Provence

At the end of September, 2000, we flew in Nice, France for a self supported tour of Provence. We initially planned to go in mid September, but we delayed to the first two weeks of October to avoid conflicts with John's work. Several guidebooks recommended October as being a good time, since it was after tourists season, but hotels and such would still be open. Our experience differed slightly. On many ocassions, we rolled into towns to find them mostly closed down (hotels, restaurants, cafes). Because so many hotels were closed, those that were open were often full. We never had to sleep in a ditch, but did have a few long evenings riding from town to down to find a place. We did use tourists offices a few times to book ahead, but this is contrary to our usual follow our noses style.

The weather was mixed. The first week was sunny with warm afternoons, but temperatures were a bit lower than the presence of lots of piscines (swimming pools) would lead one to believe. The rains came the second week, and appraently stayed for months after we left. Click on Nice to go through all the pictures, or resume somewhere in the middle.