Today we said goodbye to Saint-Remy de Provence to head further down the coast to Argeles sur Mer , just north of the Spanish border. We had an early start to the day so we could stop in at Montpellier
for a bit of a look and a mid morning coffee. No such luck. The city
area was clogged with road works which made the traffic chaotic (even
more chaotic than normal). So after driving around for a bit we decided
to head out and continue on to our next destination. Today I learned
some more about being a European driver - I drove down a one way street
the wrong way, and somehow I managed to get a left hand turn all wrong
and ended up driving along the tram tracks into a train/tram station.
Luckily Julie spotted the rather large ditch across the road just before
we got to/in it - took her quite a while to stop laughing. Still,
Montpellier is a wonderfully charming city - must put it on our list of
places to come to when we are back this way.

So, on to southern France. The vegetation is changing to a more coastal low
scrub type. Gone are the yellows and golds of Provence. The wind has
picked up so you can feel the car being buffeted around, and there is a
salt tang in the air. Its freeway driving all the way so we make good
time. The Europeans certainly make country driving a pleasure - three
lane freeways, petrol/snack/rest stops every 20 or 30km. Puts our Bruce
Hwy to shame!!

After an hour we left the freeway to drive into Argeles su mer. An unknown fact about French road engineers - the love roundabouts even more than the Thuringowa council did!!.
Couldn't get the car out of third gear. Every 1/2km there was another bloody roundabout!! After 20kms I was sick of the voice coming from the GPS announcing "At the roundabout take the 2nd exit and continue to follow the D909"

Finally made it into Argeles. Looks like a quaint little place. Typical French village - narrow winding streets, ancient buildings, heaps of small cafes and restaurants.

No one at the hotel when we tried to check in - come back at 3pm the sign
on the door said - at least that's what we think it said. So off we went
to do a bit of exploring to kill some time. At this point we happened
to get the best cup of coffee we have had in France. And you wouldn't
believe where - McDonalds McCafe!! Honest!! You come 12,000km and you
have to go to Maccas for a decent cup of coffee - oh the irony!!

Don't think we'll be staying here for anymore than 1 night. We checked into the hotel, Hotel Le-Nid (and very nice it is too), picked up a tourist map of the area and went off for some more exploring. Seems like the whole place is shut for the winter. Even down along the beach area, all the cafes and bars and restaurants are shut. "Maybe the open at night" we think. No .... Even
at night everything is shut. We ended up getting a pizza for dinner. The pizza guy was great. He spoke quite good english and he was telling us how the place really comes alive in the summer, but is very quiet in the winter. If you are ever in this part of France, grab a pizza from Pizza
Di Roma, Avenue du 8 mai 1945 (04 68 54 95 88), for one of the best pizzas you'll come across.

So, tomorrow, we'll probably head for Toulouse, then across to the west coast to Bayonne.
Then maybe south into Spain to San Sebastion.