High up in the South of France

Sadly for all of us, Phil couldn't stay with us any longer.  He had to head back to the UK, so he hopped on a train at Grasse and headed to the airport at Nice.  We wanted to drive him there, but with there was a visit from Macron and Xi Jinping in the region which meant that the traffic in the area was very uncertain.  Going by train seemed to be the more secure approach, so we said our goodbyes at Grasse.

Todd and I had all day free until we were to catch up with Maya and Adam later in the evening.  With all that time, we decided to keep driving north.  Looking at the map, we noticed the town of Gourdon.  It seemed to be in the perfect spot for us to visit before looping back around to Biot.

The drive up to the town was itself worth the trip.  The road was long and windy, and the elevation increased quickly to take us up the mountain.  In the distance, we could see the town on the other side of a small ravine.  We stopped the car by the side of the road to take in the view of this small town perched on the top the mountain.  It looked like something out of a story.

Once we arrived at the Gourdon itself, the views were just as impressive.  We were able to see all the way down into the valley (and Maya later explained to us that you could even see Biot from up there).

This was as good a place as any for lunch.

We sat down at a restaurant with the best view and ordered some French classics.  I went with the coq au vin, which of course tasted even better than the normal because of the location.  Todd sat into his chair looking happy with his chicken stewed with mushrooms.  As I ate, I looked at him with a bit of jealousy as he was able to wash down his food with a cold beer.  I wanted a glass of rose to go with my food, but I had to be responsible since I was driving.  Iced tea for me instead.

After lunch we kept walking for a little bit.  The town of Gourdon is very small, so you can walk most of it within half an hour.

We took in the views for a bit longer, found our favourite spot near a big tree, then decided it was time to start heading down the mountain.

This whole region is so much nicer when you have a car to take you everywhere.