux wine, and a baguette for a total of 5,41. And we even went middle-of-the-road on the wine! We will definitely miss the inexpensive (and delicious) wines we have found in Italy and France.

Since we were both tired and didn’t feel like facing a restaurant (which is always difficult for us since we struggle with the language), we went across the street from the grocery store to MacDonalds. We have only resorted to American fast food a couple of times on this adventure. I fully admit to you, however, that it tasted really good to me. And I don’t even like MacDonalds. It was fun to have Perrier as one of my drink choices with the meal deal!

I shot this photo of a woman (and thankfully didn’t get arrested in doing so) because I wanted to show the pants that are in fashion in Europe. I have seen them all over, so I predict that they will be showing up in the United States in a few months, though most I have seen here are Capri-length. The inseam is down near the knees, giving the back of the pants a droopy look. Bill and I decided the woman looked a lot like our two-year-old granddaughter with dirty diapers. Little did I know that our little Miss D was not just pooping her britches, but was actually setting a fashion trend.

We went to bed fairly early, and Bill fell asleep while I was still reading. When I turned off the light, the room was pitch-black because of the light-blocking blinds they have on the windows. About that time, I remembered the woods out back and the room started feeling like something out of the Blair Witch Project instead of the chipper flowery hotel I had seen in the daylight. But we survived.