Driving back to France

We left Venice with a lot less hassle than our arrival, we had mastered the water bus system. The day was mostly spent in the car. We got into some traffic and had to travel all the way across Italy, through the Alps on the edge of Switzerland and up into France. We saw some breathtaking peaks and mountains and also got to travel THROUGH Mont Blanc (the big white mountain). Their was a tunnel through the mountain which was 11 km long. It was warm and sunny on the entering the mountain and when we came out it was cold and raining. You can see it on the map if you zoom to the Italian/French border.


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We spent a long day in the car, and our normally wonderful GPS system missed an exit due to new construction. We saw the exit, but the computer said to continue for another 2 km. We obeyed, and there was nothing but highway, causing us to take a 45 minute detour through the outskirts of Torino. The highlight of that was seeing 2 black prostitutes sitting in plastic chairs in a cornfield, literally in the middle of nowhere. We eventually did get to our hotel which was a French Chateaux named Castel tres Girad in Moray-St.-Denis. We had a huge comfy room and were happy that we could just walk downstairs to the chateaux's restarurant for dinner.

Dinner was delicious. Very well priced and ended up being about 8 courses. We each ordered from the 3 course prix-fixe menu, which was to be the standard appetizer, entree, dessert. What also came was 2 amuse bouches, and choosing cheese from a rolling cheese cart that held about 30 different selections. Dessert came, but then they also had a pre-dessert AND a post-dessert course. I was in heaven. Any meal ending in three delicious desserts is one I will always remember!

It had been a long day in the car so we went to bed right after dinner.

We got up very happy that we only had a short drive to our final stop, back to Paris. Before leaving, we stopped in the charming town of Nuits St. George for a little breakfast. The main pastry shop was chocked full of delicious treats. I got a chocolate croissant AND a meringue. We also grabbed a baguette to eat in the car. It was a tiny, but very cute town.

On the way to Paris we stopped in Beaune to check out a French shopping mall. I really wanted to get at least ONE souvenir (besides wine) to take home. Since Erin and I have become addicted to espresso, we decided to find some espresso cups to take home. We found a home goods type store called ‘Casa’ which had a great selection, and we now own 6 espresso cups if anyone would like to come over for coffee!

We got into Paris without much difficulty. After two weeks of driving through Europe Erin has become a pro at navigating the crazy roads and driving patterns. Our hotel was right across the street from the large Pantheon. Our room was on the first floor for the first time in this trip and we were so happy to be able to avoid any stairs or lifts with our luggage. We had to take it all in this time for one final packing.

We decided on Fondue for dinner. It was chilly in Paris (felt like fall had arrived in the two weeks since we were there last) and we were excited for some warm, comfort food. We found a fondue restaurant in the Latin quarter which was just a few minutes from our hotel. We stuffed ourselves silly with cheese fondue, tarteflette, salami, and chocolate fondue to top it all off!! We had the house wine which came in a cool jug. We were at the restaurant for almost three hours and it was a wonderful meal.

After dinner we strolled through the Latin quarter taking in the student-centered nightlife. We stopped in an Irish bar for a beer and then went back to go to bed. Ahhh…..Paris.