CHAMPERS!

One of the things I really wanted to do while in France was have a toast with real French champagne. I’m sure that sounds kind of silly, but given how much French champagne costs in the U.S., it’s not something I do very often… or … pretty much, ever. On about day 14 of our 16-day trip I realized that we hadn't had any champagne and our time to have it was quickly running out. Stacey, Tristan and I decided we would have some in Vittroles – our last destination before leaving France.

If you have never heard of Vittroles, you wouldn’t be the only one. We left Arles with plenty of time to get there, check into the hotel, drop off the rental car, and then go exploring the town. Or so we thought…

Without the Michelin map book, we found our way to what we thought was Vittroles – only to find that about every 2 km. we had left it, then entered it, then left it again. Town boundaries and roads in France are like a pile of spaghetti someone threw on the floor. Finally, we pulled over to where we saw a sign for the Tourist Information office (except that there wasn’t one). I managed to get directions to our hotel at a medical clinic (thank god for IKEA – a landmark which translates in any language). We made it to the Campanille de Griffon, then raced to the airport and returned the car just in time. After an 18 Euro cab ride back to the Campanille, we found ourselves at what might be the French equivalent to Motel 6 – a sort of 70’s ranch style place with metal window shades on the outside that rolled up like cargo doors. I was somewhat thankful that the A7 freeway was practically inside the room, for the sound of speeding cars helped drown out the deafening buzz of cicadas. The Campanille was not exactly situated in a place that was very pedestrian friendly, and aside from a few office buildings, there really wasn’t much around to do. Not only that, but it appeared the place was completely deserted except for Pascal, who took time from running the front desk to water the grounds, and two other employees who seemed to be multitasking between cleaning rooms and running the kitchen.

We turned on the television, and got overly excited about what looked to be a Lifetime Channel movie with Michael J. Fox’s wife, only to realize it was completely dubbed in French. I watched it anyway while T and Stacey napped on and off. When it was over, we found ourselves wondering what to do to amuse ourselves on this – our very last day in France. Determined to find whatever fun we could have, we set off hunting “those damn cicadas” – who are phantom-like ventriloquists if you ask me. About then Stacey and T decided iced coffee would make everything a lot better, and I just happened to have some instant with me. You have never seen three women so excited about iced coffee – especially when you get actual ICE in France. A few moments later, the lawn sprinklers went on, so – buzzed on caffeine – the American girls ran through the sprinklers. We dragged chairs and a table over and played gin outside, I found a cicada shell (I think they molt), and imagined that the roar of the cars was really the ocean and that the Campanille was really the L’Orangerie.

With little other choice, we went to dinner at the hotel restaurant – wondering just what could be on the menu. To our surprise and delight they had… champagne! It was actually very good. We toasted to our time in France, to CHAMPERS, and shared our favorite moments of trip like:

~best meals,
~nicest surprises,
~the day of 5 desserts
~coming across wonderful things like festivals and shows
~Tristan’s bread “for strong personalities” – that brick she gnawed on for days telling us, “C’mon girls – chew it like it’s baby bread!”
~The L’Orangerie and our wonderful hosts, Nils and David
~meeting people from all over – the Germans, the Belgians, Maggie and Jer…
~the Alsace
~running into the Tour de France – what luck!
~Stacey and the roundabouts
~that fricken bus we almost got!
~fireworks on Bastille day,
~the spa in Baden Baden
~the beach at Arles
~road-tripping through France
~Foie gras! Foie gras!
~the best damn mashed potatoes in Paris
~Le Petit Paradis
~Jackie Osama -- Tristan's and my solution to hairstyle boredom
~the Birds
and…
~Sehr schöen!

It was the perfect ending to a wonderful adventure.

We are home now… Deb and Nate are following the Tour.

Pictures and more stories to come… stay tuned.

-- Amy