Is there anywhere you can drive in the heart of France that is NOT wine country? We got up and took a walk out of town before loading up for a long day of driving. Spent the morning meandering on tiny trails through vineyards and orchards. Saw jillions of cherries and apricots growing in addition to the hectares and hectares of vines. Did a little wine tasting. Stopped at a little stand and got fresh fruit for the trip.
Debye and I have shared driving. She tends to choose two points and find the fastest route between them. The gps guy is accommodating. I, on the other hand, have never met an end of the road place that I didn’t like. Want to go off the beaten path. We have tried to do some of both. For me it is as much about the journey as the destination.
And we experienced parts of France that I’m pretty sure a lot of travelers never do. The wide-open fields and hamlets, the windy roads and narrow alleys, the tree-lined thoroughfares and floral strewn windows/doors/every-available-piece-of-dirt, the dense lush forests, the fields of poppies, the fruit on the tree/vine.
Ended in Epernay positioned to return to Paris. Debye drove us into the city (!); we found our hotel and dropped our bags; returned the car; Pam & I did Musee D’Orsay and headed back to Montmare for a little last minute shopping. Delicious final French meal…with the customary wine. Top of our hotel has a sweeping view of the city—reminds me of the Mary Poppins’ scene of chimney sweeps (chim, chim-i-ney, chim, chim-i-ney, chim, chim, cher-ee; a sweep is as lucky as lucky can be...)
Just found out the workers for metro line to the airport went on strike. Need to plan our strategy for heading home. It has been a wonderful trip—all 3k miles!
Here is a map of the trip.
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