Collected our silver Renault Clio at 8:00! Packed and on the road by 8:40 – it took us a few minutes to even work out how to get out of Besancon and be on the right autoroute. After one error we were on our way. I had a very comprehensive map book – big and thick on my lap as well as another map for the bigger picture. However things seemed really well signposted and didn’t really need to refer to them very often.
A beautiful clear sunny day, it was nice to see the sun and feel it’s warmth behind the glass.
In the ‘massif centrale’,where we were heading through, had had a huge dump of snow a few days before so were a little concerned about the roads. We had put on the car snow tyres just in case – the gite was supposed to have 30cm around it. So to see the gorgeous clear blue sky was great. Besancon tended to have been very cold and grey – I don’t think we had seen the sun for a couple of weeks- if we did it was still bitterly cold.
One thing I am definitely not used to is the ‘peage’. Having to pay for the use of the autoroute! The first section from Besancon to Lyon cost us €17 and the next section Lyon to Nimes cost €18. A very expensive trip when you add the cost of car hire and diesel. However the little car goes 1200km before filling up again.
The speed on the autoroute is 130km and of course everything is opposite – slowest in the right hand lane and overtake on the left. Feels a bit weird for a while.
The autoroutes are great however as you get to places so quickly. We thought we were almost there- as when you looked at the ground we had covered by 2:00 and had had lunch we thought we had heaps of time to get to our ‘gite’ in Algues. We stopped off in Nimes for grocery supplies and then headed on our way.
We had to take a ‘D’ road which is not very big but is similar to our NZ roads. Not that bad really but windy in the mountains. We really under estimated the last little bit – took over 1 hour but felt a lot longer as had to keep searching the map for tiny little roads and we were never really sure how much further so this made it feel like an eternity. It was dark as we wound our way up and over hills till we finally we found the unmarked road to the village – Algues. This ‘road’ was really what I would call a goat track but sealed – it was only wide enough for 1 car and it was perched on the side of a hill. Snow was all round the sides of the track. This track went for 3km – I really did wonder where we were headed! We then found the first house – ours! Up a very steep ‘lane’ to the house and amazingly we opened the door to find the fire roaring and beautiful sprigs of pine as decorations, heaters on and even another fire roaring upstairs.
A quaint cottage with exposed beams and low ceilings – stone walls very thick and a wonderful homely feel. 
About 8:00pm there was a knock on the door it was Celine – the lady who is hired to look after the “Georgette” rental property. She had given up waiting for us to arrive – as it had taken longer than thought. She was telling us how the snow had melted dramatically today – as she was here on Wednesday shovelling snow away from the door and putting the heating on to warm the house up! A lovely pile of wood had also appeared for us for the week.
No TV so it really is a break away. Couldn’t see much of the village as it is pitch black up here!
A beautiful clear sunny day, it was nice to see the sun and feel it’s warmth behind the glass.
In the ‘massif centrale’,where we were heading through, had had a huge dump of snow a few days before so were a little concerned about the roads. We had put on the car snow tyres just in case – the gite was supposed to have 30cm around it. So to see the gorgeous clear blue sky was great. Besancon tended to have been very cold and grey – I don’t think we had seen the sun for a couple of weeks- if we did it was still bitterly cold.
One thing I am definitely not used to is the ‘peage’. Having to pay for the use of the autoroute! The first section from Besancon to Lyon cost us €17 and the next section Lyon to Nimes cost €18. A very expensive trip when you add the cost of car hire and diesel. However the little car goes 1200km before filling up again.
The speed on the autoroute is 130km and of course everything is opposite – slowest in the right hand lane and overtake on the left. Feels a bit weird for a while.
The autoroutes are great however as you get to places so quickly. We thought we were almost there- as when you looked at the ground we had covered by 2:00 and had had lunch we thought we had heaps of time to get to our ‘gite’ in Algues. We stopped off in Nimes for grocery supplies and then headed on our way.
We had to take a ‘D’ road which is not very big but is similar to our NZ roads. Not that bad really but windy in the mountains. We really under estimated the last little bit – took over 1 hour but felt a lot longer as had to keep searching the map for tiny little roads and we were never really sure how much further so this made it feel like an eternity. It was dark as we wound our way up and over hills till we finally we found the unmarked road to the village – Algues. This ‘road’ was really what I would call a goat track but sealed – it was only wide enough for 1 car and it was perched on the side of a hill. Snow was all round the sides of the track. This track went for 3km – I really did wonder where we were headed! We then found the first house – ours! Up a very steep ‘lane’ to the house and amazingly we opened the door to find the fire roaring and beautiful sprigs of pine as decorations, heaters on and even another fire roaring upstairs.
A quaint cottage with exposed beams and low ceilings – stone walls very thick and a wonderful homely feel. 
About 8:00pm there was a knock on the door it was Celine – the lady who is hired to look after the “Georgette” rental property. She had given up waiting for us to arrive – as it had taken longer than thought. She was telling us how the snow had melted dramatically today – as she was here on Wednesday shovelling snow away from the door and putting the heating on to warm the house up! A lovely pile of wood had also appeared for us for the week.
No TV so it really is a break away. Couldn’t see much of the village as it is pitch black up here!
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