Our final day in France we spent at La Condamine, packing, relaxing, finishing as much of our food as we could and all of our remaining wine; tough job, that. In the morning it’s up early and off for Italy. We’ll have multiple stops tomorrow as we pass through Monaco, Change trains at Ventimglia, Genoa, Pisa, Florence, and finally arrive in Siena about 5:30 in the afternoon.
The majority of the trip is along the Italian coast through the Cinque Terre. I visited there on my last trip to Italy, and the views are spectacular, so it should be a great ride.
The final stop at Siena will be our home for the next four days, with a side trip to Florence on Sunday- we’ve scheduled a guided tour called ‘Florence in a Day’. I’m already having flashbacks to the Paris museum death march.
So here are some observations on our time in France, and some thoughts on the French way of life. The driving we’ve already discussed in hair raising detail, and I’ll dwell on it no further, except to mention that as we backed into the parking spot at the Nice train station to return the car, touching bumper to bumper with adjacent cars without an inch to spare, our vehicle and ourselves were intact. It was one of the happiest moments of our trip.

Eating in France is legendary, and the French relationship with food is not casual. We never had a bad meal during our 2 weeks here, although we ate at middling restaurants. The patisserie stop for fresh croissants or baguettes became a daily routine. The French grocery store dairy section is phenomenal, with hundreds of different cheeses, yogurts, creams, and things I’m not really sure of. We tried 6 different types of yogurt, including goats milk and sheeps milk varieties. We preferred the sheep over the goat; although it had a cottage cheesy texture, the flavor was delicious.
The other interesting thing about food in France is that it can be difficult to find. Grocery stores routinely close on Sunday, while restaurants close on Monday, as do most of the other shops. Both grocery stores and restaurants will close in the afternoons, with restaurants re-opening at 7 or 7:30 for dinner and stores re-opening at 2:30 for another three or four hours. We were just about locked into a grocery store on our first night in La Gaude as we tried to get supplies, so we grabbed a few items and planned to come back the next day for groceries. The next day was Sunday. Fortunately the patisserie was open and we could get sandwiches for dinner.

Wine in France is inexpensive and good. The grocer sold Provençal rose’s for less than €3.00 per bottle that were fine. You could also get a 6 liter box of wine for €16, but we didn’t venture there.
Seafood in Provence is fresh and plentiful. We had delicious shrimp, squid, mussels and fish. The local grocer in La Gaude carried octopus, trout, salmon, whole tunas and about a dozen other varieties, all of which looked freshly caught.

Raw beef is very common on restaurant menus, and at one place we saw no less than three menu items that featured it. Apparently no worries about mad cow disease here.
Among the things we ate here you may count escargot, duck pâté prepared 3 different ways, lamb, beef, duck, mussels, salmon, sole, squid and one order of stir fry that Melissa ordered when she panicked.
We had macaroons, glacés, butter cookies, croissants, pan du chocolate, creme brûlée, chocolates and gelees. We drank sparkling and tap water by the gallons. After 2 weeks, we hardly fit in here, but we’re certainly more comfortable and able to make our way. We’ve seen Paris and Provence, climbed hill towns, swum in the sea and walked countless stairs. Our favorite place in France has been our refuge at La Condamine, where we could return for a swim, find quiet, and maybe be just a little more at home. We’re sorry to leave, and the bags are full to bursting with souvenirs and gifts. Italy awaits.