We awoke this morning feeling quite flat and tired so decided to have an ‘at home’ day. Gray had the accounts etc to do ( yes, we still have wages to pay etc) and I can always find washing to do – how I long for a washing machine!
A quick trip into the supermarche before lunch, then as the light was beginning to soften in the mid/late afternoon, we popped out for a walk. The local dogs were quite surprised to find people walking down the road, so everyone set off into vigorous barking and leaping about.
I cooked pork sausages provencal for dinner. They were good, tasty but definitely not the refined texture of sausages from home! The local Pinot blanc wasn’t too bad either.
Tomorrow is Auriol market so we’ll head off early for coffees and shopping.
Now that we feel we are well and truly ensconced into Auriol//Aubagne way of life, we feel relaxed enough to have a wee giggle every now and then about our escapades. At home we take everyday life so much for granted, so it throws you rather when everyday life makes you go, Oh,OK!
We are doing quite a few, Oh, OKs!
We wanted to go into the market in Aubagne today, but parking is still a HUGE issue for us. We’d heard that inter town and around town buses are free, so decided to get up early, drive into Auriol, when surely there’d be some parks left, hop onto a bus into Aubagne for the market.
You’ve guessed it, no parks to be found, so being ‘ignorant’ tourists we headed for the supermarket and parked in a not so conspicuous park. The bus stop was just down the road, so caught the bus into Aubagne, arriving nice and early to check out what we wanted to buy. Of course cafe noisette before any serious shopping!
We walked around finding some really cute shops and making a few purchases.
We’d planned to have lunch in town, but once we’d bought our provisions from the market we were keen to head home with them. We bought the usual ‘legumes et fruites’ as well as some interesting ham, pork sausages and pork pate from a very friendly stall holder. She offered us tastes before we made our purchases. On the way back to the bus we bought some more goodies from a boulangerie.
We knew that we had to fill the car with diesel when we got back. There is a service station in the supermarket car park. It is nothing like buying petrol at home!!! However, the lady in the pay booth was very helpful.
The car full we headed home to lunch on the goodies we’d just bought.
Surely not buying clothes!
Did some more washing, had a nana nap, did some work for Liam and now we are eating pork pate on crackers before I cook dinner.
Life is so grim!
Tomorrow we are off to Avignon – free bus and then train.
The weather is still bright and warm so we are making the most of it.
Last night we headed into Auriol for dinner at Auberge Provencal. We found a park nearby and headed for the cafe. People were drinking wine and coffee at tables across the road and some were inside. We sat down outside, ordered our dinner from the waitress only to find that the kitchen was closed and just the bar was operating. She suggested another place over the bridge where her friend works. I finished my wine and we wandered to the next place.
Gray had beouf entrecote and I had l’agneau. To the non-appreciative we had very ordinary steak and lamb chops, but the meals were far from ordinary – tres yummy!!
We set off to Aubagne this morning, parked in a carpark building (well done, that man!) and caught a train to Marseille. We needed to reserve our tickets to Geneva, Innsbruck and Vienna and we also wanted to know where we had to return our car before heading out of the country.
Aubagne station
At Aubagne I tried cafe noisette, as Sime had suggested – oh yes!!!
We arrived at the station in Marseille at midday, looked at the queues for booking tickets and headed off to find a cafe for lunch. We had planned to have lunch down at the old port, but we couldn’t find it. Our map wasn’t as detailed as we needed.
We found a little cafe that specialised in sandwiches chaud, so we ordered jambon, tomate et chevre fromage. They were made from a shortish bagette, split, fillings added, then flattened and toasted in a panini maker – so yum!
Marseille
We wandered back to the station, joined a very long queue to book our tickets. Finally at 2pm we walked out of the station and spotted the Europecar place.
We ran to catch the 2.35 train back to Aubagne. On the way back Gray said, I wonder if we could have booked our tickets from Aubagne!!!! BUT we really did need to find the car place. All trip advisory people say, “DON’T drive in Marseille!”
So what was Marseille like? We haven’t a clue, but the Gare St Charles is very big and busy!!
Tonight, we are eating in and hope to be up early in the morning to make it to the market at Aubagne to fill up on fresh produce and to soak up the atmosphere of the market itself.
It is still quite warm; more comfortable than in Italy where the temperatures were in the 30s everyday. People are very courteous and friendly and encourage our clumsy francais.
I guess my lit. team are ensconced in meetings at the moment – I do think of you!
Tuesday is one of Aubagne’s market days, so we had planned to head off early this morning for the market. Well, we slept in and by the time we’d had breakfast, we decided that we would go into Aubagne after lunch.
The market is obviously only in the morning!
However, we looked about and spotted some interesting eating places for our next visit. We also successfully parked the car in a carpark – having done the necessary research. It is a much bigger town than we had first thought, but it is still quite pretty.
Aubagne is the home town of the film maker, Marcel Pagnol. Gloire de mon Pere, Le Chateau de ma Mere, Jean de Florette, and Manon des Sources are films you’ve either seen or heard about. Driving down the motorway you can see the bare hills where some of the filming took place.
On our way back through Auriol, we looked about for parking spaces for when we pop out for dinner tonight.
The roads in and around Auriol are very narrow and quite windy, so when we head out to other villages or towns, we prefer to pay the toll and go on the motorway. Gray says he’s still terrified driving, but I think he’s getting much better!!
After a good night’s sleep, we got up and breakfasted on bagette, cheese and ham, but no coffee!!!!
There is a filter coffee maker, but there were no beans! No tea bags!
So into town to have coffee. It tasted so good – 24 hours since the last one!
We wandered around the town. It is really quite lovely. We spotted this amazing boulangarie and just had to go in. I’ve not ever been keen on quiche, but this one was so good!
We popped into the supermarche on our way home and stocked up with more provisions. Tonight I’m cooking my pork chop ardenaise that I do at home, but hopefully after we’ve been to some markets, cafes etc, I’ll pick up some new ideas.
After our yummy lunch and a home-made coffee, we headed off to Aubagne to see what it is like as we plan to go to the market tomorrow. we got there OK, but it was bigger than we expected, quite busy traffic and we had no idea where we were allowed to park. We headed back home to rethink some strategies for getting to markets etc etc.
Our washing is dry, so we can sleep in clean jamas tonight – yeh!!
Leaving Nice had a few hairy moments – driving a manual car on the wrong side of the road in the rain was quite a challenge for Gray.
However, once we were on the motorway, the nerves calmed a little and we bounced along quite nicely until getting off at the Auriol turn off. The lady at the pay station was very understanding – it pays to learn how to apologise profusely in the native tongue!!
As we approached Auriol, the silly GPS lady sent us off onto mountain goat tracks to get to the town centre. Fortunately we had spotted a supermarche and had bought some ‘existence’ provisions for the day and that night before heading into the wilderness.
Finally we arrived in Auriol having woven our way down narrow, and I mean really narrow, back streets.
We then headed off to Patrick and Dominique’s place (they own the cottage). Oh dear! that silly lady once more contradicted our instincts and Patrick’s map wasn’t much help. Finally, I suggested a slightly different way, not going behind the shrine in the middle of the road, but from what I recalled from our look-see on Google Earth. As luck would have it we reached the house in a few moments.
Patrick showed us around our wee house. I left most of the communicating to Gray. I was most impressed as he rattled away in French!!!
We settled in. Had lunch. Did loads of washing (by hand!)
It is so nice to have unpacked and not have to live out of our suitcases for a few weeks. And our little house is gorgeous!
This morning after breakfast we walked up to the Santa Maria Nouvella station to hop onto our first train for the day. It was very fast and comfortable, getting us to Milan by 10.30am.
We just had enough time to change platforms to get onto a not so salubrious train to Ventimiglia. Four hours later, with no air con working we finally arrived to catch our third train for the day. It was absolutely packed and as we approached Nice, more and more people were getting on.
Getting off was quite a feat. Our luggage was at the front of the carriage, along with another 20 or so cases. Pushing and shoving we managed to get off, ready for a short walk to our hotel.
Next decision – where to eat. We’d noticed lots of cafes on the way to the hotel, most of them advertising pasta and pizzas! We really didn’t want Italian food on our first night in France. Then we spotted it; a little French restaurant with fillet mignon as chef’s choice for the day. Gray had the traditional mignon, but I chose frigolles fraiche with mine. The wine was good too.
We headed back to the hotel for a much needed big sleep after 8 hours on trains.
It is hard to believe that this is our last day in Italy. Even though the time has simply rushed by, we have made the most of every moment.
This morning we headed off to Piazza Repubblica to catch our bus to go to the five villages. There were 6 of us in the van and we all got on famously. Our guide was excellent, leaving us to do our own thing most of the time. The day was bright and sunny, becoming very hot in the afternoon, but fortunately there were always shady places on our walks.
It is incredible to imagine these fishing villages were completely isolated until 1960s when roads were put in. Until then their only access in and out of each village was by boat.
For foodie friends and family, lunch was a real treat down on the harbour of Vernazza – Penne with shrimps (the size of large Aussie prawns) and Gray had Fish fettucine.
Each village was a little different from each other, but all quaint, narrow streets and interesting gardens/horticulture.
We’ve arrived back at Hotel Boccaccio pretty tired and not really looking forward to packing up for a long train journeys tomorrow as we head to Nice.
Despite being on a busy road, our room is very quiet. Unfortunately neither of us slept well – too much sun yesterday?
Straight after breakfast we headed off to the San Lorenzo market to start the shopping frenzy. It was cool and not too many people around. Some people are easier to buy for than others, so it didn’t take too long before the Euros were flowing out of his wallet!!
When we were looking for one of the less easy to shop for (yes, you Mr Design Guy) we happened upon this large shop of leather jackets and coats. The guy tried to coax us in, but we said we didn’t want jackets or coats. As we walked away he offered us 100% off!
We popped into the fruit market which smelled so good – ripe, fresh fruit! Bought some bits and headed back.
When we were about to pass the man and his jackets, Gray reminded him that he’d offered us 100% off and we’d come back to choose!! You can imagine the banter that followed as well as the RWC.
I tried on a coat and on hearing the price, promptly hung it up again. A few minutes later we are walking out his shop with the coat. Now how did that happen?
Mind you, it is absolutely gorgeous!!! Wearing it to the concert in Vienna!!
Isn’t my man lovely?
After a pause away from the heat we were off again soon to do some more shopping. We knew where the shop was, thanks to Google earth!!!
Shopping over for today,(loved the ‘posh’ shops) we rested until wandering out to dinner. This time we shared a pescare and only ordered primi pasta courses – much more our size. The Toscan chianti is very good!
It now feels like bedtime as we have to be up early to do our Cinque Terre trip tomorrow.
We arrived in Florence at 1.30pm after traveling on a provincial train that made many stops. The countryside became more interesting as we headed north, with market gardens, olive trees etc. It is reasonably green even though it is the end of summer.
It was so hot – another 32 degree day – so we didn’t venture far after we checked into our hotel. “The first time in Florence you must have a room with a view.”
Not sure what to make of the cherubs above the bed!
Another fabulous dinner, this time at a pizzeria a few metres away. We had tomato soup that was fullbodied and had fresh bread crushed into it. That doesn’t sound very appetising, but it was absolutely delicious. We both ordered pizza and didn’t pick up on the waitress’ query that we wanted one each. They were huge, cooked in an oven in front of customers.
Guess who is having cold pizza for lunch when we head out shopping tomorrow?
Yes, tomorrow is shopping day. Now who is the ‘first’ grand daughter?
