Southern France Overview: Part 1
After our Workaway in Sallanches, Greg and I took a 10-day road trip through Southeast France, starting with a bus ride to Lyon. In order to see more remote locations, we rented a car for the remainder of the journey. We packed A LOT into those days! As this post would be much too long, we have divided it into two posts… Part 1 and Part 2. Welcome to the first 5 days!
DAYS 1-3
LYON
Lyon is definitely one of our favorite cities in France. In our opinion, it is definitely the most livable city that we visited. It had a young, artsy, foodie feel. Graffiti lined the walls; live music filled the air. It’s the kind of place where you turn the corner and happen upon a 10-man brass band playing in the square. We did as the locals did: went to the grocery, bought a beverage, and spent the night dancing. What a way to kick off our trip!
Lyon has lots of history and points of interest to see. One of the highlights was the Roman theater, which was impressive as it was still intact… and free to visit! Visiting the Jardin des Curiosities provided a secluded panorama look of the city, whereas the popular view from the Basilica was covered with people with no room to even look out. Tip on using the cable car: get on it quickly so you don’t get left behind… that may have happened to me :)
We explored Lyon’s beautiful churches, parks, and theaters. Besides the main well-known Roman theater, we also saw the smaller Odeon Theater, which is now being used for small art productions. It looked like a fun spot! Food trucks were parked inside, tickets were being sold, but we opted to skip it (maybe we should have checked out the show… but then we would have never found the spontaneous brass band!).
The Parc De La Tete D’or was incredible! It had a zoo, a train, a huge lake, and running trails. It had multiple rose gardens and a massive botanical garden, including 3 greenhouses. It was neat seeing the carnivorous plants and wide assortment of succulents. We stopped at the park on our first night and then devoted a whole day to it on our last day. We had a picnic in the rose garden and I even got in a run!
Aside from the sightseeing, we indulged in some local experiences such as shopping at the market and riding the metro. We enjoyed finding various art around the city whether it be graffiti, lost monster posters, lamp shade telephone poles, or legs ‘stuck’ in the side of buildings. Everywhere you turn is some sort of interesting art! Across the river, we found an Irish pub (The Smoking Dog) to watch the Champions League Final. I cheered for Real Madrid, Greg cheered for Liverpool… Real Madrid won.
We loved our time in Lyon and easily could have stayed longer!
DAY 4
From Lyon, we picked up a rental car to start our road trip. As with any driving trips we do, we stop at interest points along the way to our final destination of the day. Our first quick stop was Vallon D’Arc.
VALLON D’ARC
As a fast lunch stop, we roamed the windy alleys and ate cheesy bread from a boulangerie. This reminded us of a small town where the locals go for vacation. The streets were filled with souvenir shops. This is a good stop if you are needing floats or picnic supplies before heading to Pont D’Arc.
PONT D’ARC
The switchbacks through the Ardeche Gorge made driving pretty intense. I spotted the arch and told Greg to pullover at the next opportunity. Well, that happened to be the main parking lot. It was nuts! Lines to get in, lines to get out, and cars (and RVs) parked in every direction. We walked down to the water and instantly relaxed. It was incredible how large the arch was! I really wanted to swim to the arch and under it (it wasn’t a far swim!), but that water was just too cold. We relaxed in the shallow water, watching the groups of canoers pass by. It would be a great place to spend an entire day. Next time, I’d bring a float and some watermelon!
MONDRAGON
This was a relaxing ‘catch up’ evening at a Home Exchange. It was a great accommodation with a pool, full kitchen, washer, and a lot of space. These seem like ‘normal’ things, but let me tell you, having a full kitchen is so important and is high on our list for our future stays.
The first grocery we went to was closed- not shocking. Many businesses have strange hours: either they close early, don’t open until noon, or are closed for random hours mid-day. We were in luck at the next spot and bought food for dinner. Did you know that in France you weigh your own produce before going to the register? It felt so good to cook a meal together! It reminded us of being back at home in our own kitchen. Our ‘chill’ night was spent cooking, doing laundry, and watching Netflix. On long trips, these days are essential!
DAY 5
VAISON LA ROMAINE
Oh, this is a town that you cannot miss along your road trip! We walked across the Roman bridge and climbed up to Chateau Comtal. The streets leading to the castle are amazing. The architecture and flowers made the streets so beautiful. I didn’t want to leave! The castle itself was just ok, but you must go for the panoramic views and of course, all of those pretty walkways.
SEGURET VILLAGE
This was a very very small hilltop town. Parking was easy, but there was not much to see or do, besides the castle. Greg had a desire to eat at a boulangerie in a small town, so we stopped here in hopes Seguret would be the answer! We only saw one shop open, and it was not a boulangerie. The castle was not a short walk, so we did not go. This was a quick stop.
SABLET
This town was about 5 minutes away from Seguret Village, maybe even just 3 minutes. We weren’t sure if we were going to stop or not, but once I spotted the boulangerie, we parked and walked around. The town has looping roads, some with dead ends, but find the right path and you will make it to the top! We believe the roads were structured this way to protect the church (which was on top of the town) from enemies. The boulangerie was tiny and quaint, fitting no more than 4 people in at a time. We got 2 pastries and loved them both. If you are near here, try them out!
ORANGE
This was much bigger than the other places we visited this day. To do everything, you would need a full day. We paid 10 euro each to visit inside the Theater. It was remarkable! We couldn’t believe how intact it was, from the columns and seats to the details on the stage. Definitely worth the entrance fee. You can sneak some free views from atop at the park, but you would miss out on the hidden hallways and interesting audio-tour facts. We had some struggles navigating to the park, but after a dead end and some crazy switchbacks, we found it and had a picnic. We even amused our inner child and played in the park! If you have time, visit both. If you are on a tight schedule, be sure to at least check out the view from the park!
MAS DE BOISLAUZON VINEYARD
We drove past an incredible number of vineyards in Cotes-Du-Rhone. The soil in this area was very dry and rocky. I was amazed that they just kept going and going! You could spend days alone just exploring all of the wineries. I do regret that we didn’t spend more time on this. Without a reservation, our options for walk-in wine tastings were unknown. Some vineyards had “wine tasting” signs and we eventually chose one to try. We rang the doorbell, and the owner gave us a free wine tasting. Her family has owned the vineyard for 6 generations. It was a fun, spontaneous stop!
ARRIVE TO AVIGNON
After our long day of driving, we arrived in Avignon. It is an old walled city. We parked in a huge free lot and took a shuttle to the Home Exchange. It was not exactly as described. It was actually a shared apartment with the hosts, with some interesting rules such as no cooking in the kitchen and no eating in the bedroom. Although many of these didn’t matter too much to us, reading the long list of rules was quite surprising!
After getting settled in, we used our host’s advice and took a boat ride across the Rhone River. We chuckled because it was such a short trip, spending more time at the dock than on the water. There were multiple bridges within walking distance, but when that close to the Rhone River, we had to get on it! It was neat to see the old city walls lining the river. And now, we’ve been on the Rhone River!
In part 2, we will dive more into Avignon.
Read about the rest of our journey in France by clicking HERE!