284K - 176 Miles
Rode the short distance to Saint-Raphael and met with the Bernardeaus, Bruno, Marie-Line, son, Antoine, and his girlfriend, Justine at their vacation condo. It was an extremely nice place. One can certainly do worse than spend a couple of weeks in Saint-Raphael. It's a beautiful city, and just chock full of vacationers this time of the year.
This was my first meeting of Bruno and Antoine and his lady. I hope they enjoyed it half as much as I did. They are all such nice people. But, I wouldn't expect anything else since they are associated with Marie-Line. She has been my guardian angel since I've come to Nantes; shuffling me from one appointment to another, helping me deal with the cultural, language, and some of the official "bureaucracy." I can honestly say I couldn't have made it without her kind assistance and pleasant, get-it-done attitude. Thanks, my dear. You've been a peach (as we say in the U.S., or La Pêche, as we say in France. Or, at least, as I hope we say in France...I certainly don't need another screw up on the language here.)
Anyway, it was a pleasure and I look forward to us all getting together again. And, Antoine, former President Chirac was right, your girlfriend is very pretty.
Left Saint-Raphael about 1:30pm heading north and west. My goal is Roussillon, a small village in the Provence-Alps-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The area is rich with ocre used for making pigments in paints and was mined extensively in the 18th century. I have heard that many of the famous impressionists painters came here to pick out their pigments made from the rich yellow, orange, and red ocres.
I had read about the place in a book whose author escapes me right this minute, but I remembered the name of the village, the discussions about how the buildings are painted using these pigments. He made it so interesting I just had to see and he was right. I got there running low on gas and without reservations, but, happened to pick this lovely little hotel right in town ran by, here's that serendipity thing again, a biker who really liked Betsy. In fact, he opened up a garage and gave it to me to park Betsy for the evening. He and his wife were very nice and accomodating, and the village is just marvelously quiet, serene, and beautiful. There was a jazz group playing the in the square, and several good restaurants. I think I enjoyed this place and the people more than any other I met on the entire trip. I look forward to going back.
Downtown Saint-Raphael
The A8 between Cannes and Aix-En-Provence, north and east of Marseille.
Heading up the canyon toward Roussillon. Lots of my favorite twisties.
More of those one-handed shots.
My hotel in Roussellon. The Hôtel Rêves d'Ocres
Hôtel Rêves d'Ocres.
Stay there. You'll like the place and you'll like the people.
My room
A couple of the old ochre mines
The usual narrow old streets. This time with the buildings painted different hues of the red ochre so prevalent throughout the area. It's really neat.
This may turn out to be my favorite picture of the trip.
Dinner in Roussillon.
I'm starting to question at what point "lamb" becomes "mutton."
The view from my table.
A pleasant walk back to the hotel late in the day.
It just doesn't get much better than this.
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