Heading for Provence

It took us a whole day to get from Cahors to Cabris and I vowed that we should look more closely at the Atlas in order to break up our travelling, though this is the first really long drive we’ve done. Nevertheless, the joy of this trip is that we’re in no hurry to get somewhere so we can create manageable drives, preferably no more than 3 or 4 hours maximum. We went cross country to Millau; the sat nav seemed to want to take us on a slightly different route, though I don’t know where since this was by far the most direct. We chose it because I was really keen to see the Millau Viaduct as it has always amazed me. I was not disappointed, the mist and rain we’d driven through in the hills near Rodez cleared to give us a wonderful, sunny day, so we saw the viaduct in all its glory and it is quite magnificent. I believe it was designed by Norman Foster, a very different commission from Masdar City but equally stunning. We stopped to photograph it from the northern side, since driving across it really looks much like the rest of the motorway, except for the pylons – you get no impression of the height.
The rest of the trip was on the motorway – I’d done the first couple of hours but John did all but the last one and a half hours, since, although I’m fine with driving on the right, I do find it hard to get used to being on the wrong side of the car! Once we came off the motorway we climbed up and up into the hills above the Cote d’Azur till it felt like the road couldn’t possibly carry on any higher. We were well rewarded for the effort when we checked into the Hotel Horizon at Cabris, a stunning medieval village, perched on a hill about 7km (vertically) from Grasse. The view from our bedroom and bathroom down the hill and towards the Esterel mountains, the coast and the huge Lac du Caspien, was absolutely stunning. Many times during our 4 night stay we were above the cloud, giving a beautiful but strange effect. Cabris itself was so lovely, every place seems to be so picturesque and charming and somehow even lovelier than the place before. How does one country manage to have quite so many charming towns, villages and countryside, it seems that France has more than its fair share of beautiful places!
The hotel itself would not have won any prizes for friendliness but the beauty of the scenery, the pool perched on the hillside below and the well kept rooms more than made up for it and Cabris afforded a number of very decent restaurants though it was a shame not to have a place to eat in such a fabulous location. The hillside around was dotted with desirable villas with pools and terraces and the Presse in the village had the same day’s copy of the Guardian so I guess it’s another popular spot for very well heeled English ex pats or second homers. I can certainly see why.