Our Blog - Grenoble-Turin-Provence

We did a nice little vacation (about 10 days) across France to the Alps and then down through Italy. This was our first big trip with the new car and it was quite comfortable and much quieter than our previous car. We ended up learning quite a bit about all of the advanced driving/safety features, some of which I like and some of which I am not too keen on. We also decided by the end of the trip, that we should go ahead and get the toll pass that can be used in France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

Part 1 - Getting to the Alps

After months of not being able to travel, the EU has lifted travel bans and restaurants and cafes have reopened! We decided it was a good time to get out-of-town for a trip! This little vacation was about 2 weeks long, taking us North-East through Rodez, the Plus-Beau-Village of Saint-Enimie, a waterfall near Beaume, and Romans-sur-Isère before reaching the foothills of the French Alps.

When you get out into the countryside, sometimes you end up with a bit of traffic of a different type. Here, we got behind a set of cows that were being moved from a field to be milked at a dairy farm that was (literally) next door to the first B&B that we stayed at on the trip. And if that wasn't enough, we also ran into more cows (we couldn't tell if they were the same cows or not) the next morning as we were leaving, but this time, we ran into them head-on! (sorry for the glare in the 2nd picture).

Part 2 - The Alps

This was our first time in the Alps. We had thought about going to Grenoble before, which is known as the gateway to the French Alps, but never made it before now. This time, we spent a few days exploring Grenoble, as well as making a quick trip over to Chambery.

We have a friend who grew up in the area and she mentioned that we should stop by the Lac de Bourget, which we did on our way to Annecy for a night. Then we headed to Chamonix for lunch and from just nearby, we rode a cable car up to a mid-point in the mountains right around Mont Blanc.

Part 3 - Italy

After an expensive toll (close to 50 euros!!) to take the Mont Blanc tunnel, we emerged on the Italian side of the Alps and stopped to see a 12th century castle at Fenis. We didn't go inside but just a stop along the way to Turin. But we did stay long enough to drink our first Italian espresso!

After a few days in Turin, we headed South to the town of Alba and then through the Barolo wine region (with a few tastings, of course!). And here is when things started to go awry .... We checked into a hotel in Vernante in between Barolo and Menton that Google Maps said was the best route, somewhat near the border. We found the hotel without any problems and got checked in. But when we came back from a walk with Lucy, the gentleman at the hotel front desk (not the same one who checked us in) asked if we were heading back to Toulouse, and if so, were we planning to go South toward Nice. We answered yes to both questions, at which point he explained to us that the road South to Menton/Nice was closed as the road had been damaged by Storm Alex in the fall of 2020. So we replanned our route, going North and then East before heading south to pick up the coastal highway at Savona. It added a couple hours to the trip. So instead of a puppy beach near Menton and lunch with a friend in Valbonne, we drove a bit out of our way, hit lots and lots of road construction, skipped all of our plans, and pretty much drove all day with a couple small breaks to get to our B&B for dinner and the overnight stay. So much for detailed planning :-)

Part 4 - Heading home

We took a few pictures of the area around our B&B in Rians which seems like a cute town that we will need to stop by next time we are in the area. The next day, we headed up through Provence and some lavender fields before making wine-tastings stops in Chateauneuf-du-Pape (famous for reds) and Tavel (famous for rosés) before another B&B overnight. Tavel is known for rosés that are a bit darker ... as you can see here ... the one on the left is *NOT* a red wine!!

Since we missed her other puppy-friendly beach, we made sure that after leaving Tavel, we stopped by the Grand Motte Beach near Montpellier where there is a section of the beach for dogs. We found a little cabane with fresh oysters near Meze and then a couple hours in the town of Sete before getting to our last B&B. I thought this was quite funny .... we booked a B&B in a small 3,000 person town and it just so happened that there was a festival that weekend in the town, just around the corner from where we were staying. We headed to the festival area to pick up something for dinner and we came across the stage where the band was warming up and doing sound checks. So ... go figure .... by chance we end up in a tiny village in Southern France and the band happens to be warming up with "Living in America" (James Brown, in the video) and "Boogie Wonderland" (Earth, Wind, and Fire).

Then we headed South to Leucate for another puppy beach and some fresh oysters for lunch before heading West and arriving back in Toulouse.