(click to enlarge the pictures)
France to Italy
Saturday June 25, 2011
Saturday we took a taxi ride to the airport to get a rental car for our trip to Turin, Italy. That of course is never fun. Waited in line for 1 1/2 hours. So they only rent stick shift cars which is okay but we had a few laughs. I certainly sent my prayers to God over and over again to keep us safe. Mark wanted the windows down, it made him feel more connected to the road when we started out but then about an hour out from the airport we realized the air did not work. Now that would not have mattered the last two weeks of our trip but today it was sunny and hot! Mark said we would just have to deal with it. I did not agree with that. We were going to have the car for four days!
Anyway we drove through some beautiful scenic areas. Now if I was with a girlfriend we would have stopped a million times to take some awesome pictures. Not with Mark but mainly because he was adjusting to driving in France and not very comfortable with the heat! We even saw fields of sunflowers, one of my favorites but no we didn't stop. (We had that conversation over a pizza tonight and he said I just had to ask. Well I know what I would have heard if I asked!) Anyway it was hot and exhausting with the windows down. I did not like that at all. Not fun but definitely it was beautiful. So these pictures were taken from the car while we were driving. Actually I was surprised how good they came out.
We had decided to drive to Lyon that day. It was about half way to Turin, Italy. I did some internet searching the night before and found a hotel in Lyon. Turned out to be pretty nice, old but very charming with a nice view. Lyon is beautiful. We will leave in the morning. Had a nice dinner with wine. Had a few moments of not so much fun conversation about the drive and the fact that the air was out in the car. I also dripped chocolate all over my blouse! We also went for a walk after dinner by the river in town.
Drive from Lyon,France to Turin, Italy
Sunday June 26, 2011
Well we ended up changing our car in Lyon,France because of the air not working so we didn't leave as early as we should have but it was definitely worth the wait. We were able to go to the train station to do that. So much better driving with air! The ride was beautiful with hills, the alps and charming villages along the way. Mark did stop so I got some awesome photos along with the sunflower fields.
There were so many little winery places so the vineyards were pretty. There are churches in every town. Driving through the tunnels was really different. Many tolls and expensive ones. I bet we spent over $100. in tolls. Had some fun things happen like not being able to use our credit card at the toll booth thing. Someone was behind us and helped us speak to the lady on the speaker. Then he came back and told us to back up and go to another gate and she would help us.
We had a few times on the drive where we thought we made a wrong turn and turned out were didn't. Mark was so angry one time going on and on about it and then suddenly we saw our connection. We had a good laugh about that one.
It was a great adventure!!!
20 comments:
I love these pictures...especially the sunflowers and the grave markers. Beautiful!
Loved the carousel, loved the flowers, loved the churches, loved the gravestones. My pictures look almost just like this. I loved Italy. I am so sorry about the car lacking air. That would have been miserable.
What gorgeous pictures ... and I'm still enjoying "hearing" the stories of your days in Europe. ;-)
so gorgeous. you are a lucky girl!
Oh My! Of all days it gets hot and you have no A/C.
The pictures came out amazing!
The sunflower fields are beautiful!
Thank you for sharing your adventure with us.
I traveled to /from Lyon once all by my big girl self : ) I was Pres. of the American Women's Club and I went to a conference of club presidents and reps from all over the world. I had a fabulous dinner in a local's home-a gorgeous apartment. So fun. I really should be living in France : ) Did you see the mini Eiffel tower there?
Now we're getting to Italy-my favorite!! I look forward to more pics and posts.
Its ALL so breathtaking!
I love the graveyard the best of course.
I wander if the people there reallize what beauty they have. even though it is so beautiful, I am glad to live in America
Seems I had a lot to catch up on since neglecting my reader!! lol I will live my European vacation through you!! ;)
Oh..those photos! I am sooo glad you're taking us with you on your rememberies! Perfect colleges, I must say!
So beautiful.
I think these are my favorite of all. I would love tromping through the countryside and seeing all those beautiful plants and flowers.
Gorgeous!
More in touch with the road? Sounds like something my crazy a$$ hubby would say!
very cool ..love the water pic its soo pretty
sorry about the car ride
my fam doesnt like to take pics and they nag me about it.. u have to take a pic of ur food ur weird or kerri takes pics of everything or it will be on facebook dont worry
Southern France is so beautiful!
Be glad you didn't have a bus with you: that way you would have paid about three times as much toll!
Beautiful photos even the ones from the car. Gosh I am so jealous!
I think the sunflowers are not only beautiful but they just say...ITALY don't they!!
Glad you got a car with air that would have been super miserable the whole time.
Loving all your pictures.
Oh wow great pictures!!
Oh Debby I love love all these amazing photos. I feel like I was able to take a trip with you!
I so would have stopped everywhere with you!
You take very good pictures out of the window of a moving car! My husband would have said the same thing about you had to do is ask!
What beautiful scenery! It's neat that you were able to drive and enjoy it a bit...at least when you had AC! (I wouldn't have been happy without AC either!)
A lot of my road trip pictures are while I'm driving. I put the camera in the automatic mode, action. That way the shutter speed is really really fast and keeps your photos clear. Looks like you had a pretty fast shutter speed to get the shots you did get.
That's great that your husband stopped for the sunflowers (the next time!) because they are beautiful.
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