European Summer 2015 - Road Trip with Jessica

Thursday 4 June - Friday 5 June



It has been a bumpy few months but taking off for France on Thursday was as exciting as always and of course the actual trip was just as long as ever (but the arrival makes every minute on a plane or in an airport worth the boringness!).  I must say that Air France has become even better this year with the fitout of a new seating configuration - fully flatbed now.  So comfortable for the long haul overnight from Singapore to Paris! The cabin crew were charming, funny and helpful and even made a commendable effort to understand my French.

It was a bit tedious waiting for my Paris/Marseille connection, especially knowing that Jess was already in the sunny south waiting for me.  CDG was busy,busy,busy!

Friday afternoon and a short hop into Marseille - as we approached, the Rhone River sparkled in the 33 degree sunshine as it snaked through the already brown countryside and the heat haze gave a fuzzy blue tinge to the distant hills. Youngest daughter waiting in the arrivals hall - yay!
Fantastic to see Jessica looking so pretty and well - do miss that girl!

Jess and Ann at Marseille -Provence Airport

In no time at all we had completed the Peugeot formalities with the help of a very charming chap and having mastered the push button start and keyless entry we were on the autoroute heading north.  This is a highly populated area of France and the traffic was heavy but moving along at a good pace.  Past Avignon and then into the Rhone Valley with its mix of industry and agriculture, the bland modern commercial buildings a stark contrast to the stunning ancient hilltop villages.

 The kilometres flew by and soon we were leaving Vaucluse and passing through the Drome department where the mountainous terrain in the distance was almost obscured by the heavy heat haze.  A real surprise to me was the sight of flowering lavender fields - a much earlier harvest than on the high plateau region of Provence - maybe a different variety?  The blue haze of the lavender fields so beautifully mimics the colour of the far off peaks which form the beginning of the French Alps.
Feeling quite nostalgic for this area - loved the landscape when I stayed there last year. Into the land of the grape with the fresh green early summer leaves of the vines looking lush and full of promise.

With the sun still high (love the long summer evenings in Europe) we zoomed along, touching on the river at times and enjoying the beautiful countryside.  Just past Valence we left the autoroute and within minutes had traversed the town of Tain-l'Hermitage and the Rhone River to arrive in our overnight destination, Tournon-sur-Rhone - Drome on one side of the river and the Ardeche on the other!  This area is the home of the exquisite Hermitage wines and the steep hills rising up from the river behind these twin towns are covered with vines and some very famous domaines.

Tournon-sur-Rhone

Tournon is smallish (population 10,000) and very much a working town - most of the visitors here are wine afficionados or hikers - there are certainly no hoardes of tourists or tacky souvenir shops.  Our little hotel, Les Azalees, was typically Provencal - a hotpotch of buildings coloured in the soft hues of yellow and terracotta that are evocative of the Mediterranean.  We settled in and walked to the riverside - not very glamourous I must say.  No riverside cafes or gardens - just a busy road leading to the centre of town which is tucked away behind an large open space planted with huge plane trees that appear to have never been pollarded - well not often anyway.

Downtown Tournon

This area seems to be for parking cars, playing petanque and no doubt comes into its own on market day.  Although Les Azalees has a reputation for fine dining we liked the Friday night buzz of the town centre and decided to join locals who were filling the restaurants, bars and cafes across from the square.

Anytime is petanque time - Friday evening, Tournon-sur-Rhone

What a good choice!  We sat outdoors and enjoyed a totally scrumptious meal, attended to by a delightfully friendly and pleasant fellow who appeared to be part of the Cafe des Sports family business.

Friday night, downtown Tournon-sur-Rhone

  Jess enjoyed duck magret with blue cheese sauce, home-made fries and a fresh salad with yummy mustard vinaigrette - nothing out of a supermarket bottle here!.  One of my favourite dishes in France is Tartiflette and I loved this local version using little raviolis instead of potato - reblochon cheese - bliss!

A new take on Tartiflette - delicious!

Now one cannot visit the celebrated Hermitage wine region without sampling the stuff so we indulged in a 25 euro bottle of vin blanc - more bliss!  This is seriously good wine.  Although our waiter/sommelier suggested the rose we were very happy with our choice, lovingly made by Messieurs Jaboulet - yes that is their domaine just across the river on the hills above the town of Tain-l'Hermitage!

Messieurs Jaboulet - producers of vin extraordinaire! (Tain- l'Hermitage)

We lingered over dinner, shared a yummy apple tarte tatin for dessert (accompanied by homemade vanilla icecream) and enjoyed the ambience of the warm evening before making our way along the river and back to the hotel.  One of those massive river cruise boats sailed past and we felt sorry for the passengers  although I am sure they are enjoying their French experience in the lap of luxury.  The river seems to be the playground of the local dog community - all out enjoying an evening swim - watch where you put your feet!

Fading light beside the Rhone

It was strange to go to bed before darkness fell, but we were both feeling the effects of travel and the comfortable beds were beckoning.  So lovely to be in France again but sparing a thought for Helen, her wonderful walk and sad that we won't be sharing some travel adventures in Provence as planned - hopefully next time.

Goodnight, Tournon-sur-Rhone