From Avignon, we now head to the Mediterranean coast, another 92 miles to La-Londes-les-Maures. After our petit dejeuner at the Place du Palais des Papes, and a short wander around the city, we set out just before midday. We had options as to whether or not to stay inland for the journey or to follow the coast about halfway along the route. The latter, of course, sounds the more appealing. However, in order to do this we had to drive through the centre of Marseille. Our satnav suggested that there was very little difference in the time, so we opted for the coastal route via Marseille.
Melanie’s map reading, satnav interpretation, navigation and general sense of direction is second-to-none. However, with a number of tunnels where the satnav gave us two sets of roads (below ground and above ground), and directions to change lanes at the very last moment, we found ourselves taking a wrong turn and getting stuck in traffic. Just as we were about to rejoin exactly where we had previously needed to be, police on motorcycles stepped in and diverted us again somewhere else. The satnav asked us to do a u-turn. I’m not sure of the rules in France about u-turns on city centre dual carriageways, and neither of us knew whether approaching the same area but from a different direction may alleviate the problem, but I went for it. We then became stuck in the same traffic, but from a different direction. No surprise really. But we had to do something at the time and make a spur of the moment decision.
After a few minutes waiting, a serious of motorcycles, cars and vans, all with flashing blue lights, took the exact same route from which we were diverted, directly ahead of us, and under the tunnel which had caused our confusion in the first place. Melanie checked the French news on her mobile phone. President Macron was in Marseilles and had been addressing the nation regarding riots over the killing of a 17-year-old boy by the police. After another fifteen minutes or so, the traffic cleared, and Melanie expertly directed me they way we should’ve gone in the first place. This, after six days of travelling, was our first significant wrong turn, but with an interesting presidential encounter thrown in. Pretty good in the grand scheme for things, I believe.
Passing through Marseille from the car
The rest of the journey went like clockwork. The coastal scenery was a treat, and we even stopped off at motorway service point (they are more like picnic areas in France, and very much unlike those in the UK) which had a lovely view of the Mediterranean Sea.
La-Londes-les-Maures
We arrived at our destination at around 3pm, an hour before our arranged meeting time with the apartment owner. We wandered around the beach and harbour while waiting. Our apartment here in La-Londes-les-Maures has a fully equipped kitchen with washing machine, an ideal place for a half-way stop for our road trip, meaning that we only needed to pack a week’s worth of clothes. There are shops within easy walking distance, enabling us to save some money by self-catering instead of eating out, and much easier to eat healthily. A swim in the sea at sunset rounded off another great road-tripping day.
MARK D PRITCHARD writes... 