Energizer bunnies

It’s time for another guest blog post by DD. His holiday has been such a hectic whirl that it has taken him a week to finish the tale of his quickie trip to the South of France. Here’s what happened next …

I need to provide some context about my hosts in France, Ben and Eliza, who normally live a couple of doors down from me on the Northern Beaches but are currently house sitting in a lovely village near Marseille.

Ben and Eliza were pleasantly surprised when they first discovered they were pregnant, but possibly had more mixed emotions when, within months of the arrival of their first born, they found themselves pregnant again … with TWINS.

Ben’s sparkling blue eyes had done it again! Three children in 12 months! Correction, three very energetic children.

As such, much of their current focus is on keeping the kids occupied and trying to tire three energizer bunnies out.

Before I arrived, Ben asked if there was anything I’d like to see – I mentioned Uzes and Pont de Gard, but I was also very happy to fit in with their routine.

“No problem – we can do that plus I have some ideas” came the reply. “Sounds great” I texted, not fully appreciating that Ben’s ideas ran from 8am to 10pm!

I was the first adult to wake on my second day in France and the kids and I (and my corroded Euro coins) walked the 100m to the local boulangerie to buy three croissants, three pain au chocolate and a baguette for breakfast for a grand total of 8 Euro.  I’m pretty sure one croissant in Avalon is around the same.

Upon our return, Ben brewed up a much-needed pot of coffee and instructed me to pack swimmers and a towel. Well caffeinated we headed west in convoy, with one of his kids riding shotgun to ensure I didn’t lose sight of Ben’s car through the twisting narrow roads and roundabouts.

Our first stop was the walled hilltop village of Lussan (population ~ 500) which is noted to be to be one of the most beautiful in France, with a castle dating from the 15th century.

Amazingly there were few other visitors, and we enjoyed a quiet promenade through and around the walls before heading south on a delightful 30 minute drive through more fields and stone-cast villages to the magical, medieval town of Uzes.

Upon arrival in Uzes, Ben led the way to a favourite cafe where the kids shared a sandwich and a bottle of Orangina – precision titrated to ensure everyone had exactly the same volume of the precious liquid – while I enjoyed the French version of a piccolo latte – a noisette.

Ben explained that the kids were like batteries and required recharging every 90 minutes for optimal behaviour … and never ran out of charge!

Apparently Uze’s is on the “wrong” side of the Rhone river and so has escaped the tourist crush of neighbouring Provence while retaining an immediately appealing “living town” feel.

The centre of Uzes is closed to traffic and we walked through arcades of delightful shops to emerge onto town square “Place aux Herbes”, which was already abuzz with conversations at the many cafes that lined the fringe, with the Friday fish market in full swing.

We continued on through more narrow cobblestone streets, passing artisan shops, ancient doorways, mediaeval gardens and churches before finally returning to the car with a firm resolution to come back again with Ms House for an extended exploration.

Next stop was the Pont de Gard – an ancient arched Roman tri-level aqueduct bridge built in the first century AD to carry water over 50 km to Nîmes and now a UNESCO’s World Heritage site.

Incredibly its over 2000 years old and perhaps more importantly, a great place for lunch and a swim.

Eliza and her mum appeared from the other direction and joined us at the restaurant for lunch. Again, the menu “les enfant” was impressive with dessert being a rich chocolate mousse cake that any adult would appreciate, and I was amazed that such a quality restaurant was accessible at this major tourist venue.

(Editor’s note: I have no recollection of any infrastructure around the Pont de Gard when I visited 30 years ago … how awesome to have lunch with that view!)

Changing into swimmers we went down to the river for a cooling swim and as I headed down the bank Eliza warned me that the rocks were very slippery.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I grew up swimming in rivers like this” and immediately slipped onto my derriere. (Ben later admitted he had done the same on his first visit and later saw several other people meet the same embarrassing fate).

We waded down the crystal-clear river with occasional canoeists passing by and carp flashing past my legs. Post swim, while I (very carefully) retreated to the riverbank for a rest, the recharged kids enthusiastically went hunting for frogs and excitedly returned with a significant specimen for their garden pond.

Like the Romans, we needed to march on, this time to Nimes, which is dubbed “the French Rome”, dating back to the Roman Empire and famous for several well-preserved monuments including an amphitheatre and the Maisson Carree.

Upon arrival in the town centre we had the full European summer experience of completely gridlocked streets due to a bull fighting festival – fortunately we spied an underground car park to the side and were able to escape the congestion.

Ben once again led the way, this time past the Maisson Carree to a café just next to Temple of Diana where we enjoyed a refreshing beer and more carefully titrated Orangina.

Recharged, we decided our dinner destination should be Uze’s and drove a different route complete with a downhill descent through a spectacular gorge with tight s-bends, which the Renault Clio handled well.

Back in Uzes we chose “La Fontina” for dinner where our waitress was the first on my trip to display the classic Gallic disdain to our ordering, with am impressive sneer and eyeroll.

At Ben’s suggestion we enjoyed an unexpected but most delicious entrée – a truffled cheese and ham brioche toastie, cut into exquisite bite sized pieces, which even this non-truffle lover enjoyed.

I was amazed when Ben’s daughter announced that she would also have the toastie as her main while the boys decided they “could not live” without truffled pasta!! At their age my kids would only have chicken nuggets and chips!

As the adults sipped local wine, I reflected that Ben’s plan to tire his kids out had flattened me, while the kids continued running loops in and around the fountain in the centre of the square.

And so after a very big day (over 20,000 steps and 20 flights of stairs) it was time to head home and prepare for my next adventure!

Song of the day: Art vs Science “Parlez vous Francais”