Wednesday 28 July 2010

Summer adventure


We are living the good life in the south of France while Our Boy and a friend of his are attending a language school. It didn't feel right to let him go on his own, so The Professor and I are staying in a flat nearby... "just in case". So far, there has been no need for parental involvement except providing clean clothes and money.

This means that we have been rather free to do what we like. Not a bad thing when you are on the Riviera. However, being of a rather pale Nordic complexion, the beach is not the best place for me, so I like to explore!

At the spur of the moment one late Sunday afternoon, The Professor and I decided to take the train to the nearby medieval village of Biot. Without looking too much on the map we jumped on a train and got off at Biot.
Well, we were still by the sea and not up in the mountains as was expected from seeing the pictures in the guidebook. Something  was clearly wrong. After enquiring in my broken French it became clear that Biot VILLAGE was three kilometers away - up in the hills. Clearly not discouraged, with good shoes and a bottle of water we set off and found the beautiful village basking in the evening sun with hardly any tourists around. We decided to have dinner there and enjoyed a lovely meal as only the French can make it. 

As we started thinking about the return, we decided not to take the train back, but to find the bus. The waitress just laughed at us and said the last bus  had left hours ago... and the village had no taxi, but MAYBE one could come from Antibes? Our experiences so far with French taxis (or lack thereof) made it clear that the only option was to walk back to the train station. It would have been a piece of cake as it was of course downhill, but the disadvantage was that it was now dark. The road to the train station was a narrow country road with no streetlights and the cars drive like mad. Those who know me, know I am not a runner. However, it is amazing how fast and far you can run when you are scared...

Since I have been able to tell the tale it is obvious that we made it back safely. Although there is a lot to be said for spontaneity, we have learnt that there is something to be said for planning a little, as well!

7 comments:

  1. Høres ut som en opplevelsesrik tur!!! Det er så mange flotte små landsby-perler på den franske landsbygda - godt at ikke alt er bygd ut og blitt for turistisk.....men en drosje kunne de jo hatt da :-).

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  2. Hei!! Er det ikke typisk for en norsk å begynne å gå?? Jeg har skjønt at mannen din ikke er norsk, men han lar seg vel drive med!? Det var en morsom opplevelse å lese!! Nå ser jeg at det var min venninne som kommenterer over meg.... Snedig!! Forsatt god ferie!! (Forresten en genial måte å sende barnet på språkskole!!) AnneK:-)

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  3. I ettertid er det jo en flott opplevelse og en god historie, og du skriver utrolig godt.

    Fortsatt god ferie.

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  4. Kunne tenkt meg en tur der ja. Kan tenke meg dere får oppleve litt av hvert og masse fint å se.kos dere videre der du og din professor.

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  5. He,he, du skulle spurt meg før du satte av sted til Biot. Har familie som bodde rett i nærheten av togstasjonen Biot da de bodde i Antibes et par år, så jeg er godt kjent. Biot Village er et sjarmerende bekjentskap. De har også en deilig restaurant der med en stjerne i Michelinguiden. Et nydelig sted som prismessig ikke koster noe mer enn en middag på en ganske vanlig restauarnt i Oslo.....Vi skal bo delvis i Antibes og delvis i Mougins når vi skal nedover i september. Antibes kjenner vi, men skulle du komme innom Mougins så er vi takknemlige for tips :)

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  6. Herlig historie :)
    Høres flott ut, deilig å kunne nyte sol og sommer og slippe å engste seg for språk-eleven :)

    Nyt turen og deilig mat og vin..

    Sommerklem fra Tove

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  7. Godt dere kom hjem da:-) Synes absolutt du skal ta turen til Drøbak,bare en time fra Halden...
    klem og god helg videre♥

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