Whew, I made it!
Well, to the (just past) halfway point at least (~1200km)! I'm in Lyon (gateway to the Alps and some fabulous skiing!), getting ready to head out to the next stop where I'll be visiting a friend and her newborn for a day: Nancy.
Only a 4h-day ahead of me... if the traffic behaves! Why oh WHY?!?! did I choose this weekend to go up? WORST traffic weekend of the year!!! All the people on holiday in Spain and the South of France heading back up North... I ran into 5 traffic jams on the highway yesterday between Barcelona and Lyon (and one on Friday between Alicante and Barcelona). We were moving so slowly in some stretches, and even stopped long enough... that I actually managed to read 2 chapters of a book while behind the wheel!!! It took me 9h for this part of the trip instead of the 6h it should have! Add to that 1h driving around in circles in the city (nice buildings all lit up at night! but where's my hotel?!), and the fact that Friday night in Barcelona was a fiesta night (neighbourhood party, lots of live music, dancing and FUN! we didn't stay out late, was in bed by 2h30)... and it's no surprise the 8h I slept last night weren't enough. If I didn't have to check out in 1/2h I'd be sleeping some more! :p
I did get to see some beautiful scenery on the road though! Catalonia is part of the "green Spain", and the Languedoc and Roussillon are also gorgeous! I had a picnic lunch at a rest stop alongside the highway, and check out the view:
Not bad eh?! Was incredibly windy throughout the whole south of France, the type of weather you're clutching onto the steering wheel for dear life... kind of scary. Add to that some crazy drivers in a hurry to get home (on stretches where the speed limit was already a more than decent 130kph, they were doing at least 150 and zipping through lanes)... no wonder I was so tense! Today should be better, and Monday no worries.
Time to head out. I had hoped to get here early enough yesterday to go wander around Lyon a bit, but it will have to wait 'till I come back in December. I'd warrant this city deserves a couple of days anyways! But on foot or in public transportation, there are too many one-way streets for me to feel comfortable behind a wheel! :p
Well, to the (just past) halfway point at least (~1200km)! I'm in Lyon (gateway to the Alps and some fabulous skiing!), getting ready to head out to the next stop where I'll be visiting a friend and her newborn for a day: Nancy.
Only a 4h-day ahead of me... if the traffic behaves! Why oh WHY?!?! did I choose this weekend to go up? WORST traffic weekend of the year!!! All the people on holiday in Spain and the South of France heading back up North... I ran into 5 traffic jams on the highway yesterday between Barcelona and Lyon (and one on Friday between Alicante and Barcelona). We were moving so slowly in some stretches, and even stopped long enough... that I actually managed to read 2 chapters of a book while behind the wheel!!! It took me 9h for this part of the trip instead of the 6h it should have! Add to that 1h driving around in circles in the city (nice buildings all lit up at night! but where's my hotel?!), and the fact that Friday night in Barcelona was a fiesta night (neighbourhood party, lots of live music, dancing and FUN! we didn't stay out late, was in bed by 2h30)... and it's no surprise the 8h I slept last night weren't enough. If I didn't have to check out in 1/2h I'd be sleeping some more! :p
I did get to see some beautiful scenery on the road though! Catalonia is part of the "green Spain", and the Languedoc and Roussillon are also gorgeous! I had a picnic lunch at a rest stop alongside the highway, and check out the view:
Not bad eh?! Was incredibly windy throughout the whole south of France, the type of weather you're clutching onto the steering wheel for dear life... kind of scary. Add to that some crazy drivers in a hurry to get home (on stretches where the speed limit was already a more than decent 130kph, they were doing at least 150 and zipping through lanes)... no wonder I was so tense! Today should be better, and Monday no worries.
Time to head out. I had hoped to get here early enough yesterday to go wander around Lyon a bit, but it will have to wait 'till I come back in December. I'd warrant this city deserves a couple of days anyways! But on foot or in public transportation, there are too many one-way streets for me to feel comfortable behind a wheel! :p
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