It's been a long day of driving, not the happiest thing to do during the European vacation period. Through July and the first part of August, much of the population of Europe is on the road, for the most part headed south (in two weeks it's north). Weekends are the worst, which is why we traveled on Monday. There are several weekends labeled "Red" because of their traffic density, and reported on TV like sports events, with at least one picture of immense lines of cars stacked behind tunnel entrances or turnpike turnstiles. It wouldn't be summer without them.
We packed L.'s car and planned a route through Luxembourg, then south to Metz, Nancy and Dijon, and finishing up with a run through the French mountains into Geneva. This is a familiar route, and we must have driven it dozens of times. There was a great deal of traffic, as was expected, but as we stayed on the French turnpikes, the roads were safe and comfortable. My advice though: avoid the popular rest stops—vacations do not bring out the best characteristics of Europeans, or anyone for that matter.
Using the French roads is not cheap. The fee for the 500 km "payage" in France came to almost $40. (Imagine Florida charging $40 road fees to travel from J-Ville to Miami. I can see THAT happening in the near future.) Here, you do get something back for your money: smooth, wide, well-maintained roads through some of the most scenic countryside you will ever see. Traffic is also less on payage, and believe me when I say that that alone during the vacation period was worth the $40.
It was the first time in five years that we drove the expressway from Brussels to Luxembourg. We saw this road built over thirty years ago, re-built twice and repaved numerous times in the intervening years. It won't be long before it's again partially closed for resurfacing as a good length is in sad condition; road construction seems to be something beyond Belgian ken—or has a very low regional priority. The trees are very dense now on each side of the road and in the median; it's almost claustrophobic, and in places you can see very little of the Belgium—a pity, it's pretty. It reminded us of Ireland and its hedgerows.
France farm land, was, is, gorgeous. This is a civilized countryside, as you would expect after tens of centuries of tillage. As we left Dijon and headed on an eastward bent toward Geneva, we began climbing into the mountains and the views are stunning. The weather didn't cooperate fully and we ran into some rain and cloud, but on the good road it wasn't a problem.
We were early for our expected arrival in Geneva, so we decided to stop short of Switzerland and have dinner in a French village. After several false starts, and a great deal of negotiation over where to leave the expressway and strike out for a village, we decided upon Nantua, about 10km from the highway. It is a gem of a little town, laid out along a beautiful, green lake in a steep valley. We were a bit early for the restaurants, but located the Café Brasserie d'Centre near, as you expect from the name, the center. We ate what was offered, a simple menu of charcuterie, pork and rice, paired with an excellent Côte de Rhone wine, which, accompanied by a dessert, came to less than expected.
The evening wouldn't be complete without some excitement: our GPS decided that a forestry track up the side of the mountain was the means to regain the expressway. It was wrong. After bouncing along the precipice and scaring the bejesus out of the ladies (I was resolute, of course), I finally surrendered to the obvious, back-tracked, and the rest of the trip was without incident. We're now back in Switzerland for the first time in six years. Not many changes are expected.
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