Tricks, Trips and Traps
Quick reflections on things to look out for when living in Provence
They drive on the right side of the road here
We were on to that pretty quickly - all worked out OK
They swim down the right hand side of the pool lanes too
Nearly came to grief on this one
a number 3 comb, when used for trimming hair, is 3mm, not 9 mm as in Aus
Had a heads up on that, skin head cut successfully avoided
Most phone carriers will not issue French numbers to anyone that is not a French citizen, although you can get a number that only charges local charges (which, in our case was an Austrian number....?)
The big "however" is that many bookings (that tourists from countries other than France frequently make) for, say, restaurants, tours, car hire, etc will only accept a French contact number, meaning often you cannot make the booking (unless you make up a French number and hope they don't need to call)
Almost all boulangeries and convenience stores between about midday and 4:00 pm
Meaning cycle tours, which may look to pick up food along the way, need to be planned carefully, unless you're up for a two hour restaurant meal mid ride.
We have spent time reflecting this week, as we are five days away from flying out.
We have been enjoying our local bike rides, with our route variation reducing as we sandwich our rides between Tony's work and the heat of the afternoon. We have shortened these and all our ride destinations are within about 15 km of our front door. Having done the same rides 15 or 20 times we are passing familiar terrain, but this week reflected on what we are seeing.
(Riding within 15 km of our home in Melbourne would take us to the scenic suburban delights of Sunshine, Mill Park and Doncaster.)
Here we have loops, towards the coast, that take in four local villages St Paul en Foret, Clavier, Bargemon, Seillians
Or we can heads up the hills towards the "pre alps" to the village of Mons, the Siagne valley and take in views like:
And when it got too hot, we gave up on riding and went to the local pool - which has a bit of an outlook as well:
Our only chance for longer rides is early starts on the weekend, with our favourites being out to St Cezaire
https://www.relive.cc/view/v26MordAd3v
And up, up, up into the (winter) ski fields at La Moulierre
https://www.relive.cc/view/vDqgxKWxeVv
We have a few days of cleaning and packing to come, bikes into the transport bags on Wednesday and driving away Friday.
With a cheeky night in Nice on our way out - to visit one more gallery we have on our list, have a last swim in the mediterranean, eat another le fooding / michelin rated meal (accompanies of course with more delicious french wine), and a night in AC'd hotel (ie good night's sleep before our flight).
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