Time to Relax and Soak Up some Sun

day 9 & 10 - time to relax... south of france to monaco

After a busy start to our road trip, I was ready to stay in the one spot for a few days and relax. As we were in the south of France, I was looking forward to eating lots of cheese and bread and enjoying some yummy French wine. And we found the perfect peaceful spot to do it! A really beautiful B&B called Mas de Longuefeuille, which I definitely recommend visiting if ever you get the chance. The room was incredibly beautiful and comfortable. The grounds of the B&B were gorgeous, with plenty of room to relax on a lounge chair or swim in the pool. Bernard who owns and runs the B&B was so friendly and helpful, giving us some great tips about where to explore. He also made such yummy breakfasts. This is absolutely a place I would love to go back and spend a week by the pool, reading, eating and wandering the local towns.Speaking of wandering. As we were close to Mont Ventoux, we decided to drive to the top to see the view and then drive down the other side to the small town at the bottom. There were so many cyclists on the way up, and I can't believe how long and steep it is. I now have even more respect for the Tour de France guys!At the local town on the other side, there was a little farmers market. Which was the perfect place to pick up some local produce for dinner. During our search for some Chateauneuf du Pape, we stumbled across a beautiful old chateau. It was great to explore, but unfortunately didn't have any wine. After leaving the chateau we found a cellar door, bought some wine and then went back to the B&B. Our last night was spent enjoying the wine and food we'd picked up earlier on the patio in the sun. Perfect :)

Day 11 & 12 - French/Italian border

After another amazing breakfast on the terrace and a swim, it was time to get back on the road. Our lunch destination was Monaco. Along the way we drove through Cannes, but decided not to stop as it looked so touristy. It's probably a great place if you know where to go, but seeing as we only had a short amount of time, we decided to skip it. When we got to Monaco we drove a small part of the Grand Prix track (in peak hour traffic) and started a game. The goal was to count all the super cars that we passed. After about 30 minutes the count was over 20! We had a walk around the marina and looked at all the super yachts before heading to our next stop. Which was a small town on the French/Italian border called Menton.I really liked Menton, it seemed to have a great mix of both France and Italy. Good cheese and wine from France and amazing coffee from Italy! For our evening walk we decided to stroll along the beach, well, along the pebbles! We don't have pebble beaches in Australia and I don't know how people can lay comfortably on them. Then, it was time to move on again. Our next destination was Rapallo, Italy. The drive there was terrifying!! I'm sure the lanes got narrower and nobody paid any attention to them anyway. The speed limit was 130, but I feel like that was way too fast for those roads! After a couple of hours we finally made it and I was ready for some good Italian food!Stay tuned for the next part of my Amazing Summer Adventure!Cheers, Jess