On the road to Bretagne (Brittany)

We left la Grande Motte on a rather dreary day for southern France where weather has been unusually cold for this time of the year.  It was sputtering but we were off to a good start, didn't miss any turns and found the highway for direction Barcelona.  We hadn't done a road trip in France in quite a few years, naturally things have changed.  The highway system is very impressive but also very expensive. It is privately owned by a consortium with the lofty name of Vinci.  I tried to find out who was behind the consortium without any success, it appears to be quite secretive.  In any case it is impressive in that the roads are well maintained, directions are clearly indicated and there is a radio service which broadcasts hourly or even continuously on major hangups which might occur along the way.

There are plenty of rest areas, so many in fact that it's almost mind boggling.  Some are more rudimentary with just a gas station and a store while others offer a broader range of services such as showers, finer dining and even hotels.  We've traveled by car a great deal, in the U.S. Mexico and Canada.  Canada is by far the worse in terms of rest areas.  We crossed all of Canada from coast to coast and probably located 5 which is beyond pathetic in terms of the service provided.  The U.S. is generally pretty good, highways are well maintained too and free of charge.  Mexico has a fairly comprehensive highway system but it's not cheap either although not as expensive as France.  The trip from St. Paul de Vence to La Grande Motte probably cost around 65 Euros (about $80.00 Canadian depending on the exchange rate) while the trip from La Grande Motte to Nantes cost 67 Euros, about the same.  In Bretagne (Brittany) highways are free, as soon as you get to Nantes.

The things one likes about France, lack of big advertisement on the highway, discrete panels, hidden away hotels etc...might also be the things one dislikes about France when one is tired of driving and seeking a motel type accommodation.  First of all there are none right beside the highway except for the odd rest areas which might have one usually fairly small hotel.  It's not like Canada or the U.S where you can just spot hotels from the highway, here it requires a bit more work.  We were getting tired and decided to get off the highway at a place called Chantonnay, it was on the map, I figured it would be a decent size.  Unfortunately there was a pilgrimage of sort going on and all the hotels in the town and the surrounding area were booked. We were directed to another town supposedly only 10 clicks away, turned out to be more like 25 or 30 clicks.
Got to the place in question, the two hotels in town were closed and we never found the other one.  Lost about a frustrating hour, decided to push on to Nantes.  Nantes was very chaotic with lots of "peripheriques" which circle the city, of course no hotels in sight.  We got lost on a peripherique and on our way to Paris. Had to turn around and I managed to spot Vannes (a smaller town) which held the possibility of some hotels being available.  Got to Vannes, it was cold and miserable.  There were 2 hotels not too far from the highway, i.e. you could actually see them, miracle of miracle.  The person at the reception desk was not very receptive to our request for a "chambre".  Apparently none were available in all of Vannes because of the golf tournament and that damn 4 day weekend was plaguing us again.  My only consolation was that the weather was crappy and golfing was not going to be a very pleasant experience.

At this point we were feeling quite dejected and sick of being on the road nevertheless we pushed on towards Lorient.  I spotted a hotel (again from the highway, double wow!) and there were a few rooms left, yes our quest was over.  This hotel was part of a chain and sort of a do it yourself booking although there was a receptionist there at the time we arrived.  Generally you can just plunk your Visa card down and book yourself a room via the handy machine outside.  These rooms are tiny,two suitcases, two adults and that's it. You can almost pee and shower at the same time but hey, they serve a purpose and they're pretty cheap by European standards.  Including breakfast for 2, 56 Euros that's a pretty good deal.

Refreshed and happy the next day we drove to Quimper and then to Guilvinec which was our final destination.  Just another note on French highways, not as many trucks and the trucks which are present are not as big as the ones in North America.  I liked that.  The speed limit is a fast 130 kms on a good day, on a rainy day 110 kms. Most people go faster, I do think the French are pretty good drivers. It's quite difficult to obtain a driver's license here. Many people fail on their first attempt and it's not unusual to have to try twice or even 3 times in order to get one.

This is it for my blog so far.  I will be updating when we visit some new spot but for now we're staying put with family.  Hope you enjoyed it.

May 8th, Montpelier and beyond

May 8th is an important holiday in France, it's a national holiday since it's the day that Nazi Germany capitulated.  There are important celebrations held everywhere in various towns in France. We attended one in la Grande Motte, heard the Mayor and various other officials speak and got to sing La Marseillaise twice.
La Marseillaise is one of the bloodiest national anthems around but the French make no apology for it since it was written during the French Revolution.  A few words on La Grande Motte, can't remember if I mentioned that the architect who conceived this project, name of Balladur, was inspired by the Mayan pyramids he saw in Mexico.  All the buildings have to more or less conform to that shape and be no higher than 8 stories with slopping sides so that balconies have no overhang, it gives the town a very special flair found nowhere else in France. The population swells in the summer, the port is very attractive and the beach is 10 kms. long plus there are lots of apartments to rent.  It's a great place for a family holiday. La Grande Motte is recognized as a World Heritage Site of significant importance.

May 8th fell on a Thursday this year, very handy since Friday was the day of L'Ascension when Jesus ascended to heaven after the crucifixion. This is also the day when this most secular of nations reacquaints itself with religion in order to secure another holiday followed by the Saturday/Sunday link (they call it le pont or the bridge) and suddenly hello 4 day weekend.  This will create some problems for us when driving to Bretagne but more on that later.

We went for a visit of the city of Montpelier a few kms. away from the Grande Motte. It's a university town filled with lots of young people and there are also bureaucrats galore judging by the numerous buildings primarily devoted to public functions.  The old part is medieval with many beautifully restored buildings, it's always amazing to walk in those streets where centuries ago people lived, worked and died.  Montpelier has also made an effort to reinvent itself as a thoroughly modern city and there is a modern part which is quite monumental in scope with parks, big avenues and a pedestrian walkway filled with cafes and restaurants, on either side, which leads directly to the river.  There was an extreme sport water event taking place while we were there with competitors from around the world, very very busy.   We preferred the old section with its narrow streets and shaded little parks.  Montpelier has possibly the oldest medical faculty in Europe (Bologne might have the claim of being the first) it was founded by Jewish medical scholars.

On the way back we took the coastal road along the 10 km. beach. We dipped our toes in the Mediterranean but it was too cold for a swim.  Tomorrow we leave for Bretagne. We've assessed Friday as the best day to be on the road to avoid the dreaded "plugs" on the road.  We will be saying au revoir to Southern France, never did get to Cannes to take some pictures but there's always future years, can't do everything at once, must save some for rainy and sunny days equally.