We visited Belcastel and Sauveterre-de-Rouregue today (Thursday Oct 27th).

Belcastel

The Castle at Belcastel

The Church below the Castle in Belcastel

A river runs thru it

Sauveterre-de-Rouregue

Church at Sauveterre-de-Rouregue

Town Square at Sauveterre-de-Rouregue

On Thursday we (Marty, Greta and Bunny) headed north to Dinan which we had heard (and read) had a great marche (open air market) on Thursdays and was a spectacular medieval town to boot. We were not disappointed! The market was a blast (although we got there a bit late to really stroll leisurely through it before the vendors started packing up). We stopped for a pleasant plat du jour lunch of salad, roast pork and frites and then wandered around the town. So amazing! And the “amazing” part went on and on and on. The weather was perfect.

We devoted so much time to Dinan we almost forgot that we had another town to visit – another Plus Beaux Village about a half hour away called Moncontour-de-Bretagne. We arrived there late. It was (predictably) very old and quaint with serpentine cobblestoned streets. But the piece de resistance for Bunny was the cute cat that kept popping up throughout the town. (I see a kitty cat in my future!).

We are excited to have Bunny’s good friend Greta joining us today for the week at Rochefort-en-Terre. Greta flew into London on sept 23rd and hss been touring Scotland, amsterdam and London over the previous 3 weeks. We are picking her up in St Malo today at noon. Then we will tour Saint-Suliac. We left around 9:30 for the 2 1/2 hour drive … Got in right at noon … Picked up Greta and drove thru St Malo breiflyand then off to Saint-Surliac.

We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant in Saint-Surliac and then back to Rochefort…

Before coming over to France on this trip one of my plans while Bunny was busy in her class was to get to an area of Italy called Cinque Terre.  It is a series of little towns (actually 5 little towns which accounts for the name) along the western coast of Italy.  It is only a 3 1/2 hour drive from Nice.  So on Wednesday Oct 11th I decided I would try to make it over there.  Bunny went off to calls and I packed up and started out on my way to Cinque Terre.  I really wasnt confident I would make it or where exactly I was going but I was going to drive there and see whatever I could see.  My destination was a town called Vernazza.  The 2nd town in the line from the northern most town.  My plan was to walk along the trail which connects all of these towns for as long as I could.  I was planning to come baack that evening but if it got too late I would just pull over and sleep.

I left around 9:30 am which with stops puts me in around 1:30 pm or so  with stops.  Right away I got turned around in Villefranche and had to turn around in a bus stop which garnered honks from a bus driver going to other way.  I finally got on the A8 going towards Italy.  about 2 hours into the trip I took a wrong turn and got onto another highway.  I really thought about just turning around and going back at that point but I decided to continue driving and see how far I get.  I got a little farther and stopped for gazola (diesel) and a bathroom break and once again thought I should just turn around but I once again decided to keep going .

I finally arrived and parked in a lot just above the town of Vernazza.  I made it.  Its 2 pm and I parked and walked down into the town.  It was PACKED with tourist.  This area is apparaently very popular.  One of the store owners told me that this is light compared to the August and September crowds.  Well I continued to walk the town and tried to walk to the town just to the south of Vernazza called Corniglia.  I got just about 500 yards down the trail and found a shack with a gentleman in it wanting $ 7.50 euros to continue on.  I am not sure why that just seemed wrong but I just couldnt seem to want to pay that just to walk a trail.  It was 3:30 pm and I thought maybe this guy gets off at 4 pm and I could walk the trail “after hours”.  I bought a placemat and walked back to the car.  It was 4:30 so I walked back to the trail head and the guy was still there.  So I thought I would try the northbound trail to Monterosso.  I got 500 yards into the trail and found another booth with a gentleman in it wanting $ 7.50 euros.  Well it was 20 mintues til 5 pm and I thought maybe he gets off at 5 pm.  Well 5:05 rolls around and he is still working.  I am not sure why I didnt just pay the $ 7.50 euros.  At this point I think I was on a quest not to pay the toll.  So I went back into town and found a vantage point where I could see the booth for the northbound trail.  Well 5:30 pm rolls around and sure enough he closes up shop.  Well off I go to walk the trail “after hours”.  I made it to a point where I could see the northern town of Monterosso in an hour of walking.  The sun was under the horizon and I figured I didnt have enough time to walk into the town so I started back to Vernazza.  I got halfway back and it was dark.  Luckily I thru a flashlight into my vest pocket just before I walked out of the apartment.  It really came in handy.  Im not sure I would have made it without that flashlight.  I back into Vernazza and got a couple pieces of pizza and start my long drive back.  I was 8 pm and I was looking at 3 1/2 hours of driving.  The trip home was uneventfully except for a freeway being closed in Geonoa.  See below.  I got back around 1 pm.  I wanted to see that part of Italy and I did see Vernazza and got a little taste of Cinque Terre.  It was worth the trip.

Vernazza

Vernazza from the Northbound trail

Vernazza with Cinque Terre coastline at dusk

Once I got into Genoa the freeway had construction and e were re-routed into the city center.  I was directed towards another route via my Garmin.  I came across a toll booth and paid the toll and then then onramp to the alternative freeway was just ahead.  I paid the toll and drove ahead and the on ramp for the alternative route was closed so Garmin directed me into Genoa.  I followed my Garmin and found myself back at the same toll booth paying another toll.  The on ramp to the alternative route was still closed so Garmin re routed me into Genoa again.  This time I found my way into a line to get on a ferry.  Not sure where it was going but I was pretty sure I wanst suppose to get on a ferry.  A nice pliceman who didnt speak very good english directed me back to the freeway.  Well I followed his directions and here I was again at the same toll booth.  I paid my toll AGAIN and went on thru.  This time the alternative route had opened up and I was able to take that on ramp and I was on my way again.  But it ws hilarious and scary at the same time getting lost in the city and then finding myself at the same toll booth 3 times.  I was REALLY gald to be back on my way home….

The second town we visited today was Coaraze.  It is directly north of Nice by an hour.  Of course once again on those small narrow and winding roads.  The information on the internet indicated that the town was not well kept up.  Meaning that it has not been updated.  What we found was an incredibly authentic little French village.  It was high in the mountains and had a great corridor winding its way thru the town.  We walked for quite a ways within the town in the stairs intertwined within the apartments and buildings of the town.  We eventually wound our way up to the top which was where the church was located.  It was a wonderful little treasure.   We wound our way down and split a Plat de Jour and hit the road back to Villefranche.  Really tired from a day of touring.

Here are the pictures from the town of Coaraze.

The beautiful little church at the top of the town.

An example of the corridors within the town.

More of the corridors …

The surrounding countryside.

The plan today was to visit 2 of the “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France”.  One of the focuses of our visit to France is to visit a large number of the 100 “Most Beautiful Villages of France”.  The goal today was to see Saint-Agnes and Coaraze.  Well the turn off from A8 highway to Saint-Agnes is only 5 miles from the Italian border.  Well we all of a sudden found ourselves going over the border into Italy.  Obviously we missed a turn.  We had to go another 5 miles before we found an exit.  We took the exit and paid the $ 3.00 toll and pulled over to figure out what just happened.  I immediately figured we could just take the road going back over the highway and then find the on ramp.  Thats how it works in the US .. right …  Well we found ourselves going higher and higher into the countryside and the road getting narrower and narrower.  It becomes apparent that we were going higher and farther away from A8.  So we turned around and got back to the area we exited off A8 and determined that the on ramp back onto A8 split into a West bound on ramp also.  We were on our way back to France.

We got on the road to Saint-Agnes.  The thing about these “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France” is that they tend to be way off the main roads and also on the tops of mountains.  So the roads to these villages tend to be very narrow and steep (kinda the price you pay for them being beautiful!).  Todays road to Saint_agnes was a long and narrow road.  When we got into the town we found a wedding going on.  Here are some of the pictures from that town.

A view of the town from the road below.

A view from the town of the road we came in on…

I ordered a “Double” coffee ???

Our little Lunch Buddy ….

So Lunch is done and its off to the next of the “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France”.  More about that town in the next post…