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| The view from our window in Eguilles, France |
Hold on to your hats, and let's rock!
Wednesday, October 13, 2021–Thursday, October 14:
To Marseilles and Beyond
To Marseilles and Beyond
A few days before we were set to leave, Ms. B. and I acquired our
international drivers licenses, since we would have to rely on rental cars
to transport us from place to place. On the afternoon of Wednesday, 10/13,
we loaded up our well-stuffed bags and drove to Terry & Beth's place in
Kernersville, where we transferred the bags to their big honking pickup
truck (this to accommodate all our combined luggage on our return trip), and
sallied forth to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. After a
couple of damned Bloody Marys at one of the airport bars (damned
good Bloody Marys, I can tell you), we boarded a big old Lufthansa Airlines Airbus 350 for the long flight to Munich, Germany. About
nine hours it was; nine uncomfortable hours, which we found
disappointing, as we had paid for premium seating and the accompanying
perks. We got the perks — mostly — but let me tell you, those seats were
rocks, far less comfortable than their considerably less expensive
counterparts on our previous overseas journey. Other than that, things went
swimmingly, with no delays and relatively easy customs checks. I ended up
watching Godzilla vs. Kong to while away some flight time; for that purpose, it was decent
enough, I reckon. On Thursday, October 14, we made an early morning landing
in Munich, where we boarded a smaller jet bound for Marseilles,
France, where Terry and Beth awaited us in their rental car.
From Marseilles, we headed to the village of Eguilles, a few miles
northwest of the city. Eguilles is a charming little community dating back
to the 1st Century AD. We had reserved a three-story villa with a grand view
of the French countryside; we found the place mostly comfortable but for the
somewhat limited toilet facilities and a steep, narrow, curving flight of
stairs that damn near whooped us every time we had to go up or down.
Eguilles is also a town best seen on foot, for many of the maze-like streets
are barely wide enough for a single compact car. It took some time for us to
become comfortable navigating these treacherous lanes, especially since
figuring out how to get from Point A to Point B frequently proved
problematic, even with GPS maps.
Like so many old European towns, Eguilles is filled with cats. Catses,
everywhere, roaming and lounging wherever they please. Happily, all the ones
we saw appeared to be well-fed and reasonably healthy. A few turned out to
be quite friendly, especially a cat whom Beth called "our little greeter"
because she frequently turned up at our doorstep and, if the mood took her,
trotted on into the villa to socialize for a bit.
On our first evening, the group accompanied me on a walking tour of Eguilles
by way of an enjoyable Adventure Lab cache, which led us to several scenic
and/or historical spots around town. Shortly thereafter, that we might
procure victuals (a commodity somewhat scarce in Eguilles), we drove down to
Aix-en-Provence, a bustling town we had briefly visited on our 2019
trip. Here, we did indeed manage to find decent food and wine in one of the
myriad outdoor restaurants. There was a cache very nearby — "Les Cardeurs" (GC5NTME) — but I gave it only a half-hearted hunt, since the prodigious numbers of
human critters congregating near the site made searching problematic.
Not a one of our group has typically been enamored of French wine — at least
the brands we're able to find back in the States. We had enjoyed some French
wine on our last trip, and this time, we found more good wine. Lots and lots
of it. Clearly, back home, we are relegated to second-rate fare from France
because I'm pretty sure the worst French wine we had on the continent proved
better than the best French wine we've ever discovered back home.
After no sleep for something like 36 hours, Ms. B. and I finished our first
day in France at quite a late hour, exhausted but highly satisfied with the
state of affairs to date.
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| Aix-en-Provence: little town, big bustle |
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| Le Rotonde in Aix |
Friday, October 15, 2021: Gordes et Roussillon
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| Gordes, France |
"Je ne parle pas très bien le français. J'ai l'étudié pour quatre ans – deux
au lycée et deux à l'université — mais c'était il y a plus de quarante ans,
et je suis vieux et oublieux."
I became fairly proficient at prefacing any attempt at communication with
the native French speakers using the explanation above, which translates as
"I don't speak French very well. I studied it for four years — two in high
school and two in college — but that was over forty years ago, and I am old
and forgetful." Once that was squared away, the four of us managed quite
well even in places where no English was spoken (which was rare — in most
cases, the people we dealt with spoke English at least as well as I speak
French). Unlike our previous trip, where we visited mostly places that
catered to cruise ship tourists, this time around, we aimed for more remote,
less-tourist centered destinations. In fact, while in France, we scarcely
heard another American (or British) voice anywhere.
On Friday, our little band hit the road, bound for Gordes, about an hour
northwest of Eguilles. It's another village founded in the 1st Century AD,
built on a high ridge in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It's a
stunning location, with numerous high overlooks, a few shops and
restaurants, as well as a handful of caches (most of which I was able to
claim). For lunch we ended up at a place called
La Bastide de Pierres, which — perhaps oddly — served Italian food. I went for their Bolognese,
which was pretty good. Kim and Beth occupied themselves shopping, while
Terry and I found a cache and then a wine bar.
Once satisfied with our time in Gordes, we drove a few miles to a wonderful
winery called
Vignoble Chasson-Chateau Blanc, whose wines turned out to be the best we found in France. Prior to
visiting this location, enjoying a fine (free) tasting, and purchasing a few
bottles, none of us thought we'd find red wine in France that could rival
the quality of our favorite Spanish and Italian reds. This wine did. In
fact, I believe it's safe to say that the "Secret de Famille" and "Le Vigne
Oublie" red blends were as good or better than any wine we've had at any
winery on either side of the Atlantic.
The winery is located outside another small, very old village called
Roussillon, so we decided to check it out. Just outside of town, there was a
cache (Why, yes, I did claim it!) that required some tricky negotiating of
terrain (that was one steep hill — and it didn't help that the coordinates
were 100 ft. off). We wandered the ancient streets and alleys, found some
interesting art (including a particular butterfly on a window, which I named
"Inna Gada Da Vida," for obvious reasons), a few shops that Beth and Kim
enjoyed, a staircase that for visual effect damn near rivaled the "Hitchcock
Stairs" in Georgetown (best known for its appearance in
The Exorcist), and a
terraced restaurant called Cafe des Couleurs, which offered us a
spectacular view of the valley below as well as a beautiful sunset. The food
was decent, the service quite good.
We came away from Roussillon with at least one memorable moment. Terry
entered a shop, and the proprietor offered him a cordial greeting. With
equal cordiality, Terry said what was intended to be "Bonsoir!" ("good
evening"), but what came out was "Bourgeois!" The proprietor either didn't
notice or let it slide, but it was the very devil getting Beth up off the
floor about then.
Eventually, we made our way back to Eguilles and enjoyed a few of the fruits
from Vignoble Chasson-Chateau Blanc before retiring for the evening.
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| Closed-off entrance to an old mine in Roussillon |
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| Sunset from the terrace of Cafe des Couleurs |
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| Night falling in Roussillon |
Saturday, October 16, 2021: My Head Aix
On Saturday morning, I got up early and took another walk after a cache —
Ils Sont Fous Ces Romains #2
— which was the last of those I had yet to claim in Eguilles. This one
lurked just outside the village's cemetery, which, hardly unexpectedly,
proved scenic and serene. Happily, I found the cache quickly and easily.
Kim wanted to check out an artsy place or two in Aix-en-Provence and then
head out to hike at the Gorges of Regalon, about 40 minutes north of
Eguilles. Terry and Beth stayed put while Kim and I hit the road for Aix;
unfortunately, as Aix was never designed for 21st Century traffic, the
entire town was jammed to the point we couldn't find an unimpeded passage
into town, much less a vacant parking space anywhere within reasonable
walking distance. So, we turned around and retreated to Eguilles. Such are
the rigors of muddling about unassisted in a strange land!
We all needed to get COVID-19 tests — negatif — for our flight to
Venice on Monday, and, as it turned out, the sole site in Eguilles offering
them was closed during the window that we needed them. So, with Aix offering
the only possibility of an open testing site — shy of trying to get one at
Nice Airport just prior to our flight, which seemed a risky proposition —
the four of us piled into the car and headed back down the road. This time,
we managed to find an unimpeded point of entry, as well as some reasonably
convenient parking. So, we set out to find a testing center. The first was
another washout, but the second — a tiny pharmacy in the middle of town —
provided us with the requisite tests. As we anticipated (and hoped!), all of
our test results were negatif. Say what you will, but the
stringent precautions in Europe are by all accounts paying off. And if you
aren't vaccinated, for the love of God, do it. If you aren't doing it for
any reason other than medical, you are very much the reason we're still in
this mess.
From there, I managed to snag a few caches, Kim found her artsy
establishments, and food and wine found their way to us with nary an
impediment. While the ladies did their traditional shopping, Terry and I
sought — and discovered — much-needed refreshment at a small joint called
Charly's Coffee, where we actually did get coffee, but also some
wine once our better halves returned from their errands. After yet more
wanderings, we procured dinner at one of the many outdoor establishments
along the Rue Marcel Provence. Pour moi, A big old duck breast — and
daggum if it wasn't the best duck I ever tasted. (I do love me some dead
bird, don't you doubt it.)
On this evening, the crowd around "Les Cardeurs" wasn't so prodigious, so I
managed to make a quick find. A novel cache it was, hidden in plain site.
At last, satiated and well on the way to weary, we hoofed it to the car and
drove back to Eguilles. Early that morning, given our frustrating
experiences, I had feared we had a long, fruitless day in store, but all in
all, things worked out for the best. Not a complaint from any of our gang.
On the morrow, Kim and I anticipated visiting the Gorges de Regalon, which
we had sadly passed up on Saturday. We suspected we would find the location
stimulating. We had no idea.
#
Sunday, October 17, 2021: Gorgeous Gorge
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| Clearing a path for the old man is a heavy job for Ms. B. |
Since circumstances had dictated a change of plan on Saturday, our gang
figured we would simply move the Les Gorges des Regalon outing
to Sunday. Unfortunately, some nefarious consumable from the previous
evening left friend Beth's innards feeling rather unkindly, so Ms. B. and
I drove ourselves out to the rugged highlands of the Petit Luberon
mountain range, less than an hour from our home base at Eguilles, France.
The gorges are narrow crevices —some no more than a meter or so wide — cut
through the towering limestone ridges by the waters of the Mediterranean
and lingering river systems several million years before most of us took
to wandering about on this planet. Rockslides have led to several closings
of the area over the years, but it is currently open to the public, and we
were fortunate enough to avoid any geological hailstorms.
When we arrived at the parking area, we found a large number of people had
preceded us, but we managed to park easily enough and set out on our hike
up the ridge. Ms. B. and I knew the trails here are far more extensive
than we could manage even in a day or more, so we just decided to hike
until we decided we were done.
That ended up being about a three-mile round trip, in terrain that grew
higher and more rugged the farther we went. We encountered numerous
fantastic natural formations — grottoes, tunnels, and patterns intricately
sculpted by nature. In a few places, boulders hung precariously above our
heads, wedged within the crevices following plummets from unknown heights.
I managed to find each of the caches I hunted here. In several places,
continuing our forward progress required scaling rock walls of varying
heights and difficulty, and when we finally reached one that Ms. B.
considered prohibitive, we opted to head back.
Once back on the road, we stopped for a cache at a very old suspension
bridge, which was clearly once the main road through the province. Here
— quelle horreur! — Ms. B. readily found what the old man
could not. On our outbound drive, we had noticed a little
restaurant/wine bar out in the middle of nowhere, which appeared to be
open. So, on our return trip, we decided to give it a try, and what a
great discovery for us! It was a place called L'Escale des Vins, and here
we found excellent food and drink indeed. I tried their white martini,
which was unlike any I had drank — citrusy, a little sweet,
and not particularly strong, which I considered just the ticket under the
circumstances. For lunch, I had foie gras with cinnamon crumbles, a savory
sauce, arugula, and grapes. It was absolutely delicious; one of the best
dishes I had on this trip.
For the evening, we hung out with the gang in Eguilles, and since almost
all neighboring restaurants were closed for Sunday dinner, we visited a
supermarket not too far away and picked up miscellaneous goodies to
prepare ourselves. There might have been a little wine as well.
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Above left: One of the sizable tunnels we passed through; above
right: one of the grottoes containing a cache Above center: foie gras at L'Escale des Vins |
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