After a couple of nights in Athens we headed for Nice and our Rugby and Wine Tour. We were slightly trepidacious as neither of us had ever been on a tour as adults before and weren’t quite sure what to expect. We had a day to ourselves to explore Nice before meeting the others and starting on the itinerary and what a day it was. Beautiful sunshine, gorgeous colourful architecture and it was market day! What more could we ask. We lunched overlooking the flower markets, tucking into mussels, niçoise salad and chilled local wine listening to our favourite language – French – being spoken all around us. We decided to be brave this trip and use as much of our French as we could as we hardly get any opportunity to use it at home. They were so lovely and always appreciated us trying and when asked prompted us how we could have said it better!! Afterwards we ambled along the Promenade des Anglais enjoying one of the most famous beaches of the Cote d’Azur. They shipped in tons of golden sand to put over the pebbles during summer and despite it being nearly the middle of October there was still lots of beautiful people soaking up the sun!

Day 1 had us on the bus with a lovely tour guide who filled us in on life in the south of France and on the local history. We stopped off in Cannes and breakfasted in the market. Our trip up into the hills behind Nice to St Paul de Vence was perfect. We played petanque and drank aperol in the square outside the town, explored the tiny little cobbled laneways which were home to artists and teeny tiny shops selling Provençal specialties. A wine tasting at a 14th century cellar accompanied by charcuterie boards was fun and we quickly started to get to know our fellow companions – a great bunch of people with a good sense of humour and we started to relax – all was going to be well!

Day 2 saw us off to Cassis, a Mediterranean fishing port famous for its pastel coloured buildings, street cafes and it’s calanques. This is where the steep limestone cliffs plunge into the azure blue water of the mediterranean creating little sheltered coves which harbor many fish and make it a great place to dive or snorkel. We were happy to once again be there on market day and we had a lovely time wandering around and enjoying watching the passing parade as we lunched outdoors. We started to notice lots of rugby supporters from many nations and famous retired players too, we weren’t too far from Marseille and tomorrow night’s first quarter final match and we were starting to feel pleased we had signed up for the whole experience!

We arrived in Aix-en-Provence, a charming colourful city in Provence which was made famous by local artist Paul Cezanne who popularized the landscapes of Provence around the world (his little atelier is still here and open to visitors). Aix is a beautiful town which we quickly got to know. Everything revolved around the huge fountain in the main square and the whole place was heaving with rugby tourists! We could hear the Brits and the Welsh singing in the pubs and every restaurant was booked out. Luckily together with a group of our newfound friends we found somewhere to eat at about 9pm and enjoyed the local steak frites and red wine before heading back to the hotel eager to explore more the next day. Market Day!! (Do I sense a theme here??) and I finally got to buy some gifts and also my traditional French gift to myself – local Provençale fabric which I make into a tablecloth! I have already got yellow, red and blue themed ones and this time I found a beautiful green one to take home.

By 2pm we were all in the foyer awaiting our coach transfer to Marseille and our first rugby match between Wales and Argentina. As we arrived in Marseille it was hard not to get swept up in the carnival atmosphere with everyone wearing their country colours and singing and dancing. Everyone was happy and we didn’t see any trouble despite most people drinking. A fabulous atmosphere and as we entered the stadium we could only imagine how the players were feeling.

The next day we piled into the bus to discover Avignon, the City of the Popes where we immersed ourselves in the thousand year old history of the city and marvelled at the largest gothic palace in Europe. Back in the 1300s Avignion was the centre of the Roman Catholic world and though it’s stint as the seat of papal power only lasted about 7 years it has been left with an impressive legacy of ecclesiastical architecture, most notably the soaring fortress cum palace known as the Palais des Papes. Avignon is also more commonly known for its famous bridge. We grew up singing “sur le pont d’avignon” in French classes and here I was seeing it in real life!!

This afternoon the MOTH fell in love with Provence. We had a few hours in Isle sur la Sorge, an enchanting little town in the heart of Provence. Sitting upon the River Sorgue it is a mecca for people looking for French antiques and artisan products of the region. The brocante is famous and utterly charming, individual stores set up in the Autumn sunshine and I so wished I could take some of the beautiful pieces home to Australia but it was totally impractical of course. We treated ourselves to lunch instead, set amidst the bustling market (you knew it!) with smells to die for and beautiful colourful fabrics blowing in the breeze I felt like I was in a Willy Wonka movie with a total overload of the senses. Cam was captivated and has since said to me at least a dozen times that he wants to return there before he dies (slightly dramatic) and live like a local for a few months. I would definitely enjoy that too so you never know! We were feeling very relaxed and happy when we boarded the bus for quarter final number 2 – we could only hope that it would be as good as game 1. Tonight it was England and Fiji battling it out and once again we were not disappointed!

We left beautiful Aix and headed to Toulouse – a city neither of us had visited before. We had a full day, stopping en route for a three course lunch at Fontfroide Abbey which was just what we needed to prepare ourselves physically for a long tour of Carcassonne. We had THE most passionate guide I think we’ve ever met. She knew EVERYTHING about every part of the history of Carcassonne and much more to boot and didn’t hesitate to share it ALL with us. It took 2.5 hours and I think we were all rather relieved when we got back on the bus! Don’t get me wrong it was interesting and Carcassonne is beautiful – it is the best restored medieval citadel in France and is steeped in history and medieval charm. The imposing crenellated walls bear witness to centuries of struggle and defensive strategies. The thing I found most fascinating that there was an entire town within those walls – like a giant ancient dolls house with gargoyles posted as sentinels!

Toulouse – often referred to as the pink city – was huge and vibrant. It is known as a centre for art, heritage and also the air and space industry. Its 2000 year history and beautiful mansion houses and manicured gardens call to mind the golden age of the renaissance and the pastel trade. We took our favourite little HOHO bus tour to acquaint ourselves with the city and noted there was a huge cycle path down near the Canal du Midi and later we rented a couple of bikes and did some much needed exercise for a couple of hours! It was so tranquil there considering we were in such a big city and reminded me again that we have always said we’d like to take a boat down that very same canal!

We did a spot of shopping with the MOTH needing a few more tee shirts (no laundry facilities on this stage of our trip) so we popped into ZARA and picked some up, dropping the receipt into a bin in the square. I happened to notice a hole in the shirt so we returned to the shop where Cam had to strip and wait 15 minutes for a member of staff to exchange it!! Lucky he’s not shy! Then of course our tour leader Matt Hodgson took a pic of us delving into the bin retrieving the receipt – we looked like a homeless couple!!

Toulouse provided one of the MOTH’s bucket list items – cassoulet!! We had been excited to visit Entrecote, a lovely restaurant where we had had some lovely meals in the past and which has a special association with our very missed BIL – JC. I was so looking forward to their amazing steak frites when Cam saw this other restaurant where they proudly proclaimed that cassoulet was their signature dish – and my steak frites were gone! To be fair he loved every mouthful and it was a lovely restaurant – 85% full of rugby mad men - so I never had a chance! The next day we checked out the huge covered market and ate upstairs in the restaurants that support the stalls downstairs, cooking the day’s produce in style. we had an awesome lunch that included duck and foie gras and walked around town enjoying the famous French carousels which were in every square and had coffee in little cafes watching the world go by.

We farewelled Toulouse and headed to Bordeaux. We had a lovely day trip organised by the tour and first stop was Agen Rugby Club in Lot-et-Garonne. ARC was founded in 1908 and has taken part in many prestigious competitions and has been part of the Top 14 – France’s elite championship. The club currently plays in the second tier of national rugby competitions in France – Pro D2. We had a tour of the club and the grounds, watching the Captains run for the team before we enjoyed a cocktail lunch. The MOTH was a little starstruck when Phillipe Sella (who has 111 caps for France) came to meet us and talk about the history of his club – he is now on the board. Cam remembers watching him play back in the day and he was very charming taking all our questions and speaking his best English! Ajen won their game the next day with us all cheering them on from a bar in Bordeaux!!

The afternoon took us to Eyran Chateau and their vineyard where we had a tour and a tasting. They use regenerative farming methods which was very interesting to learn about and even gave us a few ideas for our garden at home and made us feel better about our little family of microbats that cohabit with us! The vineyard brings them in especially to deal with the bad bugs and to keep the eco system happy! They make a range of red, white and rose wines in the Pessac Leognan and Bordeaux appellations and we enjoyed the tour very much. Our first night in Bordeaux saw our group wander down to the nearby square and have dinner listening to the obligatory guy playing the accordion – oh so French! Not the best meal of the trip but a nice atmosphere at least!

Our final day tour of the trip was fantastic. Quite a few people opted to stay and explore Bordeaux but we have been here before and opted to venture to new locations. our first stop was the Dune du Pilat – Europe’s highest sand dune! The dune is impressive not only for it’s size but for the breathtaking panorama it offers from the summit over the bay of Archachon as far as the Cap-Ferret lighthouse and the coastal forest as far as the eye can see. The lure of this view got me up the hill (my lungs really hate hills) and with a few rest stops to suck in some air I made it! A beautiful and unexpected natural delight and worth the climb.

We continued down into Arcachon, a popular seaside town on the Atlantic coast and famous for its oysters from the local oyster farming ports of the southern Arcachon basin. We played tourist on a little train that took us all around the town and up into the hills above where we saw the most beautiful houses all painted in different colours and with walled gardens all trying to out do each other!

A lovely walk along the promenade had us imagining how the beach would be full of people in the summer and the little town full of holiday makers. We enjoyed the most delicious lunch at Les Terrasses du Port, a lovely restaurant overlooking the ocean and the marina. As so many people had opted out of the tour we literally had dozens of oysters each and with the most delicious hand made local butter and bread (plus wine of course) we were as happy as Larry, but that was just the entree and after two more courses we were literally bursting at the seams by the time we stood up to leave. Back to Bordeaux and our first rain of the trip so we all did a mad dash to a fabulous pizza place next to the hotel and it was so cosy being inside as the rain lashed the windows and all we could hear was laughing and different languages and people enjoying themselves. You certainly don’t have to be in a gourmet restaurant to have fun!

Our last section of the trip and another experience as we caught the fast train from Bordeaux to Paris. Our luggage had been sent ahead the previous day so we had nothing to do but make ourselves comfy and enjoy the 2 hour trip. The train flew along at 300km per hour but was surprisingly smooth, not that you could discern too much out of the windows as we were going too fast. Luckily the trains all have good free wifi and we all caught up on our communications and our books! Pulling into Paris is always amazing. It doesn’t matter how many times you visit there is always a little frisson of excitement as you see the magnificent buildings and the corner bistros, the shutters and the avenues of trees. Our coach took us on a quick tour around the sights en route to our hotel which was a perfect way to get our bearings.

Our hotel was super, very well located just near the Gare de Lyon and within walking distance of everything we wanted to see. Our first stop was to Notre-Dame to see how the restoration was going. Last time we were here was just after the fire and Paris was still in mourning for its beloved Grande Dame, things were a lot more upbeat this trip and they really have done the most amazing job restoring it as authentically as possible and hopefully its re-opening date in 2024 will come to fruition.

That night was the first of the semi final matches and in traditional French style it started at 9pm! This meant the coaches had to be there by 6pm to get parking and then a 2km walk to The Stade de France. There were roadside stalls selling beer and merchandise stalls were teeming with tourists looking for souvenirs. There had been a few lone wolf terrorist attacks in France in the previous few days so everything was on heightened alert and there were Police everywhere both on foot and horseback but despite the huge presence they were not called upon thank goodness. Security was stringent with all of us receiving at least three different pat down searches on entering the stadium surrounds. With such a long wait before the game we ate, drank and shopped and the boys made use of the “outdoor” facilities which had us all crack up, having never seen anything like it before.

The other thing we had never seen at any big game was the lack of wine for sale. Only beer, soft drink and water was available and we were so bemused that the country most known for wine in the world wouldn’t have tapped in to what surely would have been a huge financial income for them. The answer was so obvious once we knew and so French – they simply refuse to drink wine out of plastic glasses which were compulsory at these huge games for obvious reasons. I both admire their dogged attachment to etiquette and despise their lack of commercialism as I hate beer! I tried one and it took me 2 hours to sip my way through it! The game wasn’t as exciting as the previous ones as Argentina seemed to have played their big game in the quarters and New Zealand sailed through to the finals. We arrived back at our hotel around midnight and luckily our beautiful hotel bar was shut and we had no choice than to go straight to sleep!

Our last day in Paris and of our trip dawned and we decided to stay local and book ourselves a fancy long lunch. We were overjoyed to book a table at the beautiful Train Bleu in the most unlikely location in the Gare de Lyon, it has often been described as the most beautiful restaurant in Paris and we were genuinely excited to experience it. We rocked up promptly at midday to find a brace of police surrounding the entrance as apparently someone had left a bag there and it was being treated as a potential bomb scare. The restaurant was now closed for the lunch service, and we were so disappointed. The staff offered us a table for the dinner service but of course we were going to be at the rugby and had to decline…pretty much our only disappointment of the trip. Here she is in all her glory….

So our last few hours in Paris we wandered the streets, down to Saint Germain and another market to buy some baguettes to eat at the rugby (footy food is no better in French stadiums than in Aussie ones!) and stumbled across a lovely old school bistro for lunch where we had a last delicious although much less salubrious lunch and cheered to our fantastic holiday that took us from the UK to Greece to France and we loved every bit!

Onto the coach for the last time and everyone was in good spirits to see the England v South Africa game and enjoy our last night together. Again the game wasn’t the best and the Brits on tour were very disappointed although South Africa were realistically the only team that could actually compete with the Kiwis in the final so maybe things worked out as they should. We said our goodbyes to everyone as we were leaving in the morning before the official end of tour lunch (I stuffed up the dates) and we felt like we’d made some good friends. We hope to do a road trip to Toowoomba to see two couples that we particularly got on well with later this year. Thus endeth our tour and we would definitely consider another one as long as it contained specific things we and therefore the others on the tour liked and in that way you are more guaranteed to enjoy each others company.

                     Le Fin…………