France 1988, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2009, 2017

France – May, 2017

We’ve made a number of trips to France beginning in the mid 1980’s, each time singling out one region to explore and traveling by car.  We’ve always enjoyed France and the French people, lots to like: the food, wine, people, culture, history, countryside, small towns, etc.   While some have said French people are aloof, we’ve never found that to be the case and, with few exceptions, have always had good experiences and found the people to be friendly.  While we’re far from fluent in French, we have enough words and phrases to facilitate the necessities of traveling, including getting directions, hotel rooms and, most importantly, being able to enjoy the wonderful French cuisine and wine.  Opening a conversation with a bon jour or bon soir goes a long way toward getting a better table in a restaurant or an upgraded hotel room.

This trip was to the Southwest, sometimes referred to as the “other south of France” (as compared with Provence which is several hundred miles to the east).  In particular we focused on Gascony, a region known for foie gras, lots of duck (canard) dishes, easy-going people and little tourism.   It’s part of Basque country, is west of Toulouse and is one of the most rural regions of France.   It’s filled with quaint little towns and meandering back roads with farms selling foie gras and armagnac (a French brandy).  What prompted our choice of the Southwest was an article in the NY Times about Auch, the principal town in the Gascony area, which we used as a base for a three-day stay while we explored the area

On this trip we found France to be as wonderful as ever.  We arrived several days after Macron had been elected president, the youngest president since Napoleon.  Perhaps because the more radical Le Pen had lost, the political disruption that had been predicted if she had won didn’t materialize.  Our recent travels had taken us to Peru and Chile, Albania and Macedonia, China and Korea, and by comparison, France seemed so incredibly civilized and orderly. 

Our trip was to be for one month, with roughly half the time in France and half in Spain.  Reviewing maps of the two countries, we decided on a route going south from Paris and flying home a month later from Madrid.  We’d decide on specific destinations while we were traveling.  We arrived in Paris early morning, didn’t spend any time there since we were there the previous year, picked up the rental car at DeGaule airport and headed south to Orleans, a two hour drive, where we’d spend the first night.  Orleans is a medium-sized city on the banks of the Loire River, and is famous for Joan of Arc saving the city from the English in the fifteenth century. 

It was the beginning of May and the weather was cool with intermittent rain.  We found a nearby restaurant for dinner, the first of many wonderful French dinners over the next two weeks.  As we were walking back to the hotel we heard music, walked toward it, and discovered a large brass band playing outside the cathedral.  Since rain looked imminent, I told Misti I’d walk back to the hotel and get an umbrella while she waited at the cathedral.  I returned in a torrential downpour and Misti was not to be found anywhere, which concerned me since she didn’t have an umbrella.  It was late, there were no taxis, and since we had just arrived in France, she didn’t have any euros. When I got to the hotel, there was no Misti, and just as I was calling a taxi to go look for her, a soaked to the bone Misti appeared.  Not a good way to start our trip with my losing Misti on our first night. We bought an umbrella the next day and of course there was no rain after that.

We had decided we’d spend three days in the Loire Valley on the way south, and booked a hotel in Chinon, a medium sized medieval town on the banks of the Loire.  We had been through the Loire Valley years ago and loved it, small villages and many chateaux (castles) some of which are quite magnificent. 

Misti booked the Domaine du Heron through hotels.com, and on the site it looked too good to be true, but it was indeed a find.  For $100 a night we got a large suite in a manse attached to an eleventh century church.  There were only three rooms and we had the only suite, which overlooked the Loire River.   It included an excellent breakfast served by the owner, a lovely woman in her 70’s, who didn’t speak a word of English. A challenge for my French so early in the trip, but it held up fine with help from Google translate.

For our second night, the hotel owner booked a table for us at the Les Ainee 30 Restaurant, Michelin starred, and very difficult to get a reservation.  A magnificent meal at a surprisingly reasonable cost, thanks to the strong dollar ($1.09 to a euro).

We spent three days exploring the valley and, because it was still early in the season, the Loire wasn’t yet overrun with tourists.  We had forgotten how many chateaux there are, more than one hundred, as well as the “Plus beaux villages de France” (the most beautiful villages in France).   We had no schedule or itinerary, but rather wandered through the side roads, soaking up the beauty and serenity of the countryside and ancient villages, and enjoying the wonderful French food and wine.  For anyone who has not visited France, I recommend spending at least a few days in the Loire Valley; it’s one of the nicest parts of the country.

We wanted to break up the drive from Chinon to Auch, about six hours, so decided to spend a night in Bergerac, a city we had never visited.  Misti found a nice hotel for one night, and it happened that another couple from California was also staying there, the first Americans we had encountered.  The owner recommended a nearby restaurant, and John and Gloria offered to drive.  We had a good dinner with lots of political talk back and forth.  John and Gloria are California liberals and they weren’t accustomed to discussion with a conservative, so sparks flew as we discussed Trump and the election.  I came to realize there would be many more such conversations, since everyone seemed eager to talk with Americans about Mr. Trump.

We arrived Auch early afternoon and went directly to the Hotel de France, in the center of town, which Misti had read about in the Times article and had booked for three nights.  Arriving at hotels early usually means you have a better shot at getting a good room and often can get upgraded, if the hotel isn’t full.  The friendly receptionist, who was married to the chef and part of the family that owned the hotel, gave us what we believe was the honeymoon suite.  Huge, with a Jacuzzi bath and “floating bed,” but it had to be one of the ugliest rooms we’ve ever seen, with lots of stairs going to different levels.  We told her we’d have difficulty with the stairs and she gave us a large corner room with high windows overlooking the square.

As we did in Chinon, we used Auch as a base to explore the Gascony area (also called Gers, which is the official name of the department, located in the heart of the Midi-Pyrenees region).  The area is quite different from the Loire; rolling countryside with low- key agriculture and fields of sunflowers, quiet roads with enough cute villages and small chateaux to make for enjoyable day trips.  We divided the area into three day-long excursions, returning to Auch early enough each evening for our nightly pastis (French aperitif) and dinner at one of the local restaurants.  Auch was a good choice, few tourists, restaurants that weren’t crowded, all sorts of foie gras and duck dishes, a formidable cathedral in the center of town and free parking near the hotel. 

On our second day in Auch, we decided to drive to Toulouse, about an hour away, and spend the afternoon exploring the old city.  Toulouse is the capital of the southern Occitanie region, and with a population of nearly half a million, is the fourth largest city in France.  It’s called La Ville Rose (the pink city) because of the color of the bricks used in many buildings.  The 17th century Canal du Midi connects the Garonne River to the Mediterranean Sea.  It’s also the home of Airbus, the European consortium that manufactures civilian aircraft and competes with Boeing.

At lunch, we met Walter and his friend Michelline, he from London and she from Normandy.  We discussed France’s politics, especially their new president Macron, and then Walter asked me what Americans think of Trump, which made for lively lunch conversation.  As we drank more, our tongues became sharper, and it was fun tossing around political issues both on the continent and the US.  

While on another trip we had spent time in the French Basque country, we had never visited the French Pyrenees, so we decided to spend several days exploring the Pyrenean area and its small villages.  From Auch, we drove back roads southwest to Pau, the main city in the Haute Pyrenees region, and spent two nights there using it as a base for day trips.  On the drive to Pau we stopped at several foie gras farms, getting a supply to take home lest we have foie gras withdrawal symptoms.

Driving through the Pyrenees mountains, on tiny, curving roads with no guard rails, in an SUV that barely fits on the road, is a bit scary. But the spectacular snow capped peaks, verdant valleys and small alpine villages made it worthwhile, and there were virtually no other cars.  We went through several ski resorts, which were eerily quiet because ski season was over and, since the summer season hadn’t yet begun, we had the mountains to ourselves.

Twice while driving through the Pyrenees we encountered what is called the transhumance, which is when the shepherds move their sheep up to the higher elevations for the summer.  It was fun maneuvering our car through the flocks, with the shepherds and their dogs trying to herd the sheep out of the way.  The wooliest sheep I’ve ever seen, I guess because of cold winters.  A very Basque scene.

In Lonely Planet Misti had read about  the Hotel Visco in St Savin, and its famous owner/chef.  She called, made a reservation, and we set both our navigation systems (the car and Google map on Misti’s iPhone).  As we made our way to the village, we got hopelessly lost and began to see the vision of our wonderful dinner fading away.  The car’s GPS kept giving us wrong directions, perhaps because the mountains were blocking its signal, and we were going in circles.  We finally ignored it, followed Google map, several times stopped to ask directions, and made it in time for our evening pastis, a wonderful dinner with the best foie gras ever, and an excellent room with a view of the snow capped Pyrenees. All’s well that ends well.

An interesting experience as we drove down out of the Pyrenees mountains and through Lourdes.  We stopped to see the famous church where the alleged sighting of the Virgin Mary took place, and also the beautiful Hotel de Ville (City Hall in French).  I went into City Hall looking for a bathroom and was greeted by a well-dressed woman who was the mayor.  We chatted a bit in my broken French, and I soon realized we were being filmed, since she was in the midst of an interview by a local TV station.  They liked the fact that I was an American tourist from California and I guess they felt that would play well with their TV audience, so I suppose I was a French TV star that evening.

Since we had decided we’d spend half our time in France and half in Spain, we headed south, planning to spend three nights in Saint-Jean-de Luz, France, less than an hour from the Spanish border.  We had no hotel reservations, but it was mid week, and looking online we were able to book the Hotel Reserva, on the coast above the town, and got a room with views looking out to sea (the Bay of Biscay). 

While staying in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, one afternoon we decided to drive to Bayonne for lunch to explore that city.  After lunch in a riverside restaurant, while walking the old town, we went into a shop that had some interesting paintings.  The young painter had spent years in California, his English was excellent, and we talked about life in France and the US.  When the talk turned to the subject of immigration and refugees, he said the French government was trying to sell the people on the idea of “resilience” rather than “resistance,” which I found interesting.  He was saying the government wanted the French people to be flexible in absorbing refugees rather than resisting them.  He didn’t think that’s what most French people wanted.

It turned out that Saint-Jean-de-Luz was our favorite town, great seafood restaurants, a nice promenade along the sea and a great market.  We could easily have stayed for a week, but adventure in Spain was calling.  Realizing we would soon be leaving France, we saw this as our last opportunity to treat ourselves to an assiette de fruits de mer, or a huge platter of shell fish, as only the French can do it.    We had this same dinner, only with a larger platter, the next night,  and it was a heavenly way of saying farewell to the wonders of French food.

About driving in France.  Compared with other countries, driving in France is easy; the roads are excellent and well signed.  Drivers, for the most part, are experienced and courteous, unlike California and Marin County, which have many poor drivers.  Perhaps this is because getting a drivers license in European countries is considerably more rigorous than in California, and drivers are serious about driving.  

We had reserved an Audi A4 in Paris, but felt it was too small, it had a manual transmission and it seemed old, so we changed to a Renault Espace SUV with four wheel drive.  A wonderful vehicle with automatic everything, including locking and unlocking the doors when you’re near the car, which can be a bit unnerving.  It was a bit large for narrow streets in some of the smaller towns, but pulling in the mirrors helped, and in driving about 2,500 miles I never scratched it once.

Of course it had navigation, including a heads-up screen which puts a hologram on the windshield, showing speed, the speed limit and turn-by-turn navigation.   Along with Google Map on Misti’s iPhone, this is how we managed to make the zillion turns in maneuvering our way through France.  Each time we came to a roundabout, the heads-up screen would immediately tell us which exit to take; enabling us to go anywhere without getting lost (except the Pyrenees Mountains where the GPS went berserk).  

My French improved considerably on this trip.  I never studied French in school, Spanish was my choice, but from traveling over the years to France and other French-speaking countries, I picked up the basics, but I’m still a long ways from being able to have a real conversation.  Perhaps a few months in France could fix that.

This was a great trip and we liked France more than ever.  The country may be having political and social issues, but it’s hard to beat France as a vacation destination.

Art Faibisch, June, 2017