Direction La Grande Motte - Post no. 3 from France

The sun was shining bright and early, actually not too early since we were still a little confused sleep wise, maybe about 9:00 a.m. It takes a little time for the body to adjust+we're not as young as we used to be the end result being everything takes longer.  A brisk shower to wake up and then off for breakfast.  I enjoy French breakfasts a lot, they remind me of my childhood.  There was a lovely little dining room, outside patio was also a possibility but I wanted it a tiny bit warmer.  Fresh croissants and baguettes sliced down the middle were on offer which is pretty much standard.  Nevertheless in concession to more Continental tastes most hotels now offer cereals, milk, yogurt  ham and cheese.  There were also bowls of fresh fruits and fruit salad cups.  I love that when you ask for cafe au lait, they bring each of you a pot of steaming coffee and a separate steaming pot of milk.  Also love those delightful little jam jars, so pretty, have never seen those anywhere else but perhaps they're common in other European hotels.

We really enjoyed Hotel Les Bastides, I highly recommend it if you ever end up around this part of France.
We packed the car with the two heavy suitcases and off we went.  I had asked for directions previously but we only had a very rudimentary map and no GPS nevertheless we didn't get lost once.  The directions are very well indicated, unlike those in Mexico. The only thing which confused us a bit were the "postes de peage" on the autoroute.  Some booths are prepaid but it's hard to know which ones.  The first one we encountered in Nice we had to pay directly with coins into a machine.  We didn't have enough coins and had to stop the traffic behind us.  I had to get out of the car and go look for someone who was working there, it was a bit stressful with all the honking of irritated and impatient drivers.  They do so love to lean on that horn.
These "postes de peage" along the highway were much more impressive in terms of size. They're about 12 feet deep and you literally don't know where to go, they have huge T's meaning tickets written on top.  Somehow the first few we had to pay directly into the machine, I had made some change in anticipation so that was cool.  For the next ones you had to grab a ticket and off you went.  Some kilometers later is where you pay depending on the distance you covered and where you took your ticket.  The machine would not accept my Visa card and this time it was too much money and I didn't have enough coins. One guy showed up so was able to pay cash with bills.  That was handy.  We had figured out the system.  Tickets first, slot it in at next stop and pay.  It's a hassle when they only want Carte bleue.  What's also freaky is the merging of 12 lanes of traffic into 3 or 4 lanes after you've passed the "postes".  It all seems quite random but with a purpose. With no lines on the ground to guide you you just aim in one general direction and hope for the best.  French drivers are generally good drivers.  It takes a long time to get your driver's license here and many people fail and have to go for numerous trials again and again.  I would have probably failed.

Got to La Grande Motte literally The big Lump.  It's a little town that grew near Montpellier and is now quite big.  It's mostly a tourist destination filled with lovely villas, there's a huge golf course, a yacht club, a very long beach and a cool downtown with distinctive pyramid shaped buildings.  It's a pretty uppity place but we have relatives here and that's where we were headed.  It's nice when you haven't seen relatives in a long long time you can expect a little TLC.  We couldn't find the place though so had to stop at a bar to make a phone call and the relative came to get us.  We're pretty much settled in. It's a very big house, there's an outdoor pool been in quite a few times.  We also do a little back and forth between this house and another, which is even bigger, where relatives have gone and dogs have to be taken care of, a shar pei dog with no folds and the biggest Newfoundland dog I have ever seen, about 87 kilos.  Cool thing about this house there's an indoor swimming pool and the temperature is at a balmy 31 degrees. We've been swimming there every evening before dinner which is stylishly French late, around 8:00 p.m.

Look for my next blog on our excursion to Nimes.  I had read somewhere that there are more Roman ruins to be found in France than in Italy, it might be true because the South of France is filled with well preserved temples, statues, aqueducts,amphitheaters and Roman arenas, till then.