Cote D'Azur visit - what a weekend!

We left Montpellier in Friday morning with the vague idea where we are going and what we were going to see. All I knew was that we will visit Cote D’Azur, staying in Vence and visit Monaco the next day, well that was enough for me, I always wanted to see Cote D’Azur. I was in France many years ago driving up Italian and French Riviera and stopping in Monaco for a few hours, but for whatever reason I remember very little from that trip.

At 9 am Christine, Guylaine and Cathy came to pick us up, so we are 5 in Guylaine’s minivan. It is a nice day sunny with a few clouds, perfect day for driving and visiting around.

We were heading direction Cannes, Nice and Monaco- we were are in Provence, the scenery all around us is beautiful, so there is a lot of: hey look at this, fantastique, magnifique, sympa, super, I look around and smile, yes it is a scenery that makes me happy.

We stopped a few times at rest stops and could’ help to notice how expensive snacks, light meals, hot dogs, doughnuts and coffee were.

The highway is in perfect condition but there is a heafthy price to it; there are toll booths everywhere, to get from Montpellier to Vence we must have been through at least 10 of them. Every “paient” is different from 30 cents to 8 Euros, sure enough by the end of the trip the cost of gas and all the toll both doesn’t make travelling in France cheap at all.

After about 5 hours we arrived at our hotel in Vance; hotel Floreal it is a family run hotel, but somehow part of the Best Western chain. To me looks like a old charming small French hotel, I like the name of Floreal and ignore the Best Western part.

After we check in we drive to Tourettes sur Loup a small charming French village. First we had lunch in a Creperie, yummy I really like the crepes. I had “gallette avec de legumes”, that is a buckwheat crêpe with vegetables, eggplants, zucchini, red peppers.


Pictures are better than words, I took lots of pictures, Tourettes sur Loup is beautiful, no wonder there were and they are so many artists that want to paint in Provence; everything pleases the eye and makes the heart happy: buildings, walls, rocks, art shops, flowers, views, smells…….


Our next visit is up the mountain on the very winding and narrow road : a waterfall, Cascade du Saut du Loup.
There is a rainbow on the waterfall:;The vegetation around is different than in Canada.

Back on the winding road this time we are driving up to the top of the mountain where according to the signs there is the most beautiful village in Provence: Gourdon.
As we arrived there yes, we have to admit this village is beautiful. It is indeed build on top of the mountain, views are amazing and the village itself is like out of the story book. Many art stores, many stores that sell all kind of local delicately, church, cathedral and museums, it is so pleasant to browse around.


We stopped for coffee (stopping for a French coffee when you visit is a must) to have time to inhale the beauty of the village and the natural surroundings.