On the road again- Tournoux

Trip Start Mar 13, 2008
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Trip End Mar 23, 2008


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Friday, March 21, 2008

This morning we woke and had breakfast again with our hosts at the B&B. Today was pancake day! Everyone seemed to enjoy the conversation and the food, and talked about the different adventures that everyone would go on. Geoff and I were on our way to Tournoux, France, which is in the Alps. We got some practical info from the staff, packed up our bags and walked up to Avis to get our rental car, which incidentally did NOT include Tomtom, but not for lack of trying. We drove back to the B&B, checked out, and then were off into the mountains once again. We found a radio station, Cheri FM which played a lovely mix of todays hits all over the world. It was the most American culture we had on the entire trip. Anyway, the drive on the way to the mountains was nice- partly sunny. As we traveled through the valleys we saw acres and acres of vineyards but it was too cool for any green growth. As we got further up into the mountains it started to rain on us, but we were optimistic that it would stop, which it did for a while On the road
On the road
 . We drove through lots of little roads, and this was the path I imagined when we talked about driving in the Alps. Lots of turns up the sides of cliffs, and drop offs the side of the mountains. We saw someone parachuting in the valley, which was really neat. We drove so far, it probably took us a few hours to get to our final destination. While we were intent on getting up to Tournoux, I would one day really be interested in spending more time in Jausier, which is a larger town right outside of Tournoux.

I am so surprised, because we only had a map printed off of mapquest, and we finally made it past Jausier, and saw Fort De Tournoux. The building is impressive, and very huge! It is not clear where you would ascend to get to the fort at this angle, but it seemed that there had been some attempts at revamping the area so that it is preserved or used as a historical spot. At this point, it was about noon, and our temperature was dropping. I distinctively remember thinking that I did not want to be stuck in the Alps in the snow so I encouraged Geoff to keep driving up the road to the town of Tournoux. So, back in the car we went, and we drove for a few more miles up even higher on the side of a mountain. I took a photo of what I assume is the shot from my old postcard of Tournoux, which actually is a view of the Ubaye Valley below Tournoux. (Did I mention that I found a copy of the same postcard at the flea market in Aix???? How cool is that Mountain in the distance
Mountain in the distance
 ! I didn't purchase it thought. It was expensive). We kept following the signs up the mountain, and finally made it up to the town of Tournoux. It was so small! Maybe 5 homes, a cemetery, a church, and that is about it! There was a large information board that talked about the bike paths that lead you over to the Fort, but the snow was closing in on us. The only adventures we had in Tournoux was to drive through the 1 road that was town to get out and check out the cemetery. It was really amazing to see the old tombs and to see that there definitely are families that have lived in the area for many generations. We passed the postal delivery woman on the way down the road, which ended up being our only brush with civilization in Tournoux. She waved, it was friendly.
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