Man, these have been some very nice and unique days. We've traveled so far from Paris now, and it's incredible how much everything has changed! The landscape is different, the people are different, they look different and act different, and the general vibe of Northern and Western France has dramatically altered in what is now the South of France. Not different bad, just different. We didn't sense much of a change in Cognac or Rocamadour, which are in the West and South West, but on the four hour drive from Rocamadour it was stunning how quickly everything changed.
At first, the cottage-esque, rural farming, sloping green hills, dewey horizons, and small winding roads of the North and West, slowly straightened out and dried up into an almost Arizona like vista, only imagine the desert landscape with trees and grass. The people down here in the Provence region are either incredibly beautiful, or not so much. Whereas in the North and West, we noted that everyone was just average, though all the girls would wear nice make-up and clothes - elevating their appearance quite dramatically. However down here so far, it's night and day. You're either gorgeous, or your not. Also, another interesting difference is on the sidewalks and roads. Drivers suddenly went from pushing the speed limits, to obeying them ad-nauseum. Pedestrians have gone from walking with poise and purpose, to sauntering slowly and carelessy around town. Even the jay walkers are way more hesitant and nervous about crossing on a do not walk sign... just strange really. The whole vibe really feels like it should be a different country altogether, it's just all so fascinating I tell ya.
Well, the last we left off I was mentioning Cognac... it was okay. Comme ci, comme ca. The town was ugly, but the cognac was great! We started our day walking around, getting a feel for the place, and then visiting the distilleries. The feel was drab, boring, and a bit depressing really. The buildings lack any of the raw beauty that we've seen, and that ancient feel, yet also had none of the crisp moderness of say a decent North American city. It simply came to maturity in a time of boring plain architecture. There is a castle of sorts, and some remnents of its city walls, but they sort of faded into the background. Anywho, it didn't deter us from our day, but it was certainly a shock to our eyes, which had become accustomed to seeing miraculous views, and buildings.
The first cognac distillery we chose to check out was Otard, as I had read that their tour is amazing, but it was closed. Their shop was open however, so we went in to look around. After perusing, we asked about trying a couple of cognacs, and the sweet girl proceeded to pour us about five or six glasses of varying types of cognac, FOR FREE! We enjoyed them for the most part, though oddly enough liked their VSOP the best. For those without knowledge of how it all woks, VS stands for Very Special Vintage and is basically the youngest age - good for cooking. VSOP is the next age group and stands for Very Superior Old Pale - it's your entry level, but is very nice to sip. The next is XO, which stands for Extra Old, and is really where the flavours start to become more complex. From there, each distillery has a selection of very old and special blends they've made which can cost up to $8500 per bottle. Otard let us try their VSOP, their XO, and some of one of their older bottles. We decided to buy a small bottle of their VSOP, and we got a box of six cognac glasses.
After that, we went to the Martell distillery, and once again were treated to a series of samples which the girl was free pooring like mad! It was a good thing that we had the whole day to work it off, lol. We loved their blends as well, and bought some. The next stop was Hennessy, where we went on an actual tour. It was fantastic, we were the only two people on the tour, and our guide was this beautifully spirited and knowledgable girl from Norway! She came over to France playing handball professionally, and ended up getting married and staying. Anyways, she gave a great tour of the distillery, and offered up some great conversation along the way. Our afternoon was spent there, and we ended the tour with some more cognac. We had to pay here as part of the tour, but the girl gave us each another type of cognac as well for free, which was super sweet of her! We figured that because it's low season, and no one really visits, they were simply happy to be serving anyone at all, hence the free booze. Afterwards, we settled back at the room, had another great dinner at the hotel, and got ready for our next adventure.
Day nine brought us to a sleepy town called Les Eyzie De Tayac, which is home to a series of grottos filled with prehistoric drawings on their walls. The majority of the caves were closed for one reason or another, which was a bummer, but we managed to visit one cave that was fantastic. We had a guide who explained all the drawings we saw, which was very necessary as the drawings are more like a series of lines etched into the wall. He would flash his light on the drawing, tell us where to look, and BAM! There was an ox, or a deer, or bison, or a lion! It was so incredible to see! We ended up sneaking a few pictures and video, but we're not sure if they really turned out... we'll see.
Afterwards, we made the rest of the drive to our main destination: Rocamadour. I wasn't sure what to expect, but had heard it was similar to Mont-St-Michel, and it was a city built around the side of a cliff. That was basically exactly what it was! We were expecting to drive up and see this vision like Mont-St-Michel on the horizon, but it was more of a stumbled discovery, and we were like, "Oh, there it is". Once again our hotel bumped us up to a suite, which was incredible!!! Best room yet! We walked around the main street, and entered a few shops that were still open. The really cool thing about this place was that it is actually a town, people live and work there running small shops and what not. We had another great dinner and returned to the room for some skip-bo and cognac, lol. It was great.
The next morning and early afternoon of day ten we spent exploring the monastary and the rise up the cliff side. It was beyond words in describing the beauty of it all. The city wasn't as cool as Mont-St-Michel, but the surrounding landscape was breathtaking. You have to check out the pictures. The monastery was a major pilgrimage site in the medieval times, and King Richard the Lionheart visited it himself during the crusades to worship there. It was cool walking on the stone paths, and realizing that such history had preceded us. We enjoyed a coffee out on a terrace, soaking in the landscape and the nice 19 degree sunny weather, and then we headed out for the long drive to the Provence region. The nice thing about this drive was that the first three hours went super smoothly, and entertained us with the most spectacular views of countryside to date. The other incredible thing about the drive was as I mentioned, the change in the scenery from what you might imagine the countryside in England looking like, to a serious mediteranean feel. The last hour was a rough drive because of traffic and construction, but we made it through and arrived in Avignon around 6:30pm.
We settled into our motel-ish accommodations, where yet again they bumped us up to a suite. Now here the suite is just so-so, as the rooms are nothing special. However, in terms of space, its the biggest room we've stayed in yet. It's been great to sprawl, and almost feel like we're in a small apartment. We settled, and then went out for dinner at what was supposed be the second best restaurant in Avignon... I hate to see what the first or third restaurants are like... It was awful. The restaurant itself was pretty, and we were seated by a floor to ceiling window overlooking the street, but the view was of a dirty street filled with bums, hookers, and crazies, lol. The menu came out, and they had cut their other fixed menus, which had looked fantastic, for a single one that looked awful. We decided to order a la carte (which is a waste of money, but it adds up less than the fixed, so we did it), and the meal was a waste of a good piece of lamb. The presentation was pretentious, and the food was not great. This place has a freakin' Michelin star for crying out loud. I'm gonna have to write someone for sure. The meat had an en croute that was laced with massive amounts of thyme, WAY too much thyme. Anywho, we had the most fun at this restaurant though, as we proceeded to lay on the mockery of the experience pretty thick, and we started watching the window waiting for the hookers and bums to entertain us, which they did. We even saw a guy back his car into a light post ever so slowly. We were watching chanting "hit it, hit it, hit it..." AND HE DID!!! We cheered, which must have seemed awfully out of place at the establishment, but what they hey, we were only one of two tables seated! Crazy I tell you, Michelin star my butt. We came back to the room, relaxed with some more cognac, and got ready for today!
Day Eleven... what a great day. The weather reached a high of around 23, 24 degrees celcius, and the skies were clear and sunny. We started by hitting a local supermarket for some breakfast items. You see, breakfast is hard to find in France, and the hotels rip you off. We decided to get some bread, croissants, cheeses, and dried meats of our own. We had a great brunch, and headed out to see the Pont Du Gard. This is an ancient Roman bridge that was built like 2000 years ago, and the incredible thing about it is that it was all built using large crafted concrete blocks... nothing else. No morter or binding agent what so ever, just stones! It's massive! It's built against one of the most beautiful backdrops we've seen thus far, which only made it that much cooler. We spent a good deal of time admiring the Pont Du Gard, and then made our way back to Avignon to visit the Palais Des Papes. This was a medieval palace built to house the popes of a good deal of the later middle age, from around 1300 - 1500 AD roughly. There was much turmoil in Italy in that time period, so the Popes stayed in Avignon until a split happened, and two Popes were declared. The Avignon pope was declared false, and that was the end of Avignon's papal legacy. The palace was pretty cool, think a nice medieval castle. The most amazing part though was the end of the tour that included walking out on this 600 year old bridge that only stretches halfway out from the land now, losing its other half to a variety of disasters. The view from the bridge back towards the Palais Des Papes was insane, and we were out there just as the sun was setting... man, we're so lucky to be out here seeing this stuff. Anyways, we ended our day at a great Texan Restaurant that was the cheapest dinner thus far. It was great compared to last nights disaster though, lol. That was sort of why we chose to go, to see if it would be alot better... and it was, lol.
Anyways, I've rambled on. We're just chilling tonight now, drinking some wine, and relaxing. Tomorrow we head deeper into the real Provence of everyones imagination, which is nice as it's only a total of about 40 minutes of driving total. Until next time, some pictures should be posted at this link in about an hour, and enjoy! Bon Soir!
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