1 MG TF, 2 weeks, 2400 miles, 12 different beds.
Day 1: We sailed from Poole to Cherbourg, stopped in Tours for a break before continuing to Poitiers where we spent the night in a hotel overlooking Place de Maréchal Leclerc.
Day 2: Drove down to Sarlat-la-Canéda, an incredible Medieval town where we found a chambre d’hôte overlooking the Place de Liberte.
Day 3: Spent the day exploring the Dordogne’s prehistoric area: Grotte du Grand Roc (with stalactites and stalagmites) and Grotte de Rouffignac (with over 150 engravings of bison, mammoth and rhinos!)
Day 4: Continued down past Rocamadour (a village clinging to the mountain) to the Gorge du Tarn, where we camped the night by the river.
Day 5: A childhood memory for David, the Pont du Gard, to the west Avignon. By the bridge Olga noticed a 1100 year old olive tree! Spent the night at a farmhouse in the Camargue.
Day 6: Drove through the Camargue to Arles, with a roman amphitheatre. On to Château Estoublon vineyard, then Les Baux, an incredible hilltop town.
Day 7 – St Tropez darling! Chilling on Tahiti beach.
Day 8 – Explored the peninsula and then started to drive along the riviera coastal road. Stayed at a guest house in Anthéor, near Cannes.
Day 9 – Continued the riviera drive, from Cannes to Nice then up along the Grand Corniche and down to Monte Carlo, where we drove 2 “laps” of the Formula One circuit. We returned to Anthéor via the spectacular Massif de l’Esterel
Day 10 – Headed for Haut Provence, via Grasse. Stopped in Puimichel, a tiny hilltop village that David and his family stayed at for a week in 1981!
Day 11 – Stayed in Sisterone (thunderstorm night!). We woke up to the only chilly morning, and started driving up to the Col de Rousset, down through the Vercours National Park and west of Lyon heading to Beaune, the heart of the Côte d’Or wine region.
Day 12 – Spent the day exploring the beautiful city of Beaune: Hôtel Dieu hospice, City walls, Musée de Vin and Marché aux vin cellars.
Day 13 – Explored the Burgundy villages and vineyards. Visited Vézelay, a hilltop town with a basilica at the top where we visited Maria Magdalena’s (allegedly) relics.
Day 14 – Versailles gardens. Stayed the night at a lovely hotel on the banks of the Seine near Giverny.
Day 15 – Monet’s house and garden in Giverny. Then on to Bayeux for the final night, staying in a lovely Normandy farmhouse chambre d’hôte.
