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Published: June 20th 2013
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K- Maybe we should have paid more attention to the picture of a nuclear power plant on the map but it soon became clear after we left Orange that our guidebooks passing reference to industry in the Rhone Valley was a little rose-tinted at best. Mile after mile of grim and industrial scenery and no sight at all of the Rhone river. Moreover, it soon began to rain. And I mean seriously rain. It was grim. And so we decided as the rain just hammered down that we would opt out of traveling for a day. After 13 months why should we have to go and get gloriously wet in a dump of an area. That's what you do on vacation. When traveling you can, and should, just take a break.
So we did. A 79 Euro Ibis with free wifi appeared and we holed up in our room with the inevitable picnic and researched. After all this was the final few weeks of our trip. We now knew what day we were leaving France and, worse, what day we were flying back to the US. it was nearly over and by god we were going to enjoy the last
few weeks if it killed us. No more wandering around France and ending up in the mobbed South or the gritty Rhone. It was going to be beautiful and wonderful and butterflies and birds were going to serenade us wherever we went.
As is often the way, once we had formulated a plan things began to improve massively. The weather broke sufficiently to dash to the next door restaurant which turned out to be a rather good little Italian with a wood fired oven and after glass of red wine and some spaghetti & pizza we were happy campers once more.
I would like to say that the next day went like clockwork but it didn't. The difference is that after the wobbles of recent weeks we handled the setbacks with rather more maturity than previously. Our first stop was Vienne which was described as being an interesting and pleasant town with points of Roman architectural interest. Unfortunately it was a Monday which in a lot of France, including Vienne, means it is a closed day. Hence no Roman museum for us. Oh, and the Roman Theater was closed for a concert. And to be honest, Vienne wasn't
Pérouges
After hours and after crowds that charming at all - a lot of ring roads and traffic and we have seen so much better Roman stuff elsewhere. And it was still wanting to rain. But never mind. Thanks to our day of rest and research we were all set for lunch at a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant nearby. And as lunch very rarely fails to cheer us up we were very content when we decided that Vienne was not for us and headed East.
Here we visited the very charming medieval walled town of Pérouges. Although people do live there it is really a sort of museum town above the new town where "normal" people live and work. As you can see from the pictures we arrived after it had "closed" so it was virtually empty and we could appreciate its beauty without the crowds. However, like some of the other beautiful medieval towns we had visited it just didn't feel real. 10 out of 10 for aesthetics though and an enjoyable step back in time.
That evening we went out in the new town which again, because it was Monday, was a bit lacking in entertainment. However, we found a local bar
where we were soon engaged in conversation with a local dog trainer (plus his trainee Alsatian) and the local character. Mark attracts local characters like a magnet and I usually leave him to them. However, language here was a problem so I was required to translate some sort of wine infused, thick dialect. It was tricky to work out what the French guy was saying as well! It was a fun evening which contributed a lot to the Entente Cordiale but I am not sure any of us really understood what on earth was being discussed. Maybe that was why it worked.
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