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We rolled into Nice at around 4pm today and had a horrendous time trying to return our rental car. The area around the station is under all kinds of construction so we ended up circling three times looking for the return spot, still without success. Finally I hoped out of the car and ran into ask, and let me just say, we never would have found it if I hadn't. it wasn't even vaguely obvious. And as a fitting metaphor to the frustrations we had trying to return the car, a rain storm of monumental proportions rolled into town a half hour behind us. Fortunately we were ensconced in our hotel before the clouds let go, but there was thunder and lightning and all kinds of the drama that we just don't get in Seattle with our rain.

 

The last couple of days were spent driving around from one picturesque hill town to the next. About half way into the first day we had to retire the phrase "what a view" to to the redundancy laws in France. But good god, What A View! Miles and miles of bright green vineyards and farmland in the valleys between the towns. We hit about a dozen or so towns it seems like, the highlights being Lourmarin, Goult and Roussillon. In fact it was in Roussillon that we saw what is probably my favorite site, the old ochre quarry.

 

Bright red and orange and yellow cliff faces towering above and a path made of rust red sand. Even the trees had a reddish coating from all the dust stirred up by the visitors. It felt a bit like being on Mars. I think I must have shot a few hundred photos. Gorgeous.

 

And in a fortuitous bit of luck we've managed to hit 3 fabulous markets days in the last 4 days. The best of them being Vaison La Romaine and Lourmarin.

 

Anyway, we have four nights and three days in the Riviera before our vacation must come to an end. It sad, vacation is a lifestyle that agrees with me.